#FourCylinderEngines

One of the last things your author thought he’d be writing were the words “Hyundai pickup truck” as they relate to a real-world vehicle one can buy right off the showroom floor. Until this year, the only relationship we’ve had with such a vehicle is after a knackered old Elantra caught the business end of a Sawzall.

But build it they have, with Tim handing down his verdict after a First Drive earlier this month. As per usual on such events, all the testers were a top-rung model with the most expensive powertrain. But is that the way to go if you’re seeking a unibody trucklet for work and play?

“You’re going to see it of course in the 3 Series,” BMW’s Tom Baloga tells Inside Line, “and the 5 Series is a good possibility. If the performance [of such an engine] is sufficient in the X3, U.S. customers would likely accept it in the X5 as well.” The “it” he’s referring to is BMW’s two liter turbodiesel engine, which BMW hopes will soon make up 10 to 20 percent of its engine mix in the US. And the Bavarians aren’t bringing the diesel four over for mere miserly mileage alone. “We would be focusing to make sure we get the performance that people expect without squeezing every last mile per gallon out of it,” Baloga says. “I don’t think we would ever consciously look at [the VW Jetta TDI’s] numbers and say ‘we have to beat that.'”