Chevrolet is building a diesel spark that gets over 65 mpg – and that TCDi badge on the back of a black Chevy Sonic (caught testing by a sharp-eyed team-bhp forum member) is proof.
Don’t get too excited, though: despite the fact that this TCDI tester is based on the top-end LT variant (the rear wiper is the giveaway), GM will probably not offer a diesel Spark for sale in the US … and that’s a shame.
I like the Chevy Spark. Sure, I gave its marketers a tough time for peddling the car to kids, but I also said (in that same article) that “The Chevy Sonic is a solid car. It offers great gas mileage (over 40 mpg), respectable performance from a 1.4L turbocharged engine (138 hp, 18 more than Ford’s award-winning new Fiesta) and a close-ratio 6-speed manual that alone would have made it a “hot hatch” less than 20 years ago – all with modern safety (10 airbags!) and convenience features wrapped in an aggressive, sporty look.” All of those things are still true, of course – even the part about respectable performance, since the new TCDI is expected to deliver about 60 hp and more than 100 lb-ft of torque from its 1.0L 3-cylinder.
Granted, 60 hp isn’t enough to set the world on fire, but it’s more than the old 58 mpg Geo Metro had – and the Geo couldn’t hope to match the diesel Spark’s triple-digit torque figures (or projected 3.5L/100 km fuel economy), so this seems like exactly the kind of car GM could use to pump up its CAFE numbers here in the US.
Source: Gas2.0
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment