Because of tougher emission requirements and more stringent fuel requirements, both here and in Europe, BMW is ending production of their V8 diesel. They also feel because of turbocharging and direct injection, that 6-and 4-cylinder diesels will be more than adequate for those customers. Mercedes-Benz is also rumored to be following this same path, although nothing officially has been announced yet.
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sandcountry360 says:
07:57 AM, 03/27/08
Gah! So much for that GL420 CDI I'd been hoping for. Oh well. I think it's kind of a non-sense claim anyways. Who really Needs any more that a turbo four in Anything? Think about it, V8's of a decade ago were barely making 250 hp, and now we've got a 260 hp turbo four, and the torque isn't that far behind. That'd actually be really fun to see-just how liveable is GM's 2.0 Turbo/ 6-speed automatic in something like a Tahoe or Suburban? I'd bet people would be surprised at how easily daily life progressed. And with Hybrid-beating fuel mileage to boot! The point is, people don't Need more power, they WANT more power. Especially in the luxury car arena. I see Audi coming out ahead on this bone-headed move.
ateixeira says:
06:13 AM, 03/28/08
Performance hybrids have mostly failed here, you have to wonder if it makes sense to market performance diesels.
I say go for economy. They can meet that goal and still have more than adequate performance with a turbo diesel 6.