Diesel Power

Although this has absolutely nothing to do with Maserati or my Ghibli, I found the article below quite interesting. I've often found myself intrigued by the performance of modern diesel engined cars on the road and wondered how long it would be until diesel powered cars would be outperforming petrol powered ones.

Although the top end performance of my Ghibli is far superior to that of the majority of diesel powered cars, I've found myself often having to drop a couple of gears to keep up with even the most ordinary of modern TDI hatch backs. The top end power of these cars is nothing special, but the low to mid torque that these cars offer is pretty impressive; you really have to drive a petrol engined car hard to compete!

Shell V-Power diesel fuels Audi to historic American Le Mans Series victory

Shell and Audi completed a perfect season on Saturday with a convincing triumph in the American Le Mans racing Series (ALMS), the latest win in a very successful year for Shell V-Power Diesel.

The Audi team’s two diesel-powered R10 TDI race cars produced a string of victories since this year’s ALMS season began with the 12 Hours of Sebring race. Drivers Allan McNish and Dindo Capello’s eighth win of the season on the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California, is the feather in their champion’s cap.

McNish drove 64 of the 159 final laps on the same tank of fuel, testifying to diesel’s fuel economy.

"There is no way we could have made that number of laps without the diesel," McNish said. "The team gave me all the info I required in terms of distances required to make sure we could get to the end. I'll tell you it was right at the limit."

“I had to work quite hard on fuel saving in the closing stages but without the TDI technology, we’d never have made it without another pit-stop,” McNish said. By contrast, competitors had to refuel once more during the final hour.

Earlier this month, with two races to go, Audi’s R10 TDIs already had an unbeatable lead over their nearest rivals. Audi has now become the first manufacturer to win all races in a season in the LMP1 class (Le Mans Prototype 1) of the ALMS.