Revolutionary technology: Nissan's new petrol engine may make diesel obsolete

Atsugi

JAPANESE car maker Nissan Motor Co has come up with a new type of petrol engine it says may make some of today's advanced diesel engines obsolete.

The new engine uses variable compression technology, which Nissan engineers say allows it at any given moment to choose an optimal compression ratio for combustion - a key factor in the trade-off between power and efficiency in all petrol-fuelled engines.