Previous studies have indicated that longer torque increase time benefits the reduction of emissions during transient process for a diesel engine. However, quantitative conclusions on reduction of emissions and effects on fuel economy have not been made clear so far. The aim of this study was to evaluate the transient process of diesel engine under different torque increase time, and to find the quantitative statement between torque increase time, fuel economy and engine-out emissions. To do this, experiment was carried out on a 7L common rail diesel engine used for commercial vehicles. Three engine speeds (1100r·min−1, 1300r·min−1 and 1500r·min−1) were chosen to represent an engine working range. For each speed, the engine torque is increased within different time (0.5s, 1s, 2s and 5s). It was shown that, in the transient process mentioned above, engine torque increase time effects fuel economy, smoke opacity and CO emission. For longer torque increase time, smoke opacity and CO could be significantly reduced, while at a cost of sacrificing fuel economy. However, torque increase time is not a determined reason for transient NOX emission.