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Hey, Im working on a project and yahoo answers hasn't been much help. Im building a light weight race truck and I was hoping someone in here had heard of a high horse power diesel engine that wasn't heavier then the rest of the truck :)
Coincidentally, I got an e-mail from a friend today about this performance diesel/hybrid sports car with impressive performance numbers:Hey, Im working on a project and yahoo answers hasn't been much help. Im building a light weight race truck and I was hoping someone in here had heard of a high horse power diesel engine that wasn't heavier then the rest of the truck :)
This isn't true. Compression ratios in modern diesel engines are just as high as ever since there is a minimum CR required for compression ignition. Modern diesel engines are lighter in some cases because the engine block is made out of higher strength materials, and turbocharging is more prevalent allowing smaller displacements for a given power output.The latest diesel engines in cars are dropping their compression ratios and becoming more like petrol engines so a mechanic friend was telling me. So I'd say look for the engines with lower compression ratios.
Turbine engines definitely have significantly higher power to weight ratios than piston engines, but it's obviously not realistic to tell this guy to put a diesel turbine in his truck.Additionally, the Abrahams tanks that can do something like 50km/h run on a turbine engine that uses diesel as a fuel. Turbine engines generally have a better power to weight ratio as far as I know.
The Audi Racing TDI engine is a very impressive engine, but where is the OP going to get one? One engine he might look into is the V6 TDI or V10 TDI out of a wrecked VW Touareg, although it might be difficult to find a transmission to mount up to it. The V-10 TDI puts out 309 HP and 553-627 ft-lb of torque depending on production year, pretty healthy for 4.9l of displacement. That's probably the best power to weight ratio from a diesel engine you will be able to find in a production car.Otherwise check out the details of the Audi R10 Prototype GT car and the Peugeot equivalent. Both ought to have high power to weight ratios as they are being raced (and doing well) in the LeMans 24hr and GT races.