New common-rail diesels, however, are much improved. In fact modern common-rail diesel engines often outperform their gasoline counterparts due to a higher torque output, while offering nominal noise difference and improved toxic emissions through better fuel economy - the final calculations after comparing increased distance traveled on the same quantity of fuel against slightly higher particulate emissions shows a benefit over gasoline engines of about 17% on average.
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| The Range Rover diesel uses 10.7 L/100 km as compared to 16.8 L/100 km for the gasoline version. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
According to Baker the Range Rover diesel, for instance, uses 10.7 L/100 km (22 mpg) on the highway, compared to 16.8 L/100 km (14 mpg) for the gasoline-powered version of the same vehicle. The much lighter and more compact Freelander diesel delivers almost 7.8 L/100 km (30 mpg) at highway speeds compared to approximately 11.8 L/100 km (20 mpg) for the gasoline model.
Also beneficial, diesels require less maintenance than gasoline engines. They don't need to be tuned up as often and last much longer, often running beyond 500,000 km before a rebuild is necessary.
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| Cost effective with reduced emissions, diesel engine models would be welcomed by some Land Rover customers. (Photo: Land Rover) |
Diesels are an excellent solution for European based automakers, like Land Rover, to improve their North American emissions and offer more cost effective transportation to their customers.