Petrol vs Diesel

staylo said:
The wife has a Puma, fun little car. The gearing's not really set up for motorway cruising though, so not sure if you'll see significant gains on economy with the longer run.

PS remember that the timing belt has to be replaced every 5 years / 80K on the Puma. Not a lot of value left if you lose the engine!
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Timing belt done 2 years ago, will do again next year if I decide to keep. Waterpump done 2 months ago.. :)
 
I recently sat down and did all of the maths, I'm currently doing 18,500 miles a year for business plus personal miles.

I'm getting an average of 39.75mpg and I've worked out that a diesel would be £40 a month cheaper, and of course after factoring in the cost of changing, it would probably be less than that.

So its not the saving you might expect, I'm happy to pay the difference to steer clear of the diseasel.
 
Well on a purely personal basis I thought I would chip in. Not taking into account money, the experience of driving a decent petrol engine compared to a diesel is a world apart. I recently traded in my Mondeo ST Tdci of 5 years for a Octavia VRS and I can not believe the difference.

How smooth the VRS feels, the power available all through the range and the biggest and most welcome difference.... the noise. I never thought I would care about the sound the diesel makes but after not listening to the tractor soundtrack for the first time in 8 years I am in a world of bliss.
 
As I said in another thread, when you sit in a diesel car, you feel like your at work.

Petrol engines feel more exciting than diesel ones, fact :)
 
Furbs said:
... the power available all through the range and the biggest and most welcome difference.... the noise. I never thought I would care about the sound the diesel makes but after not listening to the tractor soundtrack for the first time in 8 years I am in a world of bliss.
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I can quite understand that a diesel is (still) much noisier than a petrol engined car. However, I am surprised by your comments about power being available throughout the rev range - presumably as opposed to a narrow power band?

I take it that this results in a smoother, less frantic drive. Is that just down to the difference between petrol and diesel or is it due to a difference between the Mondeo ST and the Octavia VRS?
 
stockhausen said:
I can quite understand that a diesel is (still) much noisier than a petrol engined car. However, I am surprised by your comments about power being available throughout the rev range - presumably as opposed to a narrow power band?

I take it that this results in a smoother, less frantic drive. Is that just down to the difference between petrol and diesel or is it due to a difference between the Mondeo ST and the Octavia VRS?
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Probably a bit of both tbh
 
Furbs said:
Probably a bit of both tbh
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Interesting . . .

I have just been looking at figures for two basic Skoda Octavias:
1.4 TSI 122PS (Petrol) - £14.6k - 122 BHP, 200 Nm - Max speed = 125 - 0 to 62 = 9.8 - Combined MPG = 44.8
2.0 TDI CR 140PS (Diesel) - £18.6k - 140 BHP, 280 Nm - Max speed = 131 - 0 to 62 = 9.6 - Combined MPG = 57.6
​

The figures for a higher spec (e.g. 1.8L, 152BHP) petrol car really highlight how much more sluggish a diesel is. I am surprised :eek:
 
stockhausen said:
The figures for a higher spec (e.g. 1.8L, 152BHP) petrol car really highlight how much more sluggish a diesel is. I am surprised :eek:
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So am I. I switched from a Focus 1.8 Zetec petrol ('99 T) to a 1.8 TDCi Zetec (08) last year. Although the switch to diesel was mainly due to my annual milage going up from ~10K to ~25K, I am very pleased with the performance in general compared to the petrol.

It might be a bit slower away from the lights/0-60, but in the real world where you have to slip past a lorry quickly and accelerate from 40-60 etc the diesel is without doubt the better performer.

Of course some of that may be down to it being a newer car & engine but even so it has me converted.
 
The difference in price between selling the puma and buying a car could buy you a whole load of petrol... It could take years to pay off the extra 10mpg.

If you're wanting a newer car then fair enough.

I just bought a 175bhp diesel for economy .... (fail). It isn't going to pay for itself anytime soon. My golf 1991 gti despite doing 30-35 mpg never really costs much in terms of fixing. But it's of an age where it doesn't want to be my daily. that's why I bought the alfa.
 
Totally agree. I had a numerous 1.6 petrol focus, a 56 plate,2 x 57plates and 2x 58 plates (company cars) and it cost a small fortune in petrol, was lucky to do 300 miles to a tank, didn't make a difference how you drove them.
Then we got diesels, and the difference in cost was massive, easily 50mpg and 550 miles and more to a tank.
Better to drive too, instead of having to ring the petrols neck to get going,everyone in the company agrees.
 
roadend1981 said:
Totally agree. I had a numerous 1.6 petrol focus, a 56 plate,2 x 57plates and 2x 58 plates (company cars) and it cost a small fortune in petrol, was lucky to do 300 miles to a tank, didn't make a difference how you drove them.
Then we got diesels, and the difference in cost was massive, easily 50mpg and 550 miles and more to a tank.
Better to drive too, instead of having to ring the petrols neck to get going,everyone in the company agrees.
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So you were getting under 30mpg from 1.6 petrol Focus?
 
stockhausen said:
I can quite understand that a diesel is (still) much noisier than a petrol engined car. However, I am surprised by your comments about power being available throughout the rev range - presumably as opposed to a narrow power band?

I take it that this results in a smoother, less frantic drive. Is that just down to the difference between petrol and diesel or is it due to a difference between the Mondeo ST and the Octavia VRS?
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Diesels have both a narrow power band and but overall rev range is also restricted, so in a way the power is available throughout the rev range.

Jono said:
It's 25 miles each way? 50 total = 250/week... that's about 13k per year commuiting, plus whatever you do at weekends/if you go...

I'd say (thinking about it again... ) it's borderline... definitely wait.
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Assuming 4 weeks holiday, plus other statuary days off (Christmas, Easter etc) then at most he will only be commuting for 47 weeks a year, so < 12K a year.
 
Furbs said:
Well on a purely personal basis I thought I would chip in. Not taking into account money, the experience of driving a decent petrol engine compared to a diesel is a world apart. I recently traded in my Mondeo ST Tdci of 5 years for a Octavia VRS and I can not believe the difference.

How smooth the VRS feels, the power available all through the range and the biggest and most welcome difference.... the noise. I never thought I would care about the sound the diesel makes but after not listening to the tractor soundtrack for the first time in 8 years I am in a world of bliss.
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Unless your car is broken, a diesel should have power all the way through the rev range. :p
 
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