Why is diesel better than petrol?

PRO: Because of the way it burns fuel, a diesel engine provides far more torque to the driveshaft than does a gasoline engine. As a result, most modern diesel passenger cars are much faster from a standing start than their gas-powered counterparts. read more

There’s a reason there are many engines of both types in use; diesel is better in some applications while gasoline is better in others. The difference is narrowing, however, in new engines. Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI), for example, enables higher compression ratio like diesel, but with many of the same problems (i.e. homogeneity of the air-fuel mix). read more

As an example, the Fiat 500 diesel does nearly 14mpg more than its 1.2 petrol sister, but its purchase price is £2400 higher. On economy alone, owners would need to cover more than 130,000 miles in the diesel before the fuel economy/purchase price equation levels out. read more