From Galway Independent

Mitsubishi has transformed the Outlander model with new styling, more space and most of all, the addition of a diesel engine. The new Outlander has genuine good looks and blends the concept of an SUV with an estate car in a practical sort of way.

You can tell already that I liked the Outlander. I like the style of the car, the space and good driving position. Most of all I like the fact that Mitsubishi is using a well-proven diesel engine under the bonnet.

I took the outlander for a few days test driving recently and came away impressed. Mitsubishi uses a Volkswagen turbo-diesel engine with inter-cooler to deliver adequate power to the Outlander. This is matched to a six-speed gearbox and a dial as-you-need 4×4 system that’s easy to use.

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From GreenCarCongress

The new BMW 1-Series models, announced in January, had their world premiere at the Geneva auto show.

In addition to featuring a start-stop system, brake energy regeneration and electric power steering to reduce fuel consumption as standard, the new 1-Series benefits from new four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines.

Gasoline. The new BMW 1 Series features two variants of the new generation of gasoline engines, both using second-generation High Precision Injection direct fuel injection. This technology is able to maintain lean-burn mode throughout a particularly wide range of engine speeds.

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There’s an interview with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Spiegel Magazine, a German publication, this week. In it, he talks about being the “Green Governor” and how people can still have luxury cars while not destroying the environment. This goes along with what I’m trying to preach about diesel cars. The Governator still has his Hummers, but one has been converted to hydrogen powered and another from diesel to biofuel (which I’m assuming means biodiesel not ethanol). People can drive what they want. It doesn’t have to be in some cheap hybrid where they have to save every penny, which is reflected in the cheap interior, and every ounce of extra weight to get good return to the consumer in mileage and price. With diesel it’s inherently better on the enviroment with less greenhouse gasses emitted (than a comparably sized gas engine obviously), and beyond that, you can still run biodiesel. Anyway, I’ll let you read the interview.

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