They’re loud and by the price per gallon, they’re more expensive. We’re talking again about diesel-powered cars. In our last post on the misconceptions of diesel, we explored why diesel isn’t actually that bad and overturned some common myths. Well, we want to pursue this further. Many people believe diesel fuel is both bad for the environment and for your wallet. This isn’t true. In fact, diesel cars come with a lot of benefits that you may not be aware of.
Efficiency
Diesel fuel is actually more efficient that regular unleaded. “But it’s so loud, it has to be worse!” False. It’s loud because of the type of engine that it uses. Dummies.com reports that diesel fuel actually gets 25-30% better fuel economy than other standard engines, competing strongly with gas-electric hybrid engines. Diesel is also very energy dense, meaning you get more bang for your buck. Even while diesel fuel costs more per gallon, in the long run—unless that price difference is 25-30% higher—it’s not.
They’re Fast
Diesel cars are actually faster than other gas-powered vehicles. This is due to the way that the engine burns fuel, as it provides more torque which results in a much faster standing start.
Less Maintenance
That’s right: diesel cars need less maintenance, on average. The engines don’t come with spark plugs or distributors, which means fewer engine and ignition tune-ups.
They Live Longer
As long as you keep up with regular maintenance—oil changes and filter replacement—diesel engines should last longer than other engines, giving you up to 300,000 miles before it goes kaput. Diesel engines are compression engines, meaning they work without spark plugs by compressing fuel until it ignites on its own, which makes for a more powerful explosion—hence the noise. While the explosions are more powerful, the engines don’t get as hot in general. All of this works to preserve the engine and keep it going even longer. Even semi-truck diesel engines can get up to 900,000 miles or so before they give out.
Hubler has a great inventory of new and used diesel cars, so check out what kinds of diesel cars you can be driving today!