How About A Diesel Supra??

[DAFF]

Has anyone ever seen a custom diesel inboard power plant??? With fuel prices on the rise and unlimitd power to be had why not a diesel conversion. An older 5.9 p pumped Cummins would be my choice. With some work to the injector pump 350hp and 500 lb tourque would be fun on the lake!!!

[Kracker]

they make a wakesetter with a duramax diesel as an option now.;)

[cadunkle]

If I was gonna do one it would be a 7.3 IDI. Not really into diesel though. Heck, when I swapped my truck's engine I went with a 460 after considering a 7.3. I'm be curious to see $$ per hour to run a diesel vs. a gas at comparable power levels. I doubt I would come anywhere near close to using it enough for payoff in a reasonable amount of time.

[michael hunter]

That last time I went diving the smell of the diesel made me sick. I cant imagine surfing behind a diesel tow boat. Just like the trucks unless you run it hard and long it will take forever to payback the original added cost.

[WakeSurfCanada]

haha wow my ears must be burning. My neighbor is a VW tech straight from germany, who works exclusively on TDI's.

We have already had the discussion and he assured me that when my Ford 351W finally bites the dust, we will be putting in a 1.9L VW TDI into the Supra.

Looking to get 250hp/300+tq out of it, which is barely scratching the surface on what these power plants can put out and man would it be fun!

Wouldn't it be awesome to spend a full day on the lake and only use $50 worth of diesel?

As for the fumes, I would think with a DPF filter and/or an FAE you could get by without and issues.

A few obstacles that we discussed were the marinized manifolds that would have to be sourced or fabricated, and a bell housing to adapt the motor to the current velvet drive tranny.

Obviously something that will be considered in the future, but I already have a block awaiting a rebuild at his shop! lol

[csuggs]

Good luck sneaking up on someone with a noisy, smelly 'ol diesel. I know they have their place in the truck market, not sure about cars though. I don't like them.

[WakeSurfCanada]

Good luck sneaking up on someone with a noisy, smelly 'ol diesel. I know they have their place in the truck market, not sure about cars though. I don't like them.

lol, sounds like the old school theory on diesel's.

With today's emission standards, and technology, diesels are not the "smelly & loud oil burners" they once were.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, with a 3.0L V6 Mercedes Diesel in it. Next to no "Diesel" smell with the cats and DPF filters on it. Also the noise is equivalent if not less than the "Hemi" option which is also available.

Not to mention I get more towing power than the hemi, 700kms to a tank, and all time 4-wheel drive. Diesel is a no-brainer for me.

As my German neighbor keeps telling me, just wait until fuel prices here get remotely close to what they pay over and Europe and see how many people start jumping on the diesel bandwagon.

[Tschwerm]

I believe Mastercraft has a diesel option using a marinized Volkswagen V6.

[KG's Supra24]

they make a wakesetter with a duramax diesel as an option now.;)

Not sure how to read this? Joke or serious? I def started googling it last night!

If it is an option in 2011 I'm thinking 2014 is a great time to upgrade my boat with a used one ... :rolleyes:

It is easy to see the dirty ole diesel stigma is still around but i feel there have been big changes in the industry and it is much different now. In fact, i just bought a diesel truck and am enjoying spending less money at the pump versus the Denali I sold. Oh, and it pulls the boat a hair better too. :D

[csuggs]

lol, sounds like the old school theory on diesel's.

With today's emission standards, and technology, diesels are not the "smelly & loud oil burners" they once were.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, with a 3.0L V6 Mercedes Diesel in it. Next to no "Diesel" smell with the cats and DPF filters on it. Also the noise is equivalent if not less than the "Hemi" option which is also available.

Not to mention I get more towing power than the hemi, 700kms to a tank, and all time 4-wheel drive. Diesel is a no-brainer for me.

As my German neighbor keeps telling me, just wait until fuel prices here get remotely close to what they pay over and Europe and see how many people start jumping on the diesel bandwagon.

You may be right. And I do like a diesel in the right application - for instance when you need a torque-monster for towing. I know that diesels get pretty good fuel mileage, but diesel is more pricey than gas here - at least for now. I gotta laugh when you say the diesel is not as loud as the Hemi option - that's not saying much - lol! Anyway - I do get the point and it just comes down to preference of the individual as diesel and gas both have their pros and cons. Yes, I am old school and still like old-fashioned pushrod V8 muscle. What can I say? ;-)

[KG's Supra24]

diesel fuel would have to be 25 to 30 percent more expensive than gas to erase the cost advantage of a diesel engine’s greater fuel efficiency.
In GA right now, diesel is roughly 13-14% higher than regular gasoline.

Same here and the same math i did before making a decision.

[DAFF]

With the proper gearing and pitch/size calculations I bet you would get much better performance with the diesel. Why ???? Torque is needed to keep the prop spinning in water, think of always driving up a very steep hill. This is why you cant over do the pitch of a prop with respect to hp and torque in a gasser. Too much pitch for top end and the engine rpms will flatten out.

Hey I might be wrong but when building power washers diesel is the way to go. They will create more power at lower rpms and love being under full load. Gassers with the same hp / torque ratings will turn much faster making more noise and eat 3xs the fuel. See power washers and boats are very similar in engine dynamics for they never get to free wheel like a car or lawn mower.

We all love all the power the bb 454 can offer. The draw back is the fuel consumption. Imagine that power plus 50% more and the fuel consuption of a volvo 4cyl.... Besides if diesel fuel stinks you can always turn to the bio fuel / french fry waste !!!! MMMM french fries....

[cadunkle]

Diesel is much cleaner these days with the new low sulfer fuel blends. I heat my garage in the winter with a torpedo heater burning diesel. It's about $1/gal cheaper than kerosene so that adds up if I use a few gallons over a weekend of work. The smell is very faint and doesn't bother me at all.

Newer diesel engines with the partiuclate filters and whatnot are very clean. The thing is they're expensive to maintain those systems. They are problematic and expensive to repair. The filters also burn diesel to keep the exhaust hot and clean... Increasing fuel consumption. If I ever do a diesel in anything I'll stick with the old mechanical injection. I prefer simplicity. Diesel wouldn't bother me at all from a smell/dirty standpoint. The extra weight of a diesel engine could be a selling point with the shift from slalom to wake sports.

One things for sure though, I would never buy anything foreign, so no VW diesel for me.

[chrisk]

I don't know much about diesels, but it seems to me people I've known that have them in trucks have to mess around with a lot of warm up and cool down periods? Or did I make that up?

Would that prove to be a problem when we're constantly turning the boat off and on and off and on while on the water?

[beast 496]

I have designed and built many boats. All are cruisers of the 34' to 45'. I can not comment 100% on diesels in ski boats. BUT.on a planing hulled cruiser, say 42' weighing in at 24,000 lbs w/o engines. Gas 496 ho 425 hp twin's inboard that wieght goes up to 30,000 lbs. Diesel cummins 425 hp inboard wieght goes up to 32,500 lbs twins. Same HP same hull. Gas top speed 34 mph, diesel top speed 31 mph. Gas economy .3 mpg, deisel economy .7 mpg, this was taken at 30 mph cruise. Gas is quicker to plane every time and faster top end. At the time of prototyping, projected break even point of initial cost was 8.4 years averaging 100 hrs per year. This was of coarse deisel being significantly higher price for intitial installation. This break even cost does not include the higher cost of maintanance of the deisel. Deisels are slow to get going, slow revs, poor take off. Yes they are better on fuel economy, but with deisel being so high in price for fuel, is it worth it??? I for one am not a fan. The smell is still bad as no current deisels in the marine industry are running a "cat" on the deisel exhaust system. Gas engines are meeting the current epa standards and getting more hp and torque with a catylitic converter, this is due to being able to use different type of cams.
I hope this sheds some light. Al

[Mani]

haha wow my ears must be burning. My neighbor is a VW tech straight from germany, who works exclusively on TDI's.

We have already had the discussion and he assured me that when my Ford 351W finally bites the dust, we will be putting in a 1.9L VW TDI into the Supra.

Looking to get 250hp/300+tq out of it, which is barely scratching the surface on what these power plants can put out and man would it be fun!

Wouldn't it be awesome to spend a full day on the lake and only use $50 worth of diesel?

As for the fumes, I would think with a DPF filter and/or an FAE you could get by without and issues.

A few obstacles that we discussed were the marinized manifolds that would have to be sourced or fabricated, and a bell housing to adapt the motor to the current velvet drive tranny.

Obviously something that will be considered in the future, but I already have a block awaiting a rebuild at his shop! lol

Good friend of mine has been considering doing the same thing. He swears by TDIs. Turns out VW sells marinized versions of them. Several different types too. The great thing about these engines is that you can blow your impeller, and the engine wouldn't necessarily overheat. They barely even need a radiator to begin with.