Along with Autoblog lensman Drew Phillips, we did the last leg of the Audi Mileage Marathon in Car #5: an Audi Q7 fitted with a 3.0-liter TDI. Our route lasted four days and took us from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes, CA, to Monterey for the final ALMS race at Laguna Seca, and then to Los Angeles. Unlike almost every other group there, we weren't trying to set any mileage records, we wanted to see how the Q would do when driven like we normally drive. After four days of drinking the oil-burning Kool-Aid and hauling ourselves through the Western hinterlands, our verdict: the 3.0 TDI is a fabulous engine, and you'd be crazy not to get it in the Q7 if you're in the market. Follow the jump for the full story, and check out the gallery of high-res images below.

As I got ready to retire to my hotel room on the last night of my stint on the Audi Mileage Marathon last night, I happened to share the elevator with a young man. He spotted my Audi-provided name tag and asked if I worked for the automaker. I said no, that I write for this here site and, after I explained what we do - I was shocked, just shocked I tell you, that he didn't already know - he said, "oh, I have a Prius." I explained that we were driving some TDIs across the country and he responded, just as the elevator doors were closing, that, "If they ever make a hybrid, I'll buy one."

This, in a nutshell, illustrates Audi's (and VW's and Mercedes and etc.) diesel challenge perfectly. Clean diesel may be here, but does it beat a hybrid in efficiency, cost and eco-level?

Sam made the good point the other day that the economic situation in the U.S. might preclude many people from buying new clean diesels at all these days, but even if we all had the money to buy a car, who's going to opt for a diesel right now? Thanks to my three days on the road, I know that you can drive an A3 with the air conditioning on and go 80 miles per hour up and down mountain roads and still get 42 mpg. And, if you drive a little sensibly, you can get the computer to display 53 or 54 mpg. These numbers are certainly comparable to what you can do in a Prius, but that car offers more interior room and it's got icon status. Of course, an A3, if and when it arrives stateside, won't be as cheap as a Prius. So, for all of the American drivers who want to drive a car that's better for the environment than the one they had before, how does Audi make the case for a car like the A3? Who out there is convinced?


Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

I'd like to say we had our winning technique down from day one. But the truth is, my partner (Don Buffamanti of Autospies) and I didn't exactly have spectacular results on the first two drives. This is because a.) he's kind of a leadfoot and b.) he drove quickly on my behalf on day two because I was feeling seriously under the weather. Luckily for us, the other A3 we were competing against, driven by Lauren Fix and Royal Ford, happened upon some serious technical difficulties that gave us the edge, despite a faulty navigation system that led us for 20 miles on a dirt road (above, also here and here). I should note that the technical difficulties were not at all lucky for Fix and Ford, but they had a good attitude about the whole thing by the time dinner rolled around.

In any case, our numbers were 42.2 mpg and 56 mph for day two and 43.2 mpg and 54.9 overall (official numbers were not given for day three but the dashboard display showed 46.4 mpg when we got to Las Vegas - and that's including the 20 miles we spent on that dirt road; we were up around 48 before that little incident).

In the other vehicle classes, the winning numbers were solid for Wave Three:

• Q5: 36.8 mpg / 52.8 mph
• Q7: 29.5 mpg / 52.4 mph
• A4: 36.7 mpg / 49.3 mph (the best mpg rating was 37.7, but this team had a lower average speed and thus did not win the leg)

That's two for three for the Autoblog/AutoblogGreen crew. Let's see how the rest of our team drive on the way to California.

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

Over at Carlist.com, Lou Ann Hammond is continuing to roll out some of the video interviews that she did during the wave 1 of the Audi Mileage Marathon. In the latest installment, she chats with Audi of America Executive VP Johan de Nysschen about diesel vehicles and some of Audi's partners in the marathon. As expected, de Nysschen is a big cheerleader for diesel and feels that the technology is a core competency for his company. He talks about how Audi sees racing as a proving ground for the technology the company is introducing to the street, something that has happened with gasoline direct injection (on the previous R8) and now the common rail diesel systems on the R10. There is also some discussion of fuel partner Shell. According to de Nysschen, Shell is increasing diesel refining capacity and 42 percent of Shell's U.S. stations now offer ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, a number that de Nysschen expects to climb significantly in the next few years. Audi is also working with Shell to improve the fuel quality to help reduce emissions further beyond what is already mandated by law. Make sure to check out Lou Ann's site at the link and the video after the jump.

[Source: Carlist.com]

Stretching from Denver to Las Vegas, the third wave of the Audi Mileage Marathon has, I believe, the most beautiful landscape views of the 4,700 mile cross-America journey. Lucky for me, this is the leg that I'm participating in. I've been assigned an Audi A3 2.0 TDI and for the first day - Denver to Durango - my partner (Don Buffamanti of Autospies) - and I did OK, not great, on the mpg challenge. We averaged 44.4 mpg and 56 mph, which was beat by the other A3 team of Royal Ford and Lauren Fix, who managed 44.7 mpg and 59 mph. I'd like to say that our day two numbers will be better, but I fully expect them to be much worse. I came down with a terrible case of the flu (or something) in Durango and so we high-tailed to Sedona. Correction, Don drove while I slept and tried to ignore the upset feeling in my stomach. So much for getting to see the scenery. Perhaps the Sedona to Vegas leg will be where we make up some mpg. We'll get our day two numbers soon. Stay tuned.


Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

After seven days and 2,832 miles, I'm finally back home. My week-long stint on the Audi Mileage Marathon is over and I believe I've learned a thing or two about hyper-miling. Teams running in the event were scored based on a formula that included fuel efficiency and speed. The fuel efficiency component was weighted twice as much as speed. Audi engineers included speed mainly to ensure that drivers didn't just go unnecessarily slow to maximize fuel economy. Audi officials specifically warned us at the start that this event was not about hyper-miling, but when you put several dozen journalists in cars and ask them to see who can get the best mileage ... well let's just say they are a competitive bunch.

I participated in the first two of four waves of the marathon going from New York to Chicago and then on to Denver. On the first wave, my co-driver Jason Allan and I mainly stuck to just trying to drive gently, avoiding aggressive acceleration or braking. We didn't do any drafting or early shutdown of the engine. Aside from some hilly terrain in Maryland and Pennsylvania, most of the terrain was relatively flat. Compared to what we would see in wave 2 our average speeds were a comparatively low 52.4 mph, due in large part to time driving through traffic in places like Washington, New York and Chicago as well as frequent slowing for toll booths through most of the states on route. Find out how things changed after the jump.

Over dinner in Amarillo, Texas on Saturday night, we sat at a table with Audi of America EVP Johan de Nysschen and discussed a range of topics. Among them was his impressions of other manufacturers backing off on diesel plans for the U.S. market. During the course of this drive, Toyota confirmed the cancellation of its plans to add a diesel engine to its full-size trucks. Chrysler has also apparently lost confidence in US demand for diesel in light of high fuel prices.

de Nysschen seemed unconcerned about these developments. He made the point that TDI technology "is a core competency for Audi" whereas the other manufacturers are more focused on other powertrains types. While de Nysschen expressed respect for what Toyota has accomplished, he identified a different Japanese company as the one to watch. To de Nysschen, Honda is by far the most impressive of the Japanese carmakers. He emphasized that like Audi, Honda is and always has been an engineering-driven company. If an alliance were ever to happen between a Japanese and German company Honda and Audi would be the most natural fit. However, Honda has never expressed interest in such alliances and prefers to go their own way. The cultural differences between German and Japanese manufacturers also make such tie-ups unlikely. In the meantime, Audi shows no signs of slowing down its diesel push.

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

One of the VIPs that Audi invited to be present at the launch of the Mileage Marathon in New York on Monday was Sylvia Williams. Williams is the general manager of business development for future fuels at Shell. The main topic of interest in New York was GTL fuel. GTL is a synthetic liquid diesel fuel made from natural gas. The catalytic process used is similar to that used by companies such as Coskata that are producing cellulosic ethanol from a syngas generated from biomass. The #8 A4 that my friend Lou Ann Hammond drove from New York to Chicago started off the trip with a full tank of GTL. Unlike conventional petroleum diesel - and to a lesser extent biodiesel - GTL is completely clear, colorless and odorless. Since it contains no aromatic compounds it burns cleaner and actually produces dramatically less soot and fewer NOx emissions as well. Currently, GTL isn't available in North America but Shell sells a 10 percent GTL blend in Europe as a premium diesel under the V-Power brand because it also helps engine performance. One big advantage of GTL is that it can be used and distributed without any infrastructure or engine changes. It is however, more expensive than petroleum diesel. Check out Lou Ann's video interview after the jump.


[Source: Carlist.com]

As we roll into Dallas to conclude day 5 of the "Great American Road Trip," it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that modern diesel engines are very efficient while still providing excellent performance. However, the dominant back drop hanging over the plates of ribs at BB King's Blues Club Thursday night was the continuing collapse of the financial markets. As those of us sitting around the table pondered the survival of the industry that we all write about, the cars and SUVs we were driving faded to the background. Unlike some of the more exotic alternatives out there, the TDI technology used by Audi is available now with more coming to the U.S. market in the coming months.

The question is will anyone be able to buy it or any of the future powertrains? Very few people buy new cars with cash. The industry relies on being able extend credit to drivers. The key element of what is happening this week is that financial institutions have become unwilling to loan money to anyone. After loaning way too much over the last decade to people who couldn't afford to pay it back, there is now nothing going out. That creates a great deal of uncertainty in product planning. Audi made the decision to launch their new diesels in the Q7 long before this ever started and it's unclear what their future path will be. The A4, Q5 and A3 have all been talked about as potential future U.S. diesel products, but without knowing where auto sales in general are going it's hard to choose a direction. With Toyota already having canceled its planned diesel for the Tundra and rumors of other product cancellations on the horizon, the only thing we know for sure is that we know nothing.

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

Now that we are somewhere between Chicago and Salem, IL you might be wondering what the final tally was for the first wave of the our little cross country trek. My co-driver for the New York to Chicago run flew home last night and I'm now riding with Steve Ewing from Winding Road. Following the changeover dinner last night, the Audi staff released the points total for the trip so far and the top mileage number for any vehicle went to the A3 TDI that was in the car of the lovely and talented Denise McCluggage and Kate McLeod. They averaged 45.6 mpg and apparently weren't too concerned about hypermiling since they also had the highest average speed of 54.3 mph.

Among the A4 contingent, Yoshihiro Kimura and Michael Taylor averaged 41.4 mpg and 52.2 mph. Considering the A4 uses the same 3.0L V6 that is in the Q7 and Q5 with 240 hp and nearly 400 lb-ft of torque, that's a clear demonstration of what is possible in the real world without sacrificing performance. In the Q5s, Bertrand Bellois and Stephane Chevalier managed 36.2 mpg at 48.2 mph. Currently, though, only the Q7 TDI has been announced for U.S. sales starting early next year. Q7 #3, driven by Kelley Blue Book's Jason Allan and your humble correspondent, averaged 29.4 mpg over the four days to take the class victory. Stay tuned for wave 2.

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.