The U.S. market is nearly devoid of diesel passenger vehicles, but Chevrolet is throwing its hat into the ring with the Cruze 2.0TD. This turbo diesel will get 46 MPG highway and up to a 700 mile range. Pretty impressive. For comparison's sake, the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta TDI gets 46 MPG on the highway; a Toyota Prius gets 48.
However, diesels have an appeal all their own, and there's the huge helping of low-end torque—258 ft./lbs. to be exact. It also makes 148 horsepower, if you were wondering, which you probably were. By the way, it'll run on up to 20% biodiesel.
There will also be a boost feature that will allow the engine to spike up to 280 ft./lbs. of torque for 10 seconds when drivers need a big more get-up-and-go. The car will only be available in upper trim levels and with an automatic transmission. The car starts at $25,695 including freight.
While I wish it were available with a manual transmission, I'm glad to see another mainstream company entering the diesel passenger car market. Plus, it gives me hope that other manufacturers will follow suit. Sales begin in May/June.
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Chevrolet Cruze Diesel
1 comment:
So glad to see another diesel passenger car in the US, and from a US maker no less! Too bad there's not manual available. I'll be curious to see how it fares. The diesel Cadillac some years back was an absolute disaster. Let's hope GM has learned from that.
Scott
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