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Inefficient they definately are! A manual transmission swap into my 300 SDL would probably net me a 3-4 mpg increase in the city and 5 mpg increase on the highway without any hypermiling techniques. Most things in these cars are terribly inefficient, such as the climate control system and power steering. At any given time, you can expect the accessories in these cars to consume on average about 4 horsepower, on top of a transmission that is somewhere around 80% efficient.
It is very difficult to get good gas mileage in the city with this car's automatic. If I drive like a jackass, I get 18-20 mpg city. If I drive like a hypermiler, I get about the same. That being said, thanks to their powerplant, they can still manage 25-30 mpg on the highway when kept at flow of traffic speeds; they can obtain into the 40s if kept at a steady 50 mph or below, but no noticable benefit to be had dropping below 40 mph. The gasoline V8 versions of this body style are lucky to get more than 20 mpg highway, and typically average around 16 mpg...
I think the engine in my 300 SDL would be a nice fit for a small car like a Triumph Spitfire or Datsun 240z(I do have a small car such as this, but it will be electric instead). It would be a lot of work and money.
I highly doubt the engine in my 300 SDL would pose much of an advantage in eficiency over the V8 from the Chevrolet Suburban. The efficiencies of each engine are very close, and the cost to fit an OM603 engine into a Corvette would be prohibitive considering the 6.5L is a bolt-on fit.
On youtube, there are vidoes of 6.5L and 6.2L diesel Camaros as well. Those would be fun to drive... but a lot of aero work can be done with that body style, and it would still look like a normal Camaro. That body style has the right overall shape to have a 0.2 Cd with some modifications(especially with heavy focus on the rear, keeping the same basic overall shape and style, but angling it differently); if it had a turbocharged 6.5L diesel to go in it and some aftermarket carbon fiber parts to reduce weight to around 2,800 lbs, this would be a 60 mpg musclecar, nevermind the top speed potential being Bonneville material...
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