If there's ever a bandwagon rolling through town, you can be sure there'll always be a few journalists clinging to the sideboards. Thankfully, Honda has offered us the chance to hop from our petrol-powered high horse and straight onto the diesel bandwagon without falling head-first into the manure.
We haven't exactly had a Pauline change on the road to Termonfeckin. But Honda's first diesel engine highlights two important facts: this firm really knows about engines; and the ultimate diesel engine is really a petrol one.
I can hear our petrol-driven readers' despair: "Save us from another sanctimonious lecture on the benefits of diesel". Yet, before you write us off as yet another sheep in the pontificating flock, I'm not about to begin a great diatribe on the glories of converting your 30-year-old VW Beetle to run on chip fat. My green flag shall stay unfurled for some time yet.
Honda's new Accord diesel represents a reality check to the diesel myth. No, we're not predicting a collapse of the diesel market. Nor are we suggesting it will drive motorists racing back into the arms of unleaded. But it proves a point long made: diesel is the margarine of the motor industry - it only really succeeds when it manages to replicate the real thing.
In 1999 just 11 per cent of owners opted for diesel cars, but that figure is now just under 18 per cent. The climb here has been steady. Yet on an international scale, the growth has been dramatic - rapid enough for car marketing departments to demand the immediate addition of diesels to the fleets.
Yet Honda is not of the bandwagon set. Instead it prides itself on being led by engineers, taking the lead from blueprints rather than marketing pie charts. Honda, the biggest engine builder in the world, was clearly taking its time to come up with something special.
The glories of diesel engines these days are that they are getting more like petrol engines. If nothing else, it proves that motorists are not prepared to put up with the diesel clunk, unless they're in a Massey Ferguson. With the new Honda 2.2-litre all-aluminium unit, we now have the nearest thing to a petrol unit in the mid-range segment. It's worthy of the tag: "I can't believe it's not petrol".
Developing 140 bhp, it combines all of the attributes you would expect of a petrol unit, yet manages to hit maximum power at just 2,000 rpm. And, unlike most other diesels, which red line at around 4,000 revs, it can power on beyond the 4,500 mark.
That all adds up to a lot less gear changing on the average journey. It also allows the Accord to leap from a standing start to 62 mph in a fraction over nine seconds. Touch the accelerator when pulling off in first and the car seems eager to go. We're not suggesting it's going to tear up the racetrack, but it's willing enough to challenge its petrol equivalents. Nor is it pin-drop quiet when starting from cold. But parked beside an elderly Audi diesel in a cavernous multi-storey car park, the latter sounded positively agricultural compared to the Accord.
In the early revs, when the rocking judder of a normal diesel awakens those deeper thuds, the Honda diesel emits a slight moan, then a gentle whistle mimicking a petrol unit. The engineers have clearly spent long hours with their ears to the engine, getting the acoustics just right. On the motorway, with cruise control in operation at 4,000 rpm, the higher note is impossible to distinguish from a petrol one.
Of course, the big selling point for most potential buyers will be its frugal 52 mpg. We had to work hard to get the needle to move, even after the first 100 miles of city and motorway driving. It's easy to understand why Honda has such high hopes for its newcomer.
When the Government introduced lower prices on diesel fuels as a way to help heavy transport remain competitive, car manufacturers were quick to spot an opportunity.
They began offering smaller and increasingly reliable diesel engines that cost more to buy initially, but eventually cost less because of lower fuel costs.
However, the premiums on the Irish market have meant that the average motorist did not reap the benefits until the fourth or fifth year. Honda deserves credit for applying a reasonable pricing policy. The diesel Accord comes at €39,835, nestled between the 2-litre and 2.4-litre petrol units of the same spec.
Setting the diesel at Executive level means that for that price you also get ABS, power steering, front, side and curtain airbags, alloy wheels, CD radio, immobiliser, remote central locking, deadlocks, cruise control and electric windows as standard. That's significantly more than the standard spec on equivalently priced competitors.
Honda has been talking up its Accord since launch last year, standing on tiptoes to get into the premium team photo with the likes of the BMW 3-series and Audi A4, rather than the fleet players such as the Ford Mondeo or Opel Vectra. Given the engines on offer it had little choice but to demand its fleet drivers seek promotion to the management ranks.
It has probably lost sales with this strategy and away from the glories of its new engine, it has a tough fight on its hands to win over the badge-conscious owners of the German marques. However, in terms of the diesel market, it's priced right on the German frontline. Having had the opportunity to pit the Accord against its German rivals - a BMW 320d and Audi A4 1.9 TDi - in the last few months, it also matches them in terms of overall performance.
Honda freely admits - at least as freely as the tight-lipped firm ever manages - that the ambition for its oil burner was to match BMW's 2-litre unit. The BMW offers slightly better mid-range torque, or pull-away power and leads in terms of handling. However, the Honda won hands down on the Audi diesel engine.
Our qualms about the design of the Accord saloon remain, and we much prefer the stylish Tourer estate, though both versions pass the build-quality test.
Honda has created an engine that's seductively smooth, yet highly responsive when pressed into action. It should appeal to both fleet drivers and private buyers hoping to trim motoring costs.
The new engine should also prove an even greater success when added to the CRV range - SUVs being the natural habitat for diesel engines. Outside the prestigious ranks of the luxury diesels such as Audi's 4-litre V8 or the BMW's 3-litre diesel unit, Honda has leapt into the lead.
Many suggest the petrol-only high horse is destined for the knacker's yard. Yet the diesel bandwagon may come a cropper if petrol units can matches it for efficiency and low rev pulling power. No doubt the engineers at Honda are already working on doing just that.
