What is a diesel vehicle?
Many vehicles, including diesel vehicles use an internal combustion engine (ICE) in order to work. The engines are made up of multiple components and need a fuel in order to create combustion. The most common engines are petrol and diesel engines, and it is the latter which we will explain in more detail below.
Diesel can be purchased in standard or premium form. Regular diesel is predominately chosen for most everyday cars, whilst premium diesel is designed to clean soot and oily build-up from the diesel engine's fuel system.
Economy and Range
Diesel cars have the ability to drive large distances on a single tank of fuel, with some models able to go 1,000 miles or more between fill-ups.
Popular diesel saloons such as the BMW 5 Series and Peugeot 508 can both return around 70mpg. Other high-economy heroes include the Dacia Sandero (80mpg) and Ford Fiesta (78mpg).
Sporty diesel models are available too, offering enhanced performance, along with decent economy.
Should I buy a diesel vehicle?
Convenience and familiarity
Using a fuel station to fill up, and the normality of its convenience and ease.
Longer distance capability
Diesel cars usually go between 500 and 1000 miles to a single tank, ideal for long journeys.
Excellent fuel economy
Due to their enhanced efficiency, diesel car owners spend less time at fuel stations.
Long service intervals
Some diesel engines require servicing every 20,000 miles rather than the standard 12,000 miles.
How do diesel cars and vans work?
A diesel internal combustion engine usually consists of pistons, cylinders, fuel injectors and glow plugs.
In simple terms, it could be described using the saying 'suck, squeeze, bang, blow'. The process starts off by a piston descending, sucking air into the cylinder through intake valves as fuel is also injected via injectors (suck).
When all the valves close, the piston comes back up mixing and compressing the air and fuel (squeeze).
Glow plugs are there to help heat things up and help emissions. Diesel engines have a compression-ignited injection system, as opposed to a spark-ignited system used by most petrol vehicles. The diesel is injected into the combustion chamber and ignited by the high temperatures achieved when the gas is compressed by the piston (bang).
The piston rises up, pushing the spent air and fuel mixture out through exhaust valves (blow).
Find your perfect diesel vehicle
At Evans Halshaw, we have a large selection of diesel vehicles, available in both our new and used stock.
We make it easy to find your next car, especially if you want an economical diesel car. This is because you can search via fuel type in our search perimeters, as well as tailoring your search further with make, model, colour, body style, number of doors, transmission, age, mileage, mpg, CO2 and finance type.
And as always, all our Evans Halshaw dealers are on hand to offer any help or advice whilst searching for your next car.
