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In typical form, North America is years behind Europe when it comes to fashion, culture and well-thought-out solutions. Audi’s been banging out diesels to the tune of 400,000 since 1991, but you’d never know it by looking at their Canadian product lineup.
You can’t blame Audi, though, as it’s us North Americans who complain it’s smelly and messy. Not to mention diesel clatter is just sooooo down market. Well, diesel fuel is diesel fuel, so there isn’t much anybody can do about the aroma and texture. The refinement and image of the diesel engine, however, has changed dramatically over the last few years. Engines like the 3.0 TDI that Audi is bringing to Canada in the Q7 come February 2009 are the reason why.
Smooth, powerful and easily 35 to 40 per cent more efficient than its gasoline counterparts, the TDI engine is in fact the most desirable alternative in the Q7’s engine room arsenal. One of the big challenges for diesels is countermanding 100 years of car manufacturer marketing hyperbole centred around horsepower.
Diesels typically produce less horsepower than similar-sized gasoline engines and, therefore, people assume they are sluggish. Buses, front-end loaders, combines and dump trucks do little to dissuade the notion that diesels are slow and agricultural.
What diesels do much better than gasoline engines, however, is torque. Torque is that feeling in the small of your back. Torque is a wave carrying you out to sea. Torque is what gets a near three-tonne SUV moving, and torque, dear readers, is what makes diesels ideally suited to our stop-and-go driving conditions.
Just wiggle your toes over the Q7 TDI’s accelerator pedal and the big ute eases away as if guided by the wind. Part-throttle is all you ever need to keep up with even the fastest traffic, and that’s why the Q7 can average around 10 L/100 km, roughly the same as a V6 family sedan.
Its 400 lb-ft of torque could also be used to smooth over our charter banks’ involvement in the US sub-prime quagmire. That’s how powerful it is.
The rest of the Q7 remains the same as the gasoline versions. Tons of interior space, finely crafted materials, gizmos, doodads and gadgets galore. All wrapped up in a uniquely Audi skin inspired by Bauhaus architecture and American bravado in equal parts.
The efficiency of modern diesels is a big step towards a less consumptive society, and Audi’s got the answer right here.
