Diesel has always seen a bad start in America, at least. For instance, it has been banned for a good three years in Vermont, California and has always been viewed as a dirty fuel that truckers and locomotives use.
How things have changed. Today, companies like Mercedes- Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Toyota have all put in efforts to make diesel engines work just as good as the gasoline ones and in some cases, even better.
The Good old’ diesel engine has come a long way from the time Rudolf Diesel made it for the first time. It isn’t that noisy, rattling, unwieldy, soot-spewing machine
any more. The evolution of diesel engine has been like that of a butterfly -- ugly cocoon but what it transforms itself into.
Take the GL 320 BlueTEC, the large people carrier made by Mercedes- Benz, which can seat up to 7 people can easily pull out a good 24 mpg from the engine as compared to V8 gasoline version of the same car which gives about 6 mpg lesser than its diesel counterpart. Not only that, this diesel powerhouse meets the emission norms today with equal aplomb.
It can pull a boat or a trailer, can accelerate quite well, is surprisingly quiet and powerful torque characteristics the gasoline can never hope to match. All of this apparently didn’t go unnoticed by many car makers and by 2010 mane of them are expected to come out with their super diesels or even with a few hybrid versions of diesels, by then.
Diesels are surprisingly Green being able to achieve about 40% and emitting about 20% lesser carbon dioxide, which is the main culprit contributing to the Greenhouse effect) than the gasoline engines.
Often, Diesels have been pricey and yes, they are. All that nifty technology that works on the new diesels to help them operate they do won’t come cheap. However, by enjoying some of the tax-breaks for environment friendly vehicles (currently enjoyed by hybrids, but will soon include the new diesels); the on road savings on mileage; the fact that diesels will out-perform the gasoline engines with age and will last longer etc are all reasons why you shouldn’t mind that little extra for the diesel versions of your car. Also a Diesel happens to be giving the best mileage for regular driving for long-distances and is still better than a Hybrid, In this case.