system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How is diesel better than regular gasoline?
gpt
The main benefit and detriment of diesel, pollution aside, is that it is combusted using compression not a spark, meaning it burns more evenly and gives more consistent power. This translates to better hauling ability. For example a diesel truck will get roughly the same gas mileage hauling a 20,000 lb load as not hauling anything, whereas a gasoline engine hauling the same load (if it could) would reduce in gas mileage by a large factor, say a truck that normally gets 15mpg unloaded will get 6mpg hauling a 10,000 lb camper. The detriment part is that even unloaded, the diesel still gets about the same mileage, which usually isn't as good if its geared towards hauling/towing.