Between the Lines: Iafrica Pits Petrol Vs Diesel Vs Hybrid

by Robert Farago

Published: December 5th, 2008

between the lines iafrica pits petrol vs diesel vs hybrid

Not to red rag the bulls of our Best and Brightest oil-burning automotive acolytes, but iafrica.com pits the Audi Q7 4.2 FSI V8 against the BMW X5 3.0sd and the Lexus RX400h to find out which is the best way to propel a big ass five-passenger SUV with no off-road chops whatsoever. In case the suspense might have been killing you, scribe Michele Lupini rosebuds this sled from the first ‘graph. “The result is a bit of a shock, if you would excuse the pun.” OK, so, irony-free, Africancentric perspective on the hideous Audi Q7: “Its styling divides opinion — personally I like it but we have debated this one long and hard in the office and, to be quite honest, I doubt it’s an argument that will ever be quite resolved. Yes Q7 is bold, big and imposing — and it’s selling by the dozen so it must be popular…” Apparently, the turbo-diesel Bimmer sells by the two dozens. “As noted above, X5 is a pretty sharp driving tool and this is one of very few cars these days that still has a waiting list on it. And its premier turbodiesel driving experience is quite a hoot, let alone a most gratifying experience…” And now, the winner… (I love elipses too!)

“The Lexus Performance Hybrid kills both its V8 petrol and high tech turbodiesel rivals here in every aspect of performance. It’s three-tenths of a second quicker than both to 100km/h and demolishes them over the quarter mile. And when it comes to elasticity, well it’s in another class altogether – you’ll need something with an M, AMG or RS badge to match this thing…

A bit of a shock from this electric car, hey…?”

Even my five-year-old knows not to repeat a joke twice to the same audience. But hyperbole and hilarity has its own rewards. Especially when you go for the close.

“Yet the turbodiesel, albeit that its fuel consumption is all but an identical match for the hybrid’s, burns a dirtier substance and is thus not quite as squeaky clean as its current-assisted rival. And that the petrol-electric car somehow conspires to drive away from the turbodiesel on top of it all is quite an astounding revelation. Shocking, actually!

But here we’re championing progress and performance in a world that frowns ever more on doing it dirty… So, while the diesel car is a dynamic delight to drive; it may be the newer option and has all the kudos of its Bavarian maker, that the hybrid is faster in every respect, just as frugal and even cleaner, the hybrid wins this one by a nose.” Geddit?

Robert Farago

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2 of 9 comments

JEC on Dec 05, 2008

You know, just because the article comes to a conclusion you disagree with doesn't mean you cannot buy something other than the Lexus. I hate all three vehicles - I'd rather have a fuel sucking Land Rover Discovery II with all the options. My choices have never been based on purely rational criteria.

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Niky on Dec 05, 2008

I sense that the sarcasm of that last "Geddit" is lost on some people here... It's a pretty preposterous conclusion on iafrica's part... ignoring the fact that the CRDi in the Bimmer is actually squeaky clean (as most modern diesels are) and that the hybrid ain't no electric... it's a hybrid. Still burns dino. Still emits carbon dioxide... and is, by the way, a smaller car... and not really mentionable in the same breath as the X5... or even more bizarrely, the Q7... I hate it when people give free passes to hybrids because they're "the in-thing"...

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