How to hybrid a road vehicle to do 100MPG Diesel

[aczlan]

The 3rd and 4th generation Mazda B series were badged as the Courier, then the Ranger in the US.
See: Mazda B-Series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aaron Z

 

[rjmack]

The 3rd and 4th generation Mazda B series were badged as the Courier, then the Ranger in the US.

i remember the couriers, the rangers were different, at least they were here.

datsun/nissan and toyota had diesel trucks back in the 70's - 80's too.

there are also late 70's early 80's mercedes benz diesels that were economical, reliable, and gutless. i think the 300 series came with some higher power output.

the nissan/toyota trucks carry a bit of a premium price but the old mercedes can be picked up cheaply.

 

[Bilko]

What about a gas powered golf cart set up to be street legal?

 

[BigBoyinMS]

As said earlier, Nissan had a 2.3 and 2.5 diesel in the 720 p/up in '83-'85. They can still be found but not to many are out there. The engine was basically the same as the one in the Datsun forklifts.
Most people don't know that they also had a diesel Sentra (1.7) in 1983. Mileage was in the 50's but it had NO performance. The only one that I ever drove had an A/T and I was almost afraid to pull into the street if there was any other vehicle within a block. The 4-speeds could have been better.

I've always wanted to build a street legal lightweight 4-wheeled vehicle using a small diesel and hydraulic drive similar to the fellow that built the diesel/hydraulic chopper. Welcome to Hydraulic Innovations

 

[MikeInEburg]

As someone alluded to earlier, the sad truth is that swapping vehicles for better fuel economy has a long payback period. The vehicle you own is almost always cheaper.

 

[Case485Guy]

I had a book(lost/misplaced now) It was on a diesel swap into a MG midget. From what I remember it was a 3 cyl Kabota(25hp range) mated to a Toyota celica 5 speed, they changed the rear gears too. Claim was 100 plus mpg. Even had the blue print for the adapter for engine to tranny.

 

[zzvyb6]

The trick to getting your job task done would be to buy or make an all electric battery powered vehicle which has a very small generator on board to nurse the battery while you drive home. The thermo dynamics doesn't support your 100 mpg goal with all the other constraints you have on it, no matter what the fuel.

If the Ram was a modern EFI 4x4, you could disconnect the rear driveshaft and run it on 4 cylinders as a FWD standby. Adding an electric motor to propel the rear wheels (only) and juiced by a bed full of batteries could get you some distance. Recharging at night from the garage and from a small home generator (on-board) just in case would give you some peace of mind.

GM calls this type of 'hybrid' a Volt. You could call yours a Vegamatic or a Ram-Blur, or a Watt-Cha-Macallit or a Battery-Ram.

 

[westcliffe01]

Doc: Your best bet is an electric conversion. For the donor vehicle you simply want the lightest, most aerodynamic thing you can find that has reliable running gear. Based on your location (not too far from me) rust is the number 1 enemy.

Here You can find kits of the significant parts to do a conversion. Then add AGM batteries and go for the highest voltage pack you can afford because it gets more efficient as the voltage gets higher.

I found a beat up Toyota pickup for $1200 which needs some bodywork, but it is not rusted too much. I can get it into running condition as is for another $1000 which includes all new brake lines, rebuilt brakes, new headlights/grill/hood and a cheap paint job.

20 mile range would work fine for me for most of what I do. I am not going to get rid of my full size truck, just not use it for commuting.

A less drastic option is to take a modern small engine like from a Honda FIT and put it into something like a small 2wd pickup truck (toyota/nissan/ranger). Keep it light and the speed down to 55mph. A megasquirt controller will run any of the small modern injected motors.

 

[2458n]

Worked for a Ford dealer that had a few diesels when they first came out. The biggest problem was the supply. Our dealership got a escort, tempo, and a ranger pick-up. All were low on power but good on mileage. The goverment had a credit for them around 1000 dollars for alternative energy or something like that. Anyways Ford required the dealership to purchase a bunch of special tools for the shop. That was the end for diesel sales where I worked. I drove the escort as my demo for about aweek before it was sold out from under me!

 

[aczlan]

i remember the couriers, the rangers were different, at least they were here.

IIRC, they were close enough that Dad got a Haynes Ford Courier manual for his B2200 and it was correct for everything but the engine (manual was for a Gas, he had a Diesel).

Aaron Z