Motor fuels

[vicmel]

Can anyone tell me why so much is being spent on diesel engine development for cars. It's not that clean and not really that much cheaper. What is the problem with LPG and the latest sophiticated fuel management systems. It is also very much cheaper

[v64paul]

given the recent mega profits announced by the oil companies, could it be that it's easier to produce?  therefore cheaper leaving more room for fat profit? it's also safer and easier to store diesel than gas...

[Andy Boz]

Also, as far as I am aware, lpg is a by product of the petrochemical industry, and therefore is a limited resource. Diesel is an oil, and with simple modification to some engines, other forms of oil, such as rape seed oil, can be made to work which are replacable.

[KebabMeister]

Both petrol and diesel are oils, they're just refined at different temperatures.  Diesel is actually easier to manufacture.  Lead free petrol is more expensive than leaded petrol as well.

Diesel engines are still 'engines for the future'.  They're incredibly economic and reliable and within time will be as powerful as regular petrol engines.  Diesel catalysts are continually being worked on to reduce emissions.  Turbo diesels, with recirculation valves, are the way forward since this also reduces harmful emissions.

[d0gsb0dy]

LPG is only cheap because nobody uses it. This was the case with diesel up until recently.

[BillyNoMates]

LPG is basically a by-product of many oil/gas platforms - annoys me see it being burnt off from the rigs at night !

However, it can be expensive to convert a car - some grants are available. You lose boot space and although it is more readily available now, it can be hard to find at filling stations.

I agree with KebabMeister re. diesel being the way forward. Many advances have and are being made - particulate filtration in diesel exhaust systems can now make any diesel very 'green'. Common rail engines are less noisy, more efficient and performance can now be almost as good as any equivalent petrol model with turbo charging.

[Tim Baxter]

Apart from the noisy tick-over I love diesels.  My 2.2 Almera has just come back from a trip round France (where diesel is a lot cheaper than their unleaded).  I must admit that I wasn't thoroughly conversant with speed limits in Km/hr, I understand that my cruising speed of 90-100mph was legal.....maybe not.  However, the little beauty returned 46.7 mpg.  Once they get the pollutants properly under control maybe they will take over from petrol.

In the end, though, surely Hydrogen is the way forward, easy to produce, 0% pollution etc.

P.S. I also love the recent Honda diesel advert, "Hate something, change something...."

[d0gsb0dy]

I have a fiesta 1.8 diesel which returns over 50 mpg. Loads of torque and a light body. I use Greased Lightning oil and engine treatment every 12, 000 miles and have it serviced every 6,000. It has 120,000 on the clock and doesn't burn any oil.
In addition to being more economical, the advantages of diesel are that they start in all weathers, there's neglible engine wear (some hgvs have a million miles on the clock) and because of the lower water content of diesel fuel, exhausts last for years.