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March 19, 2006
Diesels: Boring, noisy slow, right? Nein!
I've liked diesel engines since I first read about them when I was a kid; immensely strong with loads of low-end torque; bulletproof because of the pressures they must contain; and very miserly with the fuel, they seemed . . . tough.
This is a great explanation of the differences between diesel and gas engines.
In case you didn't notice, there aren't any sparkplugs; the piston compresses the fuel until it flashes/ignites without an external spark.
I remember when VW first began importing their TDI Jetta, hmmm, must have been in the early 90s. They had an ad running in magazines that said, "Chicago to Washington, D.C., in one tank of gas." That's 700 miles on one tank of gas, and it ain't a gigantic, SUV-sized tank, either.
Now that's the kind of mileage that'll make a Prius blush in shame.
Most Americans don't have such fond memories, courtesy of the Detroit three. The last crop of American passenger cars with diesel engines were horrendous: boring, noisy, slow, and prone to falling to pieces.
Since then, Americans have avoided diesels like Hollywood avoids pro-America filmmaking.
Meanwhile, overseas, diesel-powered versions of popular cars outsell their gasoline bruders by more than a 2-to-1 ratio. Why? The latest versions are quiet, very fast off the line, extremely durable (often lasting 250,000 miles), and get great mileage, without any fancy -- and expensive -- hybrid hoo-ha and batteries.
The final proof that the image of the diesel engine as a slug, a dog, an automotive Special Olympics on wheels is this:
After pasting up a new track record during qualifying, Audi's diesel-powered Audi R10 TDi racers went on to torque their way to first place in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday.
The No. 2 Audi of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello won the first race in on the 2006 American Le Mans Series schedule by three laps, besting the No. 37 Lola of Intersport Racing. This, despite starting the race from pit lane in 34th position after a heat exchanger failed.
The No. 2 car took the lead over their Audi teammates in the No. 1 machine around a third of the way through the race, after the latter was forced to retire with overheating issues.
This is reportedly the first time an oil-burner has claimed victory in a major American auto race.
When will we start seeing this technology make it's way into cars for sale in the U.S.? Yesterday wouldn't be soon enough for me.
Via AutoBlog.
Posted by Mike Lief at March 19, 2006 09:36 AM
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Comments
Diesel cars rule. Check my web site to see how my VW Golf was tuned from 110hp to 242hp.
Posted by: Racingtdi at April 27, 2006 10:18 AM