Spec me a car, fed up of fixing 10 year old ones.

iaind · 18 Jul 2019 at 12:57

Doobedoo said:
More importantly their balance of power to fuel economy ratio takes some beating.

140bhp and decent fuel economy? I'd hardly say that takes some beating, pretty much every other 4 cylinder diesel will do the same thing. Plus a lot of petrols will offer more power for not much less fuel economy

Doobedoo · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:09

iaind said:
140bhp and decent fuel economy? I'd hardly say that takes some beating, pretty much every other 4 cylinder diesel will do the same thing. Plus a lot of petrols will offer more power for not much less fuel economy

I’ve had mine remapped so power is ok and I’m very happy with 50+mpg. Is that the same as other similar diesels? Quite possibly that’ll be the benefit of diesels, will it match a Golf R? Not even close but my car is much cheaper to run and to buy so horses for courses.

Back to the original post age and mileage isn’t the only metric to measure reliability. If a car has been mistreated and under serviced then reliability will suffer.

iaind · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:12

Doobedoo said:
I’ve had mine remapped so power is ok and I’m very happy with 50+mpg. Is that the same as other similar diesels? Quite possibly that’ll be the benefit of diesels, will it match a Golf R? Not even close but my car is much cheaper to run so horses for courses.

Back to the original post age and mileage isn’t the only metric to measure reliability. If a car has been mistreated and under serviced then reliability will suffer.

Of course it is, other diesels of a similar vintage remap just as well and will do 50mpg+

Doobedoo · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:15

iaind said:
Of course it is, other diesels of a similar vintage remap just as well and will do 50mpg+

Sorry I’m missing your point. This is not an homage to a particular car or model of engine. They are not the best at anyone thing just a good, solid, all around good car that is of a similar age as the op’s post that was the reason for the mention.

DomBruv · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:48

Armageus said:
But equally you want reliability - you can't have it both ways? (Because buying tired old german rep mobiles has worked well)

As for power 1.9 and 2.0 TDIs are hardly the last word in power?

lol, tuning a TDI gives you much more power than any petrol car around the same price.

weathmatth · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:54

DomBruv said:
lol, tuning a TDI gives you much more power than any petrol car around the same price.

Thats very true, but at the same time tuning a 10 year old diesel with high mileage will again give you reliability issues which is what you wanted to avoid?

DomBruv · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:05

weathmatth said:
Thats very true, but at the same time tuning a 10 year old diesel with high mileage will again give you reliability issues which is what you wanted to avoid?

The one i bought had a brand new turbo fitted, and it was mapped by the best TDI tuning company in EU, I don't hard it hard, just nice to know the power is there when its needed, i mainly got the map for the extra MPG

Iamzod · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:18

Sounds like you have just been buying the wrong cars to me, i've never had a car cost me that much to run, we've currently got a pair of N/A petrols though as we don't do the mileage to warrant a diseasel anymore.

That said i tend to try to steer away from German cars as I seem to see more of them on the hard shoulder than cars from other manufacturers, however on the other hand we have ended up with a Skoda Octavia (2.0 N/A) and apart from it blowing an aircon sensor apart which cost me £20 plus £30 for a regas it's been issue free.

p1RATE · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:42

DomBruv said:
lol, tuning a TDI gives you much more power than any petrol car around the same price.

Hang on... what???

Avalon · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:44

DomBruv said:
The one i bought had a brand new turbo fitted, and it was mapped by the best TDI tuning company in EU, I don't hard it hard, just nice to know the power is there when its needed, i mainly got the map for the extra MPG

Then you were likely misguided in your approach.

Remapping a car will (depending on how it's driven) generally place additional strain on the pump, injectors, turbo, clutch, gearbox, drivetrain, brakes, tyres etc. and shorten the service life which is what you're complaining about. As to the economy point, at 45mpg doing your stated 7K/yr at 127.9/ltr costs you £904.50/yr, at 50mpg that's £814.02, but having run a few of the same cars/engines you have in mapped and standard form doing 30k/yr, your mpg figures seem a little optimistic or the kind of number the trip computer will tell you. By the time you declare your remap to your insurer and factor in the reduced service life, you don't remap for the extra mpg, and certainly not with that sort of annual mileage.

Doobedoo · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:58

Depends how you drive if you mash your foot to the floor you will use more fuel as you have more power, if you drive normally it isn’t unfeasible that you will get better fuel economy due to more efficient burning of the fuel.

So what are the benefits? You will get more Torque and the engine will rev more freely although still not as high as its petrol counterpart. As the ignition timing is advanced you will usually get a more efficient burn and this will mean more economy although most remapped diesel driver will use the extra power on offer and have a heavy right foot.-- Read more at: https://www.torquecars.com/tuning/diesel-remaps.php

wingman · 18 Jul 2019 at 16:41

DomBruv said:
I'm fed up of spending 4k on a car then having to spend a ton of money fixing it.

DomBruv said:
Could not be seen in of those mate there ugly, and I will want some power.

DomBruv said:
just nice to know the power is there when its needed

Here is your problem, conflicting requirements with your desired minimal budget.

As always - cheap, reliable, and fast - choose two.

DomBruv · 18 Jul 2019 at 16:46

Avalon said:
Then you were likely misguided in your approach.

Remapping a car will (depending on how it's driven) generally place additional strain on the pump, injectors, turbo, clutch, gearbox, drivetrain, brakes, tyres etc. and shorten the service life which is what you're complaining about. As to the economy point, at 45mpg doing your stated 7K/yr at 127.9/ltr costs you £904.50/yr, at 50mpg that's £814.02, but having run a few of the same cars/engines you have in mapped and standard form doing 30k/yr, your mpg figures seem a little optimistic or the kind of number the trip computer will tell you. By the time you declare your remap to your insurer and factor in the reduced service life, you don't remap for the extra mpg, and certainly not with that sort of annual mileage.

lol, how many cars have you mapped? I used to work for the highest-ranked diesel tuning company in Europe remapping cars and i can tell you that remapping only puts extra strain on these parts if you hammer them, and even then it's not much. and it's not so much the fuel pump or injectors, its the turbo and clutch.

it does increase MPG, more power is less effort.

Armageus · 18 Jul 2019 at 16:49

Doobedoo said:
They have enough power for our roads unless you want willy waving numbers. More importantly their balance of power to fuel economy ratio takes some beating.

Civic 1.8 Petrol is still 140bhp and will do 40+ mpg all day long, with less to go wrong.
If you want fast(er) and reliable then your budget is going to need to increase.

DomBruv said:
lol, how many cars have you mapped? I used to work for the highest-ranked diesel tuning company in Europe remapping cars and i can tell you that remapping only puts extra strain on these parts if you hammer them, and even then it's not much. and it's not so much the fuel pump or injectors, its the turbo and clutch.

it does increase MPG, more power is less effort.

Keep buying your tired old german diesels then and mapping them - it's obviously working out well so far. :confused:

The issue is these cars are now so cheap they are being picked up and run by people who don't care about getting them serviced on time/correctly, and minor repairs etc are being overlooked.

Whilst it may increase MPG, how many people don't use the extra power?

DomBruv · 18 Jul 2019 at 16:56

Armageus said:
Civic 1.8 Petrol is still 140bhp and will do 40+ mpg all day long, with less to go wrong.
If you want fast(er) and reliable then your budget is going to need to increase.

So what would you reccomend for 6k?

Cookeh · 18 Jul 2019 at 17:03

Cheap German sheds throwing bills at a mileage known for consumable replacement in news shocker.

DomBruv · 18 Jul 2019 at 17:09

Cookeh said:
Cheap German sheds throwing bills at a mileage known for consumable replacement in news shocker.

Cheap german sheds = 2001 Polo 16v

1.9TDI probably best engine ever made, loads have seen 400k+ milage

p1RATE · 18 Jul 2019 at 17:35

DomBruv said:
1.9TDI probably best engine ever made, loads have seen 400k+ milage

I think your time at that diesel tuning company has warped your brain... its a good engine, but its nothing special. I certainly wouldn't buy a car because of it.

Doobedoo · 18 Jul 2019 at 18:07

Armageus said:
Civic 1.8 Petrol is still 140bhp and will do 40+ mpg all day long, with less to go wrong.
If you want fast(er) and reliable then your budget is going to need to increase.

No offense but I wouldnt swap mine for that 1.8 Civic. I'll get better fuel economy and i'd expect mine to be faster as well given it'll have more power and much more torque.

I'm happy with mine it's been rock solid for me. It's only the op that has brought lemons or had issues.

Doobedoo · 18 Jul 2019 at 18:17

p1RATE said:
I think your time at that diesel tuning company has warped your brain... its a good engine, but its nothing special. I certainly wouldn't buy a car because of it.

it would be hard to say it is the 'best' but it's certainly a good engine. shame they no longer make them as I would have a new one in a heartbeat.

Found this on pistonheads.

I believe the positives lie with the engine's relatively good reliability, generally speaking. There is/was a thread on here about the specific premature failures on the engine but it's known to be a very strong a robust lump on the whole, for a diesel that is, anyway. This, specifically, is for the 1.9 PD 130 engine found in the MK1 Fabia VRS and various other cars.

The other positives are just your general diesel pro's i.e. low-down torque, high MPG etc. They're also slightly less complex as they're an older units with not DPF's. That could be a hindrance with all the anti-diesel speculation at current and these older diesels will probably be the first to go. That's a conversation for a another thread though. If you're after a cheap diesel, these are probably the way to go.

I've had four years and 60k miles with a Mk4 PD130 and I do not have a bad word to say about either. The engine is great: I love the way it delivers its power and it is entirely dependable. Original clutch and turbo both working well at 94k miles. Blacksmoke 180bhp remap for 15k and its performance is now inbetween a new 320d and 330d. It does an actual 61mpg on a long run.

I don't think the 2.0's are a patch on the sweet PD130, although in later cars the engine is much more isolated so it's not such an issue.

I also think the Mk4 Golf/PD era cars were tougher than the later ones. VW and Audi at the time made a disproportionately high investment in their cars to raise the company profile. I have a friend with a 2001 Octavia that just passed 200k and just keeps going with regular servicing.

So all those german cars on the side of the motorway must have had a lesser engine as PD's are well known for being very reliable.

another thread on honest john.

In 40 years of motoring and access to the Millbrook trade days to trial all models over the last 20 years I have ome to the conclusion that the 1.9 TDI PD engine takes some beating.

Low end torque , turbo kicks in at 2000 revs and unbelievable fuel economy I have yet to find a better combination of useable power and economy.

I think that Avant will agree

Certainly as far as power, torque delivery, economy and servicing are concerned, it's a cracker of an engine. I ran the AVF variant (the supposedly 'high-torque' version) mated to the 6-speed manual in a Passat B5.5 for over 5 years and 60,000 miles.

The VAG powertrain guys had really done their homework with the fuel and boost mapping, as the throttle response was always sharp and strong anywhere above 1,500rpm, making it a surprisingly brisk car point-to-point. The 4th gear increments from 30-50, 50-70 etc were all around 5 seconds, give or take, which meant good, safe overtaking punch.

Mine averaged a genuine 46mpg at the pumps during my ownership, which was remarkable for a big old family barge; it would regularly give 50mpg over a tankful.

Of course, not even its most ardent admirer would call it smooth or quiet: it was a gruff old thing.

I've also had the pleasure of driving a remapped unit in a Fabia vRS and that was hilarious - some 280ft-lb of torque in that lightweight body means it absolutely flies

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=110492