I have read a few articles on if diesel or petrol is better but i am totally confused. Can someone tell me if i drive 26 miles a day to work (thats the whole journey), and i work say 5 days a week, would a VRS DSG in the thick stuff be a better bet than the thin stuff ? Oh, i work shifts so i don't queue a lot (say 5 days a month), my route is a bit of ususal A roads and about 6 miles of motorway. I dont tend to use the car for much else but in the future it may go on a trip to cornwall once a year.... maybe.

I don't like the way diesel is heading, so I changed my diesel Octavia for a petrol turbo Subaru. Even given the shocking change in MPG, it still only worked out as £500 more in fuel a year and your daily drive sounds very similar to my own. Nice to have a car that warms up very quickly, no DMF/DPF anxiety, quieter when pootling along and loads more fun to drive.

What petrol Subaru have you got Huskoda ?

Forester XT.

 

My point, even if its apples and oranges, is look at how much its actually going to cost you, not just at the quoted MPG figures, especially as petrol is quite a bit cheaper than diesel and that offsets the lower efficiency. Also one new DMF/DPF can easily undo any saving on fuel costs.

Its still cheaper to run a diesel no matter what and dpf issues are a thing of the past now since its been moved by vw.

Diesel will be more frugal and diesels generally hold onto their residual value a little better.

Both the above are of course offset buy a higher initial purchase price and the higher cost of fuel.

With your suggested mileage of probably less than 8k a year, most of that on clear roads because of your shifts, I would go for a petrol, simply because you're not doing the miles...

Its still cheaper to run a diesel no matter what and dpf issues are a thing of the past now since its been moved by vw.

Dpf's will always be a service item they may be more reliable but will need replacing at some point and as they approach the end of life the fuel consumption will drop due to more frequent regens , no different to dmf of course in many respects it's just going to be a bigger bill at some point

My point, even if its apples and oranges, is look at how much its actually going to cost you, not just at the quoted MPG figures, especially as petrol is quite a bit cheaper than diesel and that offsets the lower efficiency. Also one new DMF/DPF can easily undo any saving on fuel costs.

 

There's only a 4% difference in cost between the two fuels and a much bigger difference in economy so diesel will cost less to fill up.

The purchase cost of diesel is offset by the much better residuals, so on a PCP the monthly payments will be similar, and depending on how long you plan to keep it, DPF lifespans may be irrelevant.

Any changes in taxation on diesel will be for non-Euro 6 ones - not an issue here.

 

Will a relatively low mileage like we are discussing here, there's not going to be much in it either way so I'd be inclined to go for the petrol for a more interesting drive, but diesel is hardly the disaster that some people would like to think.

Not sure on the price difference of the cars now but when I purchased mine back in December you would break even very quickly and be quids in within 6-8 months even with a milleage of 8,000 a year.

Google diesel vs petrol calculator and I put the MPG of both along with the costs of the cars and it will give you the figures. I think Which? used to have a decent one.

I do a similar mileage to you and in similar sort of road conditions. I went for the petrol as its much better to drive being silky smooth, effortlessly powerful and didn't stink of diesel fumes like my old Passat (not that the TDI vrs should stink with its more modern DPF)

The petrol will probably cost you more over 3 years but I think its well worth it. This choice is up to you though on how much you enjoy driving.

Your choice will be made by your heart or pocket.. To reassure you, a 40-mile round trip on A roads in warmer conditions last week saw 42 Mpg on the trip computer. A disel would probably see 50+. I would say that the petrol is silky smooth, rapid and worth the bit extra spent on fuel.

I tested a Diesel vRS and a petrol Golf GTI (same engine) and went for the petrol due to the fact IMO it`s a far better drive. 

 

For some performance comparisons have a play on this site  http://www.zeperfs.com/en/

And you will love how much faster the petrol gets warm in the winter.

Is the UK the only country where diesel costs more than petrol?

Is the UK the only country where diesel costs more than petrol?

If you mean the fuel itself, at least in Norway diesel is cheaper to Buy. The same goes for Finland and Sweden I think.

Yes, that's what I meant, diesel is cheaper in Ireland too.

Huge difference in engine noise as well going from a cr170 Superb to the tsi Octavia , I'm really surprised especially at lower speed, I never felt the superb was noisy but it clearly is much more so than the petrol

Only you can make the choice, but I don't think it's as clear cut as it used to be.

The diesel cost just £265 more according to the Skoda configurator, that's virtually clawed back after 2 years VED payments.

You will get more MPG, I don't know the maths, but I suspect it will at minimum offset the higher pump price of diesel, more likely more than do that.

Of course, the petrol is more powerful and quicker, and you don't have any concerns (real or otherwise) about DPF .... then again catalytic converters aren't cheap either !

In winter the diesel take a fair bit longer to get up to temp, around 15 mins ~8 miles was the longest I have seen.

The diesel will have better resale value (so everyone says).

 

Personally, I think there is not an awful lot in it cost wise, go for whichever you are more comfortable with in your head.

I originally wanted the petrol, but due to the delivery timescale lottery at the time, I plumped for an in the system diesel, I can't say I have been disappointed, its quick enough in the real world, and economic enough not to be a millstone.

If I want more oomph in the future, a remap will get it to more than the stock petrol power, and not have a huge impact on mpg.

Not to mention I have just had to shell out for the first years VED ... and I was happy to only hand over £30 :sun:

 

Horses for courses ... only you can decide what's best for you

Edited 3 April, 201511 yr by Mr Grump

Huge difference in engine noise as well going from a cr170 Superb to the tsi Octavia , I'm really surprised especially at lower speed, I never felt the superb was noisy but it clearly is much more so than the petrol

I was in a new fully loaded L&K Superb taxi at the weekend and I had forgotten just how noisy the engine is compared to my TSI vRS. I came from a MK II CR vRS and at first had misgivings about the fuel consumption when I got my TSI last year. I can tell you now. NO WAY would I ever go back to an oil burner, unless it was a bigger engined BMW. Not a chance.

Edited 3 April, 201511 yr by harrysprout

My long term average with my tsi is 36.5 mpg. I've just done Ullswater to Kendal then on to Chester, in heavy driving rain, and got40 mpg. The car has 6600 on the clock now so may get a little better but largely loosened. So the tsi is fairly frugal, but clearly the TDI will be better by a fair bit. Tsi is nice to drive, quiet and a little more powerful. TDI will be a nice car too though.

I worked out that a petrol VRS costs me £730 per year over 9K miles.

 

*Purchase price = -£1265 (saving)

*Road fund license = +£115

*Fuel = +£600

*PCP difference after 3 years = +£1250

*Insurance = +£30

 

For the extra ~£15 per week I get:-

*Better performance

*Smoother, quieter and sportier sounding engine

*Warms up at least twice as fast as my previous BMW diesel

*80kg less nose heavy make it feel less stodgy around corners

 

For high-milers diesel is the better option, but for my usage petrol is well worth the premium.

Were do you get a £1265 difference from ? or was that a typo ?

 

For those on about noise ... inside the car I rarely hear its a diesel, and even though the SG is turned to minimum, it doesn't even sound like one when giving it some beans.

Granted from the outside it would be different

 

To compare to Neiln, my current long term is ~47mpg, with 5.4k on the clock now. I have seen 58mpg on a 330 mile run to hols, repeated on return using mostly motorways. At that point the car started at 1500 miles on the clock and returned with double.

The petrol has been proved its pretty efficient on fuel for a 220 bhp motor, so go for that if you are happy with having a little increase on yearly running costs.

I actually don't do a lot of miles (5k pa), so wouldn't fit in the typical diesel user demographic, but I don't feel I am any worse of financially from having oil burner !

Edited 3 April, 201511 yr by Mr Grump

I wouldn't have said my superb ever sounded like a diesel but the difference is significant

Thank you for all the comments, given my relatively low miles per annum i was leaning towards a petrol and of course the initial purchase price will (should) be lower by around £1500 going off what i am seeing on Ebay and Autotrader.

Were do you get a £1265 difference from ? or was that a typo ?

Sorry, the £1265 price difference and PCP final values were taken from from quotes I had before deciding on petrol. Checking again shows that I had specified additional pano sunroof on the TDI quote.

 

I tested both petrol and diesel before opting for petrol. The diesel was nice enough, but offered no performance or refinement improvements over the similar unit (also offering 184PS) within my 11 plate 320D. The petrol reminded me a little of my old Subaru's, which I considered rather special.