Probably so the pistons don't strike the head. Remember that things like connecting rods and pistons expand when they get hot.
While not related to diesels in general, I did find a very interesting patent related to squish areas of gas engines, claiming to greatly increase efficiency as well as reduce/eliminate pinging even on low octane. I also found a forum where people have tried this idea, and it seems to work.http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6237579.PN.&OS=PN/6237579&RS=PN/6237579
It was mostly on the benefis of 4 valves as opposed to 2.http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5309879-description.html
Found the missing images :shock: Don't ask me how 'cus if I told yer I'd have ter kill yer :mrgreen: Definitely linked to DI engines only in this case according to pics :!: