Car Engine – Petrol Vs. Diesel

Car engine is a lump of metal fitted in the car that makes the car go zoom. The traditional types of car engines are petrol and diesel. Since the introduction of automobiles in the Indian car industry, these two types of engines have been dominant and are still among the top most fuels used for fuelling the engines.

Though many alternative fuels like LPG, CNG, compressed air, and water are now used for running the engines, petrol and diesel engines hold their positions to the top. However, they differ a lot in terms of power, performance, and output.

Here we'll discuss the basic differentiation between petrol engine and diesel engine.

Petrol Engine

Petrol engine is one of the traditional forms of car engine that runs on petrol. The first petrol engine was introduced by two skilled engineers from Germany, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, in the year 1885. This type of car engine is composed of nearly about 150 moving parts that supports burning of fuel with the use of spark plugs and cause expansion of hot gases.

In petrol engine, there is pre-mixing of fuel and air that enables the car to run at a higher speed but with lower fuel efficiency.

Diesel Engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on diesel. Named after Dr. Rudolph Diesel, this type of engine uses the compression ignition to burn the fuel which is injected into the combustion chamber after the air is compressed.

Diesel engines were traditionally used in large automotives like trucks, locomotives, and ships in replacement of the steam engines. Later, the same were being used in automotives and passenger cars for long distance driving and better power.

Petrol vs. Diesel

• In India, petrol is costlier than diesel and that's the reason why many people prefer diesel cars especially those who have long distance commuting on a daily basis.




• When the time comes to resell the car, diesel cars have better resale value as compared to the petrol counterpart. This is because many people believe that diesel cars run longer than the petrol cars because petrol destroys lubrication but diesel does not.




• It is also said that petrol cars give lower fuel efficiency as compared to the diesel cars. If the petrol cars deliver a mileage of about 60 mpg, then the diesel counterpart will deliver nearly about 70-80 mpg. On a long distance drive and long routes, diesel cars are much preferred over petrol siblings.




• The compression ratio in diesel engine is 22:1 which makes it difficult to start the engine whereas in case of petrol engine, the engine is more likely to start at a quicker rate as compared to the diesel engine.




• Petrol engines are comparatively lighter than the diesel engines but yet diesel ones give more torque which makes them better for towing.




• Diesel engine makes the driving more heavy and uneasy as compared to the petrol engine. Diesel engine makes the steering wheel heavy and thus the driving needs an extra pressure.




• Petrol cars produce less noise and vibration than the diesel car engines.