Looking at a diesel vehicle has never made more sense as Americans ... and automotive manufacturers selling cars in the U.S. ... are coming around to what VW TDI owners already know -- they are efficient, clean, long lasting and enjoyable to drive. There currently is not a better technology for the American road period.

Sales of diesels rose 27.4 percent in 2011, according to numbers from HybridCars.com and market researchers Baum and Associates.

The Diesel Technology Forum pegs the overall market growth in 2011 at 10.2 percent, putting diesels' increase considerably ahead of the curve. Interestingly enough, the group says hybrid sales were down 2.2 percent.

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In Autoblog's 2011 VW Jetta TDI longterm update there were a couple less than flattering comments about the VW's comfort and the manual gearbox. Besides disliking the firm Volkswagen seats, the follow up was that the 2011 TDI had a "much-disliked" and "tricky" gearbox.  Having driven a variety of manual transmission cars and owning two A4 TDIs with 5-speeds, I'm puzzled of the disappointment in the new 6-speed manual. Any thoughts from owners or those who may have test driven 2011 or 2012 manual transmission TDIs?

... the interior seems to be more broken-in, though it isn't showing any noticeable signs of wear. That said, it still isn't a very pleasant place to be. I didn't love it on my cross-country journey a few months ago, and while it's more comfortable now that more butts have been in the driver's seat, there simply isn't anything to rave about.

Fuel economy, however, is as great as ever – I commonly see numbers over 40 mpg. The car's much-disliked gearbox is still tricky, and we broke a sweat trying not to stall while starting out on some of those steep San Francisco hills (especially when cars were behind us). But with some serious concentration, we managed with minimal problems.

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Could you be tempted by an AWD "performance" version of your favorite Volkswagen model ... IF it was available with a diesel?  According to recent comments at the LA Auto Show VW could be offering their "R" line in all-wheel drive with a TDI ... and in more than the hatchback.

"The future is diesel and all-wheel-drive," Richter told us on the floor of last week's LA Auto Show. That could mean that the next great performance offering from VW R could come in the form of an AWD diesel hatch – essentially an oil-burning Golf R. Further, Richter contends that he can make an R version of any vehicle in the VW stable, so don't be surprised to see a Passat R in the coming years and the Beetle R getting the green light.

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Postings to CinciTDI have been rather thin so here's an interesting TDI conversion project that many of us have thought about over the years. Travis Gossman from South Carolina converted his family Chrysler minivan to a 5-speed manual TDI diesel. We should invite him up for a show n share!

Archiving Volkswagen recall that includes 2009 - 2012 TDIs ... 168,275 vehicles impacted.

Vehicle Make / Model:
Model Year(s):
AUDI / A3 2010-2012
VOLKSWAGEN / GOLF 2010-2012
VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA 2009-2012
VOLKSWAGEN / JETTA SPORTWAGEN 2009-2012
Manufacturer: VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Mfr's Report Date: SEP 30, 2011
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 11V490000
NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL

Semi-informative, semi-testing a re-posting service.

I enjoyed exchanging emails and text messages (and tweets below) with a couple automotive writers touring the newly opened Volkswagen facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee the other day. The photos were great to see (above from Kiplinger’s Jessica Anderson) and the initial opinion regarding the 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI exciting to hear as well (below from Nick Kurczewski).

If you like the new 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, check out the high resolution photo gallery at gorideit.com.