If you’re old enough to remember the first generation of diesel cars, they were stinky, smoking, clattering slow embarrassments to best-in-class gas-powered automobiles. But diesels have come a long way since the early
1980s. And as global energy demands increase, they will play a bigger role than ever in personal transportation. Diesel car sales are set to overtake petrol automobiles in Europe this year. Low-sulfur grades of the fuel eliminate much of the stink and pollution, though nitrogen-oxide and particulate levels remain high. Diesel engines are 20 to 40
percent more efficient than their gasoline cousins—an efficiency that doesn’t fluctuate according to driving patterns or weather. Diesel fuel is cheaper.
Diesel engines last longer. And as for speed, Audi won the 24 Heures du Le
Mans, the most prestigious sports-car race in the world, with its diesel-powered R10, which is not only blinding fast, but eerily quiet.
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