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Just a few years ago, you'd struggle to find a diesel car in any performance magazine. They were economical but slow and about as much fun as E. coli poisoning. Not anymore, now they're threatening to usurp gas-runners at the head of the sports car field and machines like the Hartge 330d could convert the most ardent petrolhead.

Taxation and fuel prices have forced Europeans behind the wheels of oil-burners, since the gas for a long journey on the far side of the Atlantic now costs more than a Business Class ticket. The manufacturers have responded with rampant investment, technological leaps forward, and sports cars that can top 40 mpg.

Check the new Audi R10 Le Mans car for proof. If a diesel can win the world's greatest race (which it did) then we have to take the technology seriously. Cheap gas and a general lack of interest limited diesel to tractors and trucks in the States, but that is changing. The E320 Cdi has attracted healthy advance orders and BMW is watching closely. A new war is about to break out, and you'll love it.

Now the bi-turbo, 272-bhp BMW 535d and Jaguar's 207-bhp twin-turbo diesel S Class are among the superstars of Europe's motoring world. Skoda has even launched a diesel hot hatch, the Fabia RS. But, the 330d, which boasts a low pressure turbo and 228 bhp, has been lauded as the best compromise between performance and economy on the market right now. And horsepower is only half the story.

The torque delivered by diesel powerplants is monumental. Low-down torque beats high-revs power hands down on the corner exits and real-world-overtaking opportunities, and the new hardcore diesels are manna from Heaven for the tuners.

It's ridiculously simple to boost a diesel: no new airbox, no new turbo, no new exhaust, and hardly any fuel. You really struggle to throw money at these things.

Diesel is injected directly into the cylinder, ignites thanks to the heat of the compressed air, not spark plugs, and burns at a higher compression ratio than gasoline, which comes with two pluses: efficiency and a much stronger build. They won't rev high-this car runs out at 6000 rpm, but that doesn't matter when each rev produces more twisted power than a Middle Eastern dictator.

The block must be near unburstable when it leaves the production line, too. So, to tune them, you don't have to start bulking up components. It's just a case of fiddling with the ECU and changing the fuel injection parameters.

Even the standard 330d makes 369 lb-ft of torque. And Hartge's, with a new plug-and-play chip, is good for 275 bhp and produces a simply ridiculous 406 lb-ft of torque at 1900 rpm. The high-revving M5 makes just 383 lb-ft, which still beats the Ferrari F430. And, under hard use, the M5 returns about 10 mpg.

The end result is a car that can hit 60 mph in 6 seconds, but the real difference comes in the punch on the move. The great thing about diesel power is you don't need the right gear to build momentum, just mash the accelerator from cruising revs and the car just goes.

In the old days, there would be payback in noise, with a rattling, agricultural, and obscenely loud powerplant. Now, thanks to common-rail injection and a raft of other refinements, the soundtrack has a light rumble that betrays the fact you stop at the black pump, as well as a slight vibration from the clutch, but they're minor complaints. And with a pair of Hartge tips, the 330d sounds almost sonorous.

And it's not painful to drive fast. I didn't have much chance against Volke Schu in the 500-bhp Hartge H50 Kompressor, but the turn of speed this car produced in the pursuit was shocking. Out of the corners, the 330d feels slingshot fast.

This is a car that never falls short. You could cruise past gas stations, laughing at the M5s queuing to fill up, before booting the throttle and overtaking almost anything-in sixth gear. Until you've driven a modern diesel of this caliber, you just won't get it.

 
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In his BMW Williams F1 days, Jenson Button was stopped at 140 mph on the French autoroute in an E46 330d. Far from chastening their driver, BMW turned the event into a PR coup, and they probably paid his fine. The E90 is another step forward, it's a frugal sports car, and the sport suspension and window dressing is far from out of place.

Hartge has dropped the Touring by 30mm at the front and 25mm at the rear to provide that aggressive swooping attitude, ably assisted by the deep front splitter that completes what did look like an unfinished car. New anti-roll bars and 9x20-inch front and 10x20-inch rear wheels clothed in Conti SportContact 2 rubber complete the performance mods, and the handling is unbelievable.

This isn't a machine to slide round bends, although turn the traction control off and it will break traction. But, with the Hartge additions, this car will stay sports car stable in bends. If you're carrying fragile gear in the massive rear, like children for instance, they'll never know the g-forces you're inducing. It's a car that feels sensible at quite insane speeds.

Don't bet against the black pump fuelling the sports cars of the future, and don't bet against Audi at Le Mans. You'll lose your money faster than an M5 owner on a hard charge. Anyone still doubting the power of the black pump? You're living in the Dark Ages.

Hartge 330D

Layout
Longitudinal front engine, rear-wheel drive

Engine
3.0-liter inline six, dohc, four valves per cylinder, turbocharged

Engine Mods
Reprogrammed ECU

Suspension
Front: Hartge lowering springs, anti-roll bar
Rear: Hartge lowering springs

Wheels and Tires
Hartge Classic, 9x20 (f)10x20 (r)
Conti SportContact 2, 245/30-20 (f) 285/25-20 (r)

Exterior
Carbon-fiber mirror covers, front lip spoiler

Interior
Carbon-fiber trim, aluminum handbrake, kickplates, and pedals

Performance
Peak Power: 275 bhp
Peak Torque: 406 lb-ft 0-60 mph: 6 sec.
Top Speed: 155 mph (limited)

BMW 535d

Engine
3.0-liter inline six, dohc, four valves per cylinder, turbocharged

Suspension
F: Aluminum double wishbones, gas shocks, anti-roll bar
R: Aluminum four-link, gas shocks, anti-roll bar

Wheels and Tires
8x18 (f/r) 245/40-18 (f/r)

Performance
Peak Power: 272 bhp
Peak Torque: 413 lb-ft 0-60 mph: 6.6 sec.
Top Speed: 155 mph (limited)

 
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Diesel Madness x2

If you like the 330d, the 535d will blow your mind. Now, it hasn't got a 3.5L-its displacement is the same size as the 330d's-but it comes with two turbos arranged inline, sequentially. It's the same system adopted by the Porsche 959 almost two decades ago, but it's still fresh thinking in this field.

At low speed, a small turbocharger handles the workload; at medium speeds, some of the intake air is diverted to the larger turbo; and at high speeds, it takes over completely. Now that sounds like an electronics nightmare in the making, but this car works so well that others will copy the design.

The crankcase has to withstand 2.85 bar of pressure, more with mods, but this car will likely go for hundreds of thousands of miles, if properly maintained. Some of Europe's less developed nations have long been populated by 1980s diesel-powered taxis that have gone round the clock more often than the minute hand on a Seiko.

The results are astonishing for an executive diesel saloon. With 272 bhp and 412 lb-ft of torque, this car can break traction for fun. It only comes with an auto box at the moment, as BMW say there's just too much torque for its manual boxes to handle, which of course begs questions about the longevity of the Hartge 330d.

And the really mad thing is that spending £500 with Superchips can boost this machine to 319 bhp and a plain stupid 466 lb-ft of torque. That gives it the real world mid-range power of anything, bar the most expensive Mercedes AMGs, for about half the price and, at 34.4 mpg on a combined cycle, more than twice the economy. If BMW can be tempted to bring this stunning car to these shores, it will be a sensation. The future, it seems, is dark.


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