three years ago when we bought a new jetta diesel tdi, talking about being worried about $4 a gallon gas in the u.s., many people shrugged their shoulders and thought we were being alarmist.

but today, everybody is "getting rational" – look no further than the civic outselling the ford f-150 for the first time.

and while $4 a gallon gas is finally making hybrids "worth it" over a 4-5 year range, i’m still perplexed as to why you don’t see more diesels on the road. or better yet, diesel hybrids which can get upwards of 75 m.p.g.

i mean, i can get 58.6 miles per gallon on a 17 mile drive through hilly, curvy wisconsin terrain and that’s without trying any fancy schmancy hypermiling techniques which the folks at jalopnik used in "Hypermiling the 2007 Honda Civic 2.2 i-CTDi and 2007 Audi Q7 4.2 TDI":

"Yes, we know, 72.4 mpg [ on the civic ] is batshit cazy, but settle down, ’cause you haven’t heard the Q7 numbers. Would you believe that a power plant capable of 550 lb.ft. of torque and a 6.4s 0-62 mph time, lugging around 5100 lbs and two svelte bloggers, returned 33.2 mpg?"