Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Do Petrol Heads like Diesel?

When you talk to people you will find lots of people who drive and even like Diesel engine cars, others are the opposite and put Diesel engines in the truck corner, but would never use one in a sport car for example. Well, a lot has changed during the last 20 or 30 years. I remember the Diesel cars in the 70ies, for example the first Golf Diesel or the famous Mercedes 200D (the typical German cab). These were quite horrible cars, limited power output and very dirty. But technology has advanced a lot. With modern technology Diesels have become much cleaner, thanks to filters and bluetech and other high tech stuff. And they have become a lot more powerful. I recently drove a BMW 335d. Wow, this thing accelerates pretty much in the (super) sports car league, really impressive. And modern Diesels are very economical, drinking some 6-8 liters per 100 km. Car manufacturers even offer Diesel convertibles and coupés these days. But, do I like them? No! Despite all engineering and technical improvements the sound of a Diesel is still quite disappointing, not to compare with traditional fuel engines. Just listen to the noise a BMW 330 i does compared to the 330d. And the Diesel engines still don't run as smooth as their gasoline competitor. And it takes a lot of technology to make Diesels as clean as a gasoline engine and burning Diesel produces more CO2 per liter than gasoline. So, all in all, I will never like Diesels really, even if I am impressed with the power output. Maybe in the future Diesel engines will be good "range extenders" for hybrid and electrical cars. But they never will win my heart.

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