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Dieselgate Plot Twist: Great Expectations From the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel

As I’m sure you’re already aware of, the Dieselgate scandal has hit VW hard, right between the eyes [no Johnny Cash pun intended]. Be that as it may, General Motors revels in this witch-hunt, trying its luck with an ambitious push for diesel-fed cars.
Opel 1.6 CDTI “Whisper Diesel” 25 photos
Photo: Opel
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According to Automotive News, GM vice president for global propulsion systems Dan Nicholson made a tongue-in-cheek comment on how his company will profit on Volkswagen’s downfall. “I am very optimistic about the diesel market in the U.S.,” he said. “It has been abandoned by others and we are happy to step in and be the leader. Frankly that’s what we’d like to do.”

I’m not exactly surprised if I’m to be utterly honest. Even though the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel hasn’t sold too well, GM has got its mojo back thanks to high demand for the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon with the Duramax oil burner. Given the circumstances, it's rather clear GM wants to capitalize on the superior mileage of diesel engines, especially now that Volkswagen has waved goodbye to the Clean Diesel in the United States.

In the passenger cars division of the biggest of the Big Three, the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze will be the model that’ll get a diesel. This information has been confirmed when Chevy announced the mileage for the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze. Estimated time of arrival? Early 2017, or so we were told by GM.

Nothing is official regarding what’s hiding under the hood of the soon-to-debut 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, though. Most peeps, including me, believe that the oil-burning engine in question is a modified variant of the 1.6 CDTI “Whisper Diesel” from Opel, the European arm of General Motors.

In North American specification, the said turbo diesel powerplant is expected to churn out 136 horsepower and 275 lb-ft. By comparison, the 1.6 CDTI in the Opel Astra is good for up to 160 PS (156 hp) and 350 Nm (258 lb-ft).
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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