Diesel

hhmm, I'm not sure.

I could have afforded the 5L supercharged - the car was slightly cheaper and the fuel would have been £2K per year more which for a £40K car isn't a huge difference. I did seriously think about changing for the noise and extra power, but the range was the clincher. I can easily do 450 miles between fill-ups in the diesel, whereas the Supercharged is less than half that, which becomes annoying on long journeys. I hate having to pull over for fuel!

It was close, and had the petrol had the same range then I agree I would have preferred that and maybe decided to live with the extra cost, but modern diesels, at least in a well sound proofed car with a good automatic box are very refined.

This.

I too could easily have afforded to run a petrol equivalent. So to say the only reason to get the diesel is a lack of affordability is quite ridiculous to be honest. The extra range in the diesel was certainly one of the factors in my desicion making process.

Moreover, if I won the Euromillions, for example, the one car I'd have for definite would be a diesel. Albeit the LWB diesel hybrid Range Rover, which, as I'd spec it, comes in at North of £120k. That's the only car I'd buy without having to think about it. Granted, probably every other motor I'd buy would be petrol engined though... But then I'm not sure diesel would work in a DBS.
 
I've had one diesel car in my life. A 730d which I kept for about 5 months before I chopped it in for a 750i. I just couldn't live with the noise and vibrations through the steering wheel. I also died a little inside every time I started it up.

I am hoping that electric cars take off enough to enable me to buy one before the supply of decent petrol cars finally dries up.
 
I think my other reason for hating them is the fact that most of the morons you see driving, are driving diesels (even if that is just because most people are driving diesels). The guy who pushes in at the lights? 320d. The guy sat in the middle lane for miles at a time? A3 TDi. Woman doing 40 through a NSL and 40 through a 30 zone? 116d. I never see petrrol cars and rarer still 'enthusiast' petrol cars do knobbish driving buy like i said that could just be because they're rare now.
 
The only issue I have with diesels is the noise some of them make, particularly at idle.

The FSI injectors on VAG brand petrol engines sound just as bad as their diesels, so much so that forums filled up with new Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW owners asking why their new petrol motor sounded like a diesel.


This video shows what they sound like "raw" out of the engine (so nothing to obstruct / baffle their sound at various RPM). Watch to the very end to hear them at just under 1k RPM.

Wasn't there a European City mayor that wanted to ban diesels from her city based on fairly solid pollution grounds (NOX levels), but realised she couldn't as it would basically ban everyone as the EU are so deep in with CO2 emissions that practically nobody drives a petrol?

Paris, I think.
 
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The FSI injectors on VAG brand petrol engines sound just as bad as their diesels, so much so that forums filled up with new Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW owners asking why their new petrol motor sounded like a diesel.


This video shows what they sound like "raw" out of the engine (so nothing to obstruct / baffle their sound at various RPM). Watch to the very end to hear them at just under 1k RPM.



Paris, I think.

My direct injection petrol engine sounds like a sewing machine at idle with the bonnet open but you can't really hear it with it shut. This isn't quite the same as the clattery diesel combustion noise which is very hard to mute :p


As for the thread subject, I don't like diesel engines. Granted, I've not driven any decent BMW 6 pot diesels but every 4 pot diesel I've ever driven has been pretty horrible - noisy, vibrations, and annoying inflexible power delivery (low down grunt my arse, there's sod all below about 2krpm most of the time making it harder to gently roll around town on/and off the throttle at near idle speeds idle sitting in traffic for example, my turbo petrol will pull cleanly from about 1200-1500rpm up to about 6000 before it starts to tail off).

They're popular because of the MPGs, that's it, and people who buy 2.0 TDI Golfs with 140BHP and then go on to describe it as 'rapid' just don't want to admit that they bought it because it's cheaper to fuel.
 
Now i've mostly driven diesels since I past my test 12 years ago. In fact I took my test in a diesel car. For cost reasons I've mainly stuck to them. Lower tax, more mpg, lower insurance too. I currently drive an insignia biturbo cdti mainly driving my family into the city in the mornings and out in the evening. I do like how diesel drive. I have driven and owned petrol's too. Had a 1.6, and 1.8 Focus (first shape). IF I could justify the running cost I would go back to my Focus ST-2. Loved it.

I may have to look at a decent petrol car in the future. I am worried my diesel will be worthless soon if the government change things.

But for my use, I am very happy with my diesel. I would even buy another when this die. Maybe not the 200bhp verison, but another diesel.
 
Ahh, the problem is you all have the wrong sort of diesels! :D

If you have a proper one (Such as in a mid 90's LC80 (4.2TD)) before they spoiled them by sticking computers on them.

Then there is no noise or rattling, no smoke.

Starts first compression every time!. (And I do mean first compression! You do not get to hear the starter, just a sort of "Chew" noise as the first available cylinder is brought up to compression)

All iron head and block damps out most of the HF injection noise.

All one gets is a nice reassuring low rumble like the Purring of a very large Cat!

Driving through town at 25-30 MPH at 1100 rpm is very relaxed and not noisy at all!

Indeed, In keeping with all the large engined vehicles I have owned. Driving "Slowly" is not actually a problem. I could drive all day at 25 in the LC and not feel any need to drive faster. It was just the same when I had 5L V12 Jags. It is only the small engined cars that feel uncomfortable to drive slowly in. Why? well I have my own theory but it is a bit technical.

On longer journeys I cruse at 1900, which gives just above 50MPH and nearly 40MPG (Which is frankly astonishing for a 2500KG permanent 4WD auto! (though Urban mileage is suitably dreadful, not even 20! :( ))

Diesel! Yet another concept ruined by new, improved, technology! :/

As an aside, I have had plenty of fairly exotic motors in the past, (Including an XJ12C), and yet the only one that I would regard as really being a practical "Fanny Magnet" is the Land-cruiser. The Girls absolutely love it, they really do! (I have my own ideas as to why this might be the case, but it would be interesting to see others reasoning too)
 
Diesel! Yet another concept ruined by new, improved, technology! :/

Well not really, only reliability wise - drive-ability wise diesels were insufferable and awful before the advent of modern technology, where do you think the reputation for being slow and noisy came from?!
 
[TW]Fox;28249051 said:
Well not really, only reliability wise - drive-ability wise diesels were insufferable and awful before the advent of modern technology, where do you think the reputation for being slow and noisy came from?!


The main problem was that, in the beginning, The diesel option was always the economy one IE the smallest/least powerful option of the range. As a result the vehicles were always underpowered and had to be driven flat out all the time in order to get anywhere.

(I drove a VWT3 1.6D for many years, so I know of what I speak! I routinely found hills that most other people never knew were there! and even on the level my foot was rarely off the floor (That poor little engine was worked really hard! but I still got over 200,000 miles out of it before the bodywork died))

While VW were the probably first to try to introduce mass market diesel to the motoring public (And Ford did well with the Mk3 escort the 1.8Turbo was the ultimate Q car. As fast as the xr3i and yet still only group 1 for insurance! (At least until the insurance industry woke up and smelt the coffee)) I think the real change came when Citroen introduced the BX range.

(Initially the Diesel was the largest and most powerful option)

Again, as I said earlier. Get a large enough diesel (especially if it is an old one) and all the perceived problems go away. there is no decernable injector knock on the LC (Despite being a direct injection engine)

All you get is a nice low rumble entirely in keeping with a large capacity engine and a bit of discrete turbo whine when pushed hard (Along with the massive wall of Torque! :D )

A large capacity diesel coupled with an auto box is a hard combo to beat. True a large capacity petrol is nice too, but we are talking serious thirsty here for relatively little practical gain
 
Generally speaking my opinion is that petrol is always preferable but diesel engines certainly have their place in the right situations - hence why I have a diesel at the moment.

But what I don't really understand is why we have diesel variants of cars like Corsas, Fiestas and Fiat 500s. I'm sure the diesels are a bit more economical but given the fact diesel is more expensive than petrol, surely the target market for these vehicles isn't the kind of person that'll do 20k+ miles a year. It's always baffled me and the only real reason I can think of is for those people who do just prefer the drive of a diesel. Surely nobody in their right mind is going to want to do 20k miles in a Fiat 500. Hell, I wouldn't even want to do 20 miles in one but that's because I have an irrational hatred of them altogether.
 
I think my other reason for hating them is the fact that most of the morons you see driving, are driving diesels (even if that is just because most people are driving diesels). The guy who pushes in at the lights? 320d. The guy sat in the middle lane for miles at a time? A3 TDi. Woman doing 40 through a NSL and 40 through a 30 zone? 116d. I never see petrrol cars and rarer still 'enthusiast' petrol cars do knobbish driving buy like i said that could just be because they're rare now.

You see diesel, I see typical turd driving a German car
 
Again, as I said earlier. Get a large enough diesel (especially if it is an old one) and all the perceived problems go away. there is no decernable injector knock on the LC (Despite being a direct injection engine)

All you get is a nice low rumble entirely in keeping with a large capacity engine and a bit of discrete turbo whine when pushed hard (Along with the massive wall of Torque! :D )

A large capacity diesel coupled with an auto box is a hard combo to beat. True a large capacity petrol is nice too, but we are talking serious thirsty here for relatively little practical gain

The LC still has horrible fuel system noise because there's just no way you can insulate well, the noise the fuel systems operate at (like most diesels). They still sound "agricultural" when idling. The benefit of the 4.2TD in the LC80 was it was a straight 6, which is a naturally balanced engine, so doesn't have the rocking forces you get from inline 4s or 5s and common v configurations. So that aspect of noise is greatly reduced.
 
How'd you manage to quote me for that :p


My next door neighbour used to have a 4.2TD Land Cruiser. It sounded awesome but I'm sure I could feel my teeth rattling when he started it up :p
 
I don't think you will find a new car without one...

My crappy company car does not have one, at least I think it doesn't. Its the 1.3 EcoTec Astra.

I bought my first diesel (Mazda6) because I was about to start doing 30k miles a year. I could not afford a petrol car that would give me the same range so I opted for a diesel. I bought the car second hand and had the car 2 years and did not have one fault. I had an Accord Type R before so the difference in savings was insane. I only have one now because it is what the company gave me.

I believe that diesels have their place, but unless I was doing an insane amount of mileage a year I would not opt to buy one again.
 
I'd happily pay a bit more for a car to sound decent
That works great for those that are rich enough to have the choice...
My Mrs got an M-reg diesel Mercedes ONLY because it was £500 while anything better was a good £2-3k. I can't even afford a car, myself.

I'm not that fussy over engine sounds as they mostly fade into the background, but her Merc sounds like a tank, which I personally think is great!! :D
 
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