Diesels

The Mazda 2.0-liter Sky-D clean-diesel engine, when it makes its debut in a year or two, will almost certainly be the cleanest of the lot.

Volkswagen's TDI diesel engines have long attracted fans and repeat buyers. But now a second investigation this year into the reliability of its TDI engines may cast a shadow over its newest fuel-efficient clean-diesel vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week launched...

We get some of our most interesting topics from reader questions. Past questions include how emergency responders should react to hybrid and electric cars, and whether towing a Prius behind a motorhome is a good idea. Today, we have a query about green cars (not trucks) that offer all-wheel drive...

Despite lack of an official confirmation from Audi of America, we'd bet significant money on the arrival of the Audi A6 Hybrid in the U.S. market. Why? Because the U.S. has the highest hybrid penetration of any market in the world except Japan, and "hybrid" means "high gas mileage" to a large...

In this day and age, when it comes to being green, looking at the end result is never enough. You have to take a life cycle approach to assessing how green something is, which in the case of cars, means looking at how they are manufactured and delivered to your driveway. Unfortunately, most cars...

Diesel models may account for more than half of all new car sales in Europe but in the U.S. their numbers still hover around just 3 percent of the market. This in part because of a national memory of the noisy and polluting diesels of three decades ago, and in part because diesel fuel and engines...

Saab's new deal with a fledgling Chinese automaker doesn't just mean a lifeline for the struggling Swedish automaker; it could over the longer term become a much-needed powertrain supplier—especially in the area of clean diesels. Through the deal that's almost finalized, Hawtai Motor Group...

In some new cars, you can't learn enough over the course of a first drive. There's not enough time to experience every handling nuance, or every electronic helper, in a hundred miles or less. With the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, you'll find the opposite. Spending more than 2000 miles behind the...

It will come as a horrible shock to the driver of the pale green Infiniti QX56, but the 2-ton-plus full-size sport utility vehicle is not actually a hybrid. Nor, for that matter, is a Volkswagen Passat TDI--though it at least has a diesel engine, which gives higher gas mileage than the QX56's...

It's the news Jeep fans all across the country have be waiting years for. That one little tidbit execs at Jeep love to deny but no longer can--that the Jeep Grand Cherokee will be offered with an advanced VM Motori turbodiesel engine in the U.S. by 2013. The information was reportedly revealed...

While Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are the long-term diesel stalwarts in the States, relative newcomer Audi has ambitious plans. During a lengthy teleconference yesterday, Audi confirmed that it would add TDI clean-diesel models to every car it offers in the U.S. market by 2015. Audi has frequently...

Sweden has, for several years, led the world in per-capita green-car ownership. And it's managed to strengthen economically without increasing industrial carbon emissions. But it's emitting more from its tailpipes. Swedes are driving more—enough to wipe away any the gains from greener...

Got a 2009 or 2010 Volkswagen Golf or Jetta with the TDI clean diesel engine? Or an Audi A3 TDI? Ever had the engine stall unexpectedly? If so, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration might like to hear from you. The NHTSA announced Friday on its website that it is upgrading an...

Our cousins across the Atlantic got the new diesel-powered S-Class in June of last year, which we reported on back then. Now, on the eve of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will finally be bringing its fuel-efficient flagship sedan to U.S. soil. Set to debut at this...

Unless you're Argonne Laboratories, putting gasoline into a diesel fueled car is a bad problem. Maybe it was brain fade. Perhaps you rented or borrowed an unfamiliar car. Or you simply didn't realize that nice Volkswagen or Mercedes-Benz was a new, clean-diesel car. (It also happens to particularly...

In Europe, roughly half of all passenger cars sold come with fuel-efficient diesel engines. But for a variety of reasons, passenger diesels haven't caught on in the States, though the number is climbing slowly. Audi, proud of its diesel engine technology--which, among other things, has won the...

The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta arrives this fall in showrooms, but the German automaker's already planning on two green versions of the new compact four-door for U.S. customers. When it goes on sale, the Jetta will assume its usual place in the VW lineup, beneath the Passat and atop a likely addition to...

Mercedes-Benz offers a clean-diesel Bluetec version of each of its large utility vehicles, the R-Class, GL-Class, and M-Class, along with a Hybrid version of the ML. But even combined, the standard gasoline versions of these vehicles are still far ou

The Challenge Bibendum brings the sustainable-mobility world together every year or so--though sometimes, the 2010 edition of the Bibendum didn't come together as quickly as planned. It's a long way from North America to South America, after all. On day one, our travel group was cleaved in half by...

The list of cars offered to U.S. buyers in gasoline, diesel, and hybrid models is going to get longer. On the heels of its confirmation that the 2012 BMW 5-Series will be offered with a full hybrid system, the company has also confirmed it'll sell a clean diesel version of the new 5-Series in the...