Two Diesels Smoke Quarter-Mile Sprint in a Quiet AWD Showdown in the Fog

I mean about proper diesel engines ramping up the RPMs on the drag strip and smoking the quarter-mile run. Although not as impressive pound-for-pound when it comes to horsepower ratings, the diesel makes up for lower HP numbers with raging torque outputs.

The Officially Gassed YouTube channel chaps staged a special one-on-one all-diesel fistfight at the airfield, with perfect English weather to spice up things. Fog and a wet track - what could be better for stretching some German-engineered legs in a 440-yard sprint?

It’s an Audi vs. BMW episode - the all-wheel-drive special – with two altered contenders who rely on self-igniting fuel to spark up the party at the track. The never-ending feud between the self-proclaimed Autobahn Kaisers unfolds one more battle for the unofficial history records.

The cars are in different weight categories – both literally and figuratively speaking. The BMW is a tuned 435D X Drive, and the four-ringed counterpart is a modified A6 Allroad station wagon. Both cars have a three-liter Diesel engine, with half a dozen cylinders each - a BMW-traditional straight-six and a V6 under the Audi hood. The steroid treatment applied to each twin-turbo engine yields vastly different results.

The Audi puts 550 hp (558 PS) and 738 lb-ft (1.000 Nm) on the table, with methanol injection to cool down the diesel bang. An eight-speed automatic gearbox sends the firepower to the 2.1-ton (4,630-lb) heavyweight wheels. Simplifying the equation to its bare essence, the A6 is a 261-bhp/ton (265 PS/ton) sleeper.

The BMW also has all-wheel drive, but its engine only puts out 424 hp (430 PS) and 690 lb-ft (936 Nm) of crank-twisting force. However, it is significantly lighter than the people carrier Audi: 3,582 lbs. (1.6 tons), which translates into a power-to-weight ratio of 260 bhp/ton (264 PS/ton).

The paper favors the Audi – by the skin of its teeth. We’ve seen many drag races where the predicted underdog punched above its weight class and KO-ed everyone into last Christmas. Add the unpredictable variables of this specific event – wet track, humid air – and the thrill recipe is completed.

Two-stage race is the Officially Gassed classic event choreography – a roll and a drag, with best-two-out-of-three rules of engagement. First, the roll races –right off the bat, the Audi pulls a massive gap on the BMW and takes an undisputed win. The rematch is as tight as a drum, but the Allroad takes it by a light beam.

The standing quarter mile gives the Bimmer a comeback chance – which the proud diesel-burning 435D swiftly takes and beats the Audi from start to finish. Unfortunately, the eight-speed gearbox gives up on the car on the second round: a shifting mishap nearly buries the BMW in its tracks, with the Audi flying by like there’s no tomorrow.

The decider goes to the hefty station wagon - and this is all there is to this low-revving, high-torque duel. A very close-call race between the quiet members of the piston family that can pull good numbers in the 1,320-foot challenge.

The BMW takes the consolation crown for the fastest standing quarter-mile sprint, with 11.869 seconds. Still, the Audi is microscopically close and stops the timer just two-thousands of a second later: 11.871 seconds. However, the Allroad peaked at 117.52 mph (189.11 kph) across the line, marginally faster than its counterpart, which bested 116.82 (187.98 kph).