Top Gear pits the BMW 535d against the 545i
Prior to 2005, Top Gear blowhard Jeremy Clarkson was not a fan of diesel-powered cars. In fact, until July 2005 no diesel had ever turned a lap on the Top Gear test track. But then Jeremy met the BMW 535d. Although the 535d is a bit heavier than the gas version, Jezza found that it still comported itself remarkably well even on a wet track. The 535d didn't get quite as good mileage being thrashed on the track as it did in the ABG garage but that's to be expected. After Clarkson was done playing by himself, he took on the mighty Stig in a gas V8-powered 545i, and although the V8 beat the six-cylinder diesel, the 535d did remarkably well. Clarkson came away with a newfound respect for modern diesels. Check out the video after the jump.
[Source: eGMCarTech]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amtoro 1:00PM (3/18/2008)
If just diesel engines were available for our regular cars in the US... and if diesel fuel were less expensive than regular gasoline as it is in Europe... and if diesel cars were comparatively priced with gas-powered cars in the US... We are so behind the rest of the world here :(
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eckre 1:37PM (3/18/2008)
It's all because of STUPID California and the EPA doing the ASININE "Pollutants per GALLON" instead of "Pollutants per MILE", otherwise diesels would win all day every day.
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why not the LS2/LS7? 3:21PM (3/18/2008)
eckre:
Neither CARB nor the EPA measures pollutants per gallon, both are per mile. And it wouldn't matter anyway, given that Diesels are allowed to emit about twice as much NOx as gas cars under the EPA (although given that gas cars aren't near the limit, the real disparity is more than 4:1). So the 15% higher density of Diesel wouldn't be the reason they can't make the cut anyway.
I think you need to find a new meme.
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rgseidl 5:20PM (3/18/2008)
@ Sam -
Clarkson actually does appreciate diesels more than he generally lets on. Check out the video of his trip from London to Edinburgh (800 miles) on a single tank of fuel - in an Audi A8 with a V8 diesel!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series4episode4.shtml
@ why not the LS2/LS7 -
in the US, all passenger cars are subject to the same emissions limits, regardless of power source. It's in Europe that passenger diesels are given more lenient limits.
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Dr. Kenneth Noisewater 10:29PM (3/18/2008)
Of course, if it had the limited-slip diff, some lighter-weight components (say fibreglass/carbon fibre fenders and hood), and a DSG with 8 or more gears (diesels _love_ gears that keep the turbos spooled and the torque at max)..
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MikeW 8:36AM (3/20/2008)
Power is torque & speed. So diesels being without revs, need torque, and to get torque you need displacement, so without displacement you need boost.
For speed, you drive the serial-seqential in the big turbo alone engine speed range (the top half of the tach)
http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/e60535d.pdf
You want to stall in the 3000-4500 engine speed range.
http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/535d286bhp.pdf
or better yet 3500-4500.
Yes the ZF 8 speed auto would be great, but what is to stop BMW from giving the 550i the same transmission? Nothing.
Same with BMW's torque vectoring rear differential.
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Dr. Kenneth Noisewater 3:40PM (3/28/2008)
Sure the 8-speed would go great with anything, but diesels really need closer ratios since they rev so slowly.. If you lose 400-500 rpms or more between shifts on a diesel (like I do in my 4-speed Benz) you sit there waiting for the damn needle to climb even at full throttle.. Ideally they should work best with CVTs but AFAIK there is no CVT that can withstand the torque of even a 2l modern diesel.
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Sean 1:38AM (9/04/2008)
I rented this car (BMW 535d) from Hertz in Dublin and drove it all over Ireland 1,600 km. Simply put the car is fantastic even with 37,800 km on the meter. The big question is would I buy this car. - YES.
You really could not tell you were in a diesel car. The acceleration was great and passing lane power was more than enough. As for the matter of the "green issue" you people need to realize that Al Gore is a preacher preaching from a flawed data book. See this: http://tinyurl.com/3ktm42 food for thought.
The Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that EVERYONE
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