Performance Diesels

As others have said, the modern diesels may be fast but they still run out of puff very early in comparison to a petrol, they don't sound as good and their heavy weight affects both throttle response and handling in comparison to the petrol. The throttle response must be the most annoying aspect for me though. Floor a diesel's throttle at idle for just half a second and all you will get is a lazy blip of the revs after a small delay. Do the same to a petrol engine and its instantly half way to the limiter!

I just don't really like diesels for sporty driving. Great in town when you want to surge past someone efforltessly -same as automatic gearboxes. But for pleasure, no thanks!

Plus I don't trust modern diesels as far as I could drag one. Old ones were basic simple machinery that lasted and lasted. New ones are so advanced and have so many electronics and other bits to go wrong - turbos, injectors, high pressure pumps and other stuff which is simply not found on your average petrol car. OM615 > OM611
 
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Meh, my car is an old derv, and while the torque is nice, if I had the cash to splash on something half decent (or even just a 2nd car for weekend fun), I'd go for a petrol. Probably something like a caterham of elise.

I wonder if anyone has bothered making a derv kit car tho? Probably not, I doubt there's much need for a load of tourqe if youve got a light chassis
 
I've never really been in to Diesels and my Car history has generally been things like Nissan 350z, BMW M-Roadster, Golf GTi MK5, RX8 etc.

Having been in one or two performance diesels recently, they don't half shift these days and it sort of makes you think long and hard as to whether they are now a viable option to enthusiasts.

When you look at LeMan's for instance, diesel technology is now streets ahead of Petrol. So much so that they are having to continually change the regulations to try and level the playing field.

There are certain things I still miss when in a Diesel, namely the engine note. Something like the 350z just sounds so sweet and the sound alone is enough to sway you towards petrol. Likewise a mate of mine has a Lotus Exige and the engine note on that thing puts goose bumps on the back of your neck.

There is no denying though that for sheer performance, Diesel is deffo getting closer (if not surpassing) Petrol engined cars...

Think I will always be a petrol head though but thats just me...
 
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nate247 said:
There is no denying though that for sheer performance, Diesel is deffo getting closer (if not surpassing) Petrol engined cars...
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Depends what you are comparing though, like for like VAGs 2.0 TDI is what, 170bhp at most? Compare that to Renaults 2.0 NA lump that is now pushing 200bhp.
 
Well I'm enjoying my diesel, awesome RWD balance, thoroughly rewarding to drive and in a totally different league to every other diesel I've come across.

I have to say though - most diesels are dross.
 
merlin said:
Well I'm enjoying my diesel, awesome RWD balance, thoroughly rewarding to drive and in a totally different league to every other diesel I've come across.

I have to say though - most diesels are dross.
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Very much my experience on my 330d too. As good on the lanes as it was on the motorway. As an added bonus, it was cheaper to run than the 'i' counterpart too - covering 43,000 (97,000 to 140,000) miles with nothing breaking.

I'll be getting an e46 M3 next, so will see if my opinion changes.
 
I'd rather have the 335i but only because of personal preference - neither are poor engines, both are very good.

Some diesels are a bit naff - the BMW ones are not. Which you chose is therefore down to personal preference/economy considerations/whatever. Whereas in something like a Golf it has to be a GTI because 4 pot diesels are tedious.
 
[TW]Fox;14413691 said:
I'd rather have the 335i but only because of personal preference - neither are poor engines, both are very good.

Some diesels are a bit naff - the BMW ones are not. Which you chose is therefore down to personal preference/economy considerations/whatever. Whereas in something like a Golf it has to be a GTI because 4 pot diesels are tedious.
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So the 123D? that's a BMW, so it's good, but it's a 4 pot so it's tedious ;)

I'd say any sequential twin turbo diesel is very good, but the single turbo units, 4 or 6 pots tend to have the less desirable characteristics..
 
Demon said:
So the 123D? that's a BMW, so it's good, but it's a 4 pot so it's tedious ;)

I'd say any sequential twin turbo diesel is very good, but the single turbo units, 4 or 6 pots tend to have the less desirable characteristics..
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What are the less desirable characteristics? The 6 pots at least (maybe the 4 pots too) are variable vane.
 
NickXX said:
What are the less desirable characteristics? The 6 pots at least (maybe the 4 pots too) are variable vane.
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He's probably thinking about the boost threshold, which can be annoying even on a 6 cylinder diesel. Sure, you can drive around it, but it'll still catch you out at times. The 335d all but eliminates this.
 
My other half owns an Toyota Auris SR180 and mid range I would say its not far off most hot hatches "overtaking speeds" but 0-60 times are well below that of a golf gti or type r, it does over 40mpg and is a nice lazy car to drive as it has loads of tourqe and just eats up the miles. I myself just like the sound of a petrol engine better.
 
[TW]Fox;14413721 said:
He's probably thinking about the boost threshold, which can be annoying even on a 6 cylinder diesel. Sure, you can drive around it, but it'll still catch you out at times. The 335d all but eliminates this.
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That's exactly what I meant!! :)

Drive a 'crappy' Saab 1.9TTid or a better 123D, then pop into a 330/530D and you instantly notive the sequential turbo providing usable, linear power right from 1000RPM, and when driving hard, throttling off/on with the lag being almost non-existant..

The major downside for me with single turbo diesels, is that they don't respond quickly coming on-off-on throttle with the power not coming in until 2000+ RPM..
 
mr griffin said:
My other half owns an Toyota Auris SR180 and mid range I would say its not far off most hot hatches "overtaking speeds"
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Only after you've filled the hot hatches gearbox with concrete so the driver can't use it to deliver overtaking performance the Auris can only dream of.
 
Only after you've filled the hot hatches gearbox with concrete so the driver can't use it to deliver overtaking performance the Auris can only dream of.
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well I have driven a quite a few hot hatches in my time so I didn't just make it up, my mate still has a type r and mid range there is almost nothing between them. 0 -60 it pees all over the Auris as said before.
 
Apples and oranges though, Type Rs aren't designed for mid-range, you're supposed to use the gear box
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I know that, my preference is a sporty petrol over a warm hatch diesel too, The thread was about performance diesels ,not petrol motors are better than diesel and I was just saying now days they are not too bad. also driven the golf tdi 170bhp that was not bad either, the pick of the bunch of performance diesels is supposed to be the bmw 123d twin turbo that really can rival most hot hatches in all departments and maintain great mpg.
 
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