Motoring Blog

U.S. legislation that requires a 40 percent jump in fuel efficiency by 2020 and less diesel emissions made car manufacturers pay more attention to their future plans.

The result was that Detroit 2008 was overcome by next-generation diesel engines. Clean diesel delivers more power than they used to, and they are also better at saving fuel. However, they cost more to produce than vehicles running on gasoline engines.

“It is a major step forward in fuel saving and we are going across the board to promote technology. Modern diesel engines provide tremendous torque and a very smooth run and a boost of 20 to 30 percent in fuel efficiency. Those are very strong arguments for this technology”, said Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler AG and Mercedes

Mazda has announced its new direct-injection engines, called the DISI (direct injection spark ignition), Ford showed its EcoBoost engines or Acura Clean Diesel i-DTEC, and there were plenty more. ConsumerReports has even experienced the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetech firsthand.

Our recent experiences with diesels have been quite positive; the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetech (Ratings available online to subscribers only) did very well in our tests, delivering 29 mpg overall and an outstanding 630-mile cruising range.

All these new diesel engines are a good first step towards a better environment, but people still think that diesel means more noise, less power and so on. Perhaps those people visiting Detroit 2008 might now start to think more positively about diesel.

Photo: © MyBarina

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