The question here is what is the difference Power and Torque?

Physics defines Power as a the rate of work done, hence it is directly related to the speed/maximum speed. Torque is the amount of force applied to rotate something, means amount of force applied to achieve the same speed. Somebody explained it with the act of reading, basically Power is how much you read and Torque is how you feel about it. Driving fun of Diesel cars are substantially higher than petrol one, specially on highways. That is the reason why most of heavy transport vehicles (Trucks, SUVs etc) are fueled by Diesel to carry heavy weight easily with good amount of torque and small city cars are preferred for Petrol fuel to be more cost effective and cleaner. Reliability: Both types of engines are reliable, but Diesel engines are more robust in different atmospheric condition. Maintenance: Maintenance cost of Diesel engines are almost 20-30% higher than of Petrol engines. Performance (Fuel Efficiency): Diesels high octane value is the reason behind better fuel efficiency than petrol, but at the same time Diesel is less environ friendly. Engine noise: Diesel engines are more noisier than petrol one and generate more vibrations too, though there has been a lot technological advancements. The reason is same again higher compression ratio. In higher speed noise difference is negligible. Diesel vs Petrol car economics: If you are a die hard Deisel car lover then definitely you should not look at this part of comparison. But from money point of view you should look at the calculation below. In India Diesel is subsidized hence drive the operating cost of car.

Generally Diesel cars are around 15-20% costlier than their petrol Counter part. For example Swift LDi
(Diesel) is around Rs. 90k expensive than Swift lxi (Petrol)

In normal conditions the expense of a hatchback diesel car is around 2 Rs/km and 3.5 Rs/km for petrol car.
So after driving more than 50,000 kms you will be able to fill the GAP of cost of car, keeping the 90k extra investment in mind.

One more factor which should be considered is the resale value of car. But that should be considered on the
type of car, usage and future plans.

But keep in mind the investment of 1L extra, because you can at-least get 7-9 % interest in this amount even
in Fixed deposit without doing any thing manner. . And if you are taking a loan for car, it works in reversible

Performance Test Results It is found that the CNG fuelled engine produced lower brake power compared to that of gasoline for all engine speed as shown in Figure 3. The power loss is partly explained by the low density of natural gas where gaseous fuel occupies a larger volume per unit energy than a liquid fuel. The natural gas in mixture drawn into the cylinder displaces approximately 10% of oxygen available for combustion. The maximum potential power therefore will reduce by up to 10% compared to a gasoline engine under similar condition. The other main factor that reduces the power output is the low flame speed of natural gas. Which requires a more advance spark timing to achieve a complete combustion within the correct portion of the engine cycle? This can cause a further reduction in the engine power output of 5 10%. When the MBT setting for gas is introduced, it increases the thermal efficiency and loss power up to 10%. The above results comparable to Duan [11] that reported a power loss of 0 to 22% and a lower thermal efficiency when the engine is running on gas for 1.6 litre engines at WOT at engine speed between 1200 and 3000 rpm. Based on the Maxwell and Jones [10] works, the average power and torque loss of CNG compared to gasoline can be seen in Table 5. The experimental results also showed that the CNG produced lower cylinder pressure compared to that of gasoline as shown in Figure 4. The cylinder pressure of gasoline can reach nearly 46.27 bars as the CNG approximately 38.56 bars. The CNG also should adjust its ignition timing for about 7 to 18 degree more advanced than that of gasoline. The reason is that methane has a low flame speed. It needs more time to reach the peak pressure just after TDC. However, the negative effect of advance timing will be an increase of NOx emission.

Performance Performance is comparable to petrol powered vehicle. However some people have reported up to 15% power loss when compared to gasoline. This is because unlike the gasoline system which delivers full power until empty, CNG vehicles typically achieved similar power to gasoline when the CNG tank is under the full pressure of 3000psi, but when pressure drops to 300-400psi you may have difficulty going up hills. When power is required there is always the option of switching back to gasoline at the flick of a switch, so this may not be a real problem. A study on New York City taxis shows maintenance cost is also reduced for CNG vehicles over those running on regular gasoline. The fact that CNG burns cleaner may be a contributing factor to this observation.

Though the CNG tank is larger than regular gasoline tank, you get fewer miles per liter because the CNG tank is considered empty when pressure drops below a low limit. Hence it actually carries less usable fuel per volume of tank. You may experience a mileage loss per full tank of 35% as compared to regular gasoline. Another disadvantage is also you will typically have half the trunk space because of the space taken by the CNG cylinder.

Since the start of 2010, petrol prices have been revised 11 times going up from Rs 44.7 per litre in January 2010 to Rs 63.66 today, a whopping 42% rise. Diesel prices have suffered a change 8 times in the same duration, as prices have risen at a more humane 25%. While this widening gap between the prices of the two fuels has triggered a shift in the buying pattern of cars, a more informed and analysed approach is needed to determine which is an outright better option in the medium to long term. At the same time should one look at CNG and LPG as well? Traditionally berated for being dirty and noisy, diesel has clearly emerged as the fuel of choice for the Indian market. Wherever a car is available in diesel and petrol, it is the former that outsells and the margin is only increasing. Even the Rs 80,000-100,000 higher price tag of a diesel car is no longer a deterrent as consumers reckon it ends up to be a better deal in the end. But does it really make all that sense for everybody to ditch petrol and settle for diesel? Or should one also consider other options like LPG and CNG as well? Diesel: fun, Petrol: power Technological advancement has ensured that diesel today is a clean burning fuel that emits 15% lower carbon dioxide than petrol. Clearly, associating it with the black noxious fumes being exhumed by yesteryears trucks on state highways, would be a complete misnomer.

A diesel engine has a much higher compression ratio as it relies completely on it to combust the fuel unlike petrol engines which require external ignition by way of spark plugs. Because of this basic difference, a diesel engine is heavier by nature designed to generate compression ratios between 12:1 and 25:1. Petrol engines on the other need compression ratios only between 8:1 and 12:1. For the lay consumer behind the wheel though, the difference between a diesel and petrol car is in the twos distinct driveability. If a similar sized diesel and petrol engine is compared, like in the case of Ritz which is powered by a 1.2 litre K series petrol engine and a 1.3 litre multijet DDiS diesel engine, the former develops 85 PS power and 113 Nm torque. The diesel engine on the other hands belts out a lower 75 PS power but a much higher 190 Nm torque. More power means the petrol Ritz is capable of doing much higher speeds while its diesel counterpart will start huffing and puffing at three digit speeds. The petrol variant however boasts of lower torque figures, once again a fall out of lower compression ratio. Torque is the force needed to rotate a wheel and the diesel variants higher torque ensures it is faster off the block and commands better acceleration. In city traffic therefore the diesel is more fun to drive as also in cases when a quick overtaking manoeuvre is necessitated on the highway.

One big factor against use of CNG as an automotive fuel used to be the lack of safety (cases of fire are still reported) and power loss that drastically reduced the pleasure of driving especially when the air conditioner is switched on. Further, in the case of small cars, the 20kg cylinder almost always takes away all of the boot space, a not too favourable prospect.