4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline

When you start shopping for just the right 4x4 truck for your particular needs, you soon realize you have many different choices to make. Besides choosing between new and used, you must also decide if you want a truck with a diesel engine or a gasoline engine. Which one would be better for you?

4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline

4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline

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4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline

4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline

How Do These Two Engine Types Work?

First, you must understand how a gasoline engine is different from a diesel engine. Fundamentally, a diesel truck motor distinguishes itself by not having spark plugs. In a gasoline engine the spark plugs are used to ignite the mist produced by the fuel injectors, but in a diesel truck engine, pure air compression is used to generate an extreme heat that is used to ignite the fuel sprayed into the cylinder by the fuel injector.

There are two immediate takeaways from this different. First of all, a gasoline engine contains a part a diesel engine does not contain that may experience wear and tear: the spark plug. But on the flip side, the diesel engine must constantly produce, sustain and persevere extreme temperatures.

Different Fuels For Different Engines

As you might imagine from these two different processes, these two engines require different fuels. Standard gasoline is used in standard gas engines, while diesel fuel is used for diesel engines. Diesel fuel is more dense and concentrated than standard gasoline. This has both benefits and drawbacks.

Because the fuel is more dense, the same amount of diesel fuel can generate a greater amount of energy than the same amount of gasoline. This can make modern diesel motors more fuel efficient and allows them to generate significant more torque than standard gasoline engines.

However, this comes at a price. In most cases, diesel fuel is significantly more expensive than standard gas. However, some people, especially people who use trucks in business, still prefer the fuel efficiency and the more steady prices of diesel fuel. Diesel fuel prices don't jump and fall as often or to the same extremes as standard gasoline prices.

Advantages of Diesel Fuel

There are a couple of key advantages to diesel engines compared to gasoline engines. First, because they are built to withstand the higher pressures and higher temperatures required of their basic functionality, they tend to be more robust and thus last much longer than their gasoline counterparts.

Secondly, because of the greater density of diesel fuel and the greater efficiency of the engine design, diesel engines generally produce more torque and are thus greater vehicles for heavy duty work such as hauling and towing.

4x4 Truck Engines - Diesel Versus Gasoline