There’s been a lot of talk lately about diesels finally taking hold in the U.S., but it’s bunk; they took hold long ago. There’s a National Hot Rod Diesel Association, in which diesel dragsters run in the sixes at more than 200 mph. A diesel has topped 350 mph at Bonneville. The Ram pictured above “rolling coal” (soot-head slang for blasting a black cloud from the exhaust) makes a claimed 925 horsepower and 1800 pound-feet of torque. At the wheels.

Volkswagen’s humble Jetta TDI can’t match those figures, but since the late 1980s, it’s been holding on to one of the most treasured numbers in the automotive industry: zero. As in zero direct competitors. Having a segment to itself is every automaker’s dream, and last year, Volkswagen leveraged that zero into 29,805 sales.

With interest in diesel cars growing due to rising fuel-economy awareness, GM has stuffed the 2014 Cruze compact with a 2.0-liter diesel from its Opel parts bin, added a urea-injection system to meet U.S. emissions regulations, and plopped it down right across from Volkswagen’s banana stand. Its 151 horsepower beats the VW’s by 11, and its 280 pound-feet of torque beats VW’s count by 44. In the minus column are the Chevrolet’s extra 232 pounds, due in part to the urea exhaust-treatment equipment, which the Jetta lacks (it’s clean enough to meet our emissions standards without it). Chevy hangs a higher price tag on the Cruze but throws in more standard gear, including an automatic transmission.

To commemorate the arrival of the Jetta TDI’s first real competitor in decades, we put together a quartet of tests to meas­ure how well these two diminutive diesel sedans fulfill traditional compression-ignition-type roles. Then, because it’s what we do, we evaluated them as normal cars, too.

Extracurricular Activities

Here in the U.S., diesels are workhorses. This battery of tests was designed in small part to evaluate our two diesel cars' suitability for working roles and in large part for our own amusement.

MARC URBANO

Test 1: Range

We set out to verify these cars' lofty highway-fuel-economy ratings—42 mpg for the Jetta, 46 for the Cruze—by driving from our Ann Arbor headquarters to the world's largest truck stop in Walcott, Iowa. After that 409-mile drive, the Jetta was still 200 miles from empty and the Cruze more than 300, so we turned around and headed for Engineered Diesel in Allendale, Michigan, where we found the particularly rude Ram pictured in this story. From Allendale, we set a course for New Holland Brewery in Holland, Michigan, where the Poet Stout is as dark—but not quite so smoky—as diesel exhaust. We didn't make it.

MARC URBANO

Test 2: Smoke Generation

Neither of our EPA-certified four-cylinders could roll coal, so we had a burnout contest instead. The Jetta couldn't manage a whisp of smoke until we tied it to an immovable object. Then it showed off its inner teen and snatched the win.

MARC URBANO

Test 3: Shrub Pulling

Stump-pulling is among the burliest truck tasks extant. For these compact sedans, we subbed in shrubs for stumps. The author neglected to warn his wife before modifying their landscaping. Fortunately, she's a good sport. The Jetta won here.

MARC URBANO

Test 4: Heavy Hauling

Today's diesel dualies can handle payloads upward of 7000 pounds. We had to aim a little lower. The Jetta's half-ton cargo limit surpasses the Chevy's max load by 100 pounds, so we loaded both up with 900 pounds of staffer and ballast and conducted our usual 70–0-mph braking test. The Jetta stopped shorter but faded so much that we called it a Cruze victory.

If you’re looking for the most authentic diesel experience, the Cruze is it. Chevrolet adds additional dash insulation and a ­different underhood mat to the diesel Cruze, but around town, its intrusive clatter is a constant reminder that only one of the brands in this comparison also makes HD pickups. Note that its torque peak is nearly 1000 rpm later than the VW’s. Its lag from a stop is near dangerous if you’re trying to dart into a gap in traffic. However, once you’re underway, the Cruze’s flat-out power delivery is less lumpy than the VW’s; the Jetta’s tapers off toward redline and then, after the upshift, rocks you back with another surge. And despite the Chevy’s intrusive noise at lower speeds, the engine fades into the background while turning 2100 rpm on the highway.

Long-hauling is thus the Cruze’s greatest strength; it makes us want to write a country song about cross-country trucking. With a larger fuel tank and higher operating efficiency, it crushed the VW in our mileage test. Even at a constant 75 mph, the Cruze needed just a single tank to go from Ann Arbor to Iowa, back up the Lake Michigan coast to Allendale and beyond, finally sipping its last drop with 747 miles on the trip odometer. (The VW had gone dry 130 miles earlier.) Planning to run them dry, we brought fuel cans in the trunks. But, while modern, self-priming fuel systems mean that running a diesel to empty won’t strand you the way it once would, modern spill-proof fuel cans seem designed to dump fuel all over you. That greasy diesel stink doesn’t clean off easily.

View Photos MARC URBANO

Credit for the heroic mileage doesn’t go solely to the engine, as the diesel borrows the Cruze Eco’s grille shutters, underbody paneling, and low-rolling-resistance tires. As early as that rubber starts howling, we were surprised that the Cruze could match the Jetta on the skidpad. Given the looseness in its suspension and the lack of steering feedback, we weren’t at all surprised that it couldn’t keep up in our slalom. Base Cruzes have rear drum brakes, but the diesel gets discs all around. They deal well not only with the 300 or so extra pounds the 2.0TD carries versus a gasoline model, they handled 900 pounds of extra weight with nary a whiff of fade in spite of heavy whiffs of smoke. While the VW’s best stops, both unladen and laden, were shorter, it experienced significant fade with a load. Chevy gets the nod here.

Despite its impressive range and brakes, the Cruze was hamstrung by a laundry list of demerits. Its rear seat is tight; its transmission is slow to respond to manual commands and grabs jerky downshifts when rolling to a stop; and the cloth on the dashboard is not just unsightly, it’s semi-abrasive. Most of all, what kept the Cruze from finishing in first was the general disconnect between the driver and the road. The Jetta is barely more capable than the Cruze, but it involves the driver a lot more. No matter how unexciting the party, we at least want to be invited.

VW knows the diesel market so well that it includes a shrub-pulling hook with the Jetta TDI. (With the Cruze, we had to find the conveniently shaped and placed holes in the underbody for tow-strap attachment.) While both cars successfully yanked their first-round bushes before being stymied by a sturdy rhododendron in the second round, this apparent draw actually goes to the Germans for the ease afforded by that hook. This exercise also taught us that, while its traction control can’t be disabled, a Jetta strapped to a mature shrub will do a hellacious burnout. It’s not quite rolling coal, but it is better than anything the Cruze could manage.

The Jetta’s steering feels more connected, its structure seems more solid (in spite of being 232 pounds lighter), and its body motions are better controlled than the Cruze’s. While the TDI inspires greater confidence when going, though, its brake pedal offers all the feel of swamp muck. Your foot finds out the ABS has kicked in from your ears, which tell them that the tires are chirping.

Compared with the Cruze’s more expressive cabin design, the Jetta’s interior looks plain. But, like IKEA furniture, it’s pleasingly plain. Much of the dash is a single swath of black plastic, but it looks and feels like quality black plastic. The faux aluminum dash trim and dress-up rings on the HVAC and infotainment controls lend an upscale feel as well. And we greatly appreciated how the VW will let a passenger pair a phone or enter nav instructions while the car is in motion. There are a few ergonomic oddities, but overall, the VW is a great example of how to do an interior on the cheap without making it obvious.

View Photos This is about the time in the story where we describe the VW’s plastics as superior to its competitors. Consider that done. MARC URBANO

When not engaged in brutal displays of diesel masculinity, the TDI is harder to peg as a diesel than the Cruze. There’s less noise from the engine room and less lag following launch, although the DSG dual-clutch transmission doesn’t always engage smoothly, often lurching forward. Slowing to a stop, the DSG isn’t always seamless while grabbing downshifts, but the ­Cruze’s torque-converter automatic is also rough, which we find perplexing.

The TDI’s pedal-to-the-mat power delivery is a bit jarring, too, but during gentle driving, the quick-acting dual-clutch does a fine job of keeping the engine in its sweet spot. Neither car’s powertrain is perfect, but given its quieter operation, we deemed the Volkswagen’s less imperfect. And there’s a cheap—better than cheap, actually—way to make it better: Opt for the manual transmission and save $1100.

It’s had the entire segment to itself for a while, but Volkswagen hasn’t been complacent in its monopoly. It’s been building a fine little diesel sedan.

† Jetta pricing is for 2013 model year. * First ratio for gears 1–4, second ratio is for gears 5 and 6. ‡ Stability-control inhibited. tested in Chelsea, Michigan, by K.C. Colwell and Eric Tingwall

Final Results Vehicle Max Pts. Available 2013 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2.0TD Driver Comfort 10 9 9 Ergonomics 10 10 8 Rear-seat Comfort 5 4 2 Rear-seat Space* 5 5 4 Trunk Space* 5 5 4 Features/Amenities* 10 10 8 Fit and Finish 10 9 8 Interior Styling 10 9 8 Exterior Styling 10 8 9 Rebates/Extras* 5 0 0 As-tested Price* 20 18 20 Subtotal 100 87 80 Powertrain 1/4-mile Acceleration* 20 20 20 Flexibility* 5 2 4 Fuel Economy* 10 6 10 Engine NVH 10 9 8 Transmission 10 9 8 Subtotal 55 46 50 Chassis Performance* 20 20 19 Steering Feel 10 8 6 Brake Feel 10 6 8 Handling 10 9 8 Ride 10 8 9 Subtotal 60 51 50 Experience Fun to Drive 25 20 16 Grand Total 240 204 196

MARC URBANO

From the September 2013 Issue of Car and Driver

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