You know, there isn't a stinker here," muses St. Antoine while exhaling a gray-blue cloud of cigar smoke.
Our esteemed editor at large is correct in more ways than one. Despite our proximity to the tailpipes of three idling diesels, the dissipating haze of his Partagas Spanish Rosado is replaced by nothing but the cold clean scent of an eastern Sierra winter.
Equally striking is the conspicuous lack of traditional diesel clatter. That's to be expected of the fourth member of our quartet, the brand-new, eerily quiet 2010 Lexus RX 450h. It is a hybrid after all, but what about the BMW X5 xDrive 35d, Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTEC, and Volkswagen Touareg TDI? What does their burbling idle say about the state of modern diesels? Do they stand a chance against the latest hybrid version of the world's best-selling luxury SUV? We assemble in the mountains to find out.
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2009 Chicago Auto Show Photo Gallery
A shout out to 528i for the link!
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