05 Mar 12 Remarkable Achievements of Diesel Engines
There are very few engine configurations that promise increased fuel economy and power. There are few engines that offer this in addition to reliability. Today, those across the ocean are enjoying the fruits of diesel technology revolution.
In America alone, a lot of historical events were being highlighted regarding diesel. For instance, General Motors made the 350ci gas V8 to be operated using diesel in 1980. Unfortunately, the results were unimpressive since it gave a slow performance and was not really that dependable.
Mercedes Benz on the other hand, had better luck in the 1980s with an array of vehicles available with diesel engines. These great vehicles offered amazing durability although they were rough, noisy, and smoked quite a bit. Volkswagen offered diesel as well, although they had a habit for spewing blue smoke from the tail pipe.
Fortunately, the vehicles of Benz and Volkswagen using diesel improved a little bit. They became smoother, cleaner and even more powerful than before. However, the kind of horsepower needed by many people was still not met by these two vehicle manufacturers.
Today, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Volkswagen, Ford, and many other manufacturers are offering diesels to many markets throughout the world. To put it simple, forget everything you know or think you know about diesel engines in the United States.
These newer engines benefit from hundreds of technical innovations. There are several diesels in Europe that offer better acceleration than their gasoline counter parts. BMW’s 120d has 163bhp, goes 0 – 60 in under 8 seconds, and achieves 49.6 miles per gallon.
Benz offers the C320 CDI SE that has 224bhp, and over 360 lb foot of torque. This car gets just under 48 mpg on the highway, with an acceleration of 0 – 60 in under 7 seconds. Throughout North America, you won’t find a gasoline engine that offers this unique blend of fuel economy and excellent performance.
But if there’s one factor thwarting the further development of diesels, it would have to be sulfur. A lot of sulfur has been detected inside diesels in the United States. This can result to a lot of complications. That’s why the number of emissions also increases due to this problem alone.
Nowadays, the people are hoping that the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel will be developed. This fuel can make a substantial improvement as it lessens the amount of sulfur in diesel fuels from 500 ppm to as low as 15 ppm.
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Tags: Automotive, car, diesel, engine
