For years enthusiasts have talked about diesels as a viable answer to rising gas prices. They are proven, offer a lot of torque, and are inexpensive to produce. In Europe, diesel sales have always far surpassed their gasoline counterparts.
As such, the German manufacturers have many diesel engines in their arsenal. However, they have never caught on in the United States – until now. It seems the image of the underpowered, smelly and unrefined diesel Mercedes did their image in.
Recently though, Volkswagen has seen strong sales of the Passat TDI and just introduced a Beetle TDI recently. Now Audi is joining the club with five TDI models for the American market. Up until now, Audi has only offered a Q7 TDI. Today though, that is expanding to the Q5 and Audi’s A6, A7 and A8 sedans. Curiously, the A4 is left off the list. Why not just go with them across the board? Previous reports said we would see an A4 TDI and maybe it’s coming later. We won’t complain..this is good news, really good news.
These models will all share a singular engine option: a 3.0 liter turbo charged V6, making 240 horsepower and a startling 406 pound-feet of torque. Mileage estimates are only available for the A8 and Q7 at the moment. The A8 TDI will return 24 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. The Q7 SUV gets 19 mpg city and 28 highway. As for the other cars, Audi says they will achieve roughly 30 percent better fuel economy and 30% lower carbon dioxide emissions. The first to go on sale is the A8 TDI early next year. The rest will follow next fall.
