Yes! Diesel has come quite a long way from the smoky clunkers of the 90s.
I used to drive a straight-6 twin-turbo diesel BMW SUV.
Full size, 5,500lbs. All wheel drive.
My sister-in-law has the same exact model, similar miles, same transmission, only hers is the gas version.
Both accelerate the same to 60.
I could get 23 mpg around town in my diesel.
When I drove hers, best I could get was 14 mpg around town.
The newer ones that still smoke are tuned improperly. Too much fuel with not enough boost = black smoke.
Today's turbo technology means you ONLy get that if you're adding too much fuel/not enough air; usually with a (poor) tune.
The main reason diesel development got skewed was because, although Europe is the king of diesel, decades ago they decided that CO2 was the Bogey-Man that would bring the end of the world (laughable but whatever). On the other hand, our guys studied what caused the smog in places like LA and found out that it was main NOx (which is effectively unburned fuel). So the Euro motors that were developed for their market don't fair well here because our tests are weighted for different particulates.
The problem with diesel vs gasoline is diesel leaves almost no CO2 after combustion but it's harder to control the burn of the mixture so it emits FAR higher NOx. Since they are not able to run catalytic converters, it makes cleaning that up much more difficult. That's what all the DEF BS is about even though modern diesel engines burn far cleaner thanks to better designs and more accurate on-board computers.
It's a tough issue because no one wants the 70s smog haze but there has to be a middle ground somewhere. Recently, all the "emissions" standards have been used to attempt to force EV uptake (which is failing miserably here atm).
One other externality of running the DPF / regen cycles is the fact that the particulate matter gets smaller, and actually can cause more respiratory distress as it traverses deeper into the lungs. Less NOx, more lung damage.
Make diesel trucks great again. No more DEF and restrictions that cycle exhaust back in the engine creating catastrophic engine failures.
Yes! Diesel has come quite a long way from the smoky clunkers of the 90s.
I used to drive a straight-6 twin-turbo diesel BMW SUV. Full size, 5,500lbs. All wheel drive.
My sister-in-law has the same exact model, similar miles, same transmission, only hers is the gas version.
Both accelerate the same to 60.
I could get 23 mpg around town in my diesel.
When I drove hers, best I could get was 14 mpg around town.
The newer ones that still smoke are tuned improperly. Too much fuel with not enough boost = black smoke.
Today's turbo technology means you ONLy get that if you're adding too much fuel/not enough air; usually with a (poor) tune.
https://www.liquidpiston.com/
I think lots of the new ones that smoke have been tuned specificially to smoke. The diesel community calls it "rolling coal."
The main reason diesel development got skewed was because, although Europe is the king of diesel, decades ago they decided that CO2 was the Bogey-Man that would bring the end of the world (laughable but whatever). On the other hand, our guys studied what caused the smog in places like LA and found out that it was main NOx (which is effectively unburned fuel). So the Euro motors that were developed for their market don't fair well here because our tests are weighted for different particulates.
The problem with diesel vs gasoline is diesel leaves almost no CO2 after combustion but it's harder to control the burn of the mixture so it emits FAR higher NOx. Since they are not able to run catalytic converters, it makes cleaning that up much more difficult. That's what all the DEF BS is about even though modern diesel engines burn far cleaner thanks to better designs and more accurate on-board computers.
It's a tough issue because no one wants the 70s smog haze but there has to be a middle ground somewhere. Recently, all the "emissions" standards have been used to attempt to force EV uptake (which is failing miserably here atm).
One other externality of running the DPF / regen cycles is the fact that the particulate matter gets smaller, and actually can cause more respiratory distress as it traverses deeper into the lungs. Less NOx, more lung damage.
Caterpillar on road engines were almost indestructible until the EPA got a hold of them. Made them go strictly off road or for gen sets.
A good Fren of mine in logistics used to say " If it's yellow under the hood you're good. "
Tractors and skid loaders too. Insane that any engine over 25HP has to have costly DPF emissions garbage and DEF over 75HP.