Anybody else notice the 20 gallon tank? That might not seem like a lot, but at 30 mpg, that a 600 mile range.
I'm really interested in picking up one of these when they become used. A set of roo bars and a blacked-out grill will go a long ways to hiding the ugly.
I can has manual, though?
Shaun wrote: Why do we invent things and then forget how to make them? And then buy them from someone else? The margin was too small compared to a optioned out Hummer? That worked out.
^^^My nominee for "Say What" column.
Notice the Mahindra logo? And how it kinda looks like the late Oldsmobile one?
My wife would love this, it's be a great replacement for her late and often lamented Mighty Max. Comes in crew cab form, too. I could get used to the looks, and at 30mpg it doesn't matter.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/cars/image_popup/newgallery.php?postid=15672&defimage=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos.leftlanenews.com%2Fphotos%2Fimageresizeronfly%2FphpThumb.php%3Fsrc%3D%2Fphotos%2Fcontent%2Fjanuary2009%2Fmahindra-truck-1.jpg
This is kind of a slap in the face to the big 3. If they had done something like this.... who knows? It seems so obvious, now, but I can see a pretty big market for this.
Mark
"The engine is coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters."
Wha? A flappy-paddle gearbox in a utility vehicle? Is that really what the masses want?
Shaun wrote: When I was in Bangkok last year that is exactly the car of choice for business people who spend hours a day driving around to the thousands of factories spread all over southern Thailand. The SUV I was in was pretty much a last gen Toyota 4 runner with a turbo charged Intercooled diesel 4 banger with a slush box that got 35-40 mpg with 5 adults in it (one crazy Thai driver, one super hot Thai woman Interpreter and 3 full sized neo-colonialist crackers) going 60-80 mph half the time and 2-3 mph the other half air con full tilt at all times. It felt like it made 150 hp and 250 ft lbs. Great SUV.
Wow. That is exactly what I was thinking of. My wife even loves the 4 Runner platform! Sigh.
There are some austrailan reviews of these on the internet. The aussie versions, atleast the first ones, have an insanely cheap interior. According to Aussie standards they don't crash test great..
But... If they bring it.. I'm in for 1, with a big IF. I used to work in the diesel industry and I need to know how they are going to deal with complying with 2010 emissions.
Manual transmission please.
Mahindra has an excellent reputation as a tractor maker, isn't this just a road tractor?
I just wish the engine was a little bigger. I'm thinking 3.5 liter turbo diesel mini 6 or big four with nice hefty 4-5 speed trans. I'll admit I've been spoiled by the higher hp trucks in the last ten years. I'd like to see it in a ranger platform with 200hp/350ftlb. It's certainly still on the watch list. If it can crack 30mpg, the domestics are going to take another big hit. That, sir, is revolutionary in this day of "can't do". I also don't mind the cheap interior- hopefully they'll make it so you can hose it out like my dad's 84 isuzu p'up (bought new for ~$4500 and driven pain free for 15 years before he decided to trade with his boss- which he later regretted).
I believe the 4x4 version will have a torsion bar front suspension. I'm still excited about that truck though, 30 mpg in a 4wd truck is fantastic. Especially one with 300 torques.
Brust wrote: I just wish the engine was a *little* bigger. I'm thinking 3.5 liter turbo diesel mini 6 or big four with nice hefty 4-5 speed trans. I'll admit I've been spoiled by the higher hp trucks in the last ten years. I'd like to see it in a ranger platform with 200hp/350ftlb.
That engine is plently big. You're not familar with diesels are you? The 3.9 liter 4BTe used in the brazillian F250 puts out 250 horse or so and around 400 lb-ft of torque..
That "little" engine is just a few mods away from turning the driveshaft into a pretzel.
Isuzu has sold a 4 banger turbodiesel Trooper overseas for ages. It's supposed to be rated at 7500 pounds tow capacity. For comparison, the V6 gas versions over here were rated at 3500 with M/T and 5000 with slushbox.
ignorant wrote: There are some austrailan reviews of these on the internet. The aussie versions, atleast the first ones, have an insanely cheap interior.
Yeah, cheap and nasty interior. Here's a photo I pulled from a car dealer's site ('08 model):
Practical though, and the passenger grab handle is cool.
However, they're extremely unpopular here in Australia, due to plenty of other 'tried and true' alternatives being available.
A friend of mine (Who works at a family-owned Chrysler dealer) were talking about this very thing not 2 days ago. Where are the small trucks? Where's my $15000, NO CARPET, 4WD small displacement standard cab truck? I need a bed big enough to haul a motorbike, and ~30mpg. Diesel would be nice, but I don't require it.
WHERE IS IT? Are you really going to tell me that Mahindra had to open up their own dealer network instead of going through a domestic distributor? Why couldn't Isuzu sell these? I realize there's not as much profit to be had, but this seems like the perfect fleet truck for a bunch of small businesses, and I've even seen small contractors around here use white Chevy HHR's because they can't find a small, affordable truck/van. That's rediculous!
I guess a mid-80's Comanche with the 2.1 Renault diesel doesn't really fit the thread title...
Think 7-11, not casino.
Kramer wrote: I guess a mid-80's Comanche with the 2.1 Renault diesel doesn't really fit the thread title... Think 7-11, not casino.
Those things sell for close to $10k now....
Ugly is a matter of perspective. If it means no one would steal it, I'm game. :)
I'm thinking Isuzu could have sold a bunch of these over here.
It's the D Max pickup, available in a 2.5 and 3.0 diesel version all around the Pacific Rim. Isuzu started selling them in Russia in February 2009.
http://www.isuzu.co.jp/world/product/dmax/index.html
My biggest hope is that this truck will get the other domestic and non-domestic brands to bring out their own small Diesel trucks. I for one will take a diesel Jeep in a heart beat.
This sounds like the late sixties/early seventies & japanese manufactures all over again. For the most part people laughed at the jap cars & trucks and called them toys and junk and such (at least the people that I grew up around). But those cars sold, and thier dealers eventualy flourised and became very wealthy. And as it turns out those cars weren't junk after all, many of them are viewed as legitimate classics now, even by people who don't read GRM. So, do any GRM'ers want to pool thier money together to buy some Mahindra and Tata franchises?
Before you say no, just think of the regrets of all the Honda M/C dealers that turned down the oppurtunity to start selling civics in the seventies.
^^ Yeah, like the Honda motorcycle dealer in Columbia, SC. He did OK with bikes but you just know there were nights he laid awake and thought of what might have been...
I was reading a four wheel drive magazine at my dads house and they showed a camoed mule test rig of a new ranger that had the same doors as that ranger from a previous link. It said it was a 2012 model and I thought they said it would come with a turbo diesel. Where's alfadriver to say something about Ford rumors?
My dad picked up a Mahindra tractor s few weeks ago, that thing is a work horse and a half, 14 hours on less than half a tank od diesel, not sure how big the tank is but it's rated right at or just under 50 horses, the knuckles for the 4x4 front end are freaking huge! you would play hell breaking those. I'm all for it, after spending a few evenings working on the farm with the tractor I'm more than willing to give em a shot, would like to see a manual tranny though. Jeep put their little turbo diesel in the liberty a few years ago, put the cost even more though the roof and fuel mileage wasn't that much better than the gas engine. I miss my old k2500 with a diesel, I could get 27+ mpg if I backed it down to 55 indicated, with tires I had on it I was still doing almost 65, and it seemed no matter what you put behind it, it didn't notice it.
edit....
EGAD! that's ugly, but I agree roo bars and a blacked out front end, it would be livable. Look on the bright side, after a day at the mall with the mother in law and my wife I could definatly find my truck when I walked out
As I mentioned in another thread, I just got back from Australia. And the most striking thing about the cars is the trucks. There are no big trucks. My wife and I spent the trip playing "what would we tow the race car with?". And I realized that I saw almost no enclosed trailers at all. Around here, everybody has one. But in Australia, nobody does.
The closest thing I saw to the typical F250 around here was this:
Loads of them, too. And you can still get one, now with a 4.5L turbo diesel V8 that puts out about 330 ft/lb. Seems a bit low for that engine (a lot low), but it apparently meets the Euro IV emissions specs and it's beefier than my 4.7 Tundra and is rated at around 20 mpg.
Lots of smaller diesel engines on the roads there. I'd love to get my hands on a 2.0 diesel to swap into my old Rover.
oh those land cruisers are sexy. Aussie land gets all the cool trucks.
Keith wrote: As I mentioned in another thread, I just got back from Australia. And the most striking thing about the cars is the trucks. There are no big trucks. My wife and I spent the trip playing "what would we tow the race car with?". And I realized that I saw almost no enclosed trailers at all. Around here, everybody has one. But in Australia, nobody does. The closest thing I saw to the typical F250 around here was this:
did you see any road trains? fing awsome!!! I was picked up by one when I hitchhiked around Australia back in the day. It felt HUGE.
I noted that very thing in NZ as well. So many boaties- In the US you'd see them with F350's or some such, while they were towing decent size boats with Hondas. And not Ridgelines. We're talking civics. Winding roads, no problem, just a little slow. My folks just got a trailer- a casita, and tow it with their NA 2002 Forester. She keeps saying she'd like to get a new one, but I'm trying to get her to hold out for a diesel (and for them to pull their collective heads out of their asses and make the forester a car again).
Back to topic- the isuzu is perfect. The Mahindra- wtf no bench seat in front? Where's the lady going to sit? I want effing vinyl bench seats.
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