GTP Cool Wall: 1978-1984 Oldsmobile Delta Ninety-Eight Diesel

  • Thread starter Thread starter White & Nerdy
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1978-1984 Oldsmobile Delta Ninety-Eight Diesel

  • Total voters
    112
  • Poll closed .
Such a shame that it is such an awful engine, because I love the sound they make. But having 5700cc of absolutely nothing can't help it.

Seriously uncool. :indiff:
 
Tornado
Yeah, if they had the experience and history with diesel engines that Mercedes Benz (who was the only manufacturer pushing diesels heavily prior to then) did. Which GM didn't, since the Oldsmobile diesel was their first effort into the market.
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Uhh... actually, GM had gone diesel in cars quite a bit earlier than that. Opel - who they'd owned since the 1930s - put a 2.1 litre diesel four into the Rekord D. Admittedly it only made 61hp, so at 29hp/l it wasn't lifechangingly innovative (though it eclipsed the Olds' 21hp/l), but I'm sure the Delta 88 can't have gone that much slower with it. Or they could have nailed two together.

But General Motors had been using diesel in automotive products for years at that point - just not cars. They owned Detroit Diesel, making diesel units (2 strokes, I think) for the B-series and over in Europe they put Perkins diesels into Bedford vans. Dodge were already using Perkins and Cummins diesels in commercial products (including a 384ci Perkins shovelling twice the power of this heap'o'crap and three times the torques) by the time the 1960s started...
 
I see quite an interesting phenomenon here.


First, this is mentioned:

homeforsummer
ruined the reputation of diesels for America
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niky
This motor singlehandedly convinced two to three generations of Americans that diesel engines suck.
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Then, we see this:

mustang fanatic
Seriously uncool. I don't like the idea of diesel cars.
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Hmm...


Yes, it would be an irony if this is literally one of the cars that influenced that thought, but of course, he can have other reasons as well.
 
To be fair, I'd not say I exactly "like" diesel cars either, but the stereotypical image of diesel in the U.S. is certainly less rosy than it is in Europe. Europe has essentially been driving diesels since the day dot, but until pretty recently all the U.S. had to offer was the occasional pile of absolute dung like this Olsmobile. When one diesel appears every decade and it's crap, it doesn't really endear that sort of engine to a nation.
 
You actually look like a pimp when you drive this.

No, a real pimp.

Seriously Uncool.
 
Cano
Hahahaha how did this thing end up in the cool wall? Great nomination :lol:
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Apparently you just suggest it and you'll end up with a shot at getting a vote. Makes me want to suggest something.
 
The first car I bought was a non-turbo 1.4 litre diesel Peugeot. According to Wiki it had 50 horsepowers. That was a slow, slow car.

My current car is also a 4 pot diesel, this time it's bigger and has a turbo. But it is still slow.

Neither are or were cool.

Slow diesel cars are not cool.
 
OriginalCheezIt
Hey look! It's a boat! It's the size of the Queen Mary, goes about as fast as the Queen Mary, runs on crude oil, and you can get seasick on it!

Super duper hoopty hooper uncool.
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:lol:

The engine of this thing is monstruous... but it barely produces more power than my electric toothbrush...

That, combined that it looks beyond awful, makes it Seriously... SERIOUSLY... SERIOUSLY UNCOOL....
 
It should be noted the Olds diesel didn't single-handedly turn Americans away from diesels. 2 other major factors helped:

Around the time GM released these, there was also a problem with poor quality diesel fuel, containing water and other contaminants. Only adding to the problems. Post 1981 engines fixed most of the issues, but the damage was done.

Gasoline prices dropped in the 1980's, and power and performance were making a comeback. Didn't need the noisy, smelly, soot belching diesels anymore.
 
MoLiEG
For a V8, it is. I was comparing it to, say... your average Toyota Avanza L4 engine???? :D
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True haha. But in the V8 world a a 350 is your average joe's small-block V8. You want serious power for not a lot of green? Big block.
 
Grayfox
Modern day diesels have catalytic converters as well as DPFs and they make the same kind of power from a 1.6


Hondas 1.6 i-DTEC's specs
1598cc 16v 4-cyl turbodiesel, 118bhp, 206lb ft @ 1750rpm
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The 1970s wasn't exactly the most technologically advanced decade.
 
MoLiEG
Had to :lol: Sorry...

plz don't hit me
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dogemobile.png
 

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