AutoScape

Oil prices are still over sixty dollars a barrel, and that means high gas prices just about everywhere. Everyone responds to this in a slightly different way. The Japanese are touting the benefits of hybrid drivetrains, and the Americans are slowly migrating away from SUVs to lighter, more efficient vehicles. Europeans meanwhile are continuing their decades-long love affair with the diesel. Here in the United States the diesel is relegated to heavy trucks, farm vehicles and serious pick-ups. But in Europe they account for about half of all vehicle sales. Now Audi plans to take a diesel to LeMans. That may seem something like bringing a manure covered farm-hand to the Oscars, but apparently Audi disagrees. In fact their mission is most likely to convince potential diesel buyers that these engines are more than simple work-horses. Diesels can be efficient, powerful and, most importantly, fast. If a diesel can win a LeMans there's not much a diesel can't do. But can Audi make it happen? We'll see.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103791

posted by LymanSS @ 4:17 AM