How to choose between a diesel and petrol car?

Choosing which car to buy is difficult enough to car buyer and on top of that you have to figure out which fuel option to choose. Lots of car buyers struggles with this decision – which to choose, petrol car or a diesel car. This is one of the biggest dilemmas faced by a car buyer today. Well, it depends upon you, your priorities and type of driving you do.

 

Petrol VS Diesel

Petrol is highly volatile and readily evaporates and mixes with the air efficiently. So, just a spark is sufficient enough to combust the air fuel mixture smoothly. Whereas diesel is not volatile as petrol and does not mixes with air efficiently. So it requires high pressure high temperature operating condition, which gives harsh feeling on diesel cars.

Diesel is cheap and feels economical, but the diesel version of a car is significantly more expensive than the petrol. Previously diesel engine used to be very much noisy, that people used to avoid these diesel cars. But modern diesel cars these days they are much quieter and are also fun to ride.

Each car variant has advantages over another. So here are few important factors for diesel engine to consider in making selection better between a diesel and a petrol vehicle.

1. Diesel variants are expensive than petrol variants

  • Diesel engine needs to maintain higher compression ratio and handle greater vibration than the petrol engine, so the construction of the diesel engine is more rugged and are costly than the petrol engine.

  • Difference between petrol variant and diesel variant can be from 4 to above 10 lakhs rupees.

2. Diesel engines are more powerful than petrol engines.

  • They can create higher torque, thus have higher pulling capacity.

  • They are the best option for hill driving and for commercial use.

  • Diesel engines are mainly for heavy duty application, whereas petrol engine light weight application.

3. Noise and vibration

  • The harshness, noise and vibrations in diesel driven cars are way higher than that of petrol driven car, due to uncontrolled fuel combustion inside the combustion chamber.

  • But in modern day diesel cars, manufacturers have tried to control these vibration and noises, making diesel car ride, fun.

4. Better Mileage

SUZUKI SWIFT ZDI:

  • Diesel engine mileage is 10 - 25% more than petrol engine depending upon usage condition.

  • SUZUKI SWIFT ZXI:

  • Diesel engine creates more volumetric efficiency than the petrol engine, i.e.: more energy/liter.

5. Maintenance cost of diesel car is higher

  • As mentioned previously, diesel engine is more rugged compared to petrol engine, so the parts used in diesel engine are made to withstand more stress and are expensive.

  • However, the life of a petrol engine is more than a diesel engine.

6. Emission

  • Diesel creates 13% more CO2 than the petrol. Thus, the petrol cars are more eco-friendly than the diesel cars.

 

Petrol car VS Diesel car – which is more profitable?

Let us consider, Hyundai Creta, a great vehicle, tough looks, good power, and wide range of variants. But which one should you choose?

Mileage claimed by Hyundai Motor Company:

  • Hyundai CRETA 1.6 SX (Petrol) – 15.29 km/l

  • Hyundai CRETA 1.6 SX (Diesel) – 19.67 km/l

(Sorurce: https://www.indiacarnews.com/news/hyundai-creta-is-the-official-name-for-ix25-compact-suv-8161/)

 

So if you're a city rider, who drives not more than 1000 km/month, it would be wise from the cost point of view to buy a petrol variant. Whereas if you are using your vehicle for commercial purpose (with more than 2000 km/month running) or have to visit outside city frequently, then diesel variant can be your best option.