Americans are notoriously slow on the uptake some times. Clean diesel technology is yet another case in point. TDI only got to America in 2009 and if it’s a car or a truck and it doesn’t have a big V6 / V8 petrol engine underneath ‘the hood’ the Americans will think it’s worthless and invariably call it a ‘compact / sub-compact’ piece of you-know-what. The Germans at Audi are about to continue their re-education of America, however, with four new diesels for the U.S. market. These cars will be shown at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The models in question are the Audi A6, A7 Sportback, A8, and Q5, all of which will get TDI derivatives for the first time. The new models will join the Q7 and A3 TDI to bring Audi’s diesel offerings to a total of six models across North America. Of course, the Americans won’t be happy with the perfectly sensible 2.0-litre four-cylinder TDI, oh no, they’re still going to need a minimum of six-cylinders chugging away under their ‘hoods’ – so it is the 3.0-litre V6 TDI that will be called into action. Yes, you, I and the rest of the world knows that it is one cracker of a diesel engine, but we wait to see what the Americans will make of it.
Lest we forget the 184 kW and 550 Nm 3.0-litre TDI is capable of getting a flagship Audi A8 from 0 – 100 km/h in less than 6.5 seconds, while still providing it with a claimed economy figure below 8.0 L/100 km with CO2 emissions of 174 g/km. Although, Audi U.S. is yet to officially release economy ratings for it’s new, TDI-engined models, President of Audi America, Scott Keogh, says “Owners of Audi TDI engines have helped save over 4 million gallons of gasoline, or the equivalent of more than 240 000 barrels of foreign oil, since the introduction of Audi TDI to the U.S. in 2009.”
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