Trucks have gasoline and diesel vehicles, so which type of fuel would you choose?

We recommend that you should buy diesel trucks! To begin with, most commercial trucks are diesel vehicles.

Originally, there are some models that only produce diesel, so if you are particular about fuel type, you need to decide as follows. If you choose a gasoline truck, a Toyota Dyna truck, or if you prefer a diesel truck, a Mitsubishi canter truck.

The reason why we recommend diesel is that the diesel engine is strong and has few breaks down. It is quite easy to start on a hill with a heavy load and sufficiently relieve a driver’s stress in driving.

Of course, that’s not all. We would like to introduce the features and mechanism of the diesel engine to those who are not so comfortable.

Features of diesel engine

High thermal efficiency

It can compress more air than a gasoline engine

and uses more air to burn fuel,

so, energy will not be wasted from burning the fuel!

Thermal efficiency is a value that indicates how much of the thermal energy produced by the combustion of fuel was used as a power source of a vehicle.

Generally, the thermal efficiency of a diesel engine is 30-34%, and that of a gasoline engine is 24-28%. By looking at the figure, clearly a diesel engine has a better thermal efficiency!

Excellent torque performance

The power and torque are important numbers when comparing engine performances.

Many people care more about the power figure than torque, but the turning force of the engine means torque, which indicates the power and durability of the engine.

Diesel engine’s durability can be seen when driving on a slope without downshifting during deceleration.

Excellent durability

Depending on how it is used, the larger the truck, the more it can travel over 1 million km. It has better durability and can tolerate a large amount of energy.

In a diesel engine, you can imagine that it has something like a powerful explosion that is able to move a size of large-size truck!

Simple structure

Since the structure is extremely simple, there are few breakdowns and repairs are easy, which is a very great advantage!

Excellent braking performance

There are exhaust brakes and engine brakes.

Exhaust brake: An exhaust brake that is an auxiliary brake specific to diesel engines.

It is an auxiliary brake that can decelerate other than the foot brake, and there is no exhaust brake in the gasoline engine.

Lift the pressure in the cylinder by forcibly preventing exhaust, suppress the movement of the piston.

And it weakens the rotation of the engine and uses it as a brake.

Engine brake: The accelerator is closed, and the engine speed is reduced by the resistance caused by the decrease in the number of rotations of the axle, which is used as a brake.

Mechanism of diesel engine

The fuel for diesel engines is light oil.

When light oil is injected into compressed air, it naturally catches fire and explodes!

Therefore, the following operations 1 to 4 are repeated in the engine, so that the truck moves!

1. Take in the air
2. Compresses
3. Burn fuel with the air
4. Exhausts

※Return to 1 and repeat

An explosion occurs when compressed air and fuel burn, and that pressure is used to power to move the tires. As a result, it operates trucks!

Next, we would like to summarize information for each gasoline/diesel truck according to manufacturers.

Mitsubishi Canter truck

World-class Mitsubishi truck Canter from Japan!

These two models are so popular that people associate Hiace with the commercial vehicle world and Canter with the truck industry.

6th generation FE5・6 type (1993-2002) Canter truck was fully remodeled in November 1993. It had only diesel vehicles, but in June 1997, gasoline engine vehicles were added to Canter Guts. 4G63 was used as the engine. (Canter Guts also discontinued production of gasoline engine vehicles in 2008)

Hino DUTRO Truck

Initially, it was a diesel type only, and the gasoline・LPG engine vehicle was fully remodeled in May 2000 with one year behind.

Toyota Dyna Truck

U300-500 system (2 tons product system) Y200 system (1 ton product system)

Launched on May 10, 1999. From this generation, it will be a model jointly developed with Hino and common to Hino and Dutro.

Initially, it was a diesel type only, and the gasoline・LPG engine model was fully remodeled in May 2000, one year behind schedule.

In June 2001, the 1-ton product system had a full model change. The gasoline engine was changed from 3Y to 1RZ-E. 5L was equipped in the diesel engine.

Isuzu Elf truck

In the past, in addition to more than three types of diesel engines, various engines such as gasoline engines were provided. However, due to compliance with exhaust gas regulations, the LPG car was abolished by a model change to the 6th generation, and only 2 diesel models + CNG and a hybrid, in which has the base engine, became available.