2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland on 2040-cars

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Chrysler 3.0L EcoDiesel V6: Autoblog Technology of the Year finalist

Offering a diesel engine in an American pickup is anything but new - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all offer excellent and almost impossibly powerful oil-burning engines in their various fullsize trucks. What is new and novel about the 3.0L EcoDiesel, though, is its size, and the variety of vehicles that use it. It's the smallest engine, as far as displacement is concerned, currently offered in a large truck in the US, and, for 2014 and 2015, it is available in the Ram 1500 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Though it may be small, it's got muscle. While 240 horsepower isn't particularly impressive these days, the engine's 420 pound-feet of torque more than makes up for that. The torque rating is even greater force than even the big 5.7-liter Hemi can muster. Chrysler's well-regarded eight-speed automatic transmission makes the most of all that bull-headed pulling power in both the Ram and Grand Cherokee. Chrysler claims the Ram EcoDiesel 1500 can tow as much as 9,200 pounds when properly equipped, which makes it "90-percent of the Hemi with a night and day difference in fuel economy."
Make no mistake; it's that promise of a sizable fuel economy improvement that many long-haul truckers will be most interested in. In the Ram 1500 that we tested for our Tech of the Year competition, the diesel engine costs $2,850 more than the gas-fed V8, and Ram estimates that EcoDiesel buyers will pay off their investment when compared to the Hemi engine in less than three years, which is considerably less time than the 4.5 or so years the average buyer will keep his or her fullsize pickup. The more you drive, the more you'll save, and the math proves equally as effective in the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Autoblog Podcast #370

Episode #370 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Michael Harley and Craig Fitzgerald of BangShift and Boldride talk about the 2015 Jeep Renegade, the Consumer Reports list of Cars to Avoid, and the Geneva Motor Show, which opened today. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #370: Topics: 2015 Jeep Renegade Worst Cars of 2014 Geneva Motor Show preview In the Autoblog Garage: 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SE 2014 SRT Viper 2015 Subaru WRX Hosts: Dan Roth, Michael Harley Guests: Craig Fitzgerald Runtime: 01:28:37 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Jeep Renegade - 27:28 Cars to Avoid - 41:46 Geneva Motor Show - 59:54 Q&A - 01:11:04 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts Geneva Motor Show Jeep Subaru Volkswagen Concept Cars worst cars

Chrysler extending production of current Dodge Avenger, Jeep Wrangler, Grand Caravan

Are you hesitant to pull the trigger on a brand new Dodge Avenger in hopes that a new one will be coming? Well, don't hold your breath. According to The Detroit News, Chrysler will be extending production of the current Avenger sedan through the end of 2015.
Originally, we heard that the company would kill the Avenger to better focus its midsize sedan efforts on the Chrysler 200 replacement. But then new reports stated there would indeed be an Avenger successor, and that we could see it as early as next January. This Detroit News report cites supplier sources confirming the extension of Avenger production, though Chrysler has not released an official statement on the matter.
These same suppliers say that the current Jeep Wrangler will live on through mid-2018 - that's right, another five years. The Detroit News reports that a replacement for the iconic, go-anywhere Jeep was due in mid-2016.