Diesel MPGs and the Benefits of Diesel Cars

As regular readers know, we’ve been impressed with the latest diesel cars we’ve tested. Both the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec and the latest Volkswagen Jetta TDI have felt as smooth, quiet, and powerful as gasoline counterparts we tested, while returning much better fuel economy.

The Jetta TDI returned 33 mpg, better than any other current non-hybrid car we’ve tested with more than two seats. The E320 Bluetec got 29 mpg, on par with most small gasoline-powered sedans. (In general, diesels are about 30 percent more efficient than equivalent gas cars.) Both diesels were comfortable and well-equipped, unlike some of the other fuel misers we’ve tested recently.


That’s all good news, and we’d love to follow it up by saying diesels are a great way to save money, as well as oil, and put less CO2 into the atmosphere. But those numbers aren’t so clear.


Cars with diesel engines have always cost more to buy than equivalent gas-engined cars. It used to be that by burning cheaper fuel – and less of it – diesels would compensate for their extra up-front cost fairly quickly. That doesn’t seem to be so true anymore...Continued