Interesting thread this.

Having come from a Mk1 Octy 1.8T Elegance that was remapped, the onto the MX5 and now my Jetta 2.0 Tdi i have to say that i do miss the way my Octy drove. The engine was excellent IMHO, with plenty of power and good MPG used to average around 33. The MX5 averaged around 28. So far the Jetta is doing around 48 mpg. These figures are form the on board computer, except for the mx5.

When i got my Octy i paid 10k for it, second hand it was beteeen 1 and 1.5 yrs old.

I paid 9.5k for my Jetta it was between 1 and 1.5 yrs old. IMHO it is a waste of time buying a diesel new unless you do a serious amount of miles. I probably only do 12k a year but there wasn't much in the way of petrol engines that i fancied in the Jetta anyway. I briefly considered a 2.0 TFSI but after a firend had a Mk 5 Golf Gti and was averaging high 20's that seemed a bit pointless.

So for me the 2.0 Tdi was an ideal choice. It is economical, cheap to tax and insure in comparison to both my previous cars, and is more than quick enough for everyday use. Don't get me wrong its no speed demon but it does ok.

My friend that had the MK5 Golf Gti now has a MK5 R32 and is averaging 23MPG. I can get twice that on a run lol. Yes his car is very quick but IMHO with so many speed cameras around these days how often can you really enjoy the benefits of such a quick car?? 90% of the time he is stuck doing the same sort of speeds as i am and to me for the 10% that he can really use the cars extra speed benefit over something like mine, it is just not worth the cost.

In summary, buying a new diesel is a waste of cash. However the benfit is to be had if buying used.

Also for the times you can really cane a petrol turbo car to get the best out of it, and therefore punish your fuel economy even more to me its just not worth having one.

Just my 2p and it is only my experience, not saying anyone else is right or wrong.

Rob

As above, a very enjoyable thread to read!

After having a string of diesels, I've returned to petrol and currently the only reason I would go back to a diesel is if I couldn't afford to run a petrol, despite doing 24k miles last year. I think there's something rewarding and involving about getting the right gear for an overtake and having the car pulling all the way to 7k rpm to complete it. And then there's the noise and instantaneous and linear power delivery too. Don't get me wrong, diesels have come on in leaps and bounds and there's some very competent performers out there, especially from the BMW stable, but for smiles per mile and driver involvement, I have yet to find one that ticks all the boxes

Chris

Well said, Chris!

Just a hypothetical but if you had £30K plus in your pocket and had a choice of 3 series would you go for a 330i with 272bhp and about 350nm of torque or a 330d with 245 and 520nm of torque. I would probably go for the petrl because of the noise but the 330d would make mincemeat of it in the midrange: it's a seriously rapid car and I quite like the deeper roar and turb whistle of the straight 6 oil burner. The 2,0d 177BHP Beemer engine is a cracker in mu opinion but I have heard that it is not that reliable: Turbo and manifold issues spring to mind. The car that really did show that Diesels can upstage the petrol equivalent for me was the W210 series E320 CDI Estate. Boy could those things shift. As i say though I do tend to prefer petrols despite loving my Fab VRS.

I'm amazed that threads like this keep cropping up as though there's a definitive answer waiting to be found.

Everyone has their own set of requirements and its down to them to find the car that best suits them. If someone else chose a different car that doesn't make them wrong or make you any better.

For some people extracting every last drop of performance is the be-all and end-all , and they will probably want a petrol , but for others they may prefer the driving style that a tourquey diesel offers and better economy.

Also some cars have relatively good diesels that get close to the performance of a petrol engine for a similar cost and with much lower fuel consumption - great , buy the diesel. Equally , there are some where the diesel engines are pretty poor and don't save you much fuel compared to the petrol , so don't buy them.

Im lazy. I need torque

Can surprise a lot of cars from a rolling start.

Only bad things about diesels are the noise, and crap 0-60...

Just a hypothetical but if you had £30K plus in your pocket and had a choice of 3 series would you go for a 330i with 272bhp and about 350nm of torque or a 330d with 245 and 520nm of torque. I would probably go for the petrl because of the noise but the 330d would make mincemeat of it in the midrange: it's a seriously rapid car and I quite like the deeper roar and turb whistle of the straight 6 oil burner. The 2,0d 177BHP Beemer engine is a cracker in mu opinion but I have heard that it is not that reliable: Turbo and manifold issues spring to mind. The car that really did show that Diesels can upstage the petrol equivalent for me was the W210 series E320 CDI Estate. Boy could those things shift. As i say though I do tend to prefer petrols despite loving my Fab VRS.

they did a comparison on top gear wth these two bmws. petrol won, fair and square but diesel wasnt too far off. much heavier engine though, personally id go for the diesel(bmws are prob only diesels i wold go for)

then remap it and get yourself even better fuel and economy and another 90NM of torque,