Advantages v disadvantages of a diesel!!!

Because as already stated in post one they are more economical, and if you are doing the job for money that makes sense.

And if you hadnt cut the rest on purpose you would see my guestimate was about on the mark, only the real figure was even worse!

Not as many I would think. Thats why the manufacturers dont produce high powered 1 litre trucks. How is it relevant to compare a 1 litre engine to an 11 litre one that weighs as much as a small town?

VEry good. You've figured out that an engine not working against something is quite low stressed.

We've noticed.

Because your logic is quite frankly wrong as proven in the real world by millions of vehicles.

Because others have already done it.

Are they f*ck. 13l is a rarety in the UK as is 500BHP.

So in other words, you're wrong.

..roughly translating into "I've bought the marketspeak hook line and sinker"

Clue: Oil pressure guages are standard in artics. I guess the oil pressure guage fitted to EVERY lorry I've driven must be wrong then.

So why aren't HGVs using petrol engines then?

The one with the least load.

who was on about oil pressure? next hing you know you'll be telling us that you've seen the dial hitting 12 psi on 3 different gauges because thats what they show you

Me.

Original post was biased as the poster didn't like Diesels to start with. I like both Petrol and Diesel and can see the advantages and disadvantages to both.

I'm jumping in on this post a bit late but here is my opinion of Diesel if you compare the same size of engine, petrol versus diesel.

Advantages of Diesel

1) A LOT more MPG! And that equals a lot LESS money paid for fuel. Fuel consumption is up to 57% better at Urban pace, up to 42% better Combined, and up to 30% better Extra-Urban over petrol equivalent engine.

2) Diesel fuel emissions are slightly cleaner than Petrol so you pay less road tax.

3) Acceleration from around 40 or 50 MPH to 80 or 90 is pretty good.

4) Range is better and you need to fill up less often.

5) Diesel engines always start first time from cold even in the middle of winter when you haven't used your car for ages.

6) You don't need to change gear as often as you would in a petrol and can keep it in the same gear for quite a long time.

7) You can get up a hill easier in a Diesel than in the equivalent Petrol engine because of the Torque. Most Diesels are Tdi and have Turbo so it is irrelevant to compare non-Tdis. Hardly any diesel cars made today are standard non-Tdi.

8) In a fuel protest you don't need to queue up for ages waiting for petrol pumps at the gas station, you can get filled up at a diesel pump quicker.

Disadvantages of Diesel

1) Engine Noise is noticeable even on modern diesels, and there is often a deep rumbling drone or tractor noise coming from the engine. Petrol engines by contrast are virtually silent. In some cars you don't even know they are switched on.

2) Acceleration overall from 0 to 30 or 40 MPH and from 0-60 is poor and sluggish even in a Tdi.

3) Diesels are nearly always more expensive to buy than Petrol both new, nearly new and used. They cost 10 to 20% more in price.

As for fuel getting on hands, feet and carpets, that can happen with any fuel. You just have to be not paying attention for a couple of seconds, looking at that hot chick walking into the petrol station to pay for her fuel, and before you notice it, you have filled some of your fuel not only in your car but over yourself too.

John

Well, they emit less CO2, but IMHO that's a crap way of working out the tax band, as diesels emit particulates which aren't comparable to petrol engines.

So does any well serviced petrol engine.

Bollocks in a lot of respects. When accelerating quickly you need to change gear more as you run out of revs. If the revs get too low and the turbodiesel's running off boost you need to change down again. All depends on the engine really.

Depends exactly what gear you're in and what revs you're currently at.

Rubbish, considering the proportion of diesel cars to petrol cars is probably at an all-time high.

Yup, agreed there. I once bought a Carlton TD and on getting back in my 2 litre petrol one it felt *immensely* quiet and refined. I mean, it's only a s**te old Vauxall 8-valve, but it did. Mind you the 2.3TD is possibly one of the roughest slowest diesels known to man. I still liked it in some strange way though.

Agreed, what you need for that is a pre-cat petrol. In the last crisis, whilst everyone was struggling to get their unleaded I was quite happily filling up with LRP wherever I wanted :-)

It's no real argument for me keeping the 75, mind, it's just nice to know I won't get stranded if I do keep it, IYSWIM.

thats 1

thats where you are wrong the particulates are still there, they just get into our lungs a lot easier because they are smaller and so less likely to get trapped in our nostrils and filtered out

depends on which cars you can afford to buy really, you could always get a V8 :)

thats the same as your number 1 point

thats because they have bigger batteries = more wieght to lug around = more fuel to use = etc etc

with a 3k rev band?

so why would you compare a non turbo'd petrol car then? it's the same thing over and over again

i have a docrot on call sign so i get to the head of the queue anyway :)

word

thats due to the incredabily silly gearing needs to get you moving in the first place

and diesel costs mroe than petrol too

how do you get diesel onto your carpets when the fuel cutoff should cut the fuel delivery off when you have filled your tank? people who compalin about this are just silly thats what gloves are provided for in forecourts

dojj

Utter bollocks. Diesel emissions remain the filthiest exhaust emissions. You presumably missed the study which shows that children are 500 times more likely to suffer from cancer if they live near to a bus station or railway station than elsewhere.

Why is this? Because diesel exhaust contains 3-nitrobenzanthrone, one of the most potent carcinogens known. It is a unique constituent of diesel exhaust.

You are talking about OIL PRESSURE! well by stress I presumed you meant boost pressure since oil pressure has no relationship to engine stress.

Oil pressure is determined by a combination of oil temp, crank running clearances, oil pump capacity, oil pressure relief valve spring rating, and bearing wear, as well as rpm, and the oils viscosity rating.

How do you suppose this has got anything at all to do with your engines "stress" ??? Dur....

Incidentally oil pressure does not "force apart" running surfaces, it just supplies oil. It does NOT increase the load that any bearing can take at all. Oil pressure actually causes long term bearing errosion too contributing to the cold start and acidic bearing corrosion, and does it much much faster with dirtier oil...

Because as I stated accurately in post 1 diesel engines offer improved fuel economy, so for a truck engine its the only sensible option, since all the niceties of petrol engines can be dispensed with. Just as in boat/generators ets. The downside is trucks need lots of gears to work because the engines rpm range is so limited.

Thats the petrol one then!!! But in this test they have identical loads only the oil is different???

Try again...

Actually LOAD isnt what wears out bearings or pistons etc since once running the oil film prevents contact. totally. Wear happens on start up (no oil film yet) and due to bearing errosion caused by oil pressure and speeded up by dirty oil, and surface corrosion caused by acids that are a product of combustion.

Thats why gear oils in most cars dont have drain plugs. No carbon in oil! No wear issues. It stays in for life.

Nothing to do with working against something! Its about bhp per litre...

AND A diesel is much higher stressed EVEN just at idle, fighting a really high full cylinder of air which it forces to 23 times smaller, putting stress on pistons crank, rods ets. Petrols have far less compression, so its easier for the engine, plus they only compress a few cc of air at idle anyway because of throttle plate! Even at cruise speeds it isnt getting a full lungful! Only at WOT does it see all the air and even they its compressing it to around half as much!

So show me a single flaw in my logic!!!!

I give up its like trying to educate a football fan.

Not once in this thread.