Diesel Vs. Gas

In an era marked by rising fuel prices across the globe, fuel economy has become a priority for most of the people who intend to buy a car. Choosing between diesel engine and gasoline engine is one of the most daunting task you are likely to come across, considering that the engine has a crucial role to play in determining its fuel economy. In such circumstances, a comparative study of diesel and gas can be of a great help for you.

Diesel Vs. Gas Comparison

When we carried out a head to head comparison of gasoline and diesel fuel facts, we came across quite a few differences between the two. Given below are four major attributes of this comparative study, going through which will help you decide the best of the two who has an edge over the other.

Engines: Basically, both diesel engine and gasoline engine are internal combustion engines which convert the chemical energy available in fuel into mechanical energy which powers the vehicles. So how do they differ from each other? The major difference lies in how the combustion takes place in these engines. In diesel engines, fuel is injected after the air is compressed. When air is compressed it gets heated up, and this eventually ignites the fuel. In gasoline engines, on the other hand, fuel is first mixed with air, then compressed by pistons and eventually ignited by the sparks from the spark plug. Diesel engines do not require spark plugs, as heat generated by compressed air, ignites the fuel to facilitate combustion.

Fuel Efficiency: In terms of fuel economy, diesel has a definite advantage over gasoline. Specifically speaking, a single gallon of diesel has 147,000 BTU of power while a single gallon of gas has 125,000 BTU of power. If the power output of both the fuels is compared head to head, you will realize that you require more gas to match the power output of diesel. A large part of the credit for the efficiency of the diesel engine is attributed to the direct fuel-injection method used in it, which is much more efficient as compared to the port fuel-injection setup in gasoline engine. More importantly, diesel RVs offer an advantage of 5-8 miles per gallon over gasoline RVs, a difference which can be quite significant in long term.

Emissions: Advancement in field of technology and new precedents about the regulation of sulfur content in diesel has come up as a major advantage for this fuel. In fact, many experts are of the opinion that diesel is a sure shot winner when it comes to comparison in terms of environment friendliness. Studies reveal that the technology used in vehicles with diesel engines today tends to reduce the tailpipe output of particulate matter by a whopping 90 percent. At the same time, this technology also reduces the output of nitrogen oxides - which have brought this fuel under the scanner time and again, by almost 50 percent as compared to the technology used a decade ago. Similarly, diesel engines also have the capability of running on biodiesel - which is derived from plants, which again adds to its environment friendliness.

Price: A closer look at how diesel fuel is made will make you realize that the time and expenditure incurred on refining diesel is much less as compared to the same required for refining gasoline. This turns out to be the driving factor when it comes to the fact that diesel is much more inexpensive than gasoline. That being said, you might come across some regions wherein diesel and gas prices are virtually the same. Basically, these are the regions wherein there are more of gasoline engine cars as compared to diesel engine cars. The fact that diesel doesn't have much demand in this region makes the authorities sell it at a higher price to ensure that the necessary balance prevails. If all the people shift base from cars with gasoline engines to their diesel counterparts, the diesel prices in these regions (as well as the entire country) would be restored to normal.

Other than the aforementioned points of distinction between the two, you will also have to take various factors pertaining to your region into consideration. At the end of the day, the availability of diesel and high price of diesel engine cars may put it in your bad books, but if you are looking for power and fuel economy, diesel is a better bet among the two.