Check out Volkswagen’s TDI Truth & Dare Blog
So you want to save the planet and still drive a car you say? Well, then, start thinking diesel.
Take Volkswagen’s new Touareg V6 TDI for instance. It’s one of the most fuel efficient and clean SUV’s in the world. While Japan and Detroit have chosen to focus on cars that will eventually plug into your wall the German manufacturer has quietly developed its Clean Diesel technology into something truly astonishing. Firing up this 3.0L turbocharged six will not rattle your teeth or wake the neighbors. Instead, 225 eager horses and a jaw-dropping 407 lbs-ft. of torque are quietly at your disposal for highway, off-road or however you see fit. Equipped with one of the most advanced catalytic converters in production, as well as a urea-based solution, steadily metered into the truck’s exhaust, the Touareg’s engine is 50 state legal, and accomplishes something quite remarkable. By reducing nitrogen oxide emissions up to 90%, the air put out the tailpipe is in many cases cleaner than the air breathed in. OK, so I’ll admit I don’t really understand how, but VW has a lot of technical talk to back it up on their new TDI Truth & Dare Blog: http://www.tditruthanddare.com/.
Inside, the diesel Touareg is still a Touareg, which in case you don’t know, is not a bad thing. The SUV, first developed as a joint project with Porsche (for their Cayenne), is an exercise in balance. Knobs, buttons and the gear-shift are big and bulky like a truck’s should be, yet the elegant, neatly trimmed cabin is anything but unrefined. So whether you’re off to some fancy cooking lesson or a trip down to the docks, you’ll look and fit the part just fine. Never mind that with its 26 gallon tank and average of 25mpg, you’ll only be touching them germ-ridden gas pumps every 600 miles or so.
On or off road, the Touareg is a pleasure to drive, with more than adequate power and a well-balanced suspension that won’t make you feel like you’re balancing on a tightrope like some heftier SUVs. Outside, VW did another beautiful thing and kept the alternative-energy badging to an absolute minimum. You won’t find gaudy window stickers or pretentiously green emblems sprouting little trees; just a simple, unassuming TDI that says “Hey World, I’m doing my part.” And you are. The US Environmental Protection Agency recently determined that the United States could conserve more than 500 million barrels of crude oil per year if we, as a country, switched just a third of our cars to modern diesels; a few more, and we’d be cutting our dependency on foreign oil outright. Or you can just rock a plug in your head and join the matrix like everyone else – But I warned you. – William Gock
www.tditruthanddare.com
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