Motors Diesels

It's getting to that time when I should start thinking about buying my very own car, so I have some questions about Diesel cars...

- Are there any advantages apart from fuel economy?
- Any performance difference?
- Are they really that noisy, or don't you notice it in normal driving?

 

my 1.9 diesel 306 on a 94 plate

gets me 45mpg with my heavy acellerator foot
they are a bit slower but the torque makes up for it
you dont notice the nouse & modern engines are better

 

My experience...

Advantages:
... Will run underwater
... Simpler to maintain (no spark plugs other than the glow-plug)
... Will last a bit longer

Performance:
... Not really. They're not designed for speed, but for torque.

Noise:
... They are a bit noiser and you can tell if it's a gas or diesel engine

Disadvantages:
... More expensive to repair
... Fuel is more expensive for the most part (at least around here)

 

cheaper over here (iirc), you even get "low sulphur" stuff now which has almost completely replaced the old stuff in supermarket fuel stations, which is "greener" - basically produces less SO2 and other v.nasty sulphur derivitives that cause acid rain and breathing problems for people.

 

You can't beat a diesel for just dropping all the pedals and having it fly off no matter what incline your on. If I did that in the Alfa it'd have a heart attack!

I managed to drag my old beetle which had a locked rear axle across a concrete/grass/gravel/mud (you name it) with a 1.7 diesel simply by dumping the clutch, no throttle required

 

Diesels can be fun to drive, expecially the newer american pickups. They've got lots of torque...
And who said they weren't built for speed
Project Sidewinder!

 

well they tend to sound like a loud tractor but they are easier to drive i think.

i was driving around this camp site last year in a 1.9l clio. And you could move without using any accelerator pedal at all. But it had enough power to wheel spin. And could do 120mph on a long enough road, Not that i was driving it then.

 

The new generation of common-rail diesels are a lot quieter these days, and it's not uncommon to see 140bhp diesels eg. the new Audi A3 2.0 diesel is pretty quick - 0-60 in about 9.5, and as mentioned already, loads of torque. Cabin noise can vary from car to car, but providing the build quality and internal soundproofing are something like you shouldn't notice much.

I've had a few diesel cars (mainly turbo-diesel) and have found them a great compromise between economy and performance. I bought my missus a Pug 306 diesel and it will run for a whole month on the same tank of juice, costs next to nothing to insure and only needs a service once a year. Bargain !

 

the peugot diesel revoloution continues

mine is pulling about 45mpg at the moment with my heavy foot, you can barely haer it, it starts gettign audiable at 3000 revs (which is high her it redlines at 5000)

fantastic to drive as well

 

I've got a Mk3 Golf 1.9Tdi and it goes like hell!!

Very very very powerful.

Acceleration=great
Top speed=not so good

cabin noise is not a problem but when outside the car it does sound a bit like a tractor! (that can be sorted though. It also depends on the car.)

I'm planning on doing a few engine mods to my car to hopefully make it sound a bit sweeter.

Basically, Diesel kicks ass.

AoD

 

U forgot TONS of untapped power in these things. DIESELS PWN YOU.!!! Definitely Would buy a Diesel Truck if I got a vehicle for towing or off road. Tons of power in those things just got to draw it out.. And newer ones can run on some new vegtable oil/alcohol mix Talk about cool!!! The only bad thing is u would smell like fried chicken when u got to where u were going

 

I think you may find diesels are quite expensive to insure in comparisson to petrol cars.

 

Nope. Insurance is cheaper! It would cost me less to insure my mums Fiesta 1.9TDi than my Punto 1.8HGT...

 

yep consting me a lot less to insure a 1.9 duesel 306 than a 1.4 petrol 306

 

Really?

I rem a while ago, ins companies just used to use the engine size to determin risk, not which fuel it ran on.

Ah well, glad they have seen sence!

 

nope its cheap to run a diesel, the only problem is they have higher road tax but cheaper insurance (dependign ont he company) & more mpg (my car is on a L plate [1994] & its pulling 45 mpg even tho i build up a fair amount of my speed int he lower gears

 

45mpg

My cars a little ill ATM (weak spark) so iam LUCKY to get 24mpg.....

 

My HGT manages ~30mpg

Urban is quoted at 22.5mpg... suppose my city ain't urban enough

 

I may only be 17 and i may not of actually passed my driving test yet but i feel that i can contribute.

I drive my Mum's T Reg VW Golf 1.9SDI and i learn in new Mini ONE so i do have some (but limited) experience of driving a petrol and a diesel

The only thing that i dislike about the Golf is the small gear ratio (correct terminology i dunno lol) you have to change up the gears pretty quickly or the revs just go to high and sounds annoying.

It does 500+ miles to the tank, dunno what that is in MPG but i think its prolly quite good. It isn't very powerful compared to the mini and it definately isn't cheap to insure (but what is at 17 lol)

 

It is definately cheaper to insure a diesel, considering i'm 17 and i drive a Mk3 Golf 1.9Tdi