Speaker 1: Jack Threads is the online shopping destination for dudes. Everything
Speaker 1: on the side is up to eight percent off. All
Speaker 1: styles are curated, so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. What's
Speaker 1: more is if you were brain stuff, you can skip
Speaker 1: the membership weight list and get instant access at jack
Speaker 1: threads dot com slash stuff. Welcome to brain Stuff from
Speaker 1: house stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi Am
Speaker 1: Marshall Brain with today's question. If diesel engines are more efficient,
Speaker 1: then why do most cars have gasoline engines. Diesel engines
Speaker 1: have never really caught on in passenger cars in the
Speaker 1: United States. During the late nineties seventies, diesel engines and
Speaker 1: passenger cars did see a surgeon sales because of the
Speaker 1: OPEC oil embargo. Over half a million diesel cars were
Speaker 1: sold in the US, but that is the only significant
Speaker 1: penetration that diesel engines have made in the marketplace. Even
Speaker 1: though they are more efficient, there are historical problems that
Speaker 1: have held diesel engines back. First, diesel engines have much
Speaker 1: higher compression ratios. The compression ratio of twenty to one
Speaker 1: is typical for a diesel versus eight to one for
Speaker 1: a typical gasoline engine. That compression ratio makes diesel engines
Speaker 1: heavier than an equivalent gasoline engine. Second, diesel engines also
Speaker 1: tend to be more expensive. Third, diesel engines, because of
Speaker 1: the weight and the compression ratio, tend to have lower
Speaker 1: maximum rpm rages than gasoline engines. This makes diesel engines
Speaker 1: high torque rather than high horsepower, and that tends to
Speaker 1: make diesel engines slower in terms of acceleration. Fourth, diesel
Speaker 1: engines tend to produce more smoke, and they tend to
Speaker 1: smell funny. Although modern designs and modern fuels have greatly
Speaker 1: reduced the problem, the perception persists. Fifth diesel engines can
Speaker 1: be harder to start in cold weather, and if they
Speaker 1: contain globe plugs, diesel engines can require you to wait
Speaker 1: before starting the engines so the globe plugs can heat up. Sixth,
Speaker 1: diesel engines tend to be noisier and tend to vibrate more,
Speaker 1: although modern engine designs are fixing these problems as well. Seventh,
Speaker 1: diesel fuel is less readily available than gasoline, especially in
Speaker 1: urban areas. One or two of these disadvantages might be okay,
Speaker 1: but a group of disadvantages this large is a big
Speaker 1: deterrent for lots of people. The two things working in
Speaker 1: favor of diesel engines are better fuel economy and longer
Speaker 1: engine life. Both of these advantages mean that over the
Speaker 1: life of the engine, you will tend to save money
Speaker 1: with a diesel. However, you also have to take the
Speaker 1: initial high cost of the engine into account. You have
Speaker 1: to own and operate a diesel engine for a fairly
Speaker 1: long time before the fuel economy overcomes the increased purchase
Speaker 1: price of the engine. The equation works great and a
Speaker 1: big diesel track or trailer rig that's running four hundred
Speaker 1: or five hundred miles every day, but it's not nearly
Speaker 1: so beneficial in a typical passenger car. Many of the
Speaker 1: new diesel engine designs using advanced computer control are eliminating
Speaker 1: many of these disadvantages. Smoke, noise, vibration, and costs are
Speaker 1: all declining. In the future, we're likely to see more
Speaker 1: diesel engines on the road. For more on this and
Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Because it how stuff works, dot
Speaker 1: com Jack Threads is the online shopping destination for dudes.
Speaker 1: Everything on the side is up to off. All styles
Speaker 1: are curated so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. What's more
Speaker 1: is if you were brain Stuff, you can skip the
Speaker 1: membership weight list and get instant access at jack threads
Speaker 1: dot com slash stuff