Diesel urban myth no. 2: they just tool along

November 5, 2008 -- Filed under Clean Diesel by Louis-Alain Richard

Of all the myths surrounding the diesel engine, the one that holds that diesel goes hand in hand with laziness and lack of responsiveness is the most difficult to demystify. How do you explain notions that are perceptible to the driver only once they slide into the driver’s seat? I’ll to try to do it here by supplying you with a few figures, knowing full well that they paint only a pale reflection of reality.

To start, I will use as an example two cars that I have driven since the summer of 2007: a Renault Mégane 1.6 16v supplying 110 hp, and its diesel equivalent, the 1.5 dCi version supplying 105 hp. For those who are not familiar with the Mégane, it is a compact about the size of a Golf that is very popular in France. And I know these cars well as I had worked for Renault for several years.

According to Renault’s official figures, the gasoline version goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.9 seconds and its maximum speed is 192 km/h. The diesel version goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.1 secondes, and tops off at 185 km/h. The difference between the two is therefore insignificant, at least on paper. However, in actual use (I have driven the two cars at length on extraordinary European vacations!), the gasoline version requires that you horsewhip it to meet these numbers, while everything is relaxed on board the diesel version.

In fact, when going from one to the other, you’d be willing to bet that the diesel version is faster. This is because you can feel its acceleration immediately from 1,500 rpm, while the gasoline version must reach 3,300 rpm before you start to feel its push. I therefore must take issue with those who claim diesel engines just dawdle along. With the most recent evolutions of diesel, even the most modest of them have spunk.

I could also tell you about our road trip in a Touareg V10 TDI a couple of years back, during its launch. We had a good time goading a number of little sports car drivers with this SUV that was raring to go. That was my first contact with such an engine, and with a time of just 8 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h, the Touareg surprised more than a few drivers… including me!

For those of you who still doubt the power of diesel, why not do a little tour of the Jetta TDI Cup microsite; it’s a racing series that I spoke about here that is unusual in the fact that all the drivers drive Jetta TDI Clean Diesels. Then we’ll be back on speaking terms.

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