Jump to content

Petrol V Diesel


Tonka

Recommended Posts

The thing is it only does ,according to the on board trip thing 33 mpg ,it's coming up for 4 years old and I'm thinking of changing it, but with petrol at 10 p a litre cheaper and 530i's and A6 3.2 V6 Quattro's around for 25% less than a derv and still capable of 30 odd mpg is it time I went back to petrol- wouldn't consider a Lexus hybrid thing because they've got no boot.

 

That's the other thing that confuses me about Diesels.

I've heard from various 'pro Diesel' sources that you get 60-70mpg no bother from things like Lagunas/Octavias/Mondeos etc, yet on the other hand I've heard people say that in an average 2 litre turdoweasel, 40-45mpg is often nearer the mark. Which is it?

I know it depends on the driving style, I've seen anywhere between 30 and 60mpg from the same car, but if the fuel economy advantage is only 10MPG then why bother? Does it depend on the Diesel, or is it very dependent on the way you drive it, or what?

The only recent experience I've had with a modern rattler was a Megane, which I got just over 50mpg from, which isn't too bad, but I know I'd have got 40-ish from a 1.4 petrol one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We bought a new Sandero 1.5 dci, and we have studied the fuel consumption obsessively.  driving it economically-60mph on cruise control-it will do a genuine 78-80 mpg, in the higher range you start noticing how much difference gradients/wind resistance makes. we rarely drive it like that.

Just driving it normally, an average of 60-62 is nearer the mark. given the price differential between diesel and petrol, I'm not convinced its any cheaper to run than the tce petrol version that does 50mpg. 

Various people in work drive modern diesels, and without fail they won't do what the manufacturers claim. 

 

Down to personal choice, I reckon, but having the ability to run on veg with an older dizzler is always good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reckon it's mostly down to driving style. When I first got my Mondeo tdci, it had been a while since i had a diesel and i was all giddy about trying to achieve mega mpg, so i drove everywhere with a feather foot and usually achieved high 50 to low 60's,

Eventually though the novelty wore out and I started to appreciate being able to drive however I want without worrying too much about using £££'s worth of fuel. Now I rarely see north of 45mpg on my commute. But for me, that's the luxury of diesel, it may not be that pleasant to drive, but had I driven my last petrol engined car like I drive the mondy, i'd have been lucky to achieve low 25mpg. 

 

That said I suppose that with fuel prices how they are in the UK and with all the reliability issues common with modern diesels, the financial advantage is indeed debatable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For an every day car I genuinely prefer Diesels. If (when) I can have a second car solely for fun I would still have a petrol though either laughably slow or very powerful - I don't mind really.

 

My daily is a 54 reg c-max 2.0 tdci and I really enjoy driving it for work. Earlier this I bought a 2.0 mk1 focus and was really looking forward to having a petrol. I did enjoy revving engine into the limiter at nearly 7000rpm a few times, but that was the only way it felt even slightly quick. 33-37 mpg was probably ok (£280 road tax was not)but the 44-48 from the diesel is even better and achieved with less gear changes and I imagine a higher average speed.

If I had bought a SAAB petrol turbo as planned and managed anything over 30mpg I may have stuck with it longer though. But possibly lost my licence/life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The driving style thing obviously plays a big part ,but I find in my case that the relaxed style of a diesel is preferable to having to rev the nuts off theoretically faster petrol. A few months ago I did a 2 day swap with a mate; his 300bhp V8 pez mine 215bhp V6 diz.

The results surprised me initially I loved the extra power and the fact it seemed to keep revving,getting faster all the time, but when driving it more normally it felt a bit flat and always needed to kick down a couple of gears whenever you needed to overtake. The mpg was around 27 for the 2 days and that included a couple of exploratory tests of the speed limiter(purely scientific research)

Within minutes of my mate driving off I got a txt saying 'What a fucking slug!' But afterwards he admitted he liked the smoothness and torque if not the smell when filling up or the fact the cruise control wouldn't keep 130 up hills,I hope he was joking. When he dropped it off the average was down to ......27mpg.

All this proves is that torque 376lb ft vs 288lb ft is more relevant to everyday driving ,unless you're completely minted and mental.

Incidentally he's just swapped his 06 540 for an 11 535d and I'm thinking about changing to a 07/08 manual 530i,don't know what this proves,other than I should have listened more at school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would seem that diesel may have had it's day. I've just read somewhere that the cost and complications of getting a diesel engine to comply with future EU regs will cripple them. There is also the refinery costs of diesel, which are expected to rise dramatically in the near future. Buy an Indenor powered something now! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It would seem that diesel may have had it's day. I've just read somewhere that the cost and complications of getting a diesel engine to comply with future EU regs will cripple them. There is also the refinery costs of diesel, which are expected to rise dramatically in the near future. Buy an Indenor powered something now! 

frazerdm1112_228x374.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Win-win-win situation for me, as I get to wake up my missus and the neighbours, then get to smoke the car park out. It'll be far worse when the real cold weather kicks in too, so there's another thing to look forward to.

 

Why worry about refining costs in the UK anyhow? It's piss easy to import fuel from abroad.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to join the minority....

 

Diesel all the way.....every since I was handed the keys to a Pug 305 van with the xud. That was considered a quick van in its day.I then had a 405 with the na/a diesel followed by a Cav 1.7td Izoozoo. I prefer older diesels with all the lug low down rather than the modern stuff which is more revvy. Good progress can be made nice and lazily. Modern petrols seem to need rowing along by the gear lever....my old Cortina with a 2L pinto seemed to pull like a train but a new Mondeo 2L petrol is a proper dead pedal

 

Probably a case of what you are used to I suppose but i would never go back to petrol other than for toys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daily is a 2.0 TDCI Mk4 Mondeo,I love it.

Nice power delivery,powerful and economical for such a large car (estate).

Diesel is cheaper here than petrol in the ROI.

I have family living on the north Norfolk coast and can do the journey from the sothwest of Ireland on 3/4 of a tank.

45-55 mpg is about the norm,and when up to cruising speed on the motorway the engine is silent,it's not even that loud on startup from cold.

 

I also have an old Vauxhall VX2300 FE estate,got sick of the tempemental thirsty petrol engine,

so ripped it out and dropped a 1.8 turbodiesel Sierra engine and five speed box.

So instead of "will it start and give me 20ish mpg". I know it will start and return 45mpg :-D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just got rid of a modernish diesel. On the plus side I was getting 50+mpg but I was also getting pissed off with having to randomly disconnect the MAP sensor to get it to start (embarrassing when I've just finished work and people are staring at me), constantly getting fault lights for a choked up EGR valve (I can now use a fault code reader) and patiently waiting for the DMF to self destruct. I've gone to an old petrol now, easier to diagnose faults & repair plus bags more fun to drive. I only have a short commute to work so fuel efficiency isn't a massive issue.

However I do still run two diesel Land Rovers so I'm going to have to sit on the fence for this one I'm afraid.

My user name is a joke!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got a phone call from the wife yesterday just finished and i'm leaving now,Arrr,there is a warning light just come on the dash,what does it look like i ask? A blow of air she says.

Does it look like a cartoon fart from viz? Yes.Right its the DPF it needs a regen you will need to give it a fast blast down the A1.

Almodernsrshite

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my 607 had (note past tense) a DPF. It wasn't hard to remove.

 

and the 806 had a DMF. That was a bit harder to remove.

Did you need remaps on either of these. There is a whole industry in these now and in some cases I don't think they are needed but "specialists" will still take £300+ for doing it and most customers will think its a bargain as its cheaper than replacement. Although I suspect most car will need ecu work in reality.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the last few days, I was reminded of another disadvantage of the evil DERV : they run much cooler than petrols.

 

This is marvellous from a consumption/efficiency point of view, but you need to drive the damn things halfway across England before the heater produces any kind of heat. Very frustrating and it makes demisting the windscreen a major headache.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the last few days, I was reminded of another disadvantage of the evil DERV : they run much cooler than petrols.

 

This is marvellous from a consumption/efficiency point of view, but you need to drive the damn things halfway across England before the heater produces any kind of heat. Very frustrating and it makes demisting the windscreen a major headache.

 

Is this for modern ones only? Tow of mine (older diesels) have heaters like blast furnaces and they get warm in no time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...