Audi A4 Clean Diesel

Forget about those slow, boring "eco-cars" for a minute. I've said it before, environmentally friendly cars don't necessarily need to be boring: Audi has just revealed the new A4 3.0 TDI Clean Diesel, featuring some fancy schmancy catalytic converter that keeps down the emission of those nasty little particles.

This baby will do 0-100 km/h in only 6.2 seconds, numbers worthy a sports car. And the best part? The fuel consumption is only 0,67 liters/km combined. Nothing less than impressive, if you ask me.

Suck on that Volkswagen and Volvo!

Photo: Raptor Alpha

Backwards into the future

Green cars are very fashionable at the moment, and all car manufacturers with a bit of self respect are struggling to deliver cars that employ some sort of technology to keep that Co2 emission down.

Unfortunately some manufacturers seem willing to sacrifice every little bit of fun in order to achieve this. Volvo is one example of this, with their DRIVe models, that are powered by tiny diesel engines barely able to get the cars up to motorway speed, not to mention how long it takes them to get there... Another ugly example are the new Bluemotion models from Volkswagen. A VW Passat with a 105 hp diesel engine? Oh, VW, no!

Not since the mid 80's have I seen cars move this slowly from 0-100 km/h, and I wish I would never have to see it again. The Passat clocks in at an embarrassing 12,5 seconds, and the Volvo V70 at an astonishingly slow 13,5 seconds! I would have been sound asleep after those 13,5 seconds of trying to get the piece of junk moving.

I'm sorry, but there are clearly better ways to keep the Co2 down, even on combustion engines powered by fossile fuel, and preferably while keeping the fun up. BMW have demonstrated this with their "EfficientDynamics", and Saab have proven that downsizing doesn't have to mean boring. Plus, let's not forget there are other fuels out there that are waiting to be used by car manufacturers: E85, biogas, electricity...

Driving environmentally friendly does not have to be ridiculously boring!

VW makes same mistake as Volvo

Volkswagen seem to be going down the same path as Volvo with their compact suv, Tiguan. In the interest of keeping CO2-emissions to a minimum, VW are announcing a front-wheel drive version of the Tiguan, with a Bluemotion-sticker on it... The result is, granted, a bit better than the Volvo XC60, in terms of fuel consumption and emissions, but assuming it's powered by the 110 hp diesel engine this could make for an extremely boring ride.

Also, my question still remains: Who is going to buy such a car? If you want a suv you'll probably want four-wheel drive as well. Buying a car like this with front-wheel drive is like buying a Porsche 911 with a 1,2 liter engine from Fiat.

Volkswagen BlueTDI - too little too late

Volkswagen will be displaying a new Passat Variant BlueTDI on the Paris exhibit next week. The engine is a commonrail diesel 2-liter, with 143 hp. This car will have a fuel consumption of 5,5 l/100 km (CO2: 144g/km). The numbers for the sedan version is 5,2 l/100 km (CO2: 139g/km).

Am I the only one not at all impressed by these numbers? BMW 520d, which has been available for a while now, gives you more power (177 hp) and lower fuel consumption (5,1 l/100km) and CO2-emissions (136g/km).

The new Golf VI

The next generation Golf is here, and...surprise surprise, it looks exactly like the old one. At least no one can accuse Volkswagen of being too radical in their design. On the inside, though, there are certain changes, as VW take downsizing to a new level. The new Golf will likely be equipped with a tiny 1,6 liter TSI-engine that will produce 200 hp! That's pretty impressive, taking into account that the current Golf 1,6 produces only 100. There will also be a 2-liter engine available producing 240 hp, and this will probably be found in the GTI.

On the more boring side, expect 1,0 or 1,2 liter turbocharged engines producing around 75 hp.

And of course, we'll still have to play the waiting game when it comes to the most interesting model: The plugin hybrid. Whether we'll see this car in our lifetime or not is anybody's guess.