Choosing diesel over petrol

[cheb]

Similar to Lukey really,

had two diesel and tho petrol hot hatches, the who diesel were the 1.9 ZX and the corsa Dti, loved tehm both although neither were perticularry quick, the zx was useless at any form of speed. January last year i go teh corsa 1.8 SRI, then the Fiesta ST and by july the Ibiza was parked on my drive as neither of them i could settle with, the ibiza, i love it to bits.

The main reason for me for teh ibiza was to save on fuel, the ST did a rather silly 22mpg and insurance was silly money and expected the Ibiza to be slower than the ST even after a map, how wrong could i be?

Heres some stats - took the ST to teh ford fair before getting rid and hit 8.39 0-60 after 4 runs, the Ibiza managed 7.67 at trax with TC on after just the one run. i was pleasantly suprised.

I love the fact some people think diesel are dog slow when infact they are improving and are now becoming an option within hot hatches, and can give there hot hatch rivals a good run for there money.

Long live the derv!

 

[RobM]

As a question back Rob, have you ever driving a leon/ibiza Fr/Cupra diesel?

Cupra Diesel Leon, yes. When looking for a new car I test drove quite a few, including diesels. My favourite diesels were the Leon Cupra and the Mondeo Zetec S believe it or not. In the past I've also driven Astra and Clio diesels, but only boggo standard ones.

Both were nice to drive, the Leon being closer to what I prefer, but I still couldn't get on with the way the power is delivered. Smooth, powerful, refined, bags of torque... but I found it was all over too quickly and time to change gear.

I next drove a Leon Cupra R and is suited me much more. The torque was there when I wanted it - i.e. when motorway cruising in 6th, foot to the floor and torque carries you along - but it had the power and the progressive power delivery that I preferred and out-and-out performance was better.

I have no doubt that if I needed to buy a diesel I'd get used to it, but since economy isn't massively important to me at the moment, I went for the petrol

 

[ChrisUK]

TBH - i just liked the look of it, so I did a bit of research & opted for the diesel due to it's economy, but power when needed.

I didn't want to be paying out each week for a tank of fuel, but didnt want anything slow either, so I got the TDI

 

[muddyboots]

I originally switched to a diesel for economy reasons.

At the time, I'd been driving a 80bhp 1.4 Clio and felt it was reasonably quick, but I happened to start thinking about diesels when reading about the Rover 220 SDI. It was a 2 litre with 105bhp IIRC. At the time, it was one of the quickest diesels around, and one of the few diesels that didn't need servicing every 5k miles. The idea of having something more powerful yet using less fuel, and costing no more in servicing, insurance etc made me start looking.
I'm the sort of person who tends to choose cars based on technical & performance stats and appearance, so I decided to get a Rover 220 SDI.

I started looking around and went for a few test drives. What I hadn't realised was that just looking at the peak bhp figures of a diesel was only half the story, and that the huge extra amount of torque made it feel MUCH quicker than I expected from "only" 25bhp more than the Clio. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I covered about 80k miles in the Rover, and enjoyed its performance and economy. I was fed up with it's naff build quality, **** brakes, crap handling, woeful driving position and general lack of kit, but not enough to make me think of changing.

Then, while away on holiday, I bought a copy of Diesel Car. It just so happened it was the issue with the review of the MK4 Ibiza TDI Sport. I couldn't put it down, I kept re-reading the article over and over again - this seemed the perfect car. A genuine hot hatch, based on VW equipment, lots of power, looked good, very cheap insurance (only Gp7), a LOT of standard kit, and right up there with safety features. It was only a matter of time...

I ordered one in back end of 2002, having never seen one in the flesh let alone driven one.
While waiting for it to be built, the dealer (in Holland) offered me the option of chipping it. I'd never modified cars before, but after coming on here and asking around I went for it. I didn't realise that sort of performance increase was available.

The Ibiza was - by a mile - the most fun and enjoyable car I'd owned. Where the Rover felt much quicker than the Clio, the Ibiza felt a quantum leap ahead of the Rover - not only was the VAG TDI more powerful, but it was soooo much torquier than the Rover (and far less agricultural). I was hooked on the TDI characteristics of instant-low down pull, and the 3rd gear performance of the Ibiza was stunning.
I covered about 80k miles in my remapped Ibiza, and long term economy was around 48-50mpg calculated. Not only was it quicker than most other cars on the road, but if desired (and I did do this...) it could be made to average nearly 70mpg....what other engine can offer that versatility ?

The Ibiza had to go as I needed a more practical load lugger, plus daily commuter. But I stayed with the VAG TDI as I knew it's tuning potential and the amount of techy help on here if I needed it.

But the point I've been very slowly rambling towards:
I initially chose a TDI for economy, was then quite surprised by the performance, and now I wouldn't even consider choosing a petrol even if my mileage dropped right down - I prefer the way diesels drive, and the power/economy versatility.

 

[STPCG]

I brought mine cause I had driven some of the PD TDi's before and was very impressed with the torque. When do you get the chance to go balls out in the UK anymore but 0-60 then all the playing about 30-90 was a blast, so job done. 150bhp was the only option though.

_________________

2005 FR+ in Black Magic

 

[Monkeyhanger]

It'll always be diesels for me, for a variety of reasons. What I would say though is to bear in mind that different turbo diesels have different characteristics.
My last 3 cars have been td's. First I had a Bravo 105 jtd. The jtd was a bit industrial but the turbo kicked in with quite a burst and was good fun.
Had a Megane 1.9dci. This drove much more petrol like in that it was very refined but the ratio on the lower gears made it great driving in town. I could get away great in 1st.
My new car the Leon 2.0tdi stylance is different again. Due to the ratio of the gears the lower gears are not so good for town driving....first gear is very short. But get it out into the country and on motorways and that torque in any gear is superb.
So id say make sure you test drive the car in your usual driving conditions prior to purchase.

 

[Arctic]

ive never owned a petrol car! this is my second car, 1st was a 306 straight diesel!

I used to do alot of miles to and from work, so decided on the diesel, i could afford the cupra R but when it come down to it doing 50 miles aday i decided to got for the TDi, with 150bhp cant really tell its a diesel, well apart from start up,

I regulary do hampshire to dundee which is 550 miles from door to door and uses 3/4 tank while id imagine in LCR i would have ran out ages ago plus cheaper tax and insurance, but still get a fairly quick and sporty looking car, so i cant grumble!

 

[slick]

I think like the others have already pointed out like uncle fester, TDi's are moving forward at an incrediable rate in performance and although i didnt actually look at the mpg of the car, the idea that i coud buy a 200bhp TDI from the dealership and it be as cheap to insure as a 1.4 Polo, then you add the idea that cheap insurance isnt the only think thats cheap, tax is also and running costs.
Then i started to read about the mod abilites of the VAG PD range and well it was the selling point... they can be taken to so high powers and torque they can become a real menace to high performance petrols even with only 5k limits it can see accelarate similar to a petrol with the right modifictions!

I do about 2-5k miles a year now, i used to last year do 20k... but since moving in with my gf its near stopped mileage to and from hers... she even suggested letting me get a Cupra R now the petrol doesnt matter...
But you know what, i couldnt... i see my Leon FR TDi more a Leon LCR TDi and with the mods lined up for this yeah, i should have the power of a remapped LCR too but with more torque figures and of coarse 40mpg....lol

 

[Nathanio]

For me it was a simple choice of insurance versus performance versus running costs versus driveability.

Being 23 (just) and still at uni I needed a low insurance car that wasn't a 1.4 206 or Clio (which my parents wanted me to get after my searching for my Tolly had taken so long) but I waited and got my Toledo in sig.

Shes low insurance, surprisingly nippy and has thumping mid range which my 214Si lacked. That to me is more important than 0-60. I do a lot of motorway driving and cover roughly 15k+ a year so needed it to economical.

Where in the 214 I would have had to drop down a cog or two to overtake I just plant my foot and let the torque do the work. It makes motorway driving less arduious and more of a pleasure.

I can't see my self moving back to petrol for a long long time. Yes they sound nicer and yes they rev higher but for the sort of driving I do its not as practical.

So the choice was a 75bhp 206 1.4 or a 110bhp Toledo TDI....Tough choice

 

[beefy]

I only do about 10k miles per year. Previously I have driven:
S 1.2 fiesta
J 1.0 Polo
M 1.4 Escort
R 1.3 Hyundai
02 1.2 Punto
My brother bought a Fiesta ST when I was 20 and I fell in love with the speed of it compared to the small cars I had previously driven. I had only been driving my punto for 6 months but I get the new car jitters so I started looking around. Because I was only 20 and I had 0 years no claims i didn't think I could buy a "fast car" because the insurance, tax and fuel would be through the roof. I test drove a few cars, Mazda 6, Mazda 3, Astra's, Fiesta Zetec S but none of them inspired me enough to spend the 8-10k that I had to spend.

I was driving home from work one night and I stopped at a ford arnold clark garage just to have a look and there was a 2yo (03) Seat Cordoba SE TDi 130 with 12k miles sitting at the front for 8k. It wasn't the nicest looking car I had ever seen but having a 2yo child it was practical with 4 doors and a big boot.

I took it for a test drive, pulled out of the showroom onto the dual carriageway put it into 2nd gear and put my foot down...... The salesman knew he had sold this car I was amazed at the power it had in 2nd and 3rd gear, and tbh with no mods in my car I still am. It was 1 insurance group higher than my punto and road tax was around the same. I never bought it for economy reasons, it was mainly because it was by far the most fun car I could afford to insure/buy still having a year left on its warranty and a low mileage.

 

[RobM]

The one thing that has become clear from reading the replies to my original question, is the majority of people who bought diesels did indeed have costs as their first priority - be it fuel, tax or insurance.

But it's really good to know there are people who simply prefer diesel now they have owned one. That says a lot for how far diesel cars have come in the past few years!

 

[UncleFester]

Well if you look back over the advertising campaigns, diesels have always been marketed as economical not performance cars - that's definitely starting to change, i think the Fabia VRS was one of the first to offer 'sporting' abilities?

 

[djjonnibgood]

I got rid of my 1.4 petrol engined citroen which i was quite happy with. I swapped it for a SEAT Ibiza 1.9tdi (130 pd). Firstly i wanted economy, but the power figures also impressed.

As i drove home from the dealers i was utterly gob smacked by the torque and low down power the engine produced!

Just last week i went to test drive a few cars one afternoon because i was rather bored! First up was a Ford Fiesta ST. On paper slightly faster than the tdi, on the road i was totally shocked at how slow it felt! It had no power until just shy of the redline and at that it still didnt feel particulary quick! When we returned to the dealers, he tried to tempt me with a Focus ST170. I took the same route as i did with the Fiesta, but i was still bored with the car. It just didnt excite me!

My verdict; Ill stick with a "dirty" diesel until i can afford to look at WRX imprezas etc

Jonni

 

[Nathanio]

One of my clients moved from a bi-turbo Legacy estate (import) which was f... quick and was amazingly powerful to a Furby VRs and MX-5. He loves the drive of the Furby becuase of the drive he does and that its usable power more so than his legacy. It may be shy (a)lot of horsepower it delivers similar performance in the real world.

My dad had two BX's one GTi and one TDi and the TDi was a beast and one of his favourite car of all time.

It's only recently (~ last 2 years) that diesels are being marketed as performance beasts and we are starting to get the brakes, suspension etc of the GTi's top of the range Petrols.

Personally the fact that Subaru have now designed a TDI says it all!