Petrol versus Diesel - The Myths Explored!

[996jimbo]

That sounds like fun. What sort of engine configuration would that be good for though? Straight six presumably?

 

[angus falconer]

Peugeot have outlined ambitious plans to become the first company to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with a diesel car.

Link Here

Ahh - sneaky. Basically all they need is an ever-so-slightly leaky overflow and a little bit of rain and hey presto half the field spin off.

 

[996jimbo]

Peugeot have outlined ambitious plans to become the first company to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with a diesel car.

I wonder if their plans are along the lines of:

"Let's build a diesel car to win Le Mans"
"Yeah, lets"

end of plans for now...

 

[The Editor]

No.... - Now what WOULD be impressive is an electric car to win Le Mans (without a re-charge!!)

 

[shrekky]

hmmmmmmmmmmm you may mock.....lol................they all laughed at volvo when they said they were going to race an ESTATE CAR ! in the BTCC......lol........and they had the last laugh !............tell ya what........alright my baby aint turboed or supercharged but there aint many things can leave her for dead(well upto 110....lol).....and of all the cars i have come across,other mercs,beamers,lexus's.........only one make leave me for a spot on the horizion and thats a new GOLF TDi,damn they are quick !

 

[The Editor]

Mmmmm.... so are them Audi 'S' thingermejiggies as well !!

 

[mlc]

Shrekky,

Am I missing something or are you suggesting that a 1986 190D is a particularly quick car to 110 mph, do you know what the 0 - 60 time is by any chance?

Mark.

 

[shrekky]

I wouldn't say particularly quick, just not as slow as people have the misconception of them being...............hey i play tag with 735i beamers on the motorways......lol.............never timed it.........maybe i should because it defintely gets there faster than the book suggests

 

[gchurch]

diesel

This thread is getting a bit old now but I felt like a general blither. But, yes I agree that diesels do offer an improvement compared to petrol engine with regard to mid range acceleration but this is only because of the turbo charger. A non turbo diesel would be much slower. Diesel engines are particularly suited to turbo charging for reasons I quite remember but it's to do with the compression ratio and the volume of gas which is expelled. However, look at the performance you get if you turbo charge a petrol engine - Sierra cosworths, Suburu Imprezza etc.. So yes, turbo-diesel engine can be faster than a normally aspirated diesel engine but they're not the same beast really. Petrol engines are more flexible as well. A decent, say 2 litre, petrol engine will typically pull say 4th gear from 1000rpm to 6000rpm which is 5/6th of the rev range. My C220CDI will only really pull 4th happily from 1500rpm to 4000rpm which is 3/4 of the rev range. However, I did drive a BMW 320d which would pull from about 1200rpm so they're getting better. In the ideal world I think we should all drive enormous normally aspirated petrol engines - 600SL would be a good start.


Yes torque does give acceleration but you can't just compare the two figures for a petrol and diesel engine as the gear ratios come into the equation as well.
Yes, all diesel cars produce loots of soot under acceleration - just floor it away from the lights at night and watch in the mirror - you'll get a great vortex of swirling smoke - very Goldfingeresque...

 

[blassberg]

My C220CDI will only really pull 4th happily from 1500rpm to 4000rpm which is 3/4 of the rev range. However, I did drive a BMW 320d which would pull from about 1200rpm so they're getting better. In the ideal world I think we should all drive enormous normally aspirated petrol engines - 600SL would be a good start.

It's my birthday so I'm going to allow myself to say how happy I am with my C320CDI.

 

[Blobcat]

It's my birthday so I'm going to allow myself to say how happy I am with my C320CDI.

Happy Birthday blasberg, I'm happy that your happy with your C320cdi. Doing anything nice for your birthday?

 

[television]

Happy birthday Blassberg, Im away to Sweden in the morning, touring so it will be like a birthday everyday for the next three weeks.

malcolm