never driven one I liked. eg. the bmw twin turbo straight 6 diesel is ok, but still laggy and boring with no throttle response compared to the 3l straight 6 petrol which is a peach.
WHEN I used to drive tow trucks, the shop i was at had a couple of super duty fords, with the 7.3 turbo diesel, one with an auto trans, one 5 speed.
the 5 speed was amazingly quick, considering the weight of the truck. didn't feel it, but you'd look down at the speedo, and rather quickly decide to back down a little, before ya got nailed.