Best Gas Mileage Diesel

Europe's known it for years ... diesel engine vehicles deliver a far superior level of fuel economy. Year-after-year, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz continue to sell their diesel offerings to a crazed cult of Americans. Environmental regulations have changed the formulation of diesel fuel and the automakers have scrambled to bring ever-cleaner diesels stateside.

While Mercedes-Benz continued to offer diesel engines in the 2007 model year, Volkswagen took a year off to gear up with a new diesel powerplant for the Jetta. Mercedes-Benz takes the Best Gas Mileage Diesel and Best Gas Mileage Luxury Sedan crowns with the six-cylinder E320 Bluetec.

Jeep was the only American automaker to offer a diesel engine in anything other than a full-fledged truck. The diesel-equipped Jeep Grand Cherokee struggled to reach mileage comparable to the 4WD Mercedes-Benz 320s.

The ten-cylinder Volkswagen Touareg is a diesel horse of a different color. Sharing underpinnings with the Porsche Cayenne, the Touareg isn't focused on high-MPG, rather than the ooomph: monster torque and horsepower.

Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (L7) Diesel 23 city 32 highway

Mercedes-Benz R320 CDI 4matic 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (L7) Diesel 19 city 26 highway

Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI 4matic 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (L7) Diesel 19 city 24 highway

Jeep Grand Cherokee 2WD 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (5) Diesel 18 city 23 highway

Mercedes-Benz GL320 CDI 4matic 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (L7) Diesel 18 city 23 highway

Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD 6 cylinder 3 liter Automatic (5) Diesel 17 city 22 highway

Volkswagen Touareg 10 cylinder 5 liter Automatic (6) Diesel 15 city 20 highway