The gasoline powered engine was invented by Nickolaus Otto and patented in 1876 it was called the Otto Cycle engine. As a teenage student in a technical high school in Germany, Rudolf Diesel studied Herr Otto’s creation and was appalled by the lack of efficiency of the Otto Cycle Engine. He decided that he could create something more efficient. The relentless and motivated student was awarded a patent in 1892 for his Diesel Engine. His first working prototype Diesel Engine did not run on diesel fuel it was actually powered by peanut oil.

What is The Difference Between a Diesel Engine and a Gasoline Engine?
Gasoline and Diesel car engines work on the same basic 4 stroke principle of pistons moving up and down compressing and burning fuel and air. The main difference is that diesel engines run at 2 or 3 times the combustion chamber pressure as opposed to gasoline engines. Gasoline engines compress a mixture of gas and air, as the piston rises in the cylinder and at just the right moment a spark ignites the mixture to create the push that moves the piston down like the pedal on a bicycle. The diesel engine on the other hand compresses only air. The secret is that the fuel in a diesel engine is injected at just the right time into the compressed air and the fuel super heated by compression of the air immediately ignites the fuel in the hot and densely compressed air. A diesel engine requires a sophisticated high pressure fuel injection system but has no electrical ignition system. A gasoline engine can get by with a relatively unsophisticated fuel delivery system but they do require a relatively sophisticated electrical ignition system.

Why is Diesel Fuel More Common in Trucks, Trains and Ships While Cars Commonly Use Gas?
Diesel engines create more torque at lower speeds than gas engines. Torque, the twisting force of an engine comes at a much lower engine RPM in a diesel engine than a gasoline engine allowing diesel engines to efficiently move heavy loads at slow speeds. Due to Complex high pressure mechanical direct fuel injection systems and low RPM operating speeds, old diesel engines were loud, rattled and belched dark clouds of sooty exhaust. Gasoline engines run faster, smoother, quieter and cleaner. Gasoline engines have less stress on their major component, the engine block so they can be built lighter and more compact. That was in the recent past a lot has changed in the last 25 years and much attention has been given to the diesel engine to make it every bit as compact quiet and efficient as the gas engine without losing any of the diesels ability to pull more than its own weight.

Introducing The High Tech Diesel Engine
Technological advances in Diesel combustion engines has led to a quiet, smooth operating and efficient power plant. Rudolf Diesel was onto something when he decided to invent something more efficient than Nickolaus Otto’s gas engine. Diesel invented an engine that is 40% more efficient and much more flexible in useable fuels, which means in today’s fuel starved world diesel engines are going to make a significant impact on future car sales. Traditionally a powerful slow moving power plant, modern diesel engines are smoother, cleaner and faster without losing the high torque that allows them to move 80,000 pound trucks over mountain passes. Diesel powered race cars are now winning on the Le Mans world endurance racing circuit. The latest news is compact, ultra efficient diesel car engines that have more power and run cleaner than current gas engines. It is a revolution.