Bit of light reading and hopefully a source of discussion 

 

bit of history I've driven diesels since 1983 as part and parcel of my job, service engineer, as company vehicles ( and more recently last 20 years or so as private ownership both mine and the wife’s ) and I was always of the opinion that it was better to drive them sedately ( likely for mpg and company accounting ) yet I was chatting to ex garage owner and long term mechanic yesterday who was asking after my own car ( he knows it etc etc ) and he insisted that ‘ all diesels ought to be driven “ hard “ for longevity including my 09 Octavia !!

 

whats the opinion of other diesel driver ( I appreciated the more modern dpf cars operate better with more spirited driving or so far I’m told  that’s the case ) not that I’m likely to buy a dpf diesel ( approx 5000 private mileage even less this year like many others I guess )

Use the safe engine RPM neither labouring or racing it.

 

There's a happy medium, extreme examples being low oil pressure related wear, severe carbon deposits or accelerated wear and breakage.

 

Not a mechanical how to guide just commenting in the passing.

My own view plus what I have read in here. Keep below 2k rpm until warm. Meaning engine temp. Although as soon as I get on the motorway within 1 mile it’s over that in 5th. I believe its a warning not to thrash engine when cold. Let the engine idle after a long drive for a minute before turning off. This could be turbo advice in some cases.

Give it some beans now and again when up to temperature. Keep the internals clean. I don’t mean the red line. These engines certainly don’t rev easy past a certain point.

I don’t think low local miles does these cars any favours, but then again not heard any bad news either. Diesels are well suited on long drives for economy and longevity. Regular 10k or annual oil changes help. 

 

Coming from over 20 years of turbo diesels,  I find the lack of grunt in modern petrols disappointing and even more so the CR diesels In VAG. I just got used to the torque at low revs and anything over I felt like I was a boy racer.

 

We have a 1.2TSI in the family and it’s quite close MPG wise to a TDI and the added turbo means on paper it delivers the same BHP but differently, feels sprightly all the same. 

 

Diesel tax means these old trusty 1.9 cars may not be around for long, I still have a soft spot for them. Rant over. 

I got a new Citroën BX TZD Turbo estate in 1990.  I thrashed it mercilessly (it only had 90 bhp and 133 lbs-ft) for over 8 years and 238K miles until I managed to write it off in a low speed shunt.  

It was still on the original turbo, the head had never been lifted and it was still going strong at that point.   I drove the MK4 Golf GT TDI that I bought new in 2000 the same way for 8 years and albeit only 120k miles.

Similarly, the Mk5 I bought new in 2008 and had remapped to 210 bhp and 330 lbs-ft, 5 years later and sold earlier this year at 90+K miles.  It was replaced by a Yeti which now has c. 185 bhp.  I'll continue to make use of

all the performance that it has and more if I get round to adding another 40 bhp or so to it, running it on Shell V Power and thrashing it once the oil temperature is up. 

 

Make of that what you will....