In the earlier years, diesel were only used on tractors out in the fields. Then it was used in lorries for the torque it produced. Taxis and buses then used them to gain a few more miles than the usual petrol that they were using, and finally diesel was introduced to the consumer level production cars but at that time, a diesel powered car was not as good as a petrol powered one.

Diesel is denser than petroleum and produces more energy than gasoline. Without the need of an ignition plug (spark plug) to burn the diesel, all it needs is a high compression chamber to pressurize it and it will combust. The higher energy produced by diesel fuel leads to better fuel efficiency. When comparing petrol with diesel, the latter will have a 20 to 40% gains in fuel efficiency. This is why when Audi chose to use diesel to power their R10 race car in the Le Mans, they won by cutting down the number of pit stops needed. This proves that diesel engines can achieve good racing performance with different but effective strategy used such as energy conservation and pit stop strategy.

These advantages of diesel engines also showed its performance, practicality and reliability to the public. Mercedes is one of the pioneers in diesel powered automobiles and they have started as early as the 1930s era. Their series of production cars with a CDI, TDi, or D emblem sticking out behind the car such as the C30 CDI AMG by Mercedes Benz is a proven performance oriented car. In many cases we will see smaller capacity diesel powered car being more powerful than big capacity sedans. Thanks to the high-tech turbo diesel power plant and the innovative common rail direct fuel injection, we will now have a totally different view towards diesel cars. Many car manufacturers have used the new common rail injection engines that places diesel powered vehicles on par with petrol based cars. The only drawback of a diesel engine being heavy can be solved by placing the engine to a stronger chassis, and the sluggishness of the engine can be solved with a close ratio gearbox. Driving a diesel car is a pleasurable experience, especially when you know that BMW will be introducing the new 635d with the most powerful six cylinder twin turbo diesel engine under that hood.

Apart from being a good performer on the roads, it is also considered as a green fuel. Diesel itself produces lower greenhouse gas than petrol cars. Forget the smoke from old buses and taxis because newer engines can burn diesel more completely, and catalytic diesel particulate filters can control the emission to allow greener emissions. Speaking of replaceable energy source, diesel can also be home grown or produced such as synthetic diesel, bio diesel and the lot. Being a non fossil fuel, bio-diesel burns cleaner than petro diesel too.

If you are deciding over a petrol or diesel model of a certain vehicle, take note that you may pay lower taxes in some countries on top of the higher mileage on a diesel car. So what are you still

considering about?