blassberg

Must be a flying machine - yep - she goes
don't you think it will blow lotsa ££££££££ whn you come to sell - lease car
easier to insure? - company car

Regarding performance
the sense of acceleration is immense
the sense of speed is zero

blassberg

I've best-averaged 40.5 on a run to London, but not 43.2 yet. Overall average 30.

connectcctv

Drove from Blackburn to Southampton this afternoon AV 67.5 MPH 42.5 MPG, But was doing a Ton up at some point

blassberg

up to 45mpg on occasion, still 32.2 average

Turbo2

One of the reasons that MB and other companies haven't brought more diesels to the US has to do with pollution standards. In 2007 new PM (particualte matter) standards go into effect and no car company has come out and said that they will be able to meet these standards for the US. VW says it is very close, but won't announce anything yet.

Additionally, I really doubt VW (or any other manufacturers) are going to be able to meet these strict new standards. VW had to pull the TDI V10 Touraeg from production in the US becuase the cars weren't meeting the emissions that they had when certified by the government.

Unless companies begin using Urea injection or some other type of technology, diesels cars in the US probably wont happen. It's a shame too...I was able to drive a BMW 530d over the summer in Austin for work and it is an amazing vehicle, blows the E320CDI out of the water in terms of torque, it's got over 400 lb/ft and gets great fuel economy. The 530d could chirp the tires going into 2nd gear, really an amazing powerplant. It's a shame the US won't loosen it's pollution standards, we could conserve the oil and still have powerful, quiet cars.

We can only hope the US will allow diesels in the coming years...

mkaresh

I test drove the E320 CDI last year. Incredible thrust right off idle. Otherwise hard to tell its a diesel. Unfortunately, the handling leaves much to be desired. (I posted a detailed review here: http://www.epinions.com/content_208751922820.)

Does the C-Class CDI similarly handle worse than its gas counterpart? Or have the better compensated for the engine's additional weight? Either way, in the lighter car this engine must pull like crazy at low speeds.

blassberg

Couple of things - I have driven a C320 gas/petrol - but it wasn't mine so I was polite and drove it sensibly.

The C320CDI is a 3 litre V6 in aluminium. Weighs a lot less than the I6 used in E320CDI.

I have sports suspension - putting the tyres/tires at 36 all round makes excellent handling.

It does pull rather well in real-life motoring as recent outing with 2 CLK55AMGs. C43AMG, will testify. SLK55AMG wasn't around to comment.