Efficient, mid-engine roadsters aren’t anything new. As Lotus and Tesla have shown, if you start with a lightweight vehicle and tune the chassis properly, the end result will be an efficient and fun vehicle, no matter what propels the wheels. Volkswagen’s Concept BlueSport asks, “What if a diesel engine propels those wheels?”
To find out the answer, the diesel fanatics at Volkswagen have created a 2640-pound roadster powered by a clean and efficient turbo-diesel engine. In the minds of most car enthusiasts, diesel and sports cars have traditionally been incompatible. Diesel engines seem to have the wrong character for sports-car use: low-revving, smoke-belching, and as groan-filled as a porno movie.
The Concept BlueSport certainly looks like a sports car. Volkswagen’s latest design cues are in evidence as the final product could be the love child of a Volkswagen Scirocco and an Audi TT. So the big question remains, is the 180-hp, 2.0-liter turbo diesel four-cylinder engine—essentially a higher-output version of the Jetta TDI’s engine—an appropriate powerplant for a sports car?
The engine is certainly not likely to be belching much smoke. As the Jetta TDI has proven, the modern diesel can be as clean as a gasoline engine. It may be low-revving with the horsepower peak at only 4200 rpm, but the diesel’s torque peak of 258 lb-ft occurs just off idle at 1750 rpm. Despite its low-spinning nature, the BlueSport promises credible performance. Volkswagen claims a 0-to-60 time of 6.2 seconds with a top speed of 140 mph. Convincing numbers to be sure, but how will this engine sound? Will it play a sweet tune, or will it merely murmur like the diesel engine in the Jetta?
We’ll have to wait to hear what it sounds like, but according to Volkswagen, the BlueSport’s diesel engine will have the expected diesel efficiency. The BlueSport promises 50 mpg on the highway and 35 mpg in the city. So aside from what the engine might sound like, it appears that Volkswagen’s Concept BlueSport has a chance at successfully marrying the sports car with the diesel engine.
The BlueSport may presage a long-rumored production roadster from VW. Company officials are tight-lipped, but we wouldn’t mind seeing something this attractive, efficient, and quick in a showroom.
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