Gas vs Diesel Engine Sounds

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Why do gas and diesel engines sound different? From my understanding they’re both internal combustion engines but they have different ways of igniting. Is the ignition process why it sounds different or is it a more mechanical reason? I.e. more moving parts or mufflers etc.

Im talking about normal stock gas and diesel engines. No whistlers, aftermarket cams or exhaust.

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Diesel engines are essentially running off controlled knock; they compress air and when the time is right to start the combustion *then* injects fuel and allows it to auto-ignite. While the timing of this is done to not be dangerous to the engine of course, its principle is still in stark contrast to using a spark plug to handle that.

On top of that, diesel burns differently. It’s not explosive like gas is (in vapor form), and because of the different burn it adds to the differing sound.

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