Summary
America is about to learn what Europe has known for years, that clean and efficient diesel cars are a step in the right direction
Climb aboard Audi's Q7 SUV and twist the key. The engine comes almost silently to life, somewhere up there under a massive hood. Enjoy the typically fine finish of Audi's interior for a moment-it is bound to make even a dull day start off a little better-then put the leather-clad gear selector into Drive, push on the gas pedal, and off you go. "This drives just like a real car!" I said to myself. There is no news here, and that is the news, for the Q7 I'm driving is powered by a turbodiesel V-6 as smooth and as quiet as any gasoline engine in a luxury car, indistinguishable in fact from a big American V-8. On the test loop I'm driving, Toronto to Niagara Falls and back, I guess that a V-8 in a Q7-sized car would get 15 mpg on this mix for urban freeway and quick country roads. This Audi's 3.0-liter diesel will probably deliver about 24 mpg. This expected 60 percent increase in fuel economy is the reason diesel- powered cars will be coming to America soon -first in a drizzle, and if people buy them, then an even bigger drizzle.See the full content of this document
Extract
Future of Fuel: Diesel?
As more American drivers get their hands on diesels, they'll discover two more benefits of diesel ownership: big torque and long range. It's torque that gives an engine the hulking sense of powerful pull, moving a car in an effortless glide from a stop to everhigher speeds. Low-revving diesels inherently have gobs of torque. At 24 mpg, you get a big SUV that, with its 26-gallon tank, has a range of more than 600 miles. That's almost to Las Vegas, Nev., definitely to Phoenix, on one tank. That's "let's just get...
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