petrol, gas, diesel...! cars...!?

Question

seen all the cars on the road...! what actually differs them in performance, reliability, running cost and maintainance....? also tell me which fuel is best suitable for which terrain...? cities, highways, offroading, taxi...?

Answer 1

Fuel and terrain have nothing to do with each other. It just so happens that many of the heavier cars in India which are good for most terrains (Scorpio/ Innova/ Safari) run on diesel. You also get petrol equivalents and other petrol cars with suitable suspensions for the Indian roads such as the Honda CRV, Mitsubishi Pajero, etc.

Each car is designed for a different kind of person and a different kind of primary use e.g. city use, long distance drives, taxis, etc, and similar secondary uses (large or small families). And then there is a distinction to be made between high speed (usually assoc with power) and careful driving, safety, ride and handling, and overall driving pleasure. Typically the more expensive the car within a category, better is the ride and handling and driving pleasure, as well as safety.

My car picks for your needs, if you are a price conscious buyer
Cities - under 1000km/month - WagonR/ Swift/ Xeta petrol, for small cars, Accent, Fiesta, Aveo for sedans.
Cities - over 1000kmp month - Indica Diesel Turbo/ maruti Estilo for small cars, and Accent CRDi, Indigo/Marina, Fiesta TDCi, for larger cars.
There are many choices in technology and style if you ahve the money

Highways - Scorpio, Safari, Innova
Offroading - Scorpio 4x4, Safari 4x4

Taxi (City) - Indicab diesel, Tavera
Taxi (everywhere else) - Tavera, Innova, Sumo

Answer 2

Availability of fuel is the foremost.

Most petrol cars can be converted to LP or LNG Or CNG. By adjusting timing, and other minor adjustments.

Diesel engines are very different, some can use any fuel with some conversion.

But Diesel fuel must have diesel engine. In older cars in very cold climate Diesel engine would be started using petrol or even ether and petrol, and after few minutes of ruining on petrol(warm up) would be switch over to Diesel fuel. They had 2 tanks small one for petrol and large on for Diesel, driver carried a canister of ether to assist start in -40 degrees range in the Arctica and Antarctica.

Petrol in certain parts of the world (USA) is known as Gas.

Answer 3

I have owned a diesel and normal gasoline fueled car.

Heres the breakdown... My TDI diesel got great mileage, average 44 miles per gallon, great torque, not very good once off the turbo, very reliable, diesels engines wear slower, due to lower temps and the lubricity of the fuel. It was estimated the engine would outlast the body of the car. The fuel currently is more than gasoline, it use to be cheaper.

I currently own a Miata gas car, got rid of the diesel because diesel fuel is 3.09 here and gas is 2.23. Go figure. Anyways... I like the gas cars, because fuel is easier to find, more get up, reliability is good, the engines wear a little faster. BUT I love the Miata, even thought it averages 25 mpg. It runs great, top down is nice and looks sporty :)

Answer 4

Choice of fuel doesn't really have anything to do with terrain. But really you should drive a diesel if you can - they get much better fuel economy than a petrol.

Answer 5

There is some diesel engines that can run on vegetable oil or cooking oil. the thinner the better usually on older diesel engine. Which means its cheaper to drive and more efficient.

Answer 6

thanks for opening the discussion ...well i have used all cats...i prefer diesel over petrol and cng. Cng though cheap has disadvantage of frequent refueling and mental tension all the time you are driving...it changes your way of life (as you are always calculating). Petrol is expensive so the obvious choice is diesel but you can afford then go for petrol.All the cats have almost equal power by and large.