By With technological advances, the diesel engines have drastically changed and now they are not being slow and noisy as they were known in the past to be the main competitor of the gasoline engine that we see installed in the majority of vehicles. The automotive market today is full of varied options to choose a vehicle, whether we seek to fulfill a specific function or if we are buying simply because we like one.
Diesel-powered vehicles are one more option in this vast market. The accustomed to seeing this type of engines in vehicles of great yields trucks, pickups, in addition to heavy machinery, nowadays they can be obtained under the bonnet of any familiar car. Like everything in life, the diesel engines have certain advantages and disadvantages, and here we will talk about some of them.
Advantages
Durability and Long Life
Probably this is the most important characteristic and it is because the combustion process of a diesel engine is by air compression, while the gasoline needs a mixture of air and gasoline to generate the explosion that occurs inside the pistons. This in the end results in much less wear and tear on parts and makes more endurance of miles compared to gasoline.
Reliability
Rudolf Diesel in late 19th century created this engine, and it has been adopted all the machines of hard and heavy work you can imagine ever since, gaining well-deserved fame, but in fact what makes these types of engines really reliable is their simplicity as there are no spark plugs, cables, rotors, etc. The principle of the engine has been maintained and its few but strong parts, compared to a gasoline engine, have made it extremely reliable to the consumers.
Economy
Another aspect of great importance is that the diesel engine can roll more than twice as much distance as a gasoline engine with the same amount of fuel. This is because the diesel has a higher density than gasoline, so it saves 30% consumption.
Capacity
They generate a lot of torque which translates into an increase in its effectiveness and ability to charge, which is much higher compared to that of a gasoline engine.
Disadvantages
Price
Historically the price of a diesel-powered vehicle is quite higher compared to that of gasoline. Although it can balance this fact with low consumption and durability of fuel in comparison with its similar, the difference of cost between both can become considerable.
Maintenance
The periodic care of this type of engine must be much more frequent than that of any other, and if they are not done regularly, they can become highly contaminating.
Weight
It is much heavier because of its power-to-weight ratio but it is not given as much importance, still it remains a disadvantage.
Speed
They are slower although the technological developments of today have made that they can generate speed similar to those of a gasoline engines. A great way of making them more powerful and fast is diesel tuning.
Noise
With all of today’s advances, diesel engines are still noisier than gasoline engines.
Today, the automotive market has a better variety of options for propulsion for vehicles and as the technology is developing, new possibilities will surely appear. This will offer the consumer the possibility to choose not only on the basis of aesthetic, economic or performance criteria, but also considering the impact they may have on the environment.
