CAROLINE LAKE OPINION
Opinions, tips and advice
Is diesel really dead? Founder of Norwichbased Caroline’s Cars, Caroline Lake believes the industry must improve and aims to revolutionise public perception of the trade with a refreshing ‘female friendly’ service.
TWITTER GW columnist, Caroline Lake looks back at the rise and fall of the diesel engine. WHEN Rudolph Diesel patented his first engine in 1895, little did he know that in the 21st century, it would end up powering almost half of the cars on our roads. Recently though, diesel has taken a real battering and is now demonised by many on a scale similar to that of asbestos. So, is diesel really dead? As a child growing up in the 1970’s my
memories of cars are mostly fond ones. This was an era where the engine management system consisted of a choke and your right foot, for a lot of families a nonstarting car was almost normal and diesel cars just weren’t on the radar. Forward to the 1980’s and cars became more complicated, fuel injection, ECU’s and the beginning of a rise in diesel car production. Anyone who has driven a normally asperated diesel car from the 80’s will tell you that whilst hugely reliable and economical, the driving experience was not an inspiring one, sluggish is an understatement. Then came the turbo diesel, suddenly we went from achieving 0-60 MPH eventually, to being able to do it in under 12 seconds. Diesel cars’ new driveability started the rise to popularity. Forward to the 1990’s when the world became more focused on global warming and climate change, which was particularly linked to CO2 emissions. Later in this decade the common rail, direct injection diesel engine was introduced, allowing computer control of fuel injection time and quantity into individual cylinders. This produced quieter, cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars. In 1998, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said diesel cars should be taxed less than petrol cars as they pollute
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