by : Gertrude

DaimlerChrysler Canada has announced recently its plan to expand and improve its lineup of eco-friendly, sophisticated clean diesel technology starting with the 2007 model year.

The clean diesel technology will enable DaimlerChrysler to offer new or improved diesel powered versions of its vehicles such as the 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD, the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks with the Cummins 6.7-litre engine and a Dodge Ram 1500 light duty pickups after 2009. New technology calls for equally new parts and for the mentioned DaimlerChrysler vehicles the automaker will surely require for some new components that would complement the new technology.

At present a fourth Chrysler Group diesel vehicle, the Dodge Sprinter, is also available in Canada. These new clean diesel engines are expected to provide owners with a significant increase in low-end torque with an average of 30 per cent better fuel efficiency and a 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide (C02) emissions as compared to an equivalent gasoline engine. When towing, diesel engines can also provide additional fuel economy of up to 40 per cent.

The advanced diesel technology is an integral part of the Chrysler Group's advanced propulsion technology umbrella, which focuses on hybrids, efficient gasoline engines, biodiesel capability, and flex-fuel vehicles. The first BLUETEC vehicle built by Chrysler Group was the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty powered by a 6.7-litre Cummins turbo diesel and available in Canadian Dodge dealerships.

The Dodge Ram 2500 Regular Cab 4X2 is offered at a starting price of $41,305 MSRP excluding destination. The Dodge Ram's new clean diesel engine will meet the required low levels of emissions, including the extremely strict U.S. 50-state emissions standards for 2010. This will make the Dodge Ram cleaner than other pickup trucks.

The new 2007 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty turbo diesel engine make use of a self-cleaning Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that eliminates particulate matter emissions and an absorber catalyst to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by as much as 90 per cent.

Last 2006, Dodge Ram sales in Canada reached an all-time high of 39,837 units. The latest Dodge Ram lineup includes 1500, 2500 and 3500 models in three cab configurations: Regular, Quad Cab and Mega Cab. The available engine options on Dodge Ram include the Magnum 3.7-litre V6, 4.7-litre, 4.7-litre flex-fuel V8, 5.7-litre Hemi V8 and the new Cummins turbo diesel.

It was in the year 1988 when Dodge Ram Heavy Duty trucks' has formed a long-standing relationship with Cummins and continues to thrive with new, more powerful, more efficient and cleaner turbo diesel engines. Late last year Cummins produced the 1.5-millionth diesel engine for the Dodge Ram.

Aside from the NOx absorber and the self-cleaning DPF, the 6.7-litre turbo diesel engine includes other technologies that improve fuel efficiency and at the same time reduce unburned hydrocarbons.

The 6.7-litre Cummins turbo diesel is durable and very powerful, has life-to-major overhaul intervals of 560,000 kilometers, providing more than a 160,000-kilometre advantage over the competition. Equipped with new Cummins clean-diesel technology, Dodge will also introduce an all-new turbo diesel engine in its light duty Ram pickup trucks after 2009.