The Petrol Vs Diesel Debate

When you think about buying a vehicle, one of the very first decisions you have to make is to pick between different fuel based cars. Is a petrol car the best for driving down the highway? Is a diesel car the best for your wallet? Which fuel is the safest for the environment? These are the questions you have to answer to choose between petrol and diesel. With that in mind, we give you some facts that can help decide the petrol vs diesel debate.

What Is Better For Driving – Petrol or Diesel?

In plain monetary terms, the difference between petrol and diesel has reduced to almost insignificance in the past few years. That said, if you look at fuel-based cars in terms of just running costs, then a diesel vehicle will cost you less. But to leverage this benefit, you need to maintain high annual mileages. For that, you will need to use highways very frequently.

The drawback here is that all new diesel cars come with higher tax. So, anything that you save on the fuel you will spend on the tax. Moreover, diesel cars are said to cause more air pollution. In addition, some diesel vehicles have a higher price tag than their petrol equivalent.

All this means that you have to sit down and calculate if what you save in fuel cost offsets the extra expense of buying a diesel car and then running it. Typically, if all your driving is going to be local, then your mileage will be lower. In that case, a petrol-based car is the best bet. This is particularly true if you’re going to buy another car in 5 years.

The Pros Of Diesel And Petrol

There was a time when diesel cars were stuck with a negative impression. They were noisier. They were slower, and they were smellier. That is not the case anymore. Diesel cars have advanced much. Even still, there are some merits to using petrol cars as there are to diesel.

We give you the advantages of both so that you can make a more informed decision on which fuel suits you best.

• Advantages of diesel

A car that runs on diesel is more efficient. It uses about 15 to 20% less fuel, which is why financially it is cheaper. In the past, they also had a higher resale value. However, that might not hold true now.

Diesel gives vehicles low-speed torque, which makes cars great at towing and overtaking.

Lastly, if the diesel car was made before 2017, then its CO2 emissions are lower than a petrol car. It makes them environmentally friendlier and in a lower tax band. Newer diesel cars may not have the same feature.

• Advantages of petrol

Petrol cars are cheaper to buy, and maintaining them is also pocket-friendly. The driving experience of petrol vehicles is much better. They are smoother, less noisy and don’t smell as much. Lastly, while the CO2 emission of petrol is higher, these cars produce less of other harmful emissions. Nitrogen is one example.

We leave you with one final piece of advice. When you’re picking between diesel and petrol cars, you must consider other alternatives too. Electric cars, LPG vehicles, hydrogen fuel cars and hybrids all are available these days. They are more friendly to the environment than petrol and diesel.