8 Of The Best-Sounding Diesel Engines Ever Made

The automotive community has a love-hate relationship with diesel engines. Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal left a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths, but there's also the overall dirty nature of diesel engines, their weight, and their inability to rev high that turn most people away from them.

Another common criticism of diesel engines is their sound. There's a common belief that diesel engines don't sound very good. Most four-cylinder diesel engines that powered a lot of European cars for decades are nothing to write home about. To be fair, a lot of four-cylinder gas engines don't sound much good either, but when you add the low-revving nature and clatter of a diesel, that just makes it worse.

However, automakers have managed to cook up a handful of diesel engines over the years that challenge this preconception. Given the right exhaust modifications, which are nice to have but not strictly necessary, these diesel engines sound pretty excellent.

Volvo is one of the first names that comes to mind when people think of five-cylinder engines. Along with Audi, Volvo was among the first automakers to install this unusual, but excellent type of engine into its regular production cars. The 2.5-liter gasoline-powered turbo five is the most well-known iteration, but there was also a diesel throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

The 2.4-liter turbocharged five-cylinder oil burner was denoted by the 2.4D badge on some older Volvo vehicles, while higher-output versions carried the D5 badge. A 2.0-liter version was also available by the end of the 2000s. It was offered with various outputs, ranging from 161 hp all the way to 215 hp.

As a five-cylinder, it sounds pretty amazing at full chat. That's even before you factor in aftermarket exhaust systems. It doesn't rev particularly high, but once you approach the redline, that half-scale V10 sound definitely breaks through. Volvo's five-cylinder diesel is also famous in the car community for being almost completely indestructible. The new ES90 electric sedan definitely won't have any five-cylinder theatrics, and that makes us sad. 

Hot off the topic of five-cylinder diesel engines, Alfa Romeo (and Fiat) also offered one for a while. The 2.4-liter JTDm was offered in multiple Alfa Romeo models, starting with stuff like the 156 and 166, but it was best known for powering the 159 and Brera.

JTD stands for Jet Turbo Diesel, which is what Alfa Romeo and Fiat called commonrail injection. Speaking of, this was one of many diesel engines offered by Fiat, and some models like the Croma station wagon also used this engine. It made 210 hp towards the end of its life, and it offered up plenty of torque as well.

Even stock, the 2.4 JTD sounds pretty glorious. It's like most five-cylinder diesel engines in terms of noise, but that's not really a bad thing. Again, with an aftermarket exhaust, the taps open up even more. It's no Busso, but it's definitely a very pleasant auditory experience. It's also one of the more reliable engines from the otherwise notoriously unreliable Alfa Romeo.

Most Europeans are well acquainted with Audi's 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine, aka the 3.0 TDI. It was used in dozens of Audi models back in the day, and it's also well-known for its difficult maintenance. However,  when Audi introduced the 3.0 TDI, it also launched a 2.7-liter version.

No, it's not a completely different engine. It's literally just a 3.0 TDI with a slightly smaller stroke, which shaved 300cc off the capacity. Only a handful of Audi models used it throughout the late 2000s, and it was designed to offer V6 engine benefits at a lower cost compared to the 3.0 TDI. It also had a little bit less power.

Does it sound good? You bet. Backbox deletion is actually a pretty popular mod for the 2.7 TDI in Europe. With the right setup, the 2.7 TDI has a lower-revving, bassier tone reminiscent of a Nissan GT-R, a car that's sadly being discontinued in 2025. That's hardly something to complain about. It's a shame that Audi didn't offer this engine in North America, as it would have been a pretty solid competitor to stuff like the BMW 328d.

Here's one partnership that led to what can only be described as a disaster. Ford and Jaguar worked together in the 2000s to develop a new V6 diesel engine that would be used in some of their models, creating the AJD. Jaguar gave the engine to Land Rover, and also struck a deal with the PSA Group for some Peugeot and Citroen models to receive this powertrain.

As an owner of a Citroen C6 with this powertrain, I can tell you — it feels like the team behind it most likely designed and engineered it over the phone. It puts out a decent 201 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, but it doesn't like to work most of the time. Shame, really, because it sounds really good.

Now this is the first example where I would say that the stock engine sounds better than one with exhaust modifications. I'm somebody who prefers deeper, bassier V6 sounds rather over the raspy old-school V6 tone, but a custom exhaust on the AJD makes it sound like the latter. In stock form, the AJD is a pretty great sounding powertrain, and it makes you accept the risks of flooring it just to listen to the sound. The risk? It might break, of course.

One of the most celebrated Ford powertrains of all time is the unfortunately discontinued 7.3-liter Powerstroke diesel V8. This engine found a home in everything from heavy-duty trucks to the Excursion full-size SUV. Ford truck enthusiasts absolutely love this engine for its power and crazy longevity. The successor, however, didn't get the same love.

In the early 2000s, Ford introduced the 6.0-liter Powerstroke that was intended to replace the 7.3. The 6.0 had more power, and it was pitched as an overall much better powertrain. However, its infamous reliability issues led to a class-action lawsuit between Ford and Navistar, the company Ford contracted to build these junkers.

Despite its foibles, the 6.0 Powerstroke is one mean-sounding engine. Diesel truck fans love straight-piping and rolling coal — we all know that. With a good exhaust system, the 6.0 Powerstroke sounds absolutely ridiculous. A semi truck idle, and then an angry low-revving V8 snarl as you approach the very low redline. Great to listen to, terrible to own.

Before Mercedes occupied itself with built-in social media apps and cheaping out on plastic trim in pretty much all of its cars, it was known for some of the most reliable and durable powertrains in the entire car industry. One of the top performers in this category is the OM606 six-cylinder diesel.

The most common version of this engine had a 3.0-liter displacement, and it was found in anything from W124 E-Classes to W210 E-Classes, as well as a bunch of other stuff from the '90s that carried a three-pointed star in the front. With proper care, this engine can last hundreds of thousands of miles — and in many cases, even reach a million. 

As a six-cylinder diesel, it sounds pretty fantastic. The OM606 is also known for being relatively high-revving — for a diesel, at least. For a diesel, it can really scream. When you do get close to the redline, you'll get to enjoy a pretty fantastic six-cylinder sound. That's not my favorite part of the sound, though. That would have to be the idle sound. Few sounds in the car industry are quite as distinctive as an old Mercedes-Benz diesel at idle. You just can't mistake it for anything else, especially if you come from a country where old diesel Mercedes are popular taxis. This engine also allowed for the creation of one of the greatest ever YouTube videos, which you all now also have the pleasure of watching. 

For lack of a better term, Volkswagen and its subsidiaries went absolutely crazy with powertrains during the 1990s and the 2000s. Along with the W12 in the Bentley Continental GT and the W16 in the Bugatti Veyron, the VW Group also busied itself with obscene and completely impractical diesel engines.

This includes the infamous 5.0-liter V10 TDI, which was only ever in the Touareg and the Phaeton. While North America did get the V10 TDI in the Touareg, the Phaeton never offered it. It didn't have much horsepower, but it had an obscene amount of torque. Mostly, it was designed for smoothness and a lot of low-end pulling power.

That's why it doesn't really produce any significant loud noises, even with a good exhaust system. However, the monstrous (in a good way) V10 sound still tries to break through, and if you can hear it, it's absolutely glorious.

Most of you know this story. Audi won LeMans with a turbodiesel V12-powered prototype, and to celebrate the victory, it wanted to put the engine into a production car. Only the Q7 had enough room for it. The idea was ridiculous, but Audi did it anyway.

The result? The first — and so far only — production V12 diesel engine in history, and one of VW Group's most powerful oil burners to date. With 6.0 liters, 493 hp and an unfathomable 737 lb-ft of torque, it was nothing short of a beast. Naturally, nobody was interested in a V12 diesel engine, because not only is it difficult to work on, but a V12 diesel simply doesn't make any rational sense.

The Europe-only Q7 V12 TDI is now a unicorn, and if you see one, it may be difficult to tell that it's a V12. However, once the engine gets going, it produces that signature creamy-smooth and showstopping V12 sound. Obviously, a good exhaust system wakes it up even more, but even in stock form, a closer listen makes it very clear that you're listening to one of the most ridiculous and most unlikely production engines ever to hit the road.