Hefty fuel prices mean nearly half of all cars sold in Europe are diesel powered, and luxury cars from BMW, Mercedes, and Jaguar can be had with impressive performance diesels. BMWs 535d 3.0L straight-six diesel produces 277 hp at 4,400 rpm and 413 lb-ft of torque at just 2,000 rpm, revs freely past 5,000 rpm, and delivers 44.8 mpg on the freeway. A trick sequential twin-turbo setup and 16.5:1 compression ensures a broad powerband, and furthermore, the aftermarket Euro tuners at DMS Automotive (Andover, Hampshire, England) have bumped those figures up to 344 hp and 506 lb-ft of torque with simple electronics tweaks. The argument for why these motors never show up on our shores has always been our stricter emissions policies, but not everyone’s convinced. “That’s just an excuse for whiners who don’t want to put in the R&D effort. If manufacturers think there’s money to be had in it, they’ll figure out a way to make them work here. I know I would want a 500ft lb torque civic.