Mark Twain is supposed to have uttered the famous line that “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” in June 1897. Now every week we hear marketing managers in the motoring trade talk about electric and plug-in hybrids being the way forward and that ‘diesel is dead’, but there is nobody there to defend the fuel.
Now here’s a coincidence. When I was checking on the history of diesel engines, I found that Rudoph Diesel’s first functional diesel engine was built and successfully operated in 1897, the same year that Mr Twain used that famous quote.
Many people in the farming and agricultural business still rely on diesel and of course the fuel is no longer dirty and smelly like it used to be and is now much cleaner. I know we all have to play our part to try and save the planet we live in, but people have said to me why are we so worried in Ireland, where our total sales of new cars every year is much the same as Greater Manchester. I know, I know, every little helps.
That’s all by way of introducing the diesel version of the massive Mazda CX-80. I was very impressed with the CX-60 version of the Mazda and this is an even longer version at just a few centimetres short of five metres long. The CX-60 was a big car, but this seven-seater CX-80 is even longer 250mm longer to be exact. The all-round figures are: length 4,995mm, width 1,890mm and 1,705mm in height.
It’s Mazda’s biggest car in the European market and they expect that it will be well able to compete with likes of the Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008 and other large German-built SUVs. I drove the plug-in hybrid version of the CX-80 few months back, but this time when I sat in the range with a full tank of diesel on board said 940km. I certainly didn’t have to buy or suck any diesel for a week. C02 emissions in the CX are only 148g/km in this model which is powered by a 3.3-litre turbo diesel engine.
My test car was a seven-seater, but it’s also available as a six-seater. Normally the third row is occupied by children and I’m sure they will be busy with their computer games and won’t notice that the sunroof doesn’t stretch that far back.
Looking at the car from the front, it really is very impressive with the Mazda logo dominating the grill. The interior is impressive and the grey material on the dash is really classy with some Japanese stitching that catches your eye when you sit in. The 12.3-inch infotainment screen is easy to use and I liked the fact that there are some old-fashioned button controls on the dash and not everything is worked off the infotainment screen as happened in a few recent electric cars that I drove. However, the cream seats may be difficult to keep clean and maybe opt for darker seat covers.
I love listening to the radio while driving and the radio is never switched off. You get a large ‘click-wheel’ button to select the various radio stations. That ‘click-wheel’ is located where you would normally find the gear lever in a manual car and you can keep your eye on the road and experiment with various station with your left hand.
When all seven seats are in use there is very little luggage space, but then when you leave down the third row of seats you have ample space to carry items. No spare wheel.
It’s luxurious and all that luxury comes at a price with the plug-in hybrid starting at €62,380 and the diesel at €73,940. Road tax on the diesel is €180. I didn’t just like it, I loved it.
So, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of diesel are definitely greatly exaggerated.
