Diesel JK in 2011? Funny Article

[nwoods]

There is a well written article in the NY Times about Fiats plans for the Wrangler:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...3844554.column

[inVERt'D]

Nice article. At least he gets it. When can I get one of those transfer cases with "extra tall gearing?"

[Roger]

What does he mean by "extra tall gearing?"

[OU812]

I’m guessing extra low gearing because he was driving a Rubi with a 4:1. I have been hoping for a wrangler diesel in the states for a long time. But these new low sulfur diesels with cats worry me. The 4L us such a venerable motor that a new motor would have to be something really special to be an upgrade.

[inVERt'D]

The AMC straight 6 is about as close to diesel torque in bottom end as any gasoline engine I've had the pleasure to operate, but it also winds up pretty nicely too--especially with the multiport EFI. To really be a performance upgrade, it would take a decent displacement turbo diesel system. For a reliability upgrade, it would take a solid diesel engine.

Diesels can be great, but their compression requirements and torquiness (I made a word!) mean they have to be built much stronger (and therefore heavier) than gasoline engines with similar horsepower outputs. But the newer Jeeps are already bigger and heavier than any Jeeps before them, and they have stronger frames, so if a turbo diesel could work in any Jeep, I think the JK would be the prime candidate.