Surprising pace of an oil burner

[Vertigo1]

I don't think he likes diesels..... lol

Haha, on the contrary, I've had four A3 diesels before I switched to petrol for the current one.

Diesel is fine and has its place. It's undoubtedly more economical than petrol and large diesel engined cars can make for effortless cruisers with some surprising performance, as per this thread.

All I take issue with is claims that the increased torque of diesels somehow makes up for a power deficit. Lots of torque does provide for a more 'relaxed' driving experience with lower revs and fewer gear changes necessary but, when it comes to outright performance, power always wins out. There's a reason there are no diesel supercars

 

[RSS-S3]

Torque is infectious!

My old Mk3 skoda octavia VRS 184ps engine
Mapped to 242ps with a healthy 510NM of torque........

The look on peoples faces when they got trashed by a Skoda

 

[Milnesafc]

Probably not worthy of a thread, but on my way home yesterday I found myself behind a driver who seemed keen to be a little "enthusiastic" and I was happy to oblige within reason of course

The car was a BMW 435d x drive

Needless to say I was impressed with it's turn of pace! I was expecting my S3 to be significantly quicker... and although I was catching him up it was relatively close.

It wasn't until I got home and googled the car that I realised their stats are pretty impressive.

Had the same with a 535d yesterday, he got a slight jump on me coming off the roundabout ( didn't help that the gear box decided to shift up a gear just as I was about to hit the loud peddle), was starting to creep back but to be honest I was expecting to pull out and wave when I passed him - but as others have said S3's party trick is from a standing start, he wouldn't get near.

 

[Lehn]

If you keep in mind how many 335, 435 and 535's diesels there are on the road and also the x35/x40 petrols the only right thing to do is mapping the S3 to 350+ hp we must stand our ground! (This may be more important for me since I'm switching my BMW out for an Audi )

 

[Vertigo1]

Had the same with a 535d yesterday, he got a slight jump on me coming off the roundabout ( didn't help that the gear box decided to shift up a gear just as I was about to hit the loud peddle), was starting to creep back but to be honest I was expecting to pull out and wave when I passed him - but as others have said S3's party trick is from a standing start, he wouldn't get near.

Again, a 535d has very similar power but 50% more torque so he'd be waving to you once rolling As you say, very little will live with an S3 off the line simply due to quattro and S-Tronic.

 

[Milnesafc]

Again, a 535d has very similar power but 50% more torque so he'd be waving to you once rolling As you say, very little will live with an S3 off the line simply due to quattro and S-Tronic.

TBH all things consider he wasn't getting away plus he had about 10 yards off me coming off the roundabout which didn't increase and was starting to catch him towards the end, had the gear box not decided to have a funny moment I think it would have been in my favour.

 

[Lehn]

S3 Saloon vs M550d Touring. 1600kg vs almost 2300kg. I think this would be more even than against a 535d.

 

[Vertigo1]

Just used that site to duel the S3 against the F-Type V6S which my boss has - OMG soooo close

 

[cuke2u]

Haha, on the contrary, I've had four A3 diesels before I switched to petrol for the current one.

Diesel is fine and has its place. It's undoubtedly more economical than petrol and large diesel engined cars can make for effortless cruisers with some surprising performance, as per this thread.

All I take issue with is claims that the increased torque of diesels somehow makes up for a power deficit. Lots of torque does provide for a more 'relaxed' driving experience with lower revs and fewer gear changes necessary but, when it comes to outright performance, power always wins out. There's a reason there are no diesel supercars

http://www.evo.co.uk/audi/8815/r8-v12-tdi-audi-unveils-diesel-supercar 'Tis a concept tho. Then there are the diesel hybrids such as the Audi LMP1's...

 

[Vertigo1]

Yep both valid but, regardless of what Audi may claim, the R8 was never ever going to enter production as literally no one interested in a six-figure supercar is the slightest bit interested in diesel. Diesel lent itself perfectly to endurance racing because of the economy advantages so that was a perfect fit.

Performance diesel cars exist, in all categories (Skoda vRS, Audi TT, SQ5) but they're a relative curiosity. The overwhelming majority of performance cars are petrols, simply because, all other things being equal, they're faster and far more refined. It's possible to make diesels which compete with petrols in performance (but only by matching power and exceeding torque - not by trading the former for the latter) but there's no point as most of the economy advantage is lost and you end up with something which sounds like a tractor.

The lack of refinement is the one big problem with diesel which they've never really overcome. They're better than they used to be but by nowhere near as much as they'd have you believe. Of course each person has different priorities and to many this won't matter but I do seriously wonder why people buy convertible diesels as I couldn't enjoy a nice summer's day with the top down listening to that din

 

[Tom.H]

Even the SQ5 has gone away from diesel now though in favour of a 3.0TFSI lump

 

[Vertigo1]

Even the SQ5 has gone away from diesel now though in favour of a 3.0TFSI lump

And I'm willing to be it's because no one was buying them. People either buy a performance car or they buy an economical diesel, rarely do they want both.

I've driven an diesel SQ5 and the performance was impressive but it just felt "wrong" somehow.

 

[SILVAF0XX]

Even the SQ5 has gone away from diesel now though in favour of a 3.0TFSI lump

I think this was always an option in Europe, but for some reason was never available in the UK.