Quote:
Originally Posted by ubrben
More air = more fuel burnt = more power...
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Some small remarks:
1) Knighty calculated that the difference in mass air flow between a diesel engine (1307 Kg/h) and a NA petrol engine (1173 kg/h) is 11%.
However, I was thought that (road) diesel engines typically run with
lambda > 1.1. So diesel engines need at least 10% air to burn their fuel in order to avoid smoke.
2) Mike talks about the huge peak torque of diesel engines, at the flywheel. However, as I explained
earlier, the torque number at the wheels is more relevant. The difference in final gear ratio between a NA petrol engine (max 10000+ rpm) and a diesel engine (max 5000 rpm) is at least a factor 2.
3) The smaller fuel tank is said to equate in 1 lap less per stint. However, because the engine power is reduced by 7%, the diesel engines will also consume 7% less fuel. So in practice, Audi and Peugeot might still be able to do the same number of laps on a full tank.