Thomas Tornblom wrote:
Luke Scharf writes:


Steve wrote:

But there are more and more small diesels that run just as fast as
gasoline engines. There's no fundamental limit thats any different
than a gasoline engine, really, but up until now there's not been a
demand for high-RPM diesels.


When I was reading about the Volkswagen TDI engine, I vaguely remember
coming across someone who said that the redline of that engine was set
by the speed which which the burning fuel expanded.


My '01 180 bhp Audi 2.5 tdi V6 has a redline of 4500 rpm.

That's about where the one on the Jetta was -- right around 4500 rpm.
The displacement on the Jetta is only 1.6 liters, though... I wonder
what dimensions are similar to make the smaller engine redline at the
same speed?

When I got to the redline, the engine seemed to politely refuse to go
any faster. Not like the screaming tantrum I'm used to from my
run-of-the-mill gas engines as I open the throttle.

I dig diesels. :-)

-Luke