Comparison of Diesel and Gasoline Cars Free Essay Example

People always have to choose between buying a petrol or diesel power before purchasing a new car. Many of them consider what is best for their pocket, and a few worry about the environmental impact their new car will have. The choice should be made after comparing the prices, the effects of the type of fuel consumed, the millage and the price of the fuel to be consumed. When consumers spend money buying a new car, they always desire to get the best for their money.

Car sellers come up with amazing adverts, praising each new model promising the consumer of the best combination of efficiency, durability, and power. Consumers make a smarter choice when they consider the option of diesel-burning vehicle than unleaded vehicles. Diesel cars and unleaded cars work differently in terms of fuel consumption; cost of the fuel and the impact they have on the environment (Kurani, Kenneth & Daniel 69). Lexus ES is an unleaded car that can be compared and contrasted with Jaguar XF, a diesel car to show the similarities and differences between the models.

Diesel and unleaded cars have several similarities and differences, based on their engines, performance, the cost of the cars, the price of the fuel and cost of maintenance

Jaguar XF and Lexus ES have engines that share a number of similarities. Diesel and unleaded car’s engines are theoretically similar. Both engines are combustion engines designed to convert chemical energy in fuel to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy moves pistons up and down in cylinders.

They are connected to a crankshaft. The up and down movement of the pistons is called linear motion and creates the rotary motion which turns the wheels forward. Both engines convert fuel into energy through a series of combustions and explosions. Both cars are meant to help in transportation. Customers can choose either car, though the differences make the cars different.

The fuel efficiency in Lexus ES and Jaguar XF is very different. Fuel efficiency is the first thing most consumers look at when buying a new car because of today’s economic hardships. Many of them overlook diesel trucks and cars because petrol prices are lower than diesel prices. However, this is a misconception since diesel offers more efficiency when it comes to fuel mileage. With diesel, Jaguar XF delivers over 30 percent better fuel mileage than Lexus ES (Yadav et al. 59). Diesel motor obtains the extra mileage, which implies that Jaguar XF is more efficient when it comes to fuel efficiency (Schmitz et al. 81). It takes more unleaded petrol to equal the power output of diesel, which makes diesel engines more efficient per gallon of the fuel burned. The efficiency of diesel is also increased by diesel motor’s direct injection which wastes less energy than that wasted in unleaded cars. Therefore, Lexus ES is less efficient in fuel consumption when compared with Jaguar XF.

The price of diesel cars is always higher than that of unleaded cars. Therefore, if Lexus ES and Jaguar XF were of the same model, their costs would be different. However, the cost difference is becoming less with each passing day. Newer diesel vehicles have higher taxes, which almost equal to the price the consumer will save on fuel consumption. The taxes are basically a way of encouraging consumers to avoid diesel cars because of air pollution caused by diesel cars (Kurani, Kenneth & Daniel 69). Cities like London are taking the taxes seriously since their aim is to create a cleaner environment. For those aiming at changing cars, selling a diesel car to get petrol might be a smart move, though they should be ready to pay more in the fuel. The newer models of diesel cars have a special filter called diesel particulate filter (DPF) which is aimed at preventing air pollution. The filters can, however, clog if the vehicle isn’t used on a regular basis on a motorway. Fixing the clogged filter is very expensive. Therefore, if the consumer doesn’t use motorways a lot, the newer versions of diesel cars might not be ideal for them.

The mileage a car can cover is critical when it comes to choosing between diesel and unleaded cars. Diesel cars are favored when it comes to mileage when compared with their petrol counterparts (Yadav et al. 59). Jaguar XF goes for a longer mileage than Lexus ES. Cars are becoming more expensive to buy, so consumers are driving them for longer than they used to in the past. Therefore, consumers need to choose a car that will have higher mileage and reasonable energy consumption. In the past consumers could replace cars after having one thousand miles on the car. However, with the changing economic challenges and production of expensive cars each day, replacing cars is taking longer than it used to in the past. Therefore, consumers are choosing Jaguar XF when compared to Lexus ES.

It is apparent that diesel vehicles are the best to buy when it comes to this since they go as far as four hundred thousand miles on average (Yadav et al. 59).They can also go as far as six hundred thousand miles, which is twice the life of a long-lasting unleaded car. Diesel cars run longer because their engines run at lower rations per minute (RPMs) which causes less stress on the mechanical parts of the car. Additionally, diesel tends to act as a mild lubricant, so the metal parts of the engine have less friction. Petrol engines don’t have that mild lubricant in their engines (Schmitz et al. 92). Moreover, diesel engines run at a higher compression than unleaded engines, which means they are stronger in order to handle compression, which makes them last longer. Thus, Jaguar XF is preferred because of its mileage.

In terms of performance, diesel cars seem to win over their petrol counterparts. Jaguar XF records a better performance than the Lexus ES. In the past five years, diesel has gone from the dirty, smelly truck fuel to better, cost-effective and efficient fuel. Its sales are increasing on the road and show no signs of slowing down. Diesel cars have overtaken petrol models in Europe in the last five years, and the same could happen in the United States (Kurani, Kenneth & Daniel 73). In passenger car sells, diesel cars are preferred when compared to unleaded cars. The issue of pollution doesn’t seem worrying to consumers since diesel engines emit more noxious gases per liter of fuel used. They can, however, emit less in the time since they consume less fuel. Jaguar has confirmed that Jaguar XF emits low levels of the particulates, and that it has the filters they added to their cars.

In terms of maintenance, the servicing of diesel cars, therefore Jaguar XF is a bit expensive. The cost of the service is roughly the same, but the components of diesel engines are expensive, which make maintaining diesel cars more expensive (Yadav et al. 60). Additionally, diesel engines are less reliable than petrol engines. However, the cost of maintenance is coming down since diesel is more refined no. The cleaned diesel is friendlier to the filters, thus reducing the maintenance cost. The lifetime of the engines is not easily distinguishable since diesel has been making changes to its cleanliness, thus affecting the previous data on the same.

The cost of the vehicles is very different. The diesel variant of any car is more expensive when compared to its petrol counterpart, even though they have the same specifications. This is because diesel cars last longer and have a lower depreciation rate when compared to unleaded cars. Their slow depreciation rate makes them a preferred choice for long-distance commuters (Schmitz et al. 103). For short distance commuters, they are preferred because they consume less fuel over time. They also have a high resale value when compared to unleaded cars. Petrol engines might last longer, but the low depreciation rate seems to do the trick. Thus, Jaguar XF is more costly when compared with Lexus ES.

Pollutions are the responsibility of everyone, so consumers have been advised to get less polluting fuel type. Jaguar XF’s engine produces less carbon dioxide when compared to Lexus ES’s engine. However, Jaguar XF produces more particulates that are associated with asthma. The recent diesel models like Jaguar XF are friendlier to the environment since they have filters (Yadav et al. 72). The filters tend to clog over time, and replacing them is costly. Health concerns about the particulates have branded diesel a less environmentally friendly type of fuel. Lexus ES and all petrol cars don’t produce any particulates. When it comes to carbon dioxide, petrol emissions are less friendly.

Jaguar XF’s cost of insurance is higher than that of Lexus ES. Insurance premiums vary depending on the price of the car. The higher the cost of the car the higher the cost of an insurance premium (Kurani, Kenneth & Daniel 82). Therefore, the insurance cost of diesel cars is 10-15% higher than that of petrol cars. This is primarily caused by the high cost of repair associated with diesel cars. Also, it will be more costly to replace a stolen diesel car than a stolen patrol car. No matter the type of fuel, buying the right insurance for the car is as essential as the car itself. Car dealers often offer insurance covers that aren’t possible the best choice. Therefore, it’s important to compare the insurance rates and provisions before buying the car itself.

Conclusion

In summation, the debate about diesel and petrol cars will go on and on because of changes the fuels get every time. Jaguar XF and Lexus ES have several similarities and differences. In the past, people despised diesel cars because of their notorious clattering sound and smoke belching. In the recent past, the cars have undergone so much change that an untrained ear will find it hard to differentiate between the cars. Diesel cars are expensive to buy while fueling them is cheaper. Unleaded cars are cheaper to buy and maintain while fueling them is a little bit more expensive. The difference in prices seems to cancel with the cost of maintenance and fueling. Diesel cars are popular in commercial transportation while petrol cars are popular among sports cars, personal cars, and luxury cars (Yadav et al. 59). The changes in diesel might change the preferences since diesel is less costly. Jaguar XF has more redeeming qualities when compared to Lexus ES.