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The drive of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class demonstrates a remarkable balance of both ride quality and handling dynamics. It's certainly at the top of its class with its versatile ability to master a wide range of different road conditions and driving situations with its confident and engaging capabilities. While it's not engineered to perform like a sports car, in all body styles it still possesses precise steering with plenty of feedback, strong engines and a confident chassis.

In less than a couple of years, 40 miles per gallon has gone from a lofty goal, met by only a few select high-mileage machines (almost entirely hybrids and diesels), to, almost the small-car highway norm.

Today at High Gear Media we learn Chrysler is working on both hybrids and diesels while Buick is working on a Verano Hybrid.

Vincent Uriah is a concrete contractor from Summerville, Georgia, who purchased a used 2003 2WD F-350 with just over 120,000 miles on the clock. The big Ford is fitted with the stout and reliable 7.3L Power Stroke diesel and eventually the truck will be used for work versus play.

Our 2000 7.3-liter Power Stroke Super Duty project is now on the street and the results of the multi-part build are greater than expected. We first rolled onto the pavement after leaving Unlimited Diesel Performance a little more than a week ago.

By Jim Allen Almost from the beginning of the farm tractor, farmers and engineers fooled around with coupling two tractors together to put more power to the ground. In 1970, International Harvester played the same game a little more elaborately.

The VGT or Variable Geometry Turbo on your Ford 6.0L is designed to produce more power, provide a better power curve and help to reduce fuel consumption, compared to a fixed-vane turbo. A VGT does this by incorporating a variable vane mechanism that adjusts exhaust gas flow into the engine as PRM changes.

The old and the new. The tired 7.3L goes off to find a new life as parts and the new engine awaits first smoke and a new life behind the Blue Oval. We'll show you more details on the Cummins engine itself in a future installment.

How do you get an old first gen noticed? Paint it bright candy blue metallic and put a sticker on the windshield that says "Papa Smurf." That's the approach Michael Champion of Quitman, Texas, took when restoring his '91 Dodge D-350 standard cab dually.

Rodney "Smoke" Christine of York, Pennsylvania, has always been a motorhead. He campaigned a late model dirt car locally for years. To haul his dirt racers, he bought a 2006 Ram 3500 dually, and not being one to leave anything stock for long, he and his wife Julie, along with plenty of help from Young's Diesel Performance and Smokey Hollow Performance, started to customize the truck to fit their needs and wants.

Chassis dynamometers are a well-known and fun part of the diesel pickup world. Power Take Off (PTO) dynos are familiar to tractor owners, but unknown in the truck world. We thought you'd like to see how they're used, so here's a rundown.

By Chris Tobin The RPM Offroad Open House/Dyno Day got off to a soggy start with rain throughout the previous night and into the morning. Normally spring weather in Bristol, Tennessee, is sunny and warm with a chance of thunderstorms, so the rain was not completely unexpected.

Diesel engines have been around for more than 100 years, but they have made leaps and bounds in the last decade. Sled pullers have nearly doubled in horsepower, dragsters have gone from 8s, to 7s, to 6s in the quarter mile, and street trucks that are 800-1,200 horsepower are now all over the country.