Diesels have migrated in perception from being associated with clattery farm equipment, to sounding almost like their petrol counterparts, aside from at idle, when the difference is more obvious.

In fact, with new direct-injected petrol engines, the idle noise is suspiciously diesely, so even if some modern oil burners still haven’t done away with the characteristic small hammer quickly tapping on pipe sound, they should be given a chance and tried out, even (or especially) by those who thought they didn’t like them before, simply to have an informed future opinion, if nothing else.

Having covered the Maserati Ghibli from the very beginning, what struck us most, aside from the fact that they were actually making it and that it ended looking and being quite desirable (I think), was the fact that the all-important sales-boosting diesel engine had been developed by Ferrari. Forgive us for being curious, but we had been waiting for some kind of half-decent YouTube video of a diesel-fueled Ghibli, and finally we’ve found one.

I have checked the horizontal crease on the bumper (first clip), located right above each of the two dual exhausts, and it does perfectly match that of the Ghibli – this is the car!

Thankfully, it sounds nothing like what most people think of as a diesel, and in Europe at least, this should be the big seller, with excellent figures backing up the choice, along with the pleasant burble coming out of the back: 6 l/100km (47 mpg UK / 39 mpg US), 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 6.3 seconds, thanks to a power output of 272 hp (275 PS) and a good dollop of torque (600 Nm/443 lb-ft).

By Andrei Nedelea

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