Today's light-duty, 3/4-ton and higher rated pickup trucks can be equipped with a gasoline or diesel engine. Diesel-powered trucks provide hauling strength and gasoline-powered vehicles have better acceleration.
Diesel vehicles account for about 40 percent of the vehicles in Europe, while diesels make up 1 percent of the new vehicles in the U.S., according to eia.doe.gov.
The diesel's compression ratio is about 17:1 compared with gasoline's 9:1, giving it higher torque for better pulling power, but the transmission and axle ratio also play in towing capacity and the right combination could make the gasoline engine an equal performer, according to trucktrend.com.
Gasoline engines generate more horsepower for superior acceleration and speed, such as General Motors' 340-horsepower, 8.1-liter V-8 gas engine compared with GM's 300-hp 6.6-liter turbodiesel, according to trucktrend.com.
Diesel burns at a higher intensity than gas, therefore making it more fuel efficient of up to 8 mpg more than gasoline engines, according to trucktrend.com.
Diesels use heat, not spark, to ignite the air/fuel mixture, making starting a diesel in cold weather a challenge, according to trucktrend.com.
Diesel-powered trucks are more expensive. For example, the 2009 Chevrolet 2500 equipped with a 6.6-liter diesel costs about $7,200 more than the gasoline 6-liter, according to internetautoguide.com.
