As soon as a “neophyte” motorist hints at his desire to buy a car with a diesel engine, experienced people attack him like kites, intimidating them with stories of diesel fuel nightmares. After all, diesel engines still cause mistrust among many - apparently, numerous horror stories played their role here. And the buyer sometimes does not figure out which ones to believe and what to attribute to the category of fairy tales.

Struggle for efficiency

The main reason for the popularity of a diesel engine is simple - its higher efficiency. If the efficiency of gasoline engines rarely reaches 30%, then heavy fuel units give out about 40%, and sometimes even 50%! By the way, it was the lack of efficiency of the engines that existed at the end of the 19th century that pushed Rudolf Diesel to create his own unit.

Basically this design is similar to gasoline internal combustion engine - the same cylinders, pistons, valves. The difference is that a diesel engine does not need an ignition system; the fuel in it ignites spontaneously from the air heated up during compression. But if you dig deeper, there are other differences as well. For example, the pressure in the cylinders of a diesel engine is one and a half to two times higher, so the parts for it are made more durable and, as a result, heavier.

Diesel mythology

Myth one: diesel power is lower than that of gasoline engines... Indeed, with equal engine volume horse power they usually have less. Although the situation is changing: the newest diesel motors according to this indicator, they are almost not inferior to gasoline counterparts, and sometimes even surpass them. Therefore, diesel engines are now even installed on sports models of premium brands, such as the Audi R 10 or BMW M. The reason for this is not only power, but also excellent torque indicators. After all, it is he, and not abstract horses, that provides elasticity and ease of traction control. In addition, diesels deliver peak torque earlier, guaranteeing powerful acceleration from virtually idle.

The second myth: a diesel engine is more expensive than a gasoline engine, both in purchase and in operation. It is true that you will have to overpay at least 50 thousand rubles for a car with such an engine. And it requires more oil and filter changes. However, in response to this claim, one can again recall the effectiveness of structures. In ordinary life, the low efficiency of a gasoline unit turns into a higher fuel consumption (on average, 25-30% more than that of a diesel one). This means that "extra" investments in diesel can gradually return to the owner with saved rubles, and this cannot be prevented even by the fact that the price of diesel fuel is almost equal to the price of 95th gasoline. However, in order to "recoup" additional expenses, the mileage must be about 100 thousand km.

The third myth: diesel is very picky about fuel quality. However, just for a diesel engine, the quality of fuel is not as important as for a gasoline one! The latter is sensitive to octane number, to the quality of additives, the presence of lead impurities. For a diesel engine, it is important that the diesel fuel is water-free and clean. And large network gas stations today practically do not allow themselves to "cheat" with fuel. So the recommendations for choosing refueling stations are the same for owners of cars with both gasoline and diesel engines: refuel only at proven stations and do not try to save on questionable fuel.

Fourth myth: cold start difficulties. This opinion is based on real, but outdated facts - nowadays they have learned to cope with many causes of such problems. For example, we have raised the efficiency of glow plugs to a previously unattainable height: they heat up to 1000 ° C in less than two seconds. To combat the formation of paraffin sediment, a variety of heaters (tank, filter and fuel lines), as well as special depressants and antigel additives. By the way, the presence of these additives is one of the reasons for dividing diesel fuel into two types: summer and winter. They differ in density (840 kg / cubic meters in winter versus 860 in summer) and pour point - "cold" diesel fuel thickens not at -5 ° C, but at -35 (sometimes up to -50 ° C) overboard. But it is important for the car owner to know only that with regular maintenance and use quality fuel Even in a fierce cold, a diesel engine will give you no more trouble than a gasoline engine!

Fifth myth: noise and vibration. Yes, diesel units are not as quiet as gasoline engines, but the situation is changing rapidly, and diesel engines of the latest generations are almost on par with gasoline engines in terms of these indicators. So far, however, this applies mainly to premium-class cars, although in the mass segment there are already diesel-powered engines that do not annoy with either the characteristic rumble or vibration.

Myth six: diesel exhaust is very harmful to the environment. In fact, this question is much more complicated. Diesel exhaust was initially thought to be cleaner because it contains significantly less carbon monoxide (CO). Over time, the designers of gasoline engines have dealt with this problem thanks to the massive introduction of advanced catalytic converters. But diesels still have their traditional sin - they emit a considerable amount of soot into the atmosphere. However, engineers also defeated this attack by introducing new technologies, the main of which was the DPF filter. It is similar in design to a catalytic converter: it maintains a high temperature at which the soot particles are oxidized by the residual oxygen contained in the exhaust gases. Many other tweaks have been applied, thanks to which diesel engines today remain "cleaner" than gasoline ones. And they have a good future - for example, the widespread use of "green" biodiesel fuel looks promising. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in Western Europe, which is seriously concerned about the cleanliness of the air, the share of diesel cars clearly exceeds the number of gasoline cars.

What do we have?

Summing up our "trials", we can conclude: there is no need to be afraid of a diesel engine! With proper care and attention, it will not cause unnecessary trouble to the owner, but it will give a great feeling of smooth and powerful traction, accompanied by relatively moderate fuel consumption. However, a car with this engine will cost more.

Thus, the decision in each case remains with the client. If you are willing to pay extra for a more responsive car and, moreover, drive a lot and often, then the diesel becomes excellent option, and all the scary stories about him are most often a relic of the past. Under other conditions, it is quite possible that a gasoline unit is more suitable for you. The point, as they say, is in the nuances.

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To make a diesel internal combustion engine purely gas is unrealistic: diesel fuel ignites (detonates) from compression, and not from spark plugs. The heavy fuel engine generates about 20 atm., And propane-butane painlessly tolerates pressures up to 42 atm. For natural gas, the critical indicator is even higher - 46 atm.

To ignite a propane or methane fuel mixture, you need a spark like a gasoline engine. It turns out that you will first have to convert the internal combustion engine into a gasoline unit, and only then install HBO. The cost of such a project is off scale, so VipGaz solves the problem differently.

Gas-diesel: joint injection

The amount of injected diesel fuel is cut to a minimum - just enough for ignition from standard pressure. The rest of the space in the combustion chamber is filled with a gas-air mixture.

Diesel-gas ratio regulates the electronic unit with a stitched control program.

In some 4th generation gasoline gas-cylinder installations, a similar scenario is realized. Only there the combined injection is due to other reasons: the injectors of "direct" engines experience an increased thermal load if no gasoline circulates through them. And in the gas-diesel bi-fuel scheme, the main fuel acts as a fuse.

Issue price

Retrofitting is expensive. But as a result of replacement with cheaper fuel, savings are obtained, which is felt on significant mileage - from 100 thousand km per year. Therefore, the first people wishing to switch to gas-diesel were regular buses, commercial and water transport.

However, with the increase in the cost of diesel fuel at filling stations, the diesel-fueled technology is turning into the only alternative for owners of diesel cars, whose average daily mileage is in the region of 200-300 km.

Methane or propane

To begin with, part of the propane-butane in the injection portion barely reaches 40%. The rest is DT. This is due to the physical characteristics of the gas, although the development companies are constantly moving this topic forward. So far, the savings with propane are less than with methane.

The share of natural is 70%. Therefore, it is possible to save more. But the equipment for the diesel-methane version costs twice as much. The reason is that high pressure cylinders are made according to different standards, because methane is transported in a compressed state. They are also heavier than propane.

And the price of a container made of composite materials is a lightweight cylinder, which increases the installation cost by another 50%. The economic sense of the re-equipment project appears when the annual mileage of the car exceeds 100 thousand km.

In both cases, the question of whether diesel can be converted to gas gets an unambiguous answer in terms of technical capabilities. VipGaz implements such projects - both with propane and methane.

In the collection of benefits for the car owner, we add the fact that gas has a beneficial effect on the resource of the internal combustion engine. This is confirmed by the experience of Western logistics companies that have been successfully using gas-diesel technology for a long time. In addition, the engine runs smoother, without stress and the characteristic diesel crescendo.

Let us first tell you what is the undoubted advantage of a diesel engine - efficiency. The working process in a diesel engine differs from that of gasoline counterparts primarily in the way of regulating power parameters. Since there is no need to maintain a stoichiometric mixture (constant fuel to air ratio), quality control can be used simply by changing the amount of fuel supplied to the combustion chamber. There is no need for throttle, there are no additional suction losses, and in combination with a high expansion coefficient, we obtain a very high efficiency at any speed.

After the massive introduction of turbocharging in the eighties, diesel engines received another powerful impetus for development. Since the beginning of the century, being in the shadow of gasoline engines due to a lower degree of boost in terms of speed and a higher mass, they played their part with a vengeance, first on heavy trucks, and then on passenger cars.

Photo: engine Volkswagen Golf GTD (Typ 19) "1984-85

The turbocharging was ideally combined with the diesel engine's working cycle: air can be compressed as much as you like, there is no more knock restriction, and a large expansion coefficient is also a relatively low temperature exhaust gases, especially in intermediate modes, and hence the gentle operation of the turbocharger.

In other words, a diesel engine can handle traffic jams and partial loads much better. There is no overheating, from which, and the turbine operates in more favorable conditions.

At the same time, there are simply no disadvantages, except for the price. Efficiency is even improved by operating at lower speeds, the fuel is still safe, not prone to easy ignition. And CO emissions are low, because the engine always runs with excess air.

Design features. Minuses

The cons of a diesel engine have always been closely related to its pluses. Good regulation requires complex fuel equipment, and the more power and speed, the more expensive the equipment.

Increasing requirements for cleanliness of combustion further increase its price. High compression ratio and expansion ratio with very high working temperature in the chamber create a large thermal load on the piston and large mechanical loads on the piston group and the cylinder block. An increase in the degree of boost due to turbocharging leads to a further increase in the load on the piston group and the cylinder head, injectors and other engine elements.

On the picture: Porsche cayenne S Diesel "2013

As a result, the requirements for all engine components are increasing, as is their price. And the turbines themselves are not cheap. And its fuel, theoretically cheaper than gasoline, in practice turned out to be not so cheap in the end. High-end diesel fuel competes with gasoline in manufacturing costs, and the difference in price is more often due to taxes. In our climate, among the disadvantages of diesel fuel is added its tendency to wax at low temperatures, which requires the use of special grades and heating of fuel lines and filters in winter.

After tightening the "environmental nuts", a couple more points were added to the cons of diesel engines. Highly efficient combustion of fuel produces an increased amount of NOx, which can be reduced either by reducing combustion efficiency or by clever chemical tricks.

Both methods have their drawbacks. EGR dramatically reduces engine life, and urea neutralization requires a large number additional technical fluidwhich also has low temperature freezing. In addition, when liquid fuels are burned, solid particles are formed immediately after atomization. And this soot contains many carcinogenic substances that need to be filtered somehow. But they turned out to be an expensive and extremely capricious component.

Why was the diesel said no?

Why diesel Mercedes did not run on our roads during the Soviet era is understandable. It was Vysotsky who could afford to drive a car of this class, and those who had access to diesel fuel could not even dream of this. In the perestroika years, when the sailors, state employees from the GDR and other "visiting" ones brought the first foreign cars to the country, the Soviet man found out the unpleasant truth. The diesel car turned out to be very capricious and not particularly comfortable.

And even if then any car was already better than the absence of one, but a diesel car, even if it was not a Volga with Perkins, but a completely "civilian" Opel or Mercedes, smelled of diesel fuel, did not warm up well, did not always start well, vibrated strongly and made noise ... Despite the fact that gasoline copies of foreign cars did not differ in similar behavior. The fuel equipment, of course, broke down, and it was impossible to replace it with a carburetor from the Niva or Volga, and rare workshops at the research institute could pull the piece production of spare parts for the high-pressure fuel pump.

In the photo: Mercedes-Benz 300 SD Turbo Diesel (W116) "1977–80

The euphoria passed quite quickly, so diesel-fueled cars remained with those who "on duty" had access to diesel fuel: the drivers of trucks and tractors. The rest admired from afar, but whenever possible they acquired what the "experienced people" advised. Usually it was the "carburetor and chain" option: a minimum of consumables, a minimum of wearing parts, everything is repaired on the knee for the time being. Any fuel injection, and especially diesel injection equipment, was obviously unrepairable without a full service infrastructure.

What happened next

The progress of diesel engines in the 90s did not go unnoticed, but it was clearly not enough to radically change the situation. Rare diesel engines with a "passenger character" in BMW have become overgrown with legends, but the owners of legendary and not so legendary engines began to notice that diesel fuel in Russia, it does not favor fine equipment at all light diesel engines.

In the photo: BMW (E34) "1991–95

A couple of unsuccessful gas stations - and now, under the replacement of the nozzle and injection pump, and the aluminum of the cylinder head, especially the prechamber with their thin casting, simply melts with our high-sulfur diesel fuel. And by and large, cars with diesel engines have hardly become more comfortable. Of course, there were no longer any "humps" on the hood due to the special long stroke of the motors, but vibration, noise, bad smell of an unheated engine and smokiness in transient modes did not disappear.

Twenty years of success

The situation began to change only towards the end of the nineties. Here, the legislators were not at all Germans, but Italian and French companies. FIAT's subsidiary Magneti Marelli developed and launched the first commercial management system Common rail for light diesel engines. And in 1997, the Italians used the 1.9 JTD system. Bosch bought a promising development, and already in 1998 presented the first car with its own Common Rail system, it was with the OM611 engine.

In the photo: Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse (W202) "1993-2000

If earlier the injection volume was set purely mechanically for all cylinders at the same time, and the injection moment was selected using a vacuum-centrifugal regulator (or electronic regulation on later versions of the injection pump), then in a system with Common Rail, injection worked approximately as on a conventional gasoline engine. Only the pressure in the rail already on the first system was 1,350 bar, and the fuel could be injected in several portions, providing preheating of the combustion chamber and more complete combustion of fuel in any modes, and reducing mechanical stress on the piston group at the same time.

The system removed almost all restrictions on the growth of diesel engine power, and at the same time avoided the problem of transient modes. Diesel has finally learned how to quickly gain momentum without clouds of smoke and power drawdown. And a mad race to increase the degree of forcing began, which ended with the introduction of new legislative acts, toughening of exhaust standards and ... dieselgate.

The popularity of diesel engines in Europe is steadily falling: according to a report from JATO Dynamics Ltd, in 2017 their sales fell by 8%, and the share of diesel engines in the structure of new car sales was 43.7%. That is, as Mark Twain said, “the rumors about my death are somewhat exaggerated,” however, the trend has emerged completely unambiguous. Already, the “legislators of the genre” represented by FCA (who invented the Common Rail Magneti Marelli remain the “daughter” of the concern) plan to curtail the production of heavy fuel vehicles by 2022.

That whistled past

In Russia, we heard rather echoes of distant battles for economy, ultra-clean exhaust, minimal taxes and average fuel consumption for the model line. Our diesel engines, even having overcome their generic problems, have not become widespread. Large crossovers were increasingly bought with diesel engines, and SUVs and commercial transport since the nineties they have been tightly hooked on them. The increase in the number of premium SUVs contributed to the dieselization of the vehicle fleet in the European part of Russia. In fact, often there was not even an alternative to diesel, it turned out to be the only acceptable option in terms of power, consumption and taxes for certain model cars.

In the photo: Porsche Cayenne Diesel "2010-14

Imported cars came across with diesel engines simply because in Europe they suddenly turned out to be the majority, and someone deliberately bought cars with a heavy fuel engine. But the bulk of the machines were produced by us, and diesel versions if they did, they were significantly more expensive imported options.

Dieselization of the entire country did not take place, this time not because of design flaws (as in the 80s and 90s), but at the behest of automakers. For them, Russia has remained a market in which they are in demand gasoline engines of the last generation, and diesels are too much trouble. In winter, they can freeze, damage the fuel equipment, but why would they need disgruntled customers? Moreover, diesel engines sold well in Europe, and the lack of production capacity always has to be taken into account.

In the photo: Mercedes-Benz G-Klasse "2016

Heavy fuel engines remained either the lot of enthusiasts who go to additional costs and risks for the sake of a dream or significant fuel savings, or those who buy diesel car only because, fortunately, in terms of the complexity of the fuel equipment, they are quite comparable.

Taking into account European trends, and even a short century of current premium cars, the short-lived diesel renaissance of the business class is likely to end in just two or three years. Unless he is supported by the sudden flow of cars sold for next to nothing across the border in Europe. Well, dreams of minimal operating costs are more likely now related to electric vehicles: they still have a dozen or two years left to be a blue bird.

A few minutes of diesel entertainment content

Should I buy diesel carmobile?

All in all, a simple question that, however, is so much controversial and not so easy to answer. For example, Volkswagen has built its successful career on the TDI brand, but now it already looks rather dull, and perhaps VW will soon part with diesel cars completely. What is the general situation with the purchase of a car with a diesel engine and the reasons why this idea is better to abandon?

Diesel engines are very interesting from a practical point of view and are still very popular. Even the lobbies of large conservationists who point to environmental pollution do not change anything. However, it seems that even what is indestructible will eventually collapse and diesel engines may not be quite as immortal as one might expect. DieselGate program

It's ironic that it was Volkswagen who unleashed that tight control over the entry of certain diesel vehicles into major European cities. This is not so relevant for Russia. However, this well-known program became the reason for the bankruptcy of the very same company, we are talking about the notorious Dieselgate, after setting maximum standards for the exhaust of diesel cars, it immediately became impossible to drive a car with a diesel engine into urban areas and cities. And therefore, we have to ask ourselves again, is it worth buying a diesel in our time? Who guarantees us that after two years we will not have to get rid of the car for a bargain price, since they will not be allowed anywhere with it? What is going on in this industry and why is the volume of diesel car production decreasing?

Gasoline is also not entirely clean

Most of the motorists looking for optimal car, focus on hybrids. This type of car is not prohibited or oppressed anywhere, on the contrary, the pressure from specialists and environmentalists begins to grow strongly, which is helped by cases like Dieselgate, which has become a vivid evidence of how diesel engines are harmful to the environment.

Regardless of how good a diesel car is, in any case, the harmful substances of its exhaust, even after filtration, still get into the air in larger quantities than on a gasoline one.

Yes, of course, gasoline is also not completely clean fuel. And, in any case, the time will come when fossil fuels will run out and then, instead of them, alternative fuel resources will come and, perhaps, this will happen soon enough. But, despite the fact that the engine experts internal combustion, stand their ground, claiming that the particulate filter diesel system the exhaust can capture much more harmful substances than the gasoline version, while they completely forget to say that their production of harmful substances is several times higher than that of the gasoline counterpart. Germany says no to diesel

Germany is gradually turning its back on diesel engines. It was only after the Dieselgate affair that diesel vehicles were closed in several cities. Yes, there are cities in which entry with a diesel engine is simply prohibited. The Germans, indeed, are very scrupulous in matters related to diseases caused precisely by the exhaust of harmful substances during the combustion of diesel fuel.

The Germans even worked on the idea to introduce something like the corresponding road sign... They proposed a blue sticker that would already detect movement from a distance. vehiclethat can drive and restrictions for diesel. So, if we talk about the dangers of exhaust from a gasoline unit, then it should really be old carso that the pollution reaches the level of diesel pollution.

Diesel Engines Don't Die

However, we should note that car factories equip modern cars high quality particulate filters that significantly reduce the emission of harmful substances. Audi and BMW have succeeded in this. The ban on such cars is completely avoided, however, due to the use of precious metals in modern filters, the maintenance of such cars becomes more expensive. Before buying any diesel car, it is necessary that a person does not proceed only from savings, but that such a vehicle is used for what it is actually intended for. This means that the vehicle will be used over long distances. Diesel cars are undesirable in urban use, short trips are better suited to gasoline counterparts.

Experts expect diesel engines to disappear from under the hoods of most European cars by the end of this decade, Reuters reported. Skepticism gripped engineers after it was calculated how much the company would have to spend on bringing its motors in line with the stricter emission standards set after the scandal with, as well as undergoing a new testing procedure, which will start working in 2019.

Both Renault and its rival Peugeot, which were heavily invested in diesel technology, initially rushed to defend their investment. Recently, however, Director of Competitiveness "" Thierry Bollore said that the prospects for heavy fuel engines are far from bright: "Tightening regulations and testing methods will increase the cost of technological developments to such a level that diesels will be pushed out of the market. " Pavan Potluri, an analyst at the renowned consulting firm IHS Automotive, echoes him: "Everyone is abandoning diesels, because after 2017-18 they will become more and more expensive."

Undoubtedly, diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines - who can argue with that? But at the same time they are more expensive. Therefore, units of this type have not been installed on the smallest renault cars, like - long before the diesel gate, by the way. The additional costs of purchasing them simply do not pay off by saving on fuel. But by 2020, tightening Euro 6 emissions standards will lead to the fact that diesel engines will have to be abandoned for cars of size classes B and C - that is, Clio, Megane and Fluence.

This does not concern us in Russia, but sales of mini, supermini and golf class models in Europe amounted to 1.6 million units, and more than 60% of them were diesel. It is expected that the share of cars with engines running on diesel fuel will reach 9% by 2030 from the current 52%. And here is a serious blow to income received car manufacturers there, already one hundred percent will backfire on our compatriots here in the form of another price increase and deterioration in service.

Who benefits from an incipient hysteria? Lobbyists, no doubt. They in every way intimidate both the governments of their countries and ordinary consumers. They say that "in everyday life" diesels emit five times more harmful substances into the atmosphere than during test tests, that exhaust gases contribute to the formation of acid rain, which causes respiratory diseases caused by them annually cause hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world.

At the same time, defenders at someone else's expense - as a rule, non-specialists and demagogues - are in a state of deathly silence regarding the environmental hazards of electric vehicles, starting with energy production at far from environmentally friendly stations and ending with the problem of mass disposal of batteries.

At the same time, people directly associated with the traditional auto industry are much less inclined to harsh populist statements in line with the current hypocritical mainstream. Thus, the director of technical development dr Stefan Knirsch insists: "I am still convinced that diesels have enormous technical potential."

Actually, I had no thoughts to deny the right to life of vehicles on electric traction. Let them develop - but only in honest, open competition with cars armed with internal combustion engines, without mass defamation of the latter. It will be more useful for everyone. In the meantime, it seems that in an open struggle