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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.

Nissan Leaf keeps plug-in vehicle sales crown for 6th straight month

And Nissan makes it 14 in a row. For the 14th straight month, the all-electric Leaf has had "record sales," according to Nissan's marketing team. What that means is that for that particular month (in this case, April) no matter what year you look at, the car sold more than it ever did before. For April 2014, the 2,088 Leafs sold represents a 7.8-percent increase from 2013. Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, Toby Perry, said in a statement that the "new market" of Cincinnati made the top 25 list for Leaf sales areas in April, so the car's popularity continues to ebb and flow across the US. Over at Chevy, the Volt sold 1,548 units in April, reaching a year-to-date total of 5,154. The Leaf is outpacing that with 7,272 YTD sales. In 2013, the Volt outsold the Leaf by about 500 vehicles, but Leaf sales are up 33 percent year-over-year while Volt is down 7.1 percent. The Leaf has also outsold the Volt for six straight months. But we're excited for every eco-car sale, and that's why we'll have our monthly detailed write-up of the rest of the plug-ins, hybrids and diesel vehicles available soon. Until then, discuss. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales

Hennessey HPE1000 builds a 1,000 hp 2016 Chevy Camaro

If the 455-horsepower 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS isn't powerful enough for you off the showroom, ring up the folks at Hennessey Performance. The company can bump the coupe's output up to 650 hp if you want to keep the engine naturally aspirated, but supercharged versions can more than double the stock rating to 1,000 hp. To achieve such a massive boost in performance, the company performs a thorough suite of engine modifications in addition to installing the supercharger and intercooler. Among the biggest tweaks is stroking the motor to 6.8 liters from the stock 6.2 liters. To make sure the mill can handle the boost, it also gets forged pistons, billet steel connecting rods, ported cylinder heads, an upgraded valve train, new engine management, and more. Hennessey tests each car before and after on a chassis dyno and does up to 100 miles of road evaluations. The company claims this tune works with the factory automatic and manual gearboxes. The HPE1000 Camaro is available to order now. Clients send the company their 2016 Camaro SS, and the upgrades cost $65,000, which includes installation, John Hennessey tells Autoblog. The improvements also come with a one-year / 36,000-mile warranty. Unfortunately, Hennessey Performance doesn't have a video of the HPE1000 Camaro, but it does have a clip (below) showing the naturally aspirated HPE600 version, which boasts 526 hp at the rear wheels. Think of it as just a taste of what the forced induction model might offer, but we'd imagine with a screaming supercharger.