Hell, between Shalie's '13 Passat TDI (soon to be bought back under recall now that it's totaled) and my '03 Beetle TDI, we average about 44mpg across the board (fast/slow w-w/o A/C, etc)... Those two cars have been fantastic. I bought my 7.3 diesel because the Ford triton engines are crap, especially the 2 valve version like the one in my old '01 F-350 2x4 single wheel. 11-13mpg empty and lacking in power. My 7.3 gets the same or slightly better mileage empty than the gasser and even better when towing by 2-4mpg, all while weighing about 3K more and being a 4x4 dually. People have offered good money to buy Dad's 6.0 4x4 F-250, but it's a keeper. If I could buy a modern 400+ cubic inch direct fuel injection V-8 (with or w/o a turbo) I'd be pretty happy. For what I've experienced, strapped to a 25-34' hay trailer or 18-24' stock trailer the 6+ liter gas engines from Ford, Chevy and Dodge will get it done, but get atrocious mileage whether towing or not.
Hell I'd take a single wheel 1-ton with the 8.1L Vortec out of Steve's truck and a 6spd auto ( or 4spd plus a gear vendors) any day... Modern diesels ('05+) wouldn't be such a pita if the EPA wasn't mandating bandaid fixes to ostensibly save us from ourselves... I've never seen Shalie's Passat (with the cheat-tuning) smoke. Ever. If it hadn't lost over 11K in value since I bought it 2.5 years ago and hadn't been totaled in an uninsured hit-and-run, it wouldn't be for sale. Coming back from a road trip to Orlando (when we bought it) I was averaging 47mpg at 70-90mph on I-10, AC on, luggage in the trunk. I may buy Her a Taurus or a Maxima (as she doesn't like the Malibu we rented), but it ain't gonna touch that mileage AND have power.
One of the earlier questions pertained to Europe's diesel vehicle availability vs ours. It comes down to three things - People needed smaller vehicles that were affordable and got good mileage, post WWII. Diesel was it. Their fuel has a far higher Cetane rating and is far cleaner, making it easier and cleaner to combust vs our #2. Lastly, at this point I think that there's too much political/financial inertia against efficient diesel vehicles. Most of the problems with newer ones seem to pertain to the after treatment systems for the exhaust to reduce NoX.
If they were able to sell them here, I'd take a skyactive Mazda 6 diesel in a heartbeat, or a 4x4 Diesel Ranger or Hilux like I drove in Turkey or Germany any day as a commuter/chore truck. I'm not sure what GM's global small truck is at this point as I believe the Colorado/Canyon is US only. I could almost see the 2.8L Duramax version, but not for $40-50K. 20-30, sure.
