New Grand with 5.7L V8 Hemi

[omaroo]

Originally Posted by pzver

I would get one if I could afford it. I'd go for the Hemi not the CRD. Can not see the point in getting a CRD. If you have got the money to get a HEMI I'm sue you would not care about the fuel economy of it.

The point in getting a CRD is that even though they are more expensive to buy up front (well, at least they were in '03 and '04) is that they are cheaper to run day by day - by a long shot. What I mean by this is how much immediate change you have in your pocket to fill up on.... not with "everything" considered - including services. After I've paid for mortages, electricity, loadns, phone, etc, etc, etc I'm left with "getting to work" money. The CRD is cheaper to run than the petrol versions for "price of fuel (alone) per kilometer". I get over 850 km on my 78 litres of fuel - even at 15 cents per litre more than petrol.

Of course, I've already factored in the extra expenses of owning a CRD - and I still reckon they are pretty much line-ball with the petrol equivalents overall in terms of total expense.

[pzver]

Chrispy,
My comments were not pointed at you or anyone else. What I simply meant was if I had 70K-80K for a new toy like this I wouldn't care about the extra fuel costs or service costs. Trust me, people who have the money to buy a new Jeep with a HEMI ain't going to cry if it costs an extra $100 bucks to fill up just to get the same distance as a CRD. I'm not knocking anyone who has a CRD, it's just that I would not buy one as simple as that. I like you have mortages to pay, sons private school fees, phones etc etc It never ends. In my garage I have an MY05 KJ Renegade(Petrol) and an MY05 Subaru Impreza STI. I run both on BP Ultimate and beleive me I know that if you push them anywhere close to what they are meant to do you can see the fuel needle move from Full to Empty. But at the end of the day I don't care or need to worry about the costs as I can afford it. I simply put the Dinners Club Card on the table and pay my bill.

[goodol55]

Originally Posted by H.G.

they may have the engine detuned to be able to market it here..maybe??
this is what they did to the holden genIII engine.. so I was told by a few salesguys.

yeah...must be like the gen 3 - it started at about 215~225kw but now you get 270 and 280kw HSV's from same motor. The 6.0l HSV is currently 297kw but that will go into orbit if governments turn blind eye.

The SST version is supposed to be coming so that will be same motor "tuned up". Looks very good. Story in Sat's paper said they expect to sell about 35% in CRD. THEEEY look velly good.

The go with the diesel is that when slugging it out at slow 4x4 speeds your consumption only drops abt 10 % as opposed to petrol 40% or more - ie u dont have to lug as much fuel around when your out there - where there aint no fuel

[omaroo]

Originally Posted by pzver

Chrispy,
My comments were not pointed at you or anyone else.

Didn't think they were!

What I simply meant was if I had 70K-80K for a new toy like this I wouldn't care about the extra fuel costs or service costs. Trust me, people who have the money to buy a new Jeep with a HEMI ain't going to cry if it costs an extra $100 bucks to fill up just to get the same distance as a CRD.

I'll think that you'll find they do. Trust me. Two friends of mine that I work with have WJ Overlands 4.7HO's and are both going to wait for the new Limited WK CRD for that very reason. They are well-off because they don't like blowing an unnecessary $100 on fuel every few days... and it's going to get worse. Actually, I think it's nuts that Jeep or any other manufacturer build cars with 6 litre engines in this day and age. I'll be looking forward to seeing many 6-litre engine owners taking public transport as fuel goes over $2.00 a litre.... multi-displacement or not.

And... as Goodol55 says - diesels use only 10% or so more in low range - I can't imagine what the Hemi is going to give you in low range all day. Bring a tanker!

at the end of the day I don't care or need to worry about the costs as I can afford it. I simply put the Dinners Club Card on the table and pay my bill.

Lucky you!

[wildturkey]

I went & rubbed myself all over the one at Burwood on Saturday and i gotta say, after hating them when the first pics were released, i've slowly grown to like them and now that i've seen one up close, i reckon they're a good thing.

$72K + options + orc so you're looking at low 80's. Luxury car tax is a bitch at 25% of the gst exclusive amount over 57odd including options. But having said that you'll need to spend >100K on a Disco, Touareg etc to get the same grunt & gadgets. Only thing it's missing is the option of 3rd row seats.

So it's dearer than the outgoing Overland but they did cut 7K off the price of an overland 18 months ago. Probably because (looks exclued) it was becoming a bit long in the tooth compared to the competition, being designed in the late 90's & all. But the WK is moden so can fatten the margin again.

I didn't take it for a spin as realistically, it'll be 12 months before my payout = trade and it's usually the point at which i change my cars. Plus it would help if i had a job lol.

Only thing i can remember not liking was the hard plastic of the dash. Rest was pretty cool. Apart from the ususal luxuries, a couple of good things i noticed were
- the size of the wheel wells at the lower edge there's heaps of room and you'd have to be able to fit 33"s under there after a 2" lift.
- look under the rear bumber and plenty of room for a 33" spare...or relocate the spare & you have a heap of room for another tank.

One thing that spun me out was, i started it up & Nigel goes...floor it!. So i give it a rev and he says "nah, floor it flat to the floor and hold it there" and i'm thinking "ok, it's your job not mine lol"....it revs for abit then suddenly it's like i've put ear muffs on & after what feels like a rev limiter, it's sitting there reving quietly. It was the MDS doing its thing as there was no load.

So IMO...if you've gotta spend that sort of dough or due to salary package, work car allowance etc i'd definately put it on the short list. But if you don't have to have the latest thing out there then a WJ Overland and 20-30K in your pocket sounds smart.

Cheers.

[PK]

They certainly look better in the flesh than the pics! I'm not sure about the lines on the dashboard tho - square edges etc - may take a bit to grow on me...

[Fud]

I read an article in The West Australian on them, very good write up. Heaps of praise for the new Grand. One of the features that blew me away was, tyre pressure indication for each tyre. Brilliant feature, but how is it measured - transmitted. Any one know????