Diesel or petrol - which is better? Which engine to choose?

When deciding to buy a car, the future owner looks through a lot of information about the models he likes, and also compares the characteristics and equipment. The most important part of any car is, of course, the power unit, which can run on both gasoline and diesel fuel.

If we take for comparison any car that is offered with diesel and gasoline engines, then the difference between them is noticeable even to a non-specialist. For example, Opel Antara is an all-wheel drive crossover at a price of 997 thousand rubles. Equipment with 2.4-liter petrol engine and automatic transmission:

• consumption in the city - 12,8 liters of AI-95;
• country mode - 7,3 liters;
• average - 9,3 liters.

His brother with a 2,2-liter diesel engine and automatic consumes:

• in the city - 10,3;
• outside the city - 6,4;
• on average - 7,8 liters.

The difference is 2,5 liters in the city, almost a liter outside the city and one and a half liters in mixed mode.

Diesel in this case is more economical. True, gasoline wins in price, but not by much: 1,2 million versus 1,3 million rubles - the difference is only one hundred thousand rubles. If we take into account the cost of a liter of fuel - diesel fuel is cheaper than AI-95 by an average of 2,5-3 rubles - then this difference in the initial cost will not seem too big: for every 100 kilometers in the city with a diesel engine, you will save 100-125 rubles.

What are the differences between diesel and gasoline engines?

A diesel engine differs from a gasoline engine in how the air-fuel mixture ignites. In a diesel engine, the degree of compression is much higher, the compressed air is heated under high pressure created by the piston, then the required dose of atomized diesel fuel is injected into this heated air, and detonation occurs.

All the main elements of a diesel engine are massive and durable, as they must withstand high pressure and detonation. The diesel does not have an ignition unit, since candles are not needed here, they are replaced with glow plugs. The glow plug is used to facilitate starting the engine in adverse conditions, it acts as an immersion heater.

That is why the device of diesel engines is simpler. However, there are also some disadvantages:

• very high requirements for fuel equipment - high pressure fuel pump;
• maintenance and repairs cost an average of 20 percent more;
• in winter it can be very difficult to start such an engine;
• diesel takes a long time to warm up and knocks at the beginning of the movement.

Diesel engines are very demanding on fuel quality.

And this is one of the reasons for their still weak popularity in Russia. For the majority of the population, diesel is associated, first of all, with powerful equipment: tractors, truck tractors, combines, dump trucks such as KAMAZ. But if you take the risk of draining the fuel from the tractor tank and filling it with your brand new Opel Antara, then problems cannot be avoided - the nozzles will clog very quickly.

Gasoline injected engines are more complex due to the fact that they require an ignition unit. But at the same time, they are cheaper to maintain, since high pressure is not created in the cylinder block to ignite the fuel. Although the poor quality of fuel eventually affects them. A plus can be considered faster warm-up and the ability to start the engine even in very severe frosts.

It should be noted that cars with a diesel power unit are refueled in winter. winter fuelto which special additives are added.

But, unfortunately, our gas stations employ people who think first of all about their own profit, and not about the engine of your car. As a result, they try to sell the rest of the summer diesel with the onset of the first cold weather. Such fuel solidifies already at a temperature of minus five degrees, while for gasoline the lower temperature threshold is minus 30-35. There are also such scammers who mix diesel fuel with kerosene, gasoline or prohibited depressants.

If you fill your car with a summer diesel in winter, then problems cannot be avoided - the entire fuel system and injector will be clogged with paraffin. Repairs will cost at least $500.

Maintenance of diesel and gasoline engines

Diesel is more demanding on fuel quality. In Europe, they learned how to make diesel fuel and purify it from sulfur and paraffins, but we still have continuous problems with this. That is why ordinary drivers have to change fuel filters more often, as well as change engine oil more often.

By the way, diesel engine oil needs a special one, at which the required compression level is maintained and combustion products are removed as much as possible.

After-sales maintenance for a diesel is more expensive, in addition, major repairs are carried out after about 250 thousand mileage. But there is also a positive side: with proper operation, a diesel engine can last much longer than a gasoline engine. If for a car on gasoline 400 thousand mileage is the limit, then there are diesel samples that have traveled up to a million kilometers in 20-30 years of operation.

You don't have to go very far, take even ordinary tractors or trucks, which sometimes serve for several decades. Truckers drive up to a hundred thousand a year on their tractors. Of course, after each trip, something has to be repaired, but the mileage of such cars is hundreds of thousands and millions of kilometers.

Conclusions

It is difficult to say anything unequivocally, it all depends on the needs of each individual person. For daily trips to work and with a daily run of no more than 50-80 km, you will not notice much difference.

Diesel is a profitable option for those who make money on their vehicles: more expensive costs and maintenance will more than pay off with cheap diesel fuel.

You also need to consider whether there are specialists in your city who can service diesel engines at a high professional level.

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