Mar 10 2012
Remarkable Achievements of Diesel Engines
When it comes to engine configurations, only a few of them granted improvement to the economy of fuel as well as power. This is also applicable to engines. Fortunately, countless individuals today are getting the huge benefits of the diesel technological advancements.
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.
But Mercedes Benz got a lot of luck regarding diesel engines. During the 1980s, they produced various vehicles using diesel engines. Even though these vehicles were kind of noisy and produced some smoke, it’s good to know that they can survive for an extended period of time. Even Volkswagen used diesel although it was common for blue smoke to come out of 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.
It’s amazing to know that today, Benz and Volkswagen are not the only manufacturers offering diesels. In fact, Jaguar, BMW, Ford and other companies offer diesel as well.
Technology made a lot of improvements to various engines nowadays. In the case of diesel, Europe got so many benefits regarding their vehicles’ acceleration. One example is BMW’s 120d. With its 163bhp, it can go up to 60 in less than 8 seconds. Moreover, about 49.6 miles can be reached every gallon.
Benz also made improvements as evidenced by its C320 CDI SE which has 224 bhp and a 360 lb foot torque. This model can go between 0 and 60 in less than 7 seconds. There’s no vehicle in North America that can have this kind of superior performance.
The reason why diesels haven’t caught on in North America comes down to one word – sulfur. We have too much sulfur in the diesel here in the United States. This cheap grade of diesel fuel will run havoc on the more sophisticated diesels offered overseas and cause an increase in emissions.
There is hope however, as refiners will soon be producing what is known as ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. This will help to reduce the sulfur content from 500ppm to 15ppm.
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