Lately, we’ve been seeing cars get the presidential treatment from the media for basically having multiple personalities. But that’s because it’s not enough anymore to just be good at one thing.

Smart people come up with smart solutions to problems that don’t even need solving. They want to innovate, to inspire, to grow themselves and others around them. They think to themselves, “what if this could be built a little better, what if this could go faster” and so on.

The automotive industry has a front row seat to the technology race. There are a lot of cars being sold on this planet, and that incentives car manufacturers to go out and spend on R&D in order to be the first to break through new barriers and obtain a competitive edge. If NASA was profitable, we’d probably be on planet Klingon by now. And if Daimler decided to go into space, they’d probably be building Maybachs for the Jedi.

When it comes to new tech, Audi is no slouch. Their RS5 TDI Concept shows us just how far diesel engines have come in the last few years, and here is why we should care…

#5. Turbodiesels weren’t always appealing to the masses

I’m probably preaching to the choir here, right? I don’t have to tell you guys how much oil burners used to suck in comparison to either a turbocharged petrol engine or a naturally aspirated one. They offered little refinement and little to no performance, so we simply got used to making fun of them. They became sort of like Dwight from The Office. Ridiculous comedic relief.

Nowadays we’re going flat out in the BMW M550d like it’s child’s play. That car is so fast, it’ll get you from 0 to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds. Not too long ago, that would have been supercar worthy. One could argue it still is.
If the Audi RS5 TDI went on sale today, it would immediately become the fastest and most efficient diesel powered production car in the world. Which brings us to…

#4. From a performance stand point, this thing is jawdropping in every way

Thank’s to its e-booster setup, the RS5 TDI’s total output of 385 PS and 750Nm of torque is enough to make it go 0-62 in just 4.0 seconds. That’s nearly a second faster than the M550d.

The electric compressor is powered by a lithium-ion battery that uses a separate electrical system, connected to the conventional 12-volt electrical system. The air is forced to spin up the first of the two turbos within milliseconds – which accounts for the absence of turbo lag. So those 750Nm (553 lb-ft) of torque I just mentioned are available all the way down from 1.250rpm.

When I first read about its specs, I honestly felt like Audi cheated. Other fast diesels like the M550d, the Audi A8 TDI V8 or the Panamera diesel, are all big heavy cars. I mean sure, the low weight definitely helps, but bottom line it’s the e-booster doing most of the work when you first accelerate from a stand still. That’s the beauty of it. It’s as responsive as a petrol car, but with more pulling power. On the track, this helps you exit the corners much faster. Usually you’d be losing ground to the petrol powered car while waiting for the turbocharger to kick in.

#3. It helps all diesel powered cars look better by association

Before we go ahead and call the RS5 TDI Concept some type of trophy wife for all the oil burners out there, let’s remember where all of this is going. Every time a diesel powered car raises eyebrows in a good way, it makes it much easier for car manufacturers to justify investing even more money in developing their diesel engines. But I won’t argue the same point twice.

About 17 years ago, they started to figure out that powerful diesel engines do a great job in large premium cars, and then they started to think about ways to improve. Let’s give it two turbochargers. Let’s give it a fast transmission. Let’s give it all-wheel drive and so on. Let’s give it all of that and an e-booster. Pretty soon, they’ll figure out a way to make it a plug-in hybrid. Oh wait, they already have; the all-new Q7 is Audi’s first plug-in hybrid diesel car. I feel like that doesn’t get talked about enough.

#2. It makes that old “horse power vs. torque” argument much more interesting

People are usually split on this – from casual observers to car enthusiasts and even automotive journalists. You could say that the torque won’t help you that much, especially flat out, if the petrol car has a lot more power. And you’d be right. The torque might make your “mid range game” better, but pretty soon you’ll run out of resources.

For example, the RS5 TDI’s e-booster makes up for the extra 65 PS of the petrol powered RS5, which is nothing to laugh at. I mean, 450 PS is still something. Good enough to take you from 0 to 62 in 4.5 seconds. But the TDI has almost double the torque and now it also has the same responsiveness as the petrol car.

What’s that you say? The petrol RS5 has a naturally aspirated V8? Yes it does. Oh, I get it. You think that if the petrol car had a turbocharger tickling those 450 horses, the TDI wouldn’t look so good anymore. That’s interesting because if we take a 400 something PS turbocharged gasoline car – that weighs about the same as the RS5 TDI, we might end up with something like a Mercedes-Benz SL500. It has 435 PS, 700Nm of torque and gets to 62 in 4.6 seconds. Ouch, already over half a second slower. Let’s raise the stakes. Bring out the SL 63 AMG with its glorious 537 PS and 800Nm of torque. It’s still slower to 62 mph than the RS5 TDI Concept by 0.3 seconds. That’s what happens when you make a high power diesel car give it its all from just 1.250rpm.

#1. Your diesel powered Volkswagen Jetta will be a lot more fun in a few years
This is the automotive industry. You find something that works and pretty soon everybody’s doing it. All the goodies you used to find on a luxury car a few years ago, are now available in you budget friendly family car.
It’s pretty safe to say that in the near future, most if not all diesel cars will be using all of today’s high end solutions (electric compressor, plug-in hybrid system), making them faster and a lot more efficient.

Photo Gallery