Diesel is catching up

[Duke]

Diesel slow? You'd think so, yet European car manufacturers continue to make the most out of this fuel.

Take Audi. They've already made a diesel engine that propels the A8 (a hefty car by anyone's measure) to 60 under 6 seconds. And now i came upon this scrap of news:

Audi diesel racer makes history


Audi has pulled off a world first with its R10 racer, which is the only diesel-powered sports car ever to win a major race.

The R10 took victory in the Sebring 12 Hours in Florida on Sunday (March 19), and the car's triumph is all the more impressive because it had to start from the pit lane due to mechanical problems before the start.

Drivers Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello then made the most of the R10's massive torque to assume the lead at the four-hour mark and were not challenged after that.

Aston Martin took second and third spots with its DBR9 racers.

:woah: That's impressive.

"AUDI AG is one step ahead of the opposition yet again: The inventor of ‘TDI’ will fight, as the world’s first automobile manufacturer, for overall victory with a diesel engine at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. The new Audi R10 TDI is powered by a completely new 5.5-litre, twelve-cylinder bi-turbo TDI engine which is extremely economical and quiet.

The Le Mans Prototype, with over 650 hp and more than 1100 Newton metres of torque, significantly exceeds the power produced by the majority of previous Audi racing cars – including that of its victorious R8 predecessor. "

http://www.audi.com/audi/com/en1/experience/motorsport/Audi_R10_TDI.html

It's catching up.

 

[tennis_dog]

well, when i think of diesel, im still gonna think of those F450s and other pickup trucks, as well as just trucks in general...and i dont think i'll ever see them doing what this audi did.....for some reason, i got the sterotype that diesels=much slower cars, but more power.... this audi, however, i know that's fuckin incredible....but those are two turbos in there in a v12...what do you expect?? what about that crapy volkswagen TDI??

 

[PELLA]

^ perfect example of American thinking.


Thats real impressive. Id love to listen to what it sounds like. Im more and more leaning towards diesel engines myself. Diesel engine cars have ENGINES in there...gas engines are good and all that, im not gonna diss em or nothin', but they are more likely to break down faster than diesel engines because of all the things plugged into and things involved in a gas engine.

Id love to see that R10 in action.

 

[Pittsey]

I will have a piece of shit Diesel next week. (Provided no hicups occur)

I'll post pics.

 

[Duke]

well, when i think of diesel, im still gonna think of those F450s and other pickup trucks, as well as just trucks in general...and i dont think i'll ever see them doing what this audi did.....for some reason, i got the sterotype that diesels=much slower cars, but more power.... this audi, however, i know that's fuckin incredible....but those are two turbos in there in a v12...what do you expect?? what about that crapy volkswagen TDI??

Boh, the engine set-up shouldn't really matter, all it's competitors are throughbred racing cars. DBR9's are horrifyingly fast.

The difference with diesel is that, due to the nature of the fuel and the high compression rate, you get heaps of torque practically from idle almost. However, because the engines tend to be heavier and sturdier and because the way the diesel is burned it won't rev that high. High end horsepower is almost impossible to achieve without building a huge diesel engine with nifty technologies.

But when you do manage to build a big powerful diesel engine, you can see the figures speak for themselves.

In essence, diesel is a technically more advanced way to fuel an internal combustion engine. The reason diesel has been slow up to now is because in general, technology wasn't advanced enough.