[Blue Angel]

So I lurked around Ecomodder and participated a bit back when I bought my 2012 Cruze Eco 6MT back in 2012. This car is for sale, BTW - is there an appropriate place on this forum to advertise it? I'm just North of Ecomodder HQ, in Ottawa.

I just replaced the Cruze with a pretty non-typical eco-car... a big, heavy AWD luxury sedan from Germany; a 2016 BMW 535d X-Drive.

The Cruze Eco 6MT was the most fuel efficient non-hybrid gasoline powered car available in North America when it launched in 2011. With a combined consumption rating of 7.9 l/100km this BMW is only 0.8 off my Cruze (7.1), and if you consider the fact I ran Premium gas in the Cruze (it ran WAY better), this German porker will probably cost the same or less to run... likely more on shorter trips in the winter, and less on longer trips in the summer.

The North American 535d is the same car as the European 530d, just named differently. It has a claimed CD of 0.26 which is darn slippery. My car is an M-Sport that sits 10mm lower than the standard car which should improve CD, but it also has 20" wheels which will hurt CD. A wash maybe?

So yeah, not your typical "eco" car, but all things considered a pretty impressive machine. It will not allow 8th gear unless travelling 80 km/h (50 MPH), at which speed it's revving only about 1000 RPM. By 1400-1500 RPM the turbo is online and downshifts become almost completely unnecessary, so strong is the torque.

Looking forward to learning all about diesels and what I can do to eek the best efficiency from this powerplant. I've driven many diesels before (and loved most of them) but this is the first one I've owned.