Petrol vs. diesel. Review on Petrol Vs. Diesel car

Many of us have often been in the dilemna of whether to buy a diesel powered car or one that runs on petrol. most of us take decisions based on what others tell. but actually there is more into this issue that meets the eye. let's try to find out. which is better, at which range and why.

diesels-diesel cars have evolved over the years, from being noisy, slow coaches, polluting and having just one advantage-fuel efficiency.to the ultra refined CDI, pumpe duse and CRDi technologies. now a days you can get cars which are fuel efficient, give earth shattering performance, have low NVH and happen to be diesels. sometimes diesels are more powerful and perform better than petrols. moreover the price of diesel is considerably cheaper than petrol. but some disadvantages include high price compared to petrol cars, and more maintenance. so there is confusion here again about whether diesel cars really save money.

petrols-petrol cars need no introductions. they have been with us for a century and have naturally improved tremendously. cars that run on petrol usually are associated with performance, refinement and lower cost. but now they are facing extremely tough competition from diesel cars. as already told, even diesels are now starting to get qualities of petrols like low NVH, good performance and refinement+ the fuel efficiency. in india, petrol powered cars are not as popular as diesels are now. two main reasons are- bad fuel efficiency of petrol cars and high price of petrol. but maintenance is lesser for petrols and so is the initial buying cost.

when you look at various cars in petrol and diesel, you can find that diesel cars become better and more refined as the price goes up. there are many examples. the octavia TDI is an excellent example. buying an octavia TDI over an octavia petrol makes absolute sense. the tdi is the best diesel below 20 lakhs. one more good example is the crdi technology of hyundai. the accent crdi and elantra crdi both are as good as or better than their petrol counterparts in performance. with the added advantages of fuel efficiency, they are almost invincible in indian eyes. but if you look at lower priced diesels you may find that none are too impressive. the engine in the indica has NVH levels which are quite more than the petrol indica. same with the palio and petra. in this low cost range people are ready to sacrifice refinement and performance of a petrol car for fuel efficiency. and don't forget the mercs. the e 270 cdi has much more performance and power than its petrol version. the c class cdis are as quiet as the petrols. so now it is justified that the costlier the diesel powered cars get, the better they are.

this is not the same with petrols. petrol cars are now getting outdated. the octavia petrol had little or no advantages over the TDI. I have not seen a single petrol octavia. but only if you get exciting cars like the RS, people will be tempted to buy petrol cars. the RS has a TT derived powerplant and so gives amazing performance(in fact it is the fastest car in india!). moreover, the engine is turbo charged and so fuel efficiency is also very good. this is one of the only petrol cars that is like this. lets look some petrol cars with diesel brothers. the indica petrol is nothing exciting but neither is the indica diesel. the palio diesel has managed to reduce NVH to a certain limit and the palio petrol is better than the diesel. but both indica's and palio's petrol versions are not very special by themselves. even the accent is not as good as good as the diesel but the petrol is not bad by itself. but lets go higher up the ladder. the elantra petrol is a normal petrol while the diesel races past it in flying colors. same with the octavia. even higher, the merc petrols are good no doubt but the diesels have all the qualities of the petrol mercs+ fuel efficiency.

petrols-advantages:- at a lower price petrols have an edge over diesels because they have low NVH and much better performance. moreover the price difference is considerable. people will tend to buy petrols instead of diesels because of the cost difference and maintenance cost. also, petrols enjoy the image of being less polluting and quiet still. but soon it will go. the advantages are about it.

petrols-disadvantages:-the fuel efficiency of diesels cannot be easily gained by petrols. this certain fuel efficiency usually decides the choice. at the higher end, the petrols do not have much to boast about in front of their diesel brothers. the diesels house much more technology and this pays. it is only till 10 lakhs that petrols have an advantage over the diesels.

diesels-advantages:- at all levels, diesels are much more efficient than petrols in running costs. now with more and more technology diesels are becoming better than petrols even in performance and other aspects. diesels no longer are noisy and polluting. the price of diesel is lower than that of petrol. finally, diesels are already very popular and the advent of more tech will make it unbeatable.

diesels-disadvantages:- one of the main cons is that diesel cars are priced higher than petrols. even the maintenance cost of diesels is considerably higher than petrols. diesels at lower prices have higher NVH levels than petrols. they are not as powerful also. many people still think that diesels are only meant for low running costs and that they have to sacrifice other things.

verdict- if you have a budget of less than 6 lakhs then the petrols are as good as the diesels. because the initial price difference and extra maintenance cost of diesels are just wiped out by its fuel efficiency. it mainly depends on what you want. if you don't really care about running costs, then don't break your head on whether to buy a diesel or a petrol. go ahead and buy a petrol. but if you want just fuel efficiency then buy a diesel. because even if you do sacrifice on performance and NVH, you do save some money(that is what you need). if you are thinking whether or not to buy an accent crdi over the accent petrol, do buy the crdi version. it offers all the qualities of a petrol while maintaining the qualities of a diesel. same with the elantra. in the issue of octavias, the rs is extremely good, if you demand perfornmance to the peak, then do get it. if you want fuel efficiency, then the TDI. but the TDI does perform well too. in the mercs, go ahead and buy the diesel, especially if e class. but even the petrol is very good.so that is my review.

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