I've been found out! Hey, I"ve been lurking on and off here for years, I used to mod a green subforum in the Philippines, so I joined here out of curiousity.
(hfs?)
It's the historical precept that dictates the current situation. And you still can't stick a brick on the pedal in the UK and drive in a straight line for several hours. But yes, the prevalence of the new turbodiesels indicates the changing conditions and the desire for power... but still tempered by the incredilbe (by American standards) fuel prices.
Thanks to concerns over high fuel prices, there's bound to be a convergence in markets as everyone gravitates towards similar cars.