The Grill of a Land Rover... a British cyclists worst nightmare?

Who are the worst drivers on the road? Hmm, we can think of a few... like women who apply mascara while driving, teens sending texts while driving, and, of course, those who have had a few too many drinks. But, what about labeling drivers by the type or brand of cars that they drive? That is exactly what has taken place in Britain, as cyclists who share the roads with the cagers have taken a vote to determine the worst of the worst. The winner, uh, we mean losers? Range Rover drivers. While we don't see all that many on our roadways in the United States, the original British 'utes must really be clogging the streets in the U.K., riding right on the back tires of the pedalers. Also coming up on the short list of bad drivers are drivers of white vans (color matters?), followed by smug BMW drivers and elderly drivers who move too slowly, even for cyclists apparently. Comments?

[Source: What Car?]

Apparently the diesel V-8 available in the 2007 Range Rovers is so quiet and refined that the Land Rover engineers felt there was a serious risk of people forgetting and putting gasoline instead of diesel into the tank by mistake. In the UK in 2005 there were over 100,000 cased of people mis-fueling diesel vehicles with gasoline. Serious and expensive damage can be done by running gasoline through a diesel engine.

To overcome this issue, the Range Rover engineers have come up with the Gasoline Fuel Guard. Gasoline fuel nozzles are narrower than the diesel nozzles so a the diesel can't fit into a gas filler, but the opposite is not true. However the gasoline nozzle is also longer and penetrates deeper into the filer pipe. The Fuel Guard has a mechanical shutter that is activated when a gasoline filler is inserted and prevents filling. This could save people from a very pricy error.


[Source: Automotive Engineering International - print only]

Gas guzzlers are starting to get serious about their weight problem. The next generation of Range Rovers from Land Rover is drawing on the experience of sister company Jaguar and may be offered in a rivet-bonded aluminum monocoque body. Insiders say the vehicle could be ready by 2010 but an official decision hasn't been made. Previously, pundits thought the Range Rover would get Land Rover's semi-monocoque steel platform. With aluminum, the weight savings could be 500kg (around 15 percent). Fuel economy with the 4.4-liter engine could jump from 18 to 22mpg. The company is also considering aluminum construction for other models.

[Source: whatcar.com]

According to AutoWeek, Automotive News has reported that Ford will introduce North America's first light-duty diesel truck in either 2008 or 2009. The confirmation came from Ford's former vice-president of manufacturing for the Americas, Dave Szczupak,who retired last week.

According to the former executive, the F-150 is slated to get a cleaner version of the 3.6 liter V-8 diesel engine used in the European model Range Rover that was developed in conjunction with PSA Peugeot Citroen. The British-market SUV generates 267 horses and 472 lb-ft of torque while sipping fuel at a rate of just 25 mpg.

Szczupak said that two major tasks lie ahead for Ford diesel engineers to get the engine U.S.-certified. First of all, components must be redesigned to generate a cleaner combustion inside the cylinder. Secondly, the diesel team must choose an effective yet affordable emissions system whether it include a lean NOx trap or urea injection.

Other automakers are progressing with efforts to enter the light-duty diesel truck segment, however, none are situated as well as Ford to introduce the first vehicle. Toyota and Nissan are working to get diesel engines inside their Tundra and Titan, respectively, however, neither company has announced a deal with an engine supplier. As for the domestics, 2010 seems to be the magic year. Dodge is expected to receive V-6 and V-8 diesel engines from Cummins at that time while GM announced it would produce a small V-8 diesel truck engine just after.

[Source: Automotive News via AutoWeek]