Sometimes, it’s the incongruities which make covering the auto industry as interesting and exciting as it is.
For many Americans, maybe the majority of car-buyers, cars coming with a “clean diesel” or a “diesel/electric hybrid” engine might not make sense, at first. But they’re going on sale this summer, and as summer rolls into the traditional new car introductions of the fall (and remember how fun those were?), several Euro car-makers have a good chance of dominating the sales of vehicles with these new clean diesel powerplants. (Above, Audi has won the 24 Hours of Lemans the past three years with turbodiesel power; two R10 Audis with V12 5.5 liter engines are shown at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Below, That engine, which makes over 600-horsepower, is seen below).
GM’s use of diesels in Oldsmobile from 1977 to 1985, were a low point for the company and their customers. GM thought that using a standard V-8 engine block and modifying its top end to run on diesel would be a neat trick. Unfortunately it was a terrible failure almost from its start, and GM had to replace a lot of diesel engines with the company’s standard gasoline V-8s.
These new clean diesels have been approved for sale in California, the state with the toughest (and best) 
emissions laws. Until now, and since October, 1998, diesel engines were essentially banned in cars and light trucks in the state. California accounts for nearly 15% of all car and truck sales in the country, so not being able to sell diesels in California forced all major car-makers to stop selling diesels nationally.
But these new clean diesels, which run correctly only on the low sulfur diesel fuels now available nationally (and more expensive than gasoline), are cleared for registration in all 50 states.
Click below for more on which European models are selling clean diesels in the US.
Mercedes-Benz (selling clean diesels with the BlueTec name) and Audi and Volkswagen (where their engines wear the TDI badge) was pioneered by engineers from those companies. And it appears that the Detroit Three will be left out, at least initially, as these highly-refined and sophisticated cars hit the showrooms. (Click on the chart to see it in a larger format).
Volkswagen’s Touareg-2 SUV will get the turbodiesel V10-treatment. The 4.9-liter turbodiesel engine makes 310-horsepower and a whopping, ridiculous and impressive (can you tell I’m excited?) 553 foot pounds of torque. So if your 60 foot motorhome needs a tow, you can just hook it up to the Touareg. Look for many more clean diesel offerings from VW, which will probably, and eventually, offer a turbodiesel version of every car in their US line-up.
Coming from Mercedes Benz in November, 2008 will be several BlueTec-equipped products, including their 
ML320 Bluetec, and GL-, ML- and R-class sport crossover utilities (and someday: a Vision GLK BlueTec diesel hybrid). All could be outfitted with the company’s 3-liter turbodiesel V-6 and offer EPA mileage estimates of 18 mpg in town and 24 mpg on the highway. Some of these Merc’s will base-price around $46,000.
BMW recently announced a turbodiesel powerplant for some of their new 1-series cars sold in the US. BMW’s 1-series will use twin-turbo four-cylinder engines, and BMW’s 120d is the world's first four-cylinder engine with Variable Twin Turbo. In Europe, BMW offers 6 different gasoline engines and 5 different diesels, so consumers there have a better choice.
Audi, which has won the last three 24 Hours of LeMans, the world’s most important sports car event, with V12 5.5-liter turbodiesels engines, is dropping 3.0 liter V10 turbodiesels versions of their racing engines into the attractive (well, I like it) Q7 SUV within the next few months.
Acura will put a diesel (I know, that “diesel in an Acura” threw you for a second) in more than one car and truck starting in 2009. The just-introduced TSX could be the first. Starting in early 2009, the lux-o division of all-mighty Honda says they may use a 2.2 liter four-banger called i-DTEC (sounds like some security feature at airports, doesn’t it?) to do the job.
The new 2010 Maxima from Nissan will have a diesel option, a 3-liter V6 dCi, which was first displayed as a concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It was developed along with business partner Renault, whose president, Carlos Ghosn, is also the head of Nissan. Rather than gas/electric hybrids, Ghosn is much more excited about diesels and, especially, developing all-electric EVs. Their Altima hybrid uses technology purchased from Toyota.
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee (are they still making that?) can be had with a 3.0 liter turbo diesel engine which
makes 215 horsepower and 376 pounds feet of torque (which is best defined as “it’s what you feel” when you step hard on the gas pedal, or diesel pedal).
GM, Ford and Dodge will continue to offer the various diesel powerplants they already have, and expand on the number of clean diesels in their line-up. But when you can’t sell your trucks because of their size and cost and low mpg figures, it’s going to take a lot of work by GMC, Chevrolet and (maybe) Pontiac to get people into their stores.
In 2009, a diesel will be offered in light-duty full-size GM and Chevy pickups, instead of only in their heavy-duty models. GM has also announced a 2.9-liter V6 diesel for European-market Cadillac CTS sedans beginning in 2009, but haven’t said if that is US-bound.
Subaru is planning in 2010 to use a 2.0 liter turbocharged diesel with the company’s signature “flat four” configuration on their Legacy sedan and/or their Outback wagon. The company estimates that EPA numbers will be in the neighborhood of 33 mpg in the city and 47 mpg on the highway. Both cars should be base-priced under $30,000.
So that’s the clean diesel line-up --- At least so far. Please leave us a comment or two, about what I’ve written and, especially, if I missed anything that we should have mentioned. Also, when it comes to bio-fuel, does anyone have any experience with these new engines and running them with bio-fuel?
And, especially, how you feel about this new generation of diesel engines, which will run correctly only on
low sulfur fuel, which is pricier than gasoline these days, and your comments on anything pertinent to these new engines. (Following Audi's remarkable success with their turbodiesel race cars, they've built one of their own and came in second, to Audi, again, at this year's 24 Hours of Lemans; look for Peugeot to re-launch in the US with clean diesels part of their line-up)
Comments