Diesel Car Guide: Every 2015-2016 Car & Light Truck, With Specs: UPDATED
2013 Audi TDI range
Diesel cars may keep a lower profile than hybrids or battery-electrics, but they’re a good option for drivers looking to reliably save fuel.
Many efficiency-focused gasoline cars and some hybrids have achieved stellar window-sticker fuel-economy ratings, only to fall brief in the real world.
Diesels generally don’t have that problem. In fact, they’ve been known to exceed EPA-rated highway figures in regular driving.
Thanks to mandated particulate filters and urea injection, today’s diesels are also much cleaner than the soot-spewing models many American drivers recall from decades ago.
Below is the Green Car Reports guide to every two thousand fifteen and two thousand sixteen model-year diesel car and truck on sale in the U.S., with total powertrain specs and fuel economy for each.
2015 Audi A3 TDI, Fresh York City, Nov 2014
The Volkswagen Group is very enthusiastic about diesels, something that’s instantaneously apparent from looking at the lineup of its luxury Audi brand.
Kicking off from the bottom, the two thousand fifteen Audi A3 TDI features a Two.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces one hundred fifty horsepower and two hundred thirty six pound-feet of torque.
A six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive are mandatory with the diesel, which gets an EPA-rated thirty six mpg combined (31 mpg city, forty three mpg highway).
Next up are the mechanically-similar A6 TDI and A7 TDI, both of which use a Trio.0-liter turbocharged V-6 with two hundred forty hp and four hundred twenty eight lb-ft.
Both models are suggested solely with an eight-speed automatic and quattro all-wheel drive, and get the same twenty nine mpg combined (24 mpg city, thirty eight mpg highway).
The Q5 and Q7 SUVs share the six-cylinder powertrain as well, albeit the Q7 is only rated at four hundred six lb-ft of torque. They come back twenty seven mpg combined (24 mpg city, thirty one mpg highway) and twenty two mpg combined (Nineteen mpg city, twenty eight mpg highway), respectively.
Note that an all-new Q7 TDI is due for the two thousand sixteen model year, with an upgraded Trio.0-liter V-6 expected to produce two hundred seventy two hp and four hundred forty three lb-ft.
The Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid variant will feature a diesel engine, albeit latest reports claim the U.S. version will get gasoline power instead.
BMW offers a broad array of diesels, including three sizes of sedan, two sizes of SUV, and even a station wagon.
That last model is the 328d Sports Wagon which, along with the 328d sedan, uses a Two.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces one hundred eighty hp and two hundred eighty lb-ft of torque.
The sedan is available with either rear-wheel drive or xDrive all-wheel drive, while the wagon is all-wheel drive only. An eight-speed automatic is mandatory on all models.
The rear-wheel drive 328d sedan comes back thirty seven mpg combined (32 mpg city, forty five mpg highway), while the all-wheel drive sedan and wagon comeback thirty five mpg combined (31 mpg city, forty three mpg highway).
2015 BMW 328d sedan and Sports Wagon
The former gets thirty mpg combined (26 mpg city, thirty eight mpg highway), while the latter loses one mpg in the highway category.
There’s also a larger 740Ld xDrive that uses the same powertrain as the 535d xDrive, with mileage diminished to twenty six mpg combined (23 mpg city, thirty one mpg highway).
In addition, diesel versions of the X3 and X5 SUVs share powertrains with the three Series and five series respectively. All-wheel drive is mandatory for both.
The two thousand fifteen X3 xDrive 28d is rated at thirty mpg combined (27 mpg city, thirty four mpg highway), while the X5 xDrive 35d is rated at twenty seven mpg combined (24 mpg city, thirty one mpg highway).