The new DP's may run on gasoline

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Is there a huge difference between the electric fuel injection used in most current gasoline engines and the mechanical injection pumps used in a diesel?
I would guess that with the new computer controlled engines that there are more similarities than there are differences.

Yes and no. It really depends on the engine. Up until very recently, a gas fuel injected engine sprayed the fuel at the top of the intake valve, which cooled the valve, heated the gas and mixed with air in preparation to go into the cylinder. Some modern gas engines have gone to direct injection, meaning fuel is sprayed directly into the cylinder. The purpose of this is so the fuel can be timed to prevent detonation. They don't put the fuel in till the last (micro)second, so the fuel does not have time to heat up and ignite prematurely. This allows for higher compression ratios, which helps efficiency. Its only the latest generation of designs that use this feature. Obviously to do direct injection requires much higher pressure and a much better injector. In contrast diesel has been direct injection with timed injectors since the 80s.

You used the word "most" when referring to gas engines. Don't think we are quite up to most using direct injection yet.