Photo: Facebook screenshot
While it will still be around for some time, the diesel engine equipping passenger cars has passed its peak with sales dropping even in its most important market, the European Union.
Volkswagen's emissions scandal from two years ago was just the spark needed to show this fuel type's flaws and uncover the fact it's not the silver bullet solution to harmful emissions we were led to believe. The German company had to deal with a lot of bad press and very costly lawsuits, but all manufacturers have since begun looking for alternatives to their oil-burning power plants.
That makes this drag race between an Audi SQ7 and a Porsche Panamera 4S Diesel one of the last spasms of this dying body. And the fact both these vehicles are powered by TDI engines makes it all the more poetic.
We say "TDI engines," but the singular would have been more appropriate since it's actually the same non-Dieselgatey 4.0-liter V8 unit resting under the hoods of both the Audi and the Porsche. However, as it so often happens, it delivers different power outputs for each brand.
You might expect the Porsche to receive the more potent version, but that's not the case. The Panamera 4S Diesel gets 422 hp from the eight-cylinder mill, while the tri-charged Audi SQ7 has 13 hp more for a total of 435. The gap remains somewhat proportional where torque is concerned: 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) for the SUV and 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) for the sedan.
They both have all-wheel-drive systems, so there's no advantage there, meaning the only two things left to separate the two are their masses and aerodynamics. Needless to say, the Porsche Panamera wins each of these two categories, boasting a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) time of 4.5 seconds, as opposed to the Audi's (perfectly respectable for a vehicle this size) 4.9 seconds.
So this shouldn't bring any surprises, right? Well, it depends on how you look at it: yes, the Porsche wins, but even though you know it is the quickest diesel-powered production car, you still have to tip your hat at just how fast this thing is. It almost makes us sorry to know diesels will one day be gone from our cars. And then we watch this Model X vs. SQ7 clip, and everything is alright again.
That makes this drag race between an Audi SQ7 and a Porsche Panamera 4S Diesel one of the last spasms of this dying body. And the fact both these vehicles are powered by TDI engines makes it all the more poetic.
We say "TDI engines," but the singular would have been more appropriate since it's actually the same non-Dieselgatey 4.0-liter V8 unit resting under the hoods of both the Audi and the Porsche. However, as it so often happens, it delivers different power outputs for each brand.
You might expect the Porsche to receive the more potent version, but that's not the case. The Panamera 4S Diesel gets 422 hp from the eight-cylinder mill, while the tri-charged Audi SQ7 has 13 hp more for a total of 435. The gap remains somewhat proportional where torque is concerned: 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) for the SUV and 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) for the sedan.
They both have all-wheel-drive systems, so there's no advantage there, meaning the only two things left to separate the two are their masses and aerodynamics. Needless to say, the Porsche Panamera wins each of these two categories, boasting a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) time of 4.5 seconds, as opposed to the Audi's (perfectly respectable for a vehicle this size) 4.9 seconds.
So this shouldn't bring any surprises, right? Well, it depends on how you look at it: yes, the Porsche wins, but even though you know it is the quickest diesel-powered production car, you still have to tip your hat at just how fast this thing is. It almost makes us sorry to know diesels will one day be gone from our cars. And then we watch this Model X vs. SQ7 clip, and everything is alright again.
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