Diesel or gasoline?

Atty. Jerome G. Neri
The Scrutineer

I OFTEN get asked by people, which would I prefer for a personal daily driver car, diesel or gasoline? Before the advent of the common rail direct injection turbo diesel engines, the answer would be a no brainer, I’d always opt for gasoline. Diesel engines then were really slow, noisy and had a bad-smelling exhaust. The modern diesel engine has eliminated the slow, the bad smell and a huge part of the noise.

My first experience with having a diesel motor vehicle was in the late 90s where the family had purchased a Toyota Hilux 4X4. It is a utility vehicle that is uncomfortable and slow. It was so slow that we even upgraded the engine by adding a turbocharger kit. Nevertheless, it was my last choice. I would not use it unless there was no other car in the garage that I could use.

My next experience with a diesel was when the Family bought a Kia Carens way back in 2007. This was different from my diesel experience 10 years before. I found the Carens quick, in fact quicker than a lot of cars available on the market, and it had a 2.0 liter turbo diesel CRDI engine. Apart from being quick it was economical. I was so impressed with the performance of the Carens that when the new model came out, we replaced the old one. The family was a repeat buyer of a Kia!

Ninety percent of the time, the Carens was driven by the family driver. However, it usually is the easiest car to bring out at night as it is the car that ends up being most conveniently parked to drive out of the house. So I also had my fair share of using the Carens. It was a diesel car that I really did not mind using. While this was not my last choice, it was neither my first choice, unlike the Hilux of the past, which I would only drive if I had no other choice.

Apart from the Kia, I also have had the privilege to test drive a number of diesel luxury cars. I’ve had my hands on a Mercedes GLA, BMW X series and the Volkswagen Touareg, to name a few. All these cars impressed. They were comfortable and had so much power. You don’t hear much of the diesel noise, and all you get is that hint of diesel vibration. It seemed to me like the local dealers were pushing the diesel variants more than their gasoline counterparts with the main selling point that the diesel vehicles were just as powerful but a lot more economical than their gasoline counterparts.

Today’s modern diesel engines have come a long way, such that I had to give serious thought as to which I would prefer, a diesel or a gasoline car. Well, if we are talking about a car like a sedan or even an SUV, I would still go for the gasoline variant. I would only go for diesel when it comes to utility vehicles, such as a pickup truck.

While diesel engines have come a long way and is much closer to gasoline engines, it is still not the same. When a gasoline engine is at idle, it feels like the engine is off. It is that smooth. With diesel, the vibration is always there. There is still a difference in the quietness of the cabin between a diesel car and a gasoline car of the same make and model.

The biggest attraction to the diesel engine is that it is more fuel efficient and diesel fuel in our country is cheaper than gasoline. I am of the opinion that you do not end up saving by having a diesel car for personal use because the diesel variant of a car is more expensive that the gasoline variant, and repairing a diesel engine costs significantly more that repairing a gasoline engine.

It is still gasoline for me.