What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think ‘diesel’? A heavy, low-power growler of an engine that drives trucks and taxis, right? If you had said so a few years ago, no one would have looked askance. Today, brows would turn, not too subtly, towards the sleek machines zooming on the roads.

Technology can do wonders and the new generation diesel engine—common-rail injection, to be technologically precise—is anything but gauche. No, the old engine has not had a cosmetic makeover and acquired a fancy name. This is the real deal—many automobile manufacturers believe this is the Holy Grail of diesel engine technology.

The modern diesel engine has a ‘rail’—okay, it’s only a pipe—where the fuel is stored at high pressure. This allows permanent availability of diesel for the engine’s cylinders. So it runs smoothly in different driving conditions. Conventional engines had to build and generate pressure every time the fuel was injected into the cylinders.

This technological rejigging has not only improved its power but also reduced fuel consumption and cut down on the noise and carbon emission. In an apprehensive world that has given up calorie count for carbon count, the diesel engine is a happy prospect.

“The common-rail engines give high fuel economy and also meet higher emissions standards like Euro IV,” says I.V. Rao, R&D chief, Maruti Udyog. Some diesel cars, he adds, are even faster than the petrol ones.

Little wonder then that auto manufacturers in India are flooding the market with hi-tech diesel variants. The Maruti Swift has its alter ego in the Swift DDiS, Indigo has a DICOR version. Mahindra launched the Renault Logan with a dCi variant, while GM recently released the diesel-powered Chevrolet Optra Magnum and has set the schedule for Captiva, an SUV. Hyundai will put out the diesel variant of Getz, while Fiat also plans new hi-tech engines for its current and upcoming models.

... contd.