Question

Technician A says that a diesel engine’s higher compression ratio helps it to produce more power and use less fuel. Technician B says that higher compression ratios only help the diesel engine produce more torque. Who is correct?

Answer 1

None of them is 100% correct.

Technician A is correct when he says that the higher compression rate helps the car to use less fuel. A higher compression ratio gives the engine a higher thermal efficiency which in turn translates to higher fuel efficiency but it does not produce more power than a gasoline engine.

Technician B is correct when he says the diesel engine produces more torque, but he also says that it is the only thing that is better with the diesel engine which is wrong because we already know that it also helps on fuel efficiency.