Best/Worst/Current Diesel Engine

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As the title says: which diesel engines have been the best and worst you've driven and what do you have at the moment?


Best - 2.2 'Skyactiv' lump (in new Mazda 3). Really smooth and quiet for a diesel. Quite happy to be pushed to the line as well. Considering it was a new one I drove I was really impressed and I'm keen to try one with some more miles on it in the future.

Worst - 1.6 TDI (VAG, driven in a mk6 Golf). Loud and gutless. What power there was was served up in a big dollop. Especially bad in Bluemotion guise with the gear ratios being too far apart. In fairness though, wasn't miles off the claimed MPG which is something.

Current - 1.5 dCi 106 (2006 Clio III). I really like this engine. Relatively rev happy. Isn't so smooth in the cold weather truth be told but once it has warmed it's great. Not missed a beat in the last 50,000 miles with me and the engine's nearly gone 100,000 miles. I'd get a car with the same engine again for sure. Happily getting between low and high 50s in mpg depending on the time of year. I'm actually considering a Megane Coupe with this engine as my next car as they're to be had cheap. Would have to wait another year for one of the Mazdas and I'm getting itchy feet :p.
 
Agree with the 1.6 vag TDI, its an absolutely terrible engine and I've never understood how anyone can tolerate it.

Best I've personally driven for outright turn of speed and generally feeling is the BMW 35d - though in a way I actually prefer the x30d unit originally seen in the e39 etc, even in its lowest power output. Its somehow more xharacterful (for a diseasel)
 
Worst is what ever is fitted to the Fiat 500L that I drove a few weeks ago.

What a turd.

Edit so it was either of these:

1.3 16V MultiJet II 1248 cc I4 5-speed manual 85 PS (63 kW; 84 hp) @ 3500 rpm 200 N·m (148 lb·ft) @ 1500 rpm 110 g/km
1.6 16V MultiJet II 1598 cc I4 6-speed manual 105 PS (77 kW; 104 hp) @ 3750 rpm 320 N·m (236 lb·ft) @ 1750 rpm 117 g/km

Pretty sure it was the 1.3. Shocking for a van that of that size.
 
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had a 3.0 Turbo XF-S as a loan car for a few days recently and the engine was excellent though I don't have much experience of diesels to compare it against
 
Best would be the BMW N57 in my 5 Series, I generally hate diesel engines but this is one even I can tolerate. It even sounds quite nice and is available with significant amounts of power in the 640d.

Worst would be most 4 pot ones really, just noisy, nasty and generally lumpy power delivery. Particularly bad was the older BMW 2 litre with a manual box
 
Best I've driven is the 4.4 TDV8 in the Range Rovers... It's incredible.

Anything with less than 6 cyl generally sucks although I quite likes the 1.6 HDi e in. 308 hire car I had in Italy.
 
I rate the Honda 2.2 as far as 4cyl go. Not driven any 6cy other than a F10 530d which was very nice.

Edit. average of my 2.2 civic is 52.5mpg over 18k of ownership
 
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I've only driven the Honda 2.2 very briefly in a carpark but was surprised at the easy in which it accelerated. Didn't know much about the engine at the time and was not expecting it.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Best I've driven is the 4.4 TDV8 in the Range Rovers... It's incredible.
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I was going to say exactly the same Jonny. It's an amazing engine, and one where you genuinely wouldn't know that it's a diesel. Thanks to the fancy exhaust it even sounds like a proper V8 when you boot it!

Worst I've driven was the old 2.0 SDI (non turbo diesel) that VAG put in some Golfs back in ~2007. Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggish
 
I quite like the 11 year old 2.0 HDi lump in our family hack Xsara Picasso. It gets ragged from cold every day by the Mrs who has zero mechanical sympathy, offers fairly smooth power delivery with just enough shove to deal with gradients and still returns mid 40s. It's also been extremely reliable but boy is it noisy, embarrassingly so. If I had to live with it everyday I might feel different but fortunately I drive my own petrol car most days.

I've driven some shocking diesel lumps in a Leon, Clio and a Corsa. As they were all pool cars from work they were likely small capacity eco variants. The Corsa was probably the worst but then it was simply a dreadful car in every way.
 
Best: Audi BiTDi.

Worst: Great Wall Steed 2.0-litre diesel. The one I drove would shut off if you closed the throttle quickly, among other faults.

Current: Don't own a diesel.




Better in real life, of course :)
 
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The other good thing about the Audi BiTDi is that its the only engine choice bar the hybrid which will allow you to have a transmission that actually suits the car.
 
Best. BMW 335d engine was my favourite (mine was a 2010). I had mine mapped and so was getting around 330-340 BHP out it (mild tune I admit, but I didn't need more in that car). All that power and speed, and could still easily achieve 45 mpg on a run (I had 50 mpg the day my first daughter was born, but I was driving sooooooo slow, it was like the end of knocked up). But I still averaged 38 mpg over the 16-18k I owned the car, which was fantastic considering.

Worst. 2012 Audi 2.0 TDI 177. Got this in a new B8.5 when they first came out. Thought I may have seen a small improvement in mpg's over the 40 mpg I was getting out my 2009 143. I was wrong. It had enough turn of speed to keep me happy for a 2.0 TDI, but the 35 mpg average was pitiful. I wasn't willing to take the depreciation cost ontop of the extremely poor fuel economy, so got rid within 5k miles. Said I would NEVER buy a new diesel Audi again. As tempted as the Bi-Turbo mentioned above would be, if they cant get the 2.0 TDI to work right, then I doubt the Bi-Turbo would be any better. Sure, fleet enough, but not in the same area, mpg wise, as the same power BMW Bi-Turbo version. For me, I just couldn't bring myself to buy one (although I was close before getting the 530d).

Current. I have my current model 530d. With 258 BHP and that sport auto ZF gearbox, it really is sublime by diesel standards. I average around 41 mpg in it since purchase, after around 13k with it. I expect the engine is basically run in now, and will consistently see this number, if not better. It's surprisingly not to shabby, compared to the 335d, but I think a LOT of that is to do with the gearbox, despite the 335d's 'box being not bad.

I honestly cannot think of a better "all round" car than this. Sure, other cars may do individual things better, but as an overall package, I feel I made the right choice. The 535d would have been nice, no doubt, but the extra few mpg's help, and it doesn't feel too slow for it.

I also have an ageing VW Passat with the 1.9 PD130 engine in it, on 155k. Again, it's decent enough at what it does. If I take it easy on a run, I can get close to 60 mpg, but I generally averaged around 48 mpg over the last 10k. It was bought for cheap motoring. And it has succeeded. Other than fuel, costs have been minimal. Did one brake pipe because it needed it, did another because it may have been due soon, but for less than £1000 purchase price, it has served it's purpose well. And isn't the slowest thing on the road. Although I realise this is an old diesel, and you're asking about new ones.
 
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xs2man said:
Worst. 2012 Audi 2.0 TDI 177. Got this in a new B8.5 when they first came out.
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Shame! Can't remember much of that one. The new Ultra diesel are superb though, they do a much more convincing job than the BMW fours. I think the BiTDi I drove averaged around 45mpg on my 110-mile commute, without trying, which was pretty damned good given the performance on offer.
 
[TW]Fox;26899479 said:
Best would be the BMW N57 in my 5 Series, I generally hate diesel engines but this is one even I can tolerate. It even sounds quite nice and is available with significant amounts of power in the 640d.
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Been thinking of the 640d Cab as a poss next car, doing best part of 20k a year at moment so wouldn't be bad to cut costs a bit, obviously it's an awful new buy but at sub 40k for a 2yr old <20k mile car what do you make of them?
 
Worst : Whatever the tractor lump that was in the Nissan Juke we had as a rental in Spain back in June. Sounded like a Singer special mounted in the glove box. Actually, the entire car was awful.
 
1.7 in the old Astra was terrible.

Like the Audi 3.0 TDI (240ps), loads of grunt at any revs, only downside for me is that the power tails off significantly as you approach the redline and the auto box keeps the revs going. So to make the best progress I used manual.

Early days yet but the 2.2 in the Accord I'm about to pick up is great.
 
Worst by a long way was the 1.8t lump in my old mk2 Mondeo, hideous thing!

And the best is the DC16-21 16.3litre V8 fitted to the Scania R730, torque like you wouldn't believe, and a terrific exhaust note to boot!
 
Worst - 2012 Smart Fortwo CDi, all 54bhp of it.

Best - The current skyactiv range, had a mates CX5 for a week and actually quite liked it.

Current - I have never, and will never own a diesel.
 
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