It's no secret that we American automotive journalists are anxiously awaiting the arrival of BMW's new U.S.-spec diesel offerings, the 335d and X5 xDrive35d. In the meantime, however, the folks at Honeywell (who specialize in turbo technologies) provided us with a Euro-spec X5 3.0d for a week in order for us to experience BMW's current diesel offerings.

While it's not as powerful as the upcoming twin-turbo-diesel X5 35d, our test car put out a very adequate 235 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. This means the X5 3.0d can scoot from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 8.3 seconds and -- under normal driving habits -- can achieve fuel economy ratings around 26 miles per gallon. Honeywell tells us that if we would have been a bit lighter on the throttle, we could have achieved up to 33 mpg on the highway.

(Click through the post to continue reading this review.)

Acura's American diesel program is deader than John McCain's presidential ambitions--so says Autoblog Green.  Just prior to their Prop 8 protest walkout, the Green gang was informed by Sage Marie of Honda's US arm that the Acura diesel plan was being put on indefinate hold.  Marie remarked that business factors, such as diesel costs and falling car sales, caused the decision. 

Each year, a jury of well-seasoned automotive personnel give out the International Car of the Year awards in a big ceremony to kick off the North American International Auto Show festivities. This year will be no different, and the final nominees have officially been announced. The Dodge Challenger, Ford Flex, and Nissan GT-R will do battle for the International Car of the Year title, while the Dodge Ram 1500, Ford F-150, and Subaru Forester duke it out for the International Truck of the Year honors.

In addition, the jury will be presenting their first-ever Earth, Wind & Power awards, showcasing cars that help to reduce global warming and promote a cleaner environment. For this new award, the BMW 335d, Volkswagen Jetta TDI, and Jetta SportWagen TDI are the nominees for Car of the Year, and the BMW X5 35d, Ford Escape Hybrid, and Mercedes-Benz ML320 Bluetec are in the runnings for Truck of the Year.

Which cars will reign supreme? We'll have to wait until the official awards ceremony set to take place on January 10 at Detroit's MGM Grand casino. In the meantime, click through the above gallery to see all of the nominees and stay tuned for the winners.

+ ICOTY

If there was one positive factor about 2008's energy crisis, it's that it forced consumers to put more weight on fuel economy when making car-buying decisions. And while we may have moved away from $4-per-gallon gasoline, fuel efficiency still places high on the "must have" list for a lot of new car shoppers. Now that we know how easily these price hikes can happen, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

We've seen major manufacturers expanding their ranges of hybrid offerings, and for the first time, clean diesels are starting to make their way onto American soil, proving that you don't have to sacrifice performance for the sake of fuel consumption. Scroll through the gallery above to see out list of the ten most fuel efficient cars for 2009.

Note: This information is based off of the 2009 FuelEconomy.gov listing.

When we took some time off for the Thanksgiving holiday, it meant that our usual rotation of switching cars each day would be put on hold. Instead, we all had the chance to spend five days with a particular car in the test fleet; our choices being a 2009 Hyundai Genesis 3.8, 2009 Infiniti M35 Sport, Bosch Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD, 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and a 2008 Kia Sportage.

Click through the gallery to read our individual thoughts about each vehicle.

Our long-term Jetta TDI has 4300 miles on it now, and even though it's been in our local VW dealer's service department twice due to faulty seatbelt sensors, today's news of the Jetta's win as Green Car Journal's 2009 Green Car of the Year gives us another reason to smile when we see our blue TDI sitting in the parking lot. We've been achieving fuel economy numbers around 41.5 miles per gallon so far under our normal driving habits, and we're impressed with how powerful this engine is while still being quite economical.

“The Volkswagen Jetta TDI rose to the top as Green Car Journal’s 2009 Green Car of the Year for some very important reasons,” says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal. “Hybrids have dominated the discussion of environmentally positive vehicles in recent years. The highly fuel efficient, 50 state emissions certified Jetta TDI shows that advanced clean diesel has arrived and is poised to change this dynamic. With its affordable price point, refined ride and handling, and high fuel economy, the Jetta TDI shows that hybrids now have a strong competitor in the marketplace.”

Congratulations, TeDI. Click through the post to read Volkswagen's official press release.

It may sound odd to you, but the Renault-Nissan Alliance hasn't produced any modern V6 Diesel engines - so far. After all the alliance, will have a decent engine to go with their 10th anniversary next year.

The first Diesel V6 engine developed and produced by the Alliance bares the code V9X. It is based on dCi common rail technology, and know-how derived from the 2.0 dCi straight four engine (year 2005).

BMW has officially announced pricing details about the 3-Series and X5 diesels which will be making their way into American showrooms within the next few months. The 335d will be priced at $44,725 (including a $900 tax credit) while the X5 xDrive35d will command $52,025.

Both of these cars are powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six which will pump out 265 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque. These cars will use urea injection and a particulate filter to clean up the NOx emissions. BMW says that the urea tanks can hold 5.5 gallons of fluid which will last about 15,000 miles. The urea will be replenished at the regular 10,000-mile service intervals (which are free of charge for the first 50,000 miles).

As far as fuel economy goes, the 335d is rated at 23/36 miles per gallon with a range of around 560 miles and the X5 35d should be able to go for 585 miles obtaining 19/26 mpg ratings.

+ AutoblogGreen: BMW officially announces new 335d and X5 xDrive35d diesels

If there's one automaker who seems to be on an increasingly upward trend lately, it's Hyundai. The Koreans took the world by storm with their eight-cylinder, rear-drive Genesis sedan, and the Hyundai folks have now released another bit of engineering to compete more closely with other worldwide automakers.

Hyundai's new four-cylinder diesel R-Engine will be available in both 2.0 and 2.2-liter displacements. The 2.0 produces 181 horsepower and 289 pound-feet of torque while the 2.2 puts out 215 horses and 398 pound-feet. Both engines are more powerful than Audi's new 2.0 TDI engine (170 hp/258 lb-ft).

The first vehicles to get these engines will be SUVs and large sedans sold in Europe, since the R-Engine meets Euro-V emission standards. No word on if this engine will ever make its way to the States, mostly due to our stricter emissions requirements. And to think, we'd love to see a Genesis Coupe with one of these powerplants under the hood.

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui announced at the last North American International Auto Show that his company would bring its first ever diesel engine to the USA in 2009, with most speculating that Acura’s TSX would be the first application of the powerplant.
 
Now various sources are reporting that the i-DTEC TSX has been put in the cooler indefinitely, presumably because the automatic transmission-equipped version of the has been unable to pass emissions testing. While the same source says that the six-speed manual-equipped car was able to cut the EPA mustard, Acura believes that offering the diesel TSX without an automatic option would greatly hurt demand for the vehicle.
 
Meanwhile the V-6 version of the car is reportedly being “fast-tracked” to make up for the diesel lack. That’s potentially good news for TSX fans but doesn’t do much for the growing legions of diesel-lovers in North America.

+ Vtec.net