Diesels may have “earned” a bad reputation in recent years, but they are still popular in many markets and favored by a lot of car manufacturers for certain types of vehicles, particularly trucks and large SUVs.
Two of the finest diesel SUVs on the market are the Audi SQ7 and the BMW X5 M50d.
Powering the latter is an inline-six diesel with no less than four turbochargers, resulting in an impressive 394 HP and 561 lb-ft (760 Nm) of torque. BMW says the SUV only needs 5.2 seconds to sprint from naught to 62 mph (100 km/h) and that it can go up to an limited stop speed of 155 mph (250 km/h) – and probably beyond without the electronic nanny.
Also Read: McChip Boosts BMW X5 M50d’s Quad Turbo Engine To 515 HP
The video below shows how these figures translate to the real world and sees the X5 M50d face off against the aforementioned Audi SQ7.
The Audi may not have four turbochargers like the X5 M50d but, thanks to its use of a 4.0-liter diesel V8 with an electric-powered compressor to eliminate turbo lag, it does have the edge in grunt and pumps out 429 HP and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) of torque.
Ingolstadt claims that the SQ7 can hit 62 mph in just 4.8 seconds so, on paper, it does have the edge over the X5.
Like we said, however, this is a real-world test, where official numbers do not always tell the whole story. As to what happened in this duel… well, you just might be surprised.