jcmseven
Veteran Member
Fellow Posters,
I deliberated extensively to decide in which forum to place this question. The ATV/UTV forum did not seem quite right; the JD forum did not either--so here we are. This is a bit of a general question, so it seems to best belong here. As we know, there have been many posts recently about diesel engines and comparisons between them and gasoline engines. These questions have been related mainly to tractors, but I have one about Gators. As some of you know JD just released its Gator XUV UTV. It is a nice machine and my dealer just received four of them in. I have dibbs on whichever one I want and can afford. The gasoline Gator has 23 horsepower and is fuel injected. My dealer feels he can tune and eek out a couple more ponies. It has a peak torque of around 33 lb. ft. and a CVT. The diesel Gator has a 25 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel and has a peak torque of 38 lb. ft. The cost difference is $1000.00. Is the diesel worth it for regular use--i.e., hauling, pulling and zipping around the property? The more specific question is would the diesel offer significant performance differences in a machine that uses a CVT??? We have discussed concepts such as power under curve, and I concur that a diesel makes more torque below peak than does a gasoline engine, which has a "sweet spot" in the power band. But, with a CVT this to a large degree seems nullified, as the gasoline engine could be in the sweet spot more easily and regularly than with a standard tranny. My dealer says he feels the gas engine would perform as well, but I am mostly interested to hear what the panel thinks about the engine choices when a CVT transmission is involved. Thanks for the input.
John M
I deliberated extensively to decide in which forum to place this question. The ATV/UTV forum did not seem quite right; the JD forum did not either--so here we are. This is a bit of a general question, so it seems to best belong here. As we know, there have been many posts recently about diesel engines and comparisons between them and gasoline engines. These questions have been related mainly to tractors, but I have one about Gators. As some of you know JD just released its Gator XUV UTV. It is a nice machine and my dealer just received four of them in. I have dibbs on whichever one I want and can afford. The gasoline Gator has 23 horsepower and is fuel injected. My dealer feels he can tune and eek out a couple more ponies. It has a peak torque of around 33 lb. ft. and a CVT. The diesel Gator has a 25 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel and has a peak torque of 38 lb. ft. The cost difference is $1000.00. Is the diesel worth it for regular use--i.e., hauling, pulling and zipping around the property? The more specific question is would the diesel offer significant performance differences in a machine that uses a CVT??? We have discussed concepts such as power under curve, and I concur that a diesel makes more torque below peak than does a gasoline engine, which has a "sweet spot" in the power band. But, with a CVT this to a large degree seems nullified, as the gasoline engine could be in the sweet spot more easily and regularly than with a standard tranny. My dealer says he feels the gas engine would perform as well, but I am mostly interested to hear what the panel thinks about the engine choices when a CVT transmission is involved. Thanks for the input.
John M
