A lot more mpgs. I used to drive Audi's in a previous job a couple years ago. The main one I drove was the A6 3.0 diesel quattro. It was quick and economical but the power band was very narrow and took the fun away from driving it. I prefered the 2.0 diesel engine. It wasn't quite as quick but was much more usable, more fun and a lot more economical. Bigger and faster isn't always better.
Grumpy, the Jetta Sportwagon TDI is a fairly large diesel car that gets 40mpg highway. So does the Prius v.
Quite true. However, the Jetta (I believe) is still smaller than the E-Klasse and it also doesn't have 400 pound-feet of torque.
For what it's worth, Motor Trend used a Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTec as its example of diesel technology in a 2007 comparison of "Alternative-Fuel Technologies" ( Alternative-Fuel Technologies - Auto News Feature - Motor Trend ). The E320 BlueTec actually fared quite well in this evaluation.
Very impressive for a large car, but don't forget one thing: Diesel is more expensive in most parts of the US. Here it is 16% higher which lowers the effective gas mileage from 38 down to 33 mpg.
E350 Bluetec Diesel (Mercedes E350) | Fuelly Only one E350 diesel on Fuelly. 29.5 MPG over the last 9 months. 60% hwy.
You did what?? I don't know but fuel price is a very sensitive topic. People complain about using premium fuel on the smart and Volt and yet have no problem with premium fuel in a MINI. It's once reason why Mazda isn't giving us the full meal deal on the SkyActiv engine. The 14.5 compression ratio requires premium fuel and they probably saw what happened with the Volt so they detuned the engine to run on regular fuel (and we lose some mpg in the process though I don't know if the difference is the same as the cost saved on regular fuel)
That may be because the refinery had to reduce the amount of diesel in the crude to keep gasoline prices low. Plus, you are getting more BTUs per gallon. Anecdotal evidence implies that the cost is about the same per mile. If so, using premium is better. Not only do you get the full rated engine output, but you are also physically burning less gas. Then the price difference for most would just mean eating fast food less during the week.
That was the thing. I told people that it cost the same as a Yaris to fill up so I didn't see what the big deal for premium fuel in the smart. (33 litre tank vs. 45 litres in the Yaris and the better fuel economy of the smart helped too so that they both travel the same distance ~500km on a tank in the city). But people are so fixated on it (and their argument would be true IF you had to use more fuel such as a turbocharged performance car or a V8 luxury car) but you're using less fuel so the extra cost should be a wash but Mazda is being cautious with the US-spec SkyActiv engines, knowing that the "91 octane" in the manual will cost a huge uproar.
interesting to see a discussion on this media about a diesel car. I find both engine interesting, and for me the Prius is very good for city drive, but the MBE best on the highway, and fast highways, as you can in Germany. maybe the discussion would be more relevant the MBE forum... Newbie question on 2012 E350 Bluetec... - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum or related pages...
one of the reason to "high" consumption is the too wide wheels, they could easily change "down" to 16 inches, and the the drive comfort would be more soft, too.
