Named after Rudolf Diesel, who invented it in 1893, the diesel engine is often associated with a dirty, smoky exhaust — an admittedly nebulous impression in no small part fueled by the black clouds of ...

Gasoline and diesel engines are very different. The former rely on spark ignition while the latter use compression ignition. Diesel engines typically run at much higher compression ratios than ...

Apart from the very curious, not many people ask why diesel engines, compared to gasoline, run higher compression ratios. The argument is reasonably straightforward and starts with fuel ...