Will diesel do?
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The Audi 100 is aimed at the top of the company car hierarchy. Will it please the company accountant?
THE growing choice of dieselengined cars and the divergence of petrol and diesel prices is prompting an increasing number of fleet buyers to re-examine the viability of diesel cars. If they decide that the economics of diesel motoring are now too good to ignore it makes sense for them to standardise on diesel cars throughout the fleet, from the sales representatives up to the managing director.
One car that is aimed at the top end of the company hierarchy is the Audi 100. Just recently this car was awarded the highest rating ("outstanding") in the Which? Car Buying Guide and although it is probably the 125mph fuel injected version that one first associates with Audi's slippery shape there is also a turbocharged diesel-engined model.
It is an intriguing combination; a car that promises noteworthy frugality and yet has undeniable style plus a price tag of £11,605.
With its much-vaunted drag coefficient of 0.30 the Audi's beautifully smooth and clean shape makes other cars seem quite vulgar and on looks alone it can match Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Rover for prestige.
Inside, it is similarly restrained with the dash and centre console looking pleasant enough without resorting to the "Concorde flight deck" approach. Indeed, some might consider it to be a little spartan for such an expensive car — a rev counter and turbo boost gauge are notable ommissions.
The firm, typically German, seats are very comfortable indeed; after covering 700 miles in two days I suffered no cramp in the legs. In addition to the customary adjustments the squab angle/height is variable so that one can achieve exactly the right degree of support under the thighs. Rear seat passengers said they found the cushioning a little too firm.
To get the low drag coefficient Audi naturally had to rake the windscreen rather steeply and this does give rise to a few distracting reflections in some lights. Reversing is particularly tricky — none of the car's corners are visible from the driving seat and this is compounded by a high rear end and head restraints (albeit with cut-outs) front and rear.
The Audi 100 is a refined motor car and road and engine noise is well suppressed. The absence of conventional rain gutters and the use of flush-fitting glass contribute to an almost eerie lack of wind noise.
That said, cold starting produces a fair old clatter and degree of blue smoke that is not in keeping with the car's upmarket position. Even the substantial sound-deadening material under the bonnet (which is raised and supported by two gas struts) cannot eliminate the Audi's early morning cough. Engine layout and accessibility is generally good, particularly the fuel system and filter; the oil filter is not so obvious.
The Audi Turbo Diesel cries for the open road. With the revs up and the turbocharger spinning the engine takes on a new smoothness. While accelerating this encourages you to hold a gear a little longer before changing up and 70mph motorway cruising in fifth gear is relaxed.
But when speed and revs drop the engine betrays the rest of the car. Gone is the lazy lack of gear-changing that one normally expects with a £12,000 car. At 40-45mph in fifth gear the Audi feels flat and dead; small hatchbacks will pull away more strongly. You need to go down one or two ratios to regain that turbocharged accelerative surge.
This subjective feel is con
firmed by Audi's published per formance figures: the 0-60mph time is 14 seconds, putting it behind a Ford Escort 1.3.
It has to be said that the Audi is not a pleasant car in town. At low revs the lack of turbo boost makes the big car's performance positively ponderous. Coupled with this is a high degree of engine "shunt" while lifting off or depressing the accelerator which results in some violent rocking of the gear lever.
The Audi's performance is what one might expect from its specification. Its 1,986cc diesel engine is a development of the five cylinder petrol engine and develops 65kW (87bhp) at 4,500rpm. When one considers that this is a relatively small diesel engine for such a large car the performance is good. Top speed claimed by Audi is 108mph, undoubtedly helped by the car's aerodynamics. Much attention has also been paid to weight-saving and the door frames, for instance, are aluminium.
An over-riding reason for choosing a diesel car must be fuel economy. As would be expected the Audi's diesel engine distinguishes itself in stop-start traffic and is accredited with 8.4 I/100km (33.6mpg) on the Government's urban test. At speed on the motorway where the Audi is much more at home, the consumption is still good but not so outstanding. At a constant 75mph the figure is 7.59 I/100km (37.2mpg) I recorded this figure too on a 700 mile trip from London to Northumberland and back, mostly covered at speed on the Al.
Closer analysis shows that a large part of the good consumption at 75mph must be due to the Audi's shape. The 1,781cc petrol-engined base model (it has a carburettor, not petrol injection) actually does slightly better at this speed (39.8mpg). Relating this to current petrol and dery prices the fuel cost per mile for petrol and diesel models is virtually iden tical.
Compared with other similarly-ranked diesel cars like the Rover 2400 SD Turbo, Mercedes-Benz 240D, Peugeot 505 and Ford Granada the Audi 100 Turbo diesel offers excellent fuel economy and good highspeed, long-dlistance motoring. However, these attributes seem to stem largely from the rest of the car rather than the diesel .engine.
The Audi 100 with the 1,781cc petrol engine can almost match it for fuel economy, has the edge on top speed (110mph claimed), better acceleration (12 seconds claimed) and will suffer none of the disadvantages of a turbo diesel in town. It has the same equipment but slightly inferior
seat trim. Because it is under 1,800cc it falls into a lower per
sonal company car tax bracket.'" Most significantly, it is £2,552 cheaper and surely money in the bank is the better route to economy.