Diesels always have turbos because they need to run hot. Remember old petrol cars on hot days, out of tune and under load "ping"? well thats how a diesel car runs. No spark plugs to ignite the fuel just high temperature and high compression ratios. Turbos add to compression ratio as they put more air/fuel mixture into the cylinders and also run hot. Thats why turbos are always used with diesel as it is a perfect match. They are not catagarised by insurance companies as performace cars only "low pressure turbos". Also the reason why diesels are more fuel efficient is because instead of having to run a 12:1 air/fuel mixture they run a 20:1 or something mixture. This coupled with they fact they dont rev hard and they idle low. As for the torque - diesel will always have more torque and less power than petrol of the same capacity turbo or not turbo. We'll use the golf as an example seeings as thats what this topic is about. Golf 2.0 FSI - 110kW / 200NM Golf 1.9 TDI - 77kW / 250NM Golf 2.0 TDI - 103kW / 320NM Golf 2.0 FSI Turbo - 147kW / 280NM And if you think it is just VW have a look at any comparison. Holden Astra: Astra 1.9L Turbo Diesel - 110kW / 320NM Astra 2.0L Turbo Petrol - 147kW / 262NM Astra 2.2L N/A Petrol - 110kW / 210NM So summing up, Diesel will always have more torque, better fuel economy, less power and less revs than a petrol equivalent and there are very few if any exceptions. As for the comment about nissan's. I've owned a skyline GTST. You cant knock a car that will do 0-100 in 6.2 and the quarter mile in 14 flat all day every day even after thousands of kms. I ringed that car's neck every time i drove it and never had a problem. You're also talking about the company that made a factory car in 1989 that did 0-100 in 4.8 seconds (1989 Skyline GTR). A 2007 model HSV wont even go that fast. They also were the first production car to break the 8 minute barrier around the Nuhrenburg circuit (R33 Skyline GTR) and that included supercars like porsche, etc. They do still produce a 350Z which is more of a performance car than what? Do Toyota even make a sports car anymore? oh hang on - no they dont! So in summing up that one - no nissans are not crap.