There are many different qualities of diesel engines that are easily recognized by their owners. Less time spent at the pump, torque loads and much easier time maintaining the vehicle. Of course there are some drawbacks, such as the inability of the engine to accelerate from a complete stop. Many people don’t know that diesel engines can be tweaked for better performance while maintaining great mileage. Let’s see what various changes will make to your diesel to get more power.

First, we will want to thank Rudolf Diesel for creating a great machine. Today, the internal combustion engine is the most popular way to run a motor vehicle. With Diesel’s 1892 patent buses and trucks across the world have been taking advantage of his invention. There are also a few passenger vehicles as well that use diesel engines, such as pick up trucks.

Diesel engines have all of these following advantages over gasoline engines:

Instead of using a mixture of air and fuel that creates combustion in gasoline powered cars, diesel engines use air compression. This is a great advantage because there is no need for tune ups with the lack of spark plugs.

Diesel fuel also has its advantages over convention gasoline; its higher fuel density allows for a 20-30% increased fuel economy.

The fewer moving parts that engines use creates less time spent on maintaining the engine vs. a gasoline engine. For the same reason, a diesel engines lifespan is much longer.

The increase in torgue is another advantage for those who have to pull campers, boats, or anything else that a gasoline ran truck couldn’t handle. As mentioned before, diesel engines do not accelerate from a complete stop as well, but they handle inclines and bridges with grace.

You are probably asking yourself, “Why don’t they make more of these in North America”? The answers to that question include:

The strict emissions standards that have been set today. Diesel engines have been known to put out more waste than gasoline engines so the engine technology has not been changed. However, VW and other companies have been trying to change all of that with their new lines of engine.

Another reason is the lower amount of power. Even those with turbo diesels say that the engine doesn’t have the power of other engines. Most drivers today are used to handling highway speeds without too much effort. With diesel, it usually takes almost twice as long to get up to that same speed.

The good news is that many after market developers are squeezing more power out of diesel engines to change that fact. Horsepower has been on the rise with diesel engines, as is torque, because of performance programmers. The best thing about these performance programmers is that the fuel economy is barely harmed at all. Some even might help improve fuel economy.

Of course, the number of diesel powered engines isn’t very high in North America, but with the current rise and technology advances to current diesel engines, you will definitely start to see many more diesel vehicles in your neighborhood and on the highways.