In America, diesel powered vehicles were never very popular. The added cost of the vehicle plus the inconvenience of searching for a gas station that sold diesel fuel, along with the smoky exhaust was often enough to drive consumers away. But things are very different now. Most every station sells diesel fuel, and the bulk of the American commercial market runs on diesel. Nowadays, diesels are wildly popular in Europe, accounting for roughly 50 percent of the car market there.
With the advent of new technology, diesel-engined cars are 20 to 40 percent more efficient, and they’re cleaner than ever. The price of gasoline is comparatively inexpensive in America to that of Europe, but as the price of gas rises, the interest in diesel cars has also risen.
So as Porsche enthusiasts we’ve been asking, “Why doesn’t Porsche bring the diesel cars here?” Well that could all possibly change. According to sources, Porsche has plans to introduce a Diesel to the American market for 2012.
The European version of the Panamera diesel is powered by a 3.0 liter 250-hp diesel V-6 mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. In European tests, it uses only two-thirds the fuel with roughly the same performance as the gasoline version. The engine is the state of the art in diesel technology. It features common rail direct injection through piezo valves at a pressure of 2000 bar; turbocharging employing electrically controlled variable geometry turbochargers (VGTs) and emission control achieved by controlled exhaust gas recirculation.
It will be exciting to see if the diesel powered Porsche’s finally make it over to America.
