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Here in the States, we generally think of diesel-powered vehicles in one of two ways. First, there are the gigantor pickups with their loud and burly turbodiesel engines. Second, there are the diesel fuel misers, such as Volkswagen's stable of TDI mobiles.

In Europe, though, nearly every car is available with at least one optional diesel engine, and many of those are considered performance models. Of course, there's also a fertile aftermarket community willing to turn any diesel engine into a mouth-breathing torque monster, and all it usually takes is the installation of a massive turbocharger.

Take, for instance, the Mercedes-Benz OM603 and OM606 inline-six-cylinder engines. As you can see in the three videos below, there's plenty of tire-shredding performance hidden inside these otherwise plebeian powerplants, whether housed in the engine bay of a Mercedes or an old Volvo.

Plenty of black and white smoke can be seen in the videos below... which makes us glad we can watch the festivities from a reasonably safe distance.

If you're looking for a phrase to capture the excitement of a new flagship sedan, "patent filing" is probably not it. Then again, the 2014 Acura RLX is the replacement for the Acura RL, the least interesting luxury sedan extant. (And yes, we're including Lincoln in that assessment.)

Car and Driver says these images were pulled from a European patent database, claiming that this is, in fact, the new RLX that will go on sale next year. The car pictured in these images adheres quite closely to the RLX Concept displayed at this year's New York Auto Show, with only slight changes to the front and rear fascias and more generic wheels. The side character line that runs from the top of the fender back to the rear door is there, as is the rest of the shape.

In between bashing Acura for its dull design, C&D speculates that the Honda luxury brand may show the production RLX at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

Check out all five images in our gallery.

You almost have to feel sorry for Patricia Smith, the former controller at Baierl Acura who embezzled over $10 million from the suburban Pittsburgh dealership. Despite having stolen roughly $4,000 a day, seven days a week, for seven years, Smith's personal automotive aspirations extended no further than a new Honda Crosstour. Apparently being a criminal mastermind does not ensure good taste.

According to Automotive News, Smith did buy the requisite fleet of vehicles normally associated with so much dirty money but she gave away nine of the ten – including a ragtop Shelby Mustang for her husband. The 58-year-old woman's purchases also included charter flights to Europe and the Caribbean, Super Bowl tickets, four houses, and an autographed first edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to the report.

Her spending spree extended into the ridiculous, as Smith paid for a VIP Mass with the Pope, lunch catered by the Barefoot Contessa, and dinner with Kevin Spacey. Throughout all this profligate spending, Smith was earning a $53,000 annual salary, according to the report. She explained away her newfound wealth by saying she had invested in airline stock and worked as an online travel agent. Yet the woman was not exactly caught red-handed by her employer, as you might expect. After an e-mail from the dealership CFO questioned her accounting, she quit, and then confessed her crimes to the U.S. Attorney's office shortly thereafter, according to the report.

Smith's crimes ranked her fourth in a national survey of embezzlement crimes in 2011, according to AN, for which she earned a 78-month prison term that starts in July.

If you've got a few seconds to spare, we suggest heading toward the Aston Martin website for a little virtual window shopping. The supercar manufacturer has officially rolled out the configurator for the new Vanquish, and while the options are limited to a gaggle of colors, a few wheel choices and some carbon fiber trim, it's still fun to figure out just how annoying we can make the new ultra luxury machine. Sadly, the company doesn't offer a paisley vinyl wrap to match our smoking jackets.

The online tool doesn't allow you to play with the interior options either, but the site does give visitors a good idea of what to expect from the cabin. Quilted leather seats in hues from tame to obscene and plenty of fine details are par for the course. Buyers can look forward to 556 horsepower from a 6.0-liter V12 as well as a chassis that's a full 25-percent stiffer than anything else on the VH platform. How much will it cost? Who knows, but it will hit 60 mph in 4.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 183 mph. We guess we'd take one without the paisley wrap.

A new study has revealed red cars attract more bird droppings than any other color. The research, conducted by online retailer Halfords, revealed red vehicles made up 18 percent of cars marked by birds, while blue followed along in second place at 14 percent. Green vehicles got off the easiest, making up just one percent of those in the study. The sample included 1,140 cars in Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol, though there's no indication as to the total number of each car color in the group.

The study also asked owners how quickly they removed bird droppings from their vehicle's paint. Only one in six said they took care of the problem immediately, while more than half waited until the next car wash. Halfords says leaving the strongly alkali substance on your vehicle's paint work can lead to costly repairs. The company estimates owners spend around $89.3 million per year in damaged paint. Read more details in the press release below.

The BBC reports a former banker has testified to receiving $44 million in bribes from Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone. Gerhard Gribkowsky, the former deputy chief of regional bank Bayern Landesbank, testified in exchanged for a reduced sentence in the case against him. Gribkowsky faced up to 15 years in prison on charges of corruption and abuse of trust. Prosecutors agreed to reduce his maximum penalty to nine years behind bars in exchange for his testimony. Gribkowsky was in charge of the sale of BayernLB's stake in F1 back in 2006.

Seven months ago, Ecclestone testified under immunity that he had paid Gribkowsky in order to avoid a tax inquiry by the United Kingdom. The F1 executive denies that the payments were bribes, but says that if he had not paid, Gribkowsky would have told UK tax authorities about issues with the sale that could have led to an inquiry. That investigation could have cost more than $3.14 billion.

There's no shame in not knowing what a limited slip differential is. After all, every budding car guy has a first time trying to parse Brian Beckman's The Physics of Racing. (And many of us still don't understand the entirety of it after multiple perusals.)

So if you're trying to wrap your mind around just what this Torsen thing is, there's no excuse for not watching this new video from Scion. While it's basic, it does explain the rudimentary physics behind a limited slip in just two minutes. If nothing else, it should get you started in looking for some more comprehensive information.

Scroll down to watch the video.

Parents know that sometimes the chance for reward is a more powerful child obedience method than the threat of penalty. "Clean your room or your grounded" can be less effective than, "Clean your room and we'll go get ice cream."

A recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study shows that when the stick is combined with the carrot, drivers behave much better. The study placed GPS trackers to measure speed in eight cars loaned to 50 different drivers for a week each. The drivers were told that, at the end of their week, if they kept their speed within the posted limits, they would be paid $25 each. Every time a driver went over the speed limit by five to eight mph, he would lose three cents. If the driver's speed exceeded nine or more ticks above the posted limit, he lost six cents.

If the drivers were caught speeding by the cops they got speeding tickets as usual.

Each time the car's ignition was switched off, drivers got a report showing how much their lead feet had reduced their rewards.

The results were promising, with one driver saying he had made a game out of trying to keep his $25. NHTSA officials involved in the study say insurance companies might be very interested in implementing the program for their customers.

"We found that the incentive system was incredibly effective in getting drivers to reduce their speeding," Ian Reagan, a traffic safety researcher at NHTSA tells NPR. "Egregious speed limit violations were almost eliminated – that's driving nine or more [miles per hour] over the speed limit."

No, your eyes do not deceive you, that's a 2011 Toyota Tundra masquerading as a vintage pickup. Not an awesome old Toyota Hilux pickup, but something decidedly more domestic. Of course, a new Toyota doesn't look anything like a 1950's truck. Neither does a modern Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado or Ram, for that matter, which is why this whole enterprise is so bizarre.

If you're wondering where to place the blame, the truck is the product of the apparently fertile imagination of one Clint Bowyer, Toyota-sponsored NASCAR driver and seemingly all-around good guy. Bowyer will be auctioning off the custom truck at the Barrett-Jackson Orange County auction, to be held June 22-24 in Costa Mesa, CA, with the proceeds going to charity. That lucky organization is the Emporia Community Foundation, based in Emporia, KS, Bowyer's hometown.

While Bowyer said in a statement that he, "wanted to take a brand new Toyota Tundra and make it look like it had been sitting, working on a farm for 50 or 60 years," in reality the pseudo-patina is the creation of custom painter Jason Jewett.

Scroll down to read the full press release.

The minds at Smart USA took to Twitter to make a point about the manufacturer's tridion safety cell recently. Clayton Hove, who runs a snarky blog about advertising, joked that he "Saw a bird had crapped on a Smart Car. Totaled it," leaving the door wide open for Smart to work up a response. And respond the automaker did.

Smart USA fired off a tweet of its own, complete with an infographic (click above to enlarge) depicting exactly how much bird excrement it would take to damage the vehicle's safety cell. According to Smart, the structure can withstand up to 9,000 pounds of pressure, which equates to around 4.5 million pigeon droppings.

Smart didn't stop at just doing the math. The company worked up a handy infographic to break down exactly how many turkey or emu droppings would do the same damage. Turns out those numbers are 360,000 and 45,000, respectively. Hilarious. Check out Smart Twitter account to see the original exchange.

Father's Day was this past weekend, and in case you're a dad who didn't get what he really wanted, Autoblog is holding a whole week's worth of giveaways to make up for it. You can of course enter to win even if you're not a dad (the childless and females are also eligible), but winning will be all the more sweeter if you spent your Sunday pretending to like that tie your kids got you.

Day 4/5: Win an OPTIMA Digital 1200 Battery Charger.

The Prize: An OPTIMA Digital 1200 Battery Charger ($199.99), because we had no idea that battery chargers had become this advanced.

Provided by: OPTIMA
URL: http://www.optimabatteries.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/optimabatteries
Twitter: twitter.com/optimabatteries




The Rules:

• Click here to enter. Requires that you Like the Autoblog Facebook page. Five additional entries each are offered for choosing to Like the prize provider's, AOL Autos and AutoblogGreen Facebook pages.
• Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older!
• The winner will be chosen randomly. One winner will win an OPTIMA Digital 1200 Battery Charger valued at $199.99.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• The full list of rules can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until June 22, 2012 at 2:59PM ET.

General Motors has officially released pricing for the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The base LS model starts at $23,150 including a $760 destination fee. The entry-level Malibu bows with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with 197 horsepower that's also found in LT and LTZ models. While the Environmental Protection Agency hasn't released official figures as of yet, GM expects the sedan to yield fuel economy in the mid 30s thanks in part to the standard six-speed automatic transmission.

If you're counting pennies, you may have noticed the new model is around $280 more expensive than its predecessor. The entry price also sticks the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu above competitors like the 2012 Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, though 2013 pricing is still missing on all of those models.

There is good news for buyers looking to snag a loaded Malibu, however. Top LTZ trim now starts at $28,590, which is a full $770 less expensive than last year. Stepping up to the new 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine in LTZ trim will set you back $30,925, however. The engine cranks out 259 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. Check the full press release below for more information.

There is something very right about a rear-wheel-drive sports sedan with over 500 horsepower and a manual transmission, and yet few vehicles check those boxes quite like the BMW M5. Unfortunately, most M5 buyers prefer to leave their left foot out of the gear-shifting equation, which is leading BMW to lose the manual tranny option altogether in favor of a dual-clutch-only approach.

Inside Line reports that the next M5, and the M6 for that matter, will not feature a manual transmission option. BMW M-brand Engineering chief Albert Biermann reportedly told IL that manual-equipped M5 models are topping out at 15 percent of total sales, making the MT a money-loser for the brand. Biermann claims that the volume of manual transmission buyers makes it all but impossible to make another three-pedal M5, adding "nobody wants it in Europe or anywhere else, so this will be the last time we do it."

This is most definitely not good news for stick shift-loving enthusiasts, but at the same time we can hardly argue against Biermann's point. There's no sense in offering a no-charge manual option if the vast majority of buyers don't want it. Fortunately, the M3 doesn't suffer from the same problem, so the M5's baby brother will continue to offer a row-your-own option.

Things are looking up for Icon. The company just moved from its tiny original location to a sprawling new facility, and every machine its craftsmen produce is sold before the final bolts are tightened. There's even talk of finding ways to triple production in order to keep up with demand. In addition to the off-road titans and clever Derelict models we know and love, Jonathan Ward, CEO and Lead Designer with the company, is busy working to expand his business with corporate partnerships and new products that go beyond old metal. But Icon recently made headlines for another reason all together.

As you may recall, Icon recently accused Hot Wheels and parent company Mattel of infringing on the customizer's design and naming trademarks. Jonathan Ward, CEO and head designer for Icon, says the trouble started in September, 2010 when he pitched the idea of a die-cast Icon model to Alec Tam, the design director for Hot Wheels. Ward sent an email with the full Icon product book to Mattel to no avail. Six months later, he received a note from a customer congratulating him on scoring a deal with Hot Wheels. The client had spotted a rendering on the Hot Wheels future product page that looked awfully similar to a promotional shot Icon uses for the company's FJ40 model.