Personally, I still love the stately, unhurried power of our OG Mercedes turbodiesel. That blinding black cloud of smoke it emits when I downshift makes me feel like a giant squid making an escape. And I'm sure it's mellow sluggishness has saved me from enough speeding tickets to pay for--actually, no, there's no way to pretend an old car doesn't cost a fortune to maintain when you don't do the work yourself.
But I can see the appeal of the new-style diesels, the kind that don't smoke or rattle or embarrass you off the line. And so can the New York Times' Lawrence Ulrich. In fact, he goes on--and on and on--about the sheer, oil-burning awesomeness of the new VW Jetta TDI: "a high-mileage masterpiece." "the best mileage of any American-market car I've tested -- gas, diesel or hybrid." "virtually a road warrior [compared to the Prius, anyway]."
Sounds awesome. If only the styline were a little more distinctive, I'd be sold, too. I mean, I think I've seen new Jettas around town, but frankly, I can't tell.
High-Mileage Masterpiece [nyt]
Hopefully they don't wait so long after the introduction of the Mk6 Golf to bring out the next Jetta... if it looks as good as the Golf it's going to be a pretty nice little car. I still want a Sport Wagen but after seeing the next Golf, I'm way more tempted to wait.
I'm with you on the Mercedes OG turbodiesel. My dad had one when I was growing up and you could hear him coming down the street at the end of the day. To this day when I hear a Mercedes, I look around to see if Daddy is driving down the street.