No one's talking about it yet, but diesel is going through its biggest change in over 100 years. I'm not talking about how much sulphur is in the fuel, how restrictive the new emissions systems are going to be, or even how much torque the '08 trucks are going to have. I'm talking about diesel becoming the new premium engine option for passenger vehicles.
Rudolph's engine design was originally intended to get more power out of less fuel than the steam or gasoline options available at the time. Diesel's role was fighting wars, building nations, moving cargo, and harvesting food. Only recently has it become the engine of choice for performance vehicles-and even race cars.
Like all supply-and-demand equations, the fact that more of us are choosing diesel-powered vehicles for our daily drivers has changed diesel's role forever. First, it has encouraged automakers to build more powerful diesel trucks that can be sold with higher profit margins. It's spawned a diesel-performance aftermarket that can nearly double the power output of production diesels without the owner having to pick up a wrench. Those two events, of course, led directly to the government placing more restrictions on the exhaust our diesels are allowed to emit. Which, in turn, has caused the oil companies to develop new blends of oil and #2 Diesel to meet the stricter standards. The result is that we the consumers have been forced to steadily pay more for our beloved engines and fuel.
In 10 years, diesel engines went from being in work trucks to being the must-have engine in all trucks. Today, diesel-powered vehicles are winning races and setting records that used to be reserved for gasoline guzzlers. New V-8, V-10, and V-12 engines are being developed to run on diesel. Diesels, which have always dominated the torque wars, are now chasing down gasoline engines in the horsepower game too. For the first time in history, people who would never have considered buying or driving a diesel want one and are asking, "Why don't the automakers build more of them?"
Let's face it, for years, the allure of the diesel engine was cheap fuel, fantastic economy, bulletproof reliability, and low maintenance costs. Modern diesels, on the other hand, have traded simplicity for driveability, performance for fuel economy, and emissions improvements for cheap fuel. I have no doubt that diesel will always hold efficiency advantages over gasoline, but I fear that high diesel fuel prices will force the OEMs to market the diesel engine option higher up the food chain than I'd want. I'm sure we'll see a flood of diesel-powered cars and trucks come to the market over the next three years, but with fuel prices and the cost of engine options being what they are, diesel is going to have to move upscale to fill a new role as the top-of-the line premium engine.
Emissions issues could drive the prices up even more. In November 2006, DaimlerChrysler got together with Audi and Volkswagen to announce that all three companies would embrace the name Bluetec to describe their clean-diesel technologies. That was a bigger announcement than you may think because it now gives those three companies (BMW may also join in) a marketing tool to position diesel as the "clean fuel." While Bluetec is no one single engine design or technology, just like "hybrid" it's a name that consumers can grab onto. Shoppers who have no idea what piezo injectors, variable geometry turbos, and common-rail injection are will feel comfortable (dare I say proud?) of the Bluetec diesel car or truck parked in their driveway. I can already see the positive effects that biodiesel has had on the public's perception of trucks like my F-250. Bluetec could go even further to make the diesel engine the must-have powerplant of the future. Imagine how much more my 6.5L Blazer will be worth with these Bluetec license plates! I think Rudolph would approve.