Do large petrol engines get used anywhere these days outside of muscle
cars and speedboats? I have heard that some east european trucks used
them but I've on idea if thats true. Are there any trucks or buses
manufacturered today that use them (not including LPG conversions) or
any other bits of heavy equipment, or is it diesel all the way?

B2003

"Boltar" yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
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And, as a corollary, when did British lorries and vans switch over from
petrol to diesel? It came as a surprise to me that as recent as the era of
the Transit van and the Land Rover, petrol versions were made.

Was the *usable* diesel engine (ie usable power/torque-to-weight) a
comparatively late development compared with the petrol engine? I believe
some WWII planes (maybe German ones) experimented with using diesel engines.

On 18 Aug, 21:32, "Mortimer" privacy.net> wrote:

They still make V8 petrol landies don't they?

Usable in what vehicles? For large applications such as locomotives
and ships you can make the engine as large as you like to get the
power you need. For cars though weight matters and diesel cars were a
joke until decent turbos and intercoolers came along for them to give
their engines something approaching a decent power output (not to
mention I suppose all the sound deadening required so you don't think
you're driving a massey ferguson). They still haven't solved the
hopelessly low rpm limit though and probably due to the way diesel
engines work, never will.

B2003

Mortimer wrote:

"Boltar" yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
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Apparently. I was surprised that there was ever a market for a
petrol-engined Land Rover (as opposed to Range Rover which is aimed more at
the luxury market), given that Land Rovers were originally utility vehicles
where speed is less important than ruggedness and high torque when towing.

"John Wright" pegasus.f2s.com> wrote in message
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Was the Junkers version of the engine a two-stroke like the Deltic railway
locomotive engine? Is there a technical restriction to having a conventional
inlet valve and exhaust valve per cylinder pair and having four-stroke
operation? Or was it influenced by the more frequent power strokes (one per
crankshaft rotation rather than one per two rotations) at the expense of
efficiency and complete combustion.

Boltar wrote:

Probably doesn't matter though. See SEAT BTCC entry for details. And
they were so potent in WTCC they're rev limited to 4100 rpm to allow the
petrol cars to keep up.

Boltar wrote:

I suspect the diesel became practical in the 1930s for road transport.
Certainly the first rail diesels became used around that time.

As far as trucks go, the famous split between Edwin Foden and his son
Edwin Richard Foden (better known as ERF) came in 1933 - ER Foden saw
the future of trucks in diesel engines, Edwin Foden didn't and wanted to
stick to steam.

The first diesel powered trucks went on the road in 1924, but they were
used in ships and famously in German U boats in WWI.

If I could find them my father brought home and kept (and left to me)
two books on diesels from his time driving trucks for 30 corps in
Normandy in 1944-45.

--
John Wright

"Mortimer" privacy.net> wrote in message
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Mortimer wrote: