Watching Diesel Cars Start In Freezing Temperatures Is Weirdly Satisfying

You begin rooting for the cars, hoping they will not sputter and instead churn itself into life

If you’re the owner of a slightly older diesel car and live in an area where winters are harsh and have frequent temperatures below freezing, then you will definitely relate to the satisfaction obtained when the engine starts. The internet is full of amateur videos of owners recording themselves trying to start their vehicles, and to us many of these videos exude a strange attraction.

If you own a gasoline car, winter’s frozen depths will surely scare you less, as you have no glow plugs or sludgy fuel to worry about. In the case of diesel engines, the fuel itself literally starts turning into sludge at temperatures below -15°C, and even if you have special winter diesel fuel (that’s full of additives specifically designed to keep it from gelling) you may still encounter problems at anything below -30°C.

With all of that in mind, now scroll through the selection of videos we posted below. We’ve literally scoured the internet to find the most entertaining ones we could find – most are from Russia as it has many diesel cars and some of the lowest temperatures on the planet. Do note that in some of the videos some of the cars aren't diesels, but you'll be able to spot them right away as they start very quickly and don't sound like they're being fueled by bearing balls.