Speaking with family and friends, all of them seem to be vaguely unsatisfied with whatever petrol driven car they have, yet much more impressed when they get a lift in my diesel. To be honest, in the past I could never see myself owning a diesel car, but I thought I would try one and I am really won over after a year with my Fabia. I sum up below a few pro's and con's as I have been told by others and I have seen for myself with years of petrol car ownership.

New Vauxhall Astra 2.0 - very thirsty on fuel and has run out twice - fuel gauge plummets. Not as quick as the TDI despite supposed 140BHP.

Skoda Fabia 1.4 16v - smooth engine but vocal at a genuine 70 and not all that economic when any power is used.

Renault Megane 1.6. Needed 4000 RPM for a true 73 on the motorway. Passengers soon got tired of the noise and complained.

Other comments have been that economy is very poor when utilising any of the engine power - and that the engine must be revved hard to get that power.

With a diesel, not only is the economy better, it is better to drive not only on motorways (high gears, torque), but up steep country lanes, overtaking and indeed most applications met on the road.

Petrol cars seem like they must be pushed hard to get safe overtakes and up steep hills. Then not only is the driver getting stung in the pocket, but the car is making a racket too - for those inside and out. It sounds like the car is being pushed too - and it is no fun trying to operate a car with the engine at 5000+ revs as I can attest. The engine is carrying so much momentum that it almost makes the car unstable and high revs unsettle passengers too - they think you are pushing too hard.

With diesel, it needs less revs, gives better economy and is fast enough to take on even challenging roads. If I had any negatives, it is the idling noise - but so what - cars are meant for driving, not listening to the idle with the window down.

I find myself not being able to reccomend any petrol car any more with my hand on my heart - and those who have a lift in my TDI car instantly express interest in the technology.

So, what are the reasons to still choose petrol? I am often asked for 'car advice' and I want to be unbiased therefore there must be something I am missing with regards to 'petrol allure'.

Your input welcome!

TH

Petrol sounds better when driven hard, doesn't sound like a tractor when idling, doesn't kick out clouds of soot, and the engines generally have a much wider power band.

But I'm cheap so I drive a diesel

"Driven hard" - that is sadly what petrol cars need to have done to them to get any real 'go' out of them, but unless you are on an open and quiet road, then driving hard is usually out of the question - and I would wager that the majority of petrol car owners empoy no more that 3500 RPM unless overtaking.

There are some wonderful petrol engines out there - and they blow any diesel out of the water BUT the petrol engines fitted to cars for the masses are not one of them.

Soot? With decent fuel and correct driving technique the soot is minimised.

:popcorn:

Oh you're preaching to the choir, I was just trying to beat the 'opposition' to the punch

If I were to buy a track car, then it would have to be petrol.

"If I were to buy a track car, then it would have to be petrol."

100% in agreement here:thumbup:.

try a turbo petrol,then tell me diesel is best:D

try a turbo petrol,then tell me diesel is best:D

Yes, a turbo petrol is great. But again, this is one of the engines that is not found in the average car people can afford - running costs too.

TH

PS. What does popcorn signify?

Yes, a turbo petrol is great. But again, this is one of the engines that is not found in the average car people can afford - running costs too.

TH

PS. What does popcorn signify?

Popcorn for me to eat whilst I watch the likes of Gary, Babs and Bengie go through the usual petrol vs diesel routine

petrol ftw

what about a nice smooth v6 then?

octy vrs/mk4 golf gti's are all affordable and reasonable to run if you keep off the loud pedal

So, if turbo'd petrol cars were not cheap to run, why has VAG released the 1.2 and 1.4 TSI to replace the 1.6 N/A and smaller engines etc ?

Just to re-iterate, this is not 'diesel vs petrol' but looking for some input on the better petrol units out there and reasons to choose them apart from high revving ability.

A good petrol (like say a big V6 or V8, and to a lesser degree a 1.8-2.0T will give you less noise, more smoothness, a wider rev range, and still maintain a wider power band than any diesel, at the cost of economy.

Take a relative extreme- the V8 in an RS4. That will pull strongly (very strongly!) from just above tickover up to 8000rpm, and sound lovely while it does it, enabling you to lose your licence very quickly

I have to agree with you about ordinary petrol engines though. Why buy the 2.0 astra you mentioned that will be slower and thirstier than a diesel, and just sound like a whiny 4-pot petrol?

I have to agree with you about ordinary petrol engines though. Why buy the 2.0 astra you mentioned that will be slower and thirstier than a diesel, and just sound like a whiny 4-pot petrol?

Probably because the whiny 4-pot petrols are quite a bit cheaper, and a lot of people buy on price rather than what the car is actually like to drive.

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Thats the only reason I can think of why things like the suzki alto etc actually get bought.

I have to agree with you about ordinary petrol engines though. Why buy the 2.0 astra you mentioned that will be slower and thirstier than a diesel, and just sound like a whiny 4-pot petrol?

Cos it won't be a smoking piece of junk like the VXD I followed yesterday - it also wouldn't get out of the way as its driver thought it quicker than mine:thumbdwn:

Probably because the whiny 4-pot petrols are quite a bit cheaper, and a lot of people buy on price rather than what the car is actually like to drive.

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Thats the only reason I can think of why things like the suzki alto etc actually get bought.

having had the new 3 pot alto as a courtesy car while the wifes swift was in for warrenty work i don't even think being cheap is a good enough reason to buy this piece of craaaap

having had the new 3 pot alto as a courtesy car while the wifes swift was in for warrenty work i don't even think being cheap is a good enough reason to buy this piece of craaaap

Tell me about it. SWMBO had one when I met her. She bought it new and ran it for 5 years.

Guess why she bought it.... because is was the cheapest new car she could find.

Echoing the thoughts of other people. Generally it's down to initial costs of the cars been a lot lower which a lot of people look for.

A lot of small petrol cars are perfectly drivable just not as fast as a powerful and torquey diesel.

Take my little felly for instance... 1.3 with 68bhp but extremely drivable and still pretty quick without having to thrash it. In fact the revs barely get over 3000rpm and yet I'm still able to drive quicker than most other motorists on the road. The fact that it's and 8v engine helps to give it more low down pull than a 16v unit.

Then when you want to have some fun you can... and enjoy how the engine feels and revs in a 'spirited' drive.

Phil

I went from a clio 182 to a mondeo st tdci which after 2 and a half months of ownership started giving me worse mpg than my 182. The mondeo then gave way to a fiesta st which when kept off the loud pedal was reasonable on fuel. Getting me to aberdeen and back on less than 1 tank of fuel. Journey 371 miles. But i had to sit at 55 - 60.

This then gave way to my mountuned fiesta st500 which was an awesome car. But even going light on the loud pedal was a thirsty one

So this brings me to my fabia. My god i love this car! Feels quicker than the 190bhp st500 and tbh i don't see me going back to petrol anytime soon

Done almost 1k in the fabia and it hasn't cost me £100 yet

I can only speak for myself but the reasons I bought a petrol 3 years ago rather than a diesel were that:

• I expected to get 40mpg from the petrol car
  
• I only do about 12k miles a year
  
• The diesel variant was £1200 more
  
• Diesel fuel was significantly more expensive
  
• The CR diesel had an expensive service requirement for DPF renewal, a PD diesel would have required frequent expensive cam belt changes
  
• The turbo diesel engines had more to go wrong over the long period I intend to own the car - time not mileage
  

Tell me about it. SWMBO had one when I met her. She bought it new and ran it for 5 years.

Guess why she bought it.... because is was the cheapest new car she could find.

but this was the brand new one!!!!!!! after the swift i just expected so much more from this car

Test drive an Octavia 1.8TSI petrol and 140TDI diesel back to back and taking cost/economy out of the equation, anyone who says the diesel is more pleasant or fun drive is lying or bonkers. (just my humble opinion )

Of course there is no argument the diesel is more economical - but this new TSI engine has closed this gap and the diesel does cost £1500 more to buy.

Other manufacturers do have better diesel engines than the Octavia. I would agree that with a BMW there is a much closer gap in refinement and performance between the equivalent petrol and diesel.

It depends on your annual mileage and whether your priority is saving money or enjoying the driving experience.

I agree, it depends on what you need it for and your annual mileage. I have nearly sucummed to diesel now, especially when only getting mid 30's mpg out of a 1.6. It is quite nice to drive but not a sports car by any means, although I can easily keep up with the traffic. With a diesel I guess I would benefit from greater economy, however I am still keen on petrol as its a cleaner fuel. I suspect the price of diesel will go back up towards the winter as well, and generally diesel cars are more expensive than petrol ones!

Use the parkers guide on petrol v diesel.

Unless you do the miles, then it'll cost you more to sell out to the devil.

this is just stupid the whole derv v petrol like arguing which one is better cod4 or cod5.

But i will say petrol is better! Turbo petrol engines are fantastic, and now that most companys have realised small diddy engines can be turbocharged to give more umpf without costing massive mpg.1.2tce from renualt is a start, my mate has it in his clio and while its no rocket its ok. but even so like his if you thrash it you will get poor mpg. my baby tdi seems no more cheaper to run than my old c2 vtr. and that didnt half get a pasting. You dont get that torque surge, but the speedo just climbs. Truthfully im very very tempeted to get rid of my derv, and go back to petrol. Anyone who goes on about how much torque they have, almost talking about the size of there c**k its stupid. And how they could toe lots of heavy things. Why?? if you shooting facts for cred am sure someone would be more impressed with a good exhuast on a petrol car. Than you putting your 2p in saying how you could toe a 2 berth caravan!! I had a wonderful set up on my old car, i never tired of going in a tunnel dropping down a gear and smiling at the sound of the overrun. But hey am sure in my tdi I could toe some big heavy 5hit! O i also perfer cod5!