Overwhelming argument for diesel 5445

Very possibly.

I'm not sure that it is. The reason that diesels have low revs at 80 mph is because of the greater torque. The more torque, the higher the gearing that can be adopted without problem. If you had a petrol engine geared to provide 2400 rpm at 80 mph then the chances are that the slightest gradient would require a downshift. Diesels can handle it.

By 'pull' I refer to the ability of a diesel engine to drag the weight of the car plus pbuttengers-load along - particularly up hill. I've already mentioned that I have towed my caravan with two petrol autos and two diesel autos. When starting to climb a hill with the petrol engines, the gearbox changes down immediately and the engine screams away at high revs because it just does not have the ability to haul the weight up the hill in a higher gear. By comparison my diesel autos remain in a higher gear and cruise effortlessly up hills without fuss or frenzy. This is also noticeable with a full load of pbuttengers and luggage - your average diesel will haul away up the hill with ease while your peaky petrol engine has to be downshifted and revved highly to maintain anything like similar performance. On a related note - both the petrol cars that I have owned with air-con demonstrated a noticeable deterioration in performance when the air-con was on - because the drag of the air-con compressor puts a fair load on the engine. With my two diesels the effect of air-con is simply not noticeable at all. The additional torque of the diesel engine can handle the additional drag quite effortlessly. By flexibility I refer to the ability of the diesel engine to handle lower speeds and up-hill gradients without having to down-shift. The extra torque means that the engine can still pull when a petrol engine would be on the point of stalling. By refinement I refer to quietness and smoothness. Early diesels were noisy and clattery and it was very obvious, at all times, that you were driving one. Modern diesels are far more refined and, in general, the only time that you can tell that the car is diesel engined is at idle - and even then it's only marginally noisier. I've lost count of the number of times pbuttengers in my car have expressed astonishment when they learn it is a diesel. As they say, "I would never have guessed - it's so quiet".

Does that explain what I am referring to? !

Kev