2007 Mercedes E320 Bluetec First Drive

On initial inspection, the E320's engine certainly doesn't feel as sporty as advertised. In fact, it's almost sluggish, with the revs slow to build as if there's a huge flywheel holding it back. Nor does it seem eager to scream like a modern, hair-trigger double-cammer that responds to the merest whiff of throttle tip-in. It feels, and I'm lowering my voice as I type this, almost diesel-ish.

That is, of course, because it is a diesel -- Mercedes-Benz's high-tech, clean-living and supposedly mighty sporty E320 Bluetec diesel, in fact, replete with super-duper nitrous oxide emissions scrubber and a turbocharger only slightly smaller than a Porsche 911's. But starting it up outside Mercedes Canada's head office and then giving it a tentative jab of pedal and revving it in neutral, it just doesn't feel sporty at all -- just a run-of-the-mill diesel minus most of the clattering and juddering.

Then I engage the seven-speed automatic and trundle slowly out of the parking lot, puttering along like a typical, cardigan-wearing diesel owner so that Mercedes' public relations staff notes that I'm treating its latest progeny with commensurate respect. It's important to keep up appearances as the most mild-mannered of autojournalists.

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