Considerations

• The performance of a diesel engine depends on the quantity and quality of the fuel injected. The key to performance is the fuel injection system. The engine is capable of producing high turning moment, or torque, even at low revolutions per minute.
  
  

Efficiency

• Diesel engines equipped with the latest fuel injectors have become more environmentally efficient and cleaner over the years. Weight-for-weight, modern diesel engines can extract more energy from fuel than gasoline engines.
  
  

Cetane Rating

• Diesel engines require fuel with a high cetane rating -- a measure of ignition quality -- and this can be a problem because diesel is typically refined from the crude oil left after the refining of high-octane gasoline. A cetane rating below 40 decreases the performance of the engine and increases atmospheric emissions.