By Joel Chin

Whenever my mother drives anywhere close to a lorry or a taxi, she tends to leave a gap so large you can park two trailers in between her car and the vehicle she is tailing.

This has nothing to do with the latter's intimidating size, mind you. She only does so to protect her nose from the vile olfactory assault coming in a cloud of black smoke.

Eventually, tiring of ambling behind the clattering oil-burner, she pulls into the adjacent lane and takes off like a man (or a woman, rather) running from a plague - the sound of her car's inline-6 petrol engine barely rising above a whisper.

Such is the sentiment towards diesel motoring in Singapore. Mention the condemned fuel and foreheads crease at the collective thought of slow, noisy, offensive, pollution-spewing commercial vehicles plying the roads and contributing to global warming.

Well, not anymore.

A week ago, I found myself a passenger in the back of a diesel taxi. Accelerating from a stoplight, my head rapidly kissed the headrest and stayed firmly there as the taxi relentlessly climbed its way up to the legal speed limit.

What amazed me was the ease at which it did so. Even though the cab was pulling away with a force large enough to rearrange my facial features, I was still able to carry out a conversation with the driver without having to yell above the diesel roar.

In fact, there was no roar to speak of; only a low purr as the trees went by faster.

And, on that note, such is the refinement of a modern diesel.

Contrary to long-held beliefs, modern diesel automobiles are now as quiet and as smooth as petrol ones. They also release less greenhouse gases in the form of carbon dioxide and are as fuel-effecient as some of the best petrol-electric hybrids in the market.

This is all well and good if you are an environmentally-conscious eco-mentalist. What about us petrol-heads and our insatiable lust for power?

While diesel engines have loads of pulling power - called torque - acceleration is a weak point. Modern diesels have turbochargers to provide additional power. And so, when it comes to real-world performance, diesel cars are as powerful - sometimes even more powerful - as their equivalent petrol contemporaries.

What this means is that in day-to-day driving conditions, a diesel engine has more useful power.

Modern diesel engines are capable of producing their maximum pulling power from as little as a scratch above idle, and can sustain this all the way through to its maximum engine speeds.

So efficient is a diesel engine that car manufacturers have been offering diesel versions of their passenger cars for years.

The Mercedes Benz CDI, for example, may only serve as a cab here in Singapore, but is used by many as private cars in all parts of Europe.

Other manufacturers to offer diesel variants of their popular family cars include BMW and Volkswagen, with the latter soon to bring in the diesel version of their Touareg SUV.

Speaking of performance, the V10 version of the Touareg has a mind-numbing 750Nm of torque, enough to tow a Boeing 747, apparently.

Need to overtake on the expressway? No problem. Modern diesels will put some distance between you and a slower moving vehicle without even the need to downshift, or for kickdown to assist.

Coupled with the many more kilometres per litre you will be getting, motorists will be able to enjoy this astounding performance without worrying about having to look for a petrol station every five minutes.

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