Which Exhaust is Cleaner: New Diesel or Gasoline?

Which Exhaust is Cleaner: New Diesel or Gasoline?

Historically, diesel engines were hands down dirtier than gasoline engines.

Not so with today’s cleaner burning diesel engines. Improvements in technology have decreased diesel emissions greatly. In addition, diesel vehicles are equipped with diesel particulate filters which scour the exhaust, sending a clean stream of odorless gas out the tailpipe.

A study by Germany’s TÜV Nord independent vehicle researchers said that Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines also emit at least 10 times more particles than new diesels.

Increased emissions of harmful substances are caused by GDI engines that operate with higher pressure in their cylinders, which produce a large amount of the particles, according to the TÜV Nord researchers.

This study also said the new direct-injection gasoline (GDI) engines emit 1,000 times more particles than their predecessors and 10 times more than modern diesel engines.

So the next time you see a new diesel truck or car driving down the road, you won’t see a dark plume of smoke from the tailpipe.