A diesel variant would be excellent. What about an I4 turbocharged diesel too?

 

Ill have to take some time to find the older links, I know that diesel power mag did a whole article on the cummins engines that dodge has said that they intend to put into the diesel 1500 and dakota.

The thing that quite a few peopl have been complaining about that I have read is that they are afraid since dodge is considering a V8 in the 1500 they will get away from the battle hardened I6 like the idiot did with the jeep that pissed me off so much when they got rid of the 4L I6.

But any way do some searches on google, It is a little harder to find the information on the diesel dakota. But it is out there, the more hype it gets, the more likely that dodge will bring it out.

As for the manual, that is true. Not to offend any one, but the general public is becoming more lazy when it comes to the automobile, for those that have a disability, these are great things, but for the average joe just lazy, just look at the way that it has gone over the last 50 yrs had to have an auto tranny had to have an auto locker, had to have auto 4 wheel, had to have auto adjusting ac, had to have auto adjust radio volume, had to have auto lights, had to have auto adjusting rear view mirror, had to have hill assist on manuals, had to have auto power windows, just to think of a few. had had had.

Dont know about you but I like the power that a manual gives me over the vehicle. Kind of pisses me off that dealers charge more for a manual when as I understand it, it is cheaper to make a manual than an auto, not to metion that ths computer is simpler. But hey just like my old boss "Oh it cost me less money? Lets jack up the price some more."

 

no word that I know of on one of those, but that is a common swap into jeep wrangles, and bronco II's. Fairly easy to find in the old "bunny bread" type of trucks.

 

I hope you are talking about Canada when you say this, because we have enough regulations on diesel models. Several states have such tight standards that you can't really buy any of the few existing diesels on the market. The auto manufactures already had to switch to low sulfur diesel, they made technology like the blue tech, they are nothing like the smog hogs from the 70-80s, that is good enough. The changes that have already been made have damaged enough on the cost saving advantage to these vehicles, my theory is leave them the heck alone so then we can finally have an option besides just gas and the more expensive in the long run Ethanol.

If the Dakota were to offer this, I would give it a serious look. Let me know about any details when they come out.

 

I did some more looking into the subject, so far what I have found is this (sites posted below) A 4.2l v6 for the durango and the dakota, and a 5.0l v8 for the 1500 ram.

I have no specs on what trannys they intend to use, or what the interiors will look like. However I have found some of the CAD drawings of the v6. If you look at the one from diesel power mag, they estimate the hwy mileage of the 1500 to go from 17 to 24 thats excelent.

Give the sites a gander, tell us what you think
My personal opinion, it looks like 2010 will be the first truly interesting year for a while. What with all the manufacturers expected to come out with some sort of diesel.

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/d.../photo_03.html (you need to look at all the photos, there are some good pics here.)

http://www.allpar.com/model/upcoming.html

 

Those Cummins engines have been getting some attention lately. With the new Ram 1500, buyers who have this info might just wait for the 2010s to come out. I myself haven't needed a truck as big as a Ram, but the Dakota has been treated like the black sheep of the family. If Dodge wants to help themselves out, they should build the next Dakota for a war of the (auto) worlds. They will have to have a very efficient base engine (back down to a 4-cylinder?) plus a few different choices on higher powered engines. I'm still mad that Dakotas don't even have an R/T Hemi model.

 

2010 Dakota = 3.7L, 4.7L (same as 2009).