I notice many people asking opinions about which engine to go for, in particular the one about 'should it be petrol or diesel' in their new car? We all have in mind something we are looking for in an engine be it pure bhp/ps or torque, miles per gallon, 0-62 time or whatever. But how many of us think about the soon to come changes to the fuel we all use, and how it will affect our new cars and how they run? I refer in particular to the inevitable arrival of gasohol/ethernol bio fuels for petrol engines that will be mixed in with our dino fuel in the not too distant future. Both old and new governments have stated their commitment to continued and increased use of such fuels with new petrol gasohol targets now being set. Anyone remember the debacle after unleaded was introduced. Engines self detonating, pinking, hot running, poor mpg and mph etc. That's the original reason I went diesel.

Bio fuels for diesels has been around for sometime now and has done much to make the diesel experience altogether better and cleaner. The engines run well on it and even when the planned increase in biofuel for diesels comes in it won't really affect any of our cars to any extent, but will make them cleaner still, and it seems without affecting the way they run. The diesel engine will retain it's 60.1% efficiency or there abouts. CR fuel pump life may need some attention from manufacturers ie: oil lubed bearings instead of relying on fuel but not much else. And of course...PD engines fuelling systems are not affected like CR engines due to the integral design and engine oil lubrication. Now Gasohol might be another story for petrol engines. If you speak to our friends across the pond they will tell you that petrol engines...even the most modern ones in VW's and other european motors, really don't like it. Tuning the engines has limited effect. Engines run hotter, give less miles per gallon (gasohol is around 27.5% efficient compared to 30% for petrol), and there is a general shortening of the engines life. But many just can't put up with the rough running and poorer performance.

One would hope manufacturers have taken this into account with the new crop of petrol engines in the new Skoda's. But so far manufacturers haven't sparkled in overseas markets where biofuels have been rife for years. That's another reason I bought diesel... but I am biased towards them anyway as I like the economy and diesel driving experience.

Food for thought?

Edited 27 June, 201016 yr by Estate Man

Its quite an interesting subject. I went for the petrol in the end as the diesel engines are getting ever more complex in order to meet NOX emissions and could potentially be banned from city centers in the future or have to have the urea injection which may be the next dpf, egr, dual mass flywheel disaster? I'm sure I've read somewhere that small diesel engines will no longer be viable for manufactures due to the costs of these systems 2.0l engines plus will be the only ones which can meet all the regulations as well as being economically viable to produce. in terms of the bio fuels I think the biggest issues is that the organic compounds deteriorates components in the engine.

Still waiting for the manufacturers to bring out the petrol engines without spark plugs that work on compression like a diesel, Mercedes version is supposed to be out in a couple of years. Should give the torque/ economy/ low co2 of a diesel but the lower nox/ noise and higher revs of a petrol.

For me there was no choice as I had to have an automatic, and the only auto fabia is a petrol. If there was an auto option on the 105hp diesel, I would have strongly considered that route. However bear in mind that petrols are cheaper to buy than diesels, and at the small car price range, £1-2000 makes alot of difference.

All that said, I am inclinced to agree that even in my short awareness of car technologies, diesel has come on leaps and bounds, and is probably a safer bet in the long run (no pun intended)