History of the diesel car featured an aluminium block, DOHC chain driven valvetrain, common rail direct injection and variable geometry turbocharger. In Spring 2005, Mercedes-Benz unveiled their first application of a mass-produced aluminum block diesel engine for passenger vehicles and commercial use. While aluminum is traditionally considered of inferior strength and temperature resistance to withstand diesel applications, Mercedes engineers made extensive use of CAD/CAM design to arrive at an aluminum block that would meet with Mercedes' testing and reliability standards. First use was in 2006 model-year vehicles in the E-Class sedan and ML-class and GL-class SUVs. Similar in weight () to the five-cylinder it replaced,
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Challenge, following the same route as the veteran car run, but starting in Brighton and finishing at Regent Street, London – and taking place of the day prior to the veteran run. The event is intended to showcase low energy impact vehicles of various technologies – Electric, Hybrid and Low-Emission ICE (Internal Combustion Engine). Participants compete to minimise energy consumption using "road legal" vehicles in "real world" conditions. The results of the inaugural 2010 event showed that the electric vehicles used the least energy (0.62 MJ/km on average, or 141 miles per imperial gallon petrol equivalent), compared to the hybrid