2007 SEMA - Diesel diaries

The halls of SEMA have long featured aftermarket suppliers who make components to modify pickup truck diesel engines. Here, you can find parts to get more power out of your Cummins, Duramax, or Power Stroke, or even find wiring harnesses that allow you to slip that big Cummins inline six into a street rod.

But what caught my eye was a concept Suburban HD on the GM stand. (The Suburban looks pretty neat with the heavy-duty front end grafted on.) According to the handy information chart nearby, this Suburban has a 4.5-liter diesel producing 310 hp and 520 pound-feet of torque. This may be a sneak peek at the rumored diesel that will start showing up in light-duty GM trucks in the next year or two. (That said, I'd rather have the current "full-size" Duramax diesel in a large heavy-duty Suburban.)

This brings to mind what another journalist said to me this the morning here in Vegas. Pickup truck buyers already have the choice between a dizzying array of engines, axle ratios, and body styles. Soon you'll be able to add a hybrid engine and a diesel engine to that mix -- all in a light-duty truck, adding up to a lot of decisions for a consumer. We'll see what sifts out over the long haul though, given that both hybrids and diesels are relatively costly to build and both represent different means to a similar end.

Toyota showed a Tundra dualie with a Hino 8-liter diesel engine under the hood. Toyota and Nissan have both toyed with the idea of heavy-duty versions of their Tundra and Titan, respectively, but production versions of those seem more off than on right now. Regardless, the placard next to the concept said that the engine usually pulls around a 35,000-pound truck. (Trust me, this truck doesn't weigh that much.) I saw at least one showgoer track down a Toyota rep, begging them to build it, and overheard another aftermarket diesel modifier who was looking foward to getting even more power from such a beast. SEMA is the land of extremes, but you never know...

While making the rounds this morning, a dramatically different Chevy caught my eye. At the Bassani Xhaust booth sat a 1970 Chevelle with the 6.6-liter Duramax and its 6-speed Allison automatic transmission stuffed inside, claiming 1000 horsepower. Even more amazing--especially in the super-modified SEMA context--all of that monster motor fits under the stock hood, sans add-on hood scoop. However, no Chevelle diesels have been spotted, yet. Talk about being the torque of the town...

—Tom Mutchler

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Comments

[David Evans]

Any news from Honda on its Accord diesel? That's what I'm holding out for.

[Tom Mutchler]

We'll likely see an Accord diesel in 2009. Given the rave reviews of the European Accord diesel, we're looking forward to driving this one, too.

[paul]

Any more news on the accord diesel? I am holding out for it but all I read is available in 2009... is that the model year or the actual year it is available? When in 2009?