A fundamental difference between gasoline and diesel engines is that a gasoline engine uses spark ignition while a diesel engine uses compression ignition. Before we delve deeper, let's understand how ...

A.Here's a pressure-volume diagram for a combustion engine. Although rough, it is an approximation of the so-called air-standard cycle. '' Point (a) is at atmospheric pressure, after which the air is ...

Diesel engines do their hardest work in the toughest jobs, from highway semis to construction equipment, and the reason they can survive that punishment starts with how fiercely they squeeze the air ...

Let's discuss something that is well known by diesel mechanics and hard-core enthusiasts but may not be fully understood by new diesel owners or people who may have heard the term "compression ...

Any certified gearhead knows that diesel engines do not use spark plugs. But why not? If power in an engine is created by combustion or explosion of flammable liquids, won't a spark plug in a diesel ...

We love ourselves a good oddball engine, and tiny, scrappy Mazda certainly must be responsible for more such engine concept patents per market-capitalization dollar than any other. We just discovered ...

Apart from the very curious, not many people ask why diesel engines, compared to gasoline, run higher compression ratios. The argument is reasonably straightforward and starts with fuel ...