People, the next biggest thing to sell in Aviation will be engines! And especially fuel efficient and clean burning ones too. Everyone has upgraded their Avionics, the next biggest expense is an engine to improve performance and reliability.
Do you really believe this?
The current Avgas engines are already very fuel efficient by spark ignition standards. They're also pretty damn reliable unlike the Thielert engines. No gear box issues etc.
"Upgrading" as you call it to a diesel engine isn't just a matter of bolting in another engine. There's the small matter of a new engine mount, and probably new cowls and also I suspect a new prop. The initial conversion cost can be pretty eye watering.
While this new engine may improve performance at high altitude (due to the turbo charger) I don't see much performance gain for most operators and certainly no improvement in reliability. In fact based on the earlier Thielerts I'd expect less reliability. But I do see plenty of up front costs which are not necessarily going to be offset by any fuel burn savings.
Also what happens when the turbo fails especially at altitude?
