click the Mileage Marathon vehicles for a high res gallery

Audi has announced plans to demonstrate the fuel efficiency of its new diesel vehicles by running a cross-country marathon this fall. The automaker is providing 23 TDI vehicles that will be driven by up to 184 drivers from around the world, including some of the crew from AutoblogGreen and Autoblog. The vehicles will include the Q7, Q5 and A4 with the 3.0L TDI V6 and the A3 with the same 2.0L four cylinder TDI used in the new Jetta. The Marathon will kick off October 6 in New York City and wind its way to Los Angeles via Chicago, Denver and Monterey. The drivers will all be trying to outdo each other to earn daily rewards for lowest fuel consumption.

For now, Audi has only announced that the Q7 will be offered for sale in the U.S. starting sometime in the first quarter of 2009. It will be equipped with a particulate filter and urea injection system allowing it to pass Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions in all 50 states. Audi is considering other diesels for U.S. sale but hasn't made any decisions or announcements yet. The Q5 which was announced last spring at the Beijing Motor Show will go on sale in the U.S. with a gasoline V6 next summer and makes its debut on U.S. soil during the Marathon. A hybrid Q5 is expected to go on sale as early as 2010 and it could be joined by a diesel for the U.S. market.


[Source: Audi]

With Volkswagen having just debuted the Jetta TDI in the U.S. market, the question is what comes next? Volkswagen and Audi have already announced plans to launch diesel versions of the Touareg and Q7 early in 2009 with a 3.0L V6. The compact Audi A3 shares a platform with the Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf and Jetta and in Europe it's available with the same 2.0L diesel that's in the Jetta. Fourtitude reports that Audi North America is considering adding the TDI powerplant to the A3. The European A3 offers the 170 hp version of the 2.0L but if it does get offered here it would likely be only with the same 140 hp unit offered in the Jetta. This way Audi would not have to certify another engine. Audi officials, of course, will not comment on such speculation, but if it does happen it likely wouldn't be before 2010. Most likely, Audi will be watching how the already-announced diesels fare in the U.S. market before making a final decision.

[Source: Fourtitude]

While Audi's exhaustive press release accompanying the launch of the newly-revised-for-2009 A3 mentioned both the availability of new diesel engines along with a seven-speed version of the dual-clutch S tronic transmission, Audi's arm in the UK has decided it's worth mentioning them again. This time, though, statistics regarding the reduction of carbon emissions are given, so decided we'd share them too. For instance, the revised '09 2.0 TDI with 140 horsepower, which was rated at 52.3mpg (US) last year, jumps to 55.4mpg, while reducing CO₂ output from 143g/km to 134g/km. Audi also points out that the new 105 horse 1.9 TDI e offers a low CO₂ output of 119g/km while gaining standard manual air conditioning. The e series from Audi, like the Bluemotion models from VW, are designed specifically with low carbon emissions in mind. Too bad the 1.9 TDI e engine comes paired with a five-speed manual only, as the mileage would likely increase with the addition of the seven-speed S tronic. See all of the available powertrain combinations in the press release after the break.