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Cruze Diesel Road Trip reveals the good and bad, but no ugly

Most of us have strong opinions on diesel-powered cars based on our perceptions of and experience with them. I used to thoroughly dislike oil burners for their noise, smoke and lackluster performance, and the fact that they ran on greasy, smelly stuff that was more expensive than gasoline, could be hard to find and was nasty to get on your hands when refueling. Those negatives, for me, trumped diesel's major positives of big torque for strong acceleration and better fuel economy. Are any of those knocks on diesel still valid today? I'm not talking semis, which continue to annoy me when their operators for some reason almost never shut them down. At any busy truck stop, the air seems always filled with the sound – and sometimes smell – of dozens of big-rig diesels idling endlessly and mindlessly. Or diesel heavy-duty pickups. Those muscular workhorses are far more refined than they once were and burn much less fuel than their gasoline counterparts. But good luck arriving home late at night, or departing early morning, without waking your housemates and neighbors with their clattery racket. No, I'm talking diesel-powered passenger cars, which account for more than half the market in Europe (diesel fuel is cheaper there) yet still barely bump the sales charts in North America. Diesel fuel remains more expensive here, too few stations carry it, and too many Americans remember when diesel cars were noisy, smelly slugs. Also, US emissions requirements make them substantially more expensive to certify, and therefore to buy. But put aside (if you can) higher vehicle purchase and fuel prices, and today's diesel cars can be delightful to drive while delivering much better fuel efficiency than gas-powered versions. So far in the US, all except Chevrolet's compact Cruze Diesel come from German brands, and all are amazingly quiet, visually clean (no smoke) and can be torquey-fun to drive. When a GM Powertrain engineering team set out to modify a tried-and-true GM of Europe turbodiesel four for North American Chevy Cruze compacts, says assistant chief engineer Mike Siegrist, it had a clear target in mind: the Volkswagen Jetta TDI 2.0-liter diesel. And they'll tell you that they beat it in nearly every way. "I believe we have a superior product," he says. "It's powerful, efficient and clean, and it will change perceptions of what a diesel car can be." The 2.0L Cruze turbodiesel pumps out 151 SAE certified horses and 264 pound-feet of torque (at just 2,000 rpm) vs.

Driving the Toyota Tacoma, BMW 430i and Chevy Corvette Convertible | Autoblog Podcast #671

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor James Riswick and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. First, they talk about driving the Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road (equipped with a TRD Lift Kit), Mini Cooper S Hardtop 2-Dor, BMW 430i xDrive, Chevy Corvette Convertible and Chevy Suburban with the Duramax diesel engine. They discuss the news, including Toyota's desire to differentiate the 86 from the BRZ, the new Jeep Magneto concept and Greg's opinion piece on why Stellantis needs Chrysler. Last, but not least, they dig into the mailbag to help a listener figure out how to replace their Honda S2000 and Honda Fit. Autoblog Podcast #671 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars We're Driving 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road 2021 Mini Cooper S Hardtop 2 Door 2021 BMW 430i xDrive 2021 Chevy Corvette Convertible 2021 Chevy Suburban Duramax diesel News Toyota 86 reportedly delayed to differentiate it from Subaru BRZ Jeep Magneto: Electrifying the Easter Jeep Safari with a Wrangler EV Why Stellantis needs Chrysler Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: Podcasts BMW Chevrolet Chrysler GM MINI Toyota Truck Coupe SUV Diesel Vehicles Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance

Chevy Bolt interior spied for first time

Chevrolet is continuing work on its Bolt EV, but thanks to some public-road testing in what looks to be somewhere in Michigan, we've captured our first look at the new hatchback's screen-intensive dash. Looking like a blend of the Chevy Sonic with the new Volt, the Bolt's interior follows a simple formula, offering a digital display in place of the traditional instrument cluster alongside a large, prominent display in the center stack. Nothing too shocking, except for the fact that both displays look larger than what's in the Volt. What's most surprising, though, is the shifter. It looks almost BMW-like in appearance. There's a dedicated park button accessible by the driver's thumb, and we're guessing a trigger on the front that can toggle the lever forward into reverse and backwards into drive. The central display, meanwhile, looks like it's running some very different looking software, compared to Chevy's usual MyLink fare. We can't be sure whether this is simply some development software that's free of polish and not intended for production, or a look at a new form of Chevy's connectivity suite. Aside from some different wheels, the exterior of this prototype looks unchanged from the last round of spy photos we captured of the new Bolt. Sorry kids, no new exterior styling to show you today. Still, we've included the entire crop of spy images, covering a variety of exterior angles along with several shots of the interior. Related Video: