Gasoline, diesel or hybrid – Which is the best way to go? E3 Spark Plugs spells out your options.
Trying to figure out the difference between fuels can seem like an exercise in math and chemistry for many, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, understanding why fuels work differently can actually help in buying a new car, depending on what one wants from a vehicle. Clearly, standard vehicles are served just fine with regular gasoline, but when it comes to hauling and towing, diesel might be the better choice. Here’s how the different fuel options can work for you.
Gasoline
There’s a reason why gasoline is the fuel of choice in sports cars and vehicles designed for speed — it produces reliable horsepower. That said, gasoline isn’t the best producer of engine torque. In fact, a lot of gasoline can be chewed up quickly by a combustion engine spinning revolutions to produce the desired power. Further, gasoline isn’t cheap. Depending on where oil prices are at a given moment, gas costs can range anywhere from $3.50 to $4.50 a gallon.
Diesel
When it comes to towing and hauling, diesel is definitely the choice to have in a combustion engine. It’s no surprise that commercial trucks and vehicles used for hauling are designed to use diesel fuel. It lasts for a long time, puts out a tremendous amount of energy for big bore engines that produce torque and pulling power. Diesel is also very stable regardless of temperature changes. So it can be used in hot climates as well as ice cold ones. Unfortunately, diesel is now just as expensive or more than regular gasoline. It also emits nocuous fumes and the engines that use diesel fuel tend to be fairly loud.
Hybrid Fuels
Depending on which fuel is used, hybrid fuels do have the potential to burn cleaner than conventional fuels. They also rely far less on fossil resources and instead utilize naturally grown resources instead. A good example is ethanol which is produced from corn. Most of the gasoline now sold has some ethanol in it, but the exact amount varies by region. In general, ethanol will not exceed 10% by volume. Gasoline with 10% ethanol content by volume is known as E10.
The use of unblended hybrid fuel does require a specific engine that can handle it. However, hybrid fuels are able to handle large block engines used for hauling heavy loads or torque-producing demands. But hybrid fuels are still limited and the vehicles that run hybrid fuels are also very expensive, which is another barrier to adoption. A buyer can still get a gasoline or diesel engine in the same kind of vehicle for a lot less than a hybrid option.
Choosing the right E3 spark plugs goes a long way in ignition reliability, but it still helps to fully understand the pros and cons of the fuels that your car sparkplugs ignite to ensure the best combustion and burn. With the prices of gas and diesel so close to each other now, the comparison line is blurred for consumers. So do your research to make certain you’re driving the right vehicle and choosing the best fuel.
