If I could afford a powerful turbocharged petrol car I would buy one.

I can't so I drive a diesel - end of.

At last - someone speaking sense

Chris

Surely the best thing to do is have a huge capacity petrol engine with lots of torque and long gearing. That way you can have the best of both worlds - something with a 5.7 V8 and 160mph top speed should fit the bill nicely.

No doubt about that, but the MPG becomes a limiting factor, unless you have cash/space for a toy and a daily driver.

I quite like diesels. The difference between diesels and petrol cars these days isn't that big.

the difference is massive, diesels are way behind petrols power wise still.

my dad has a 1.8 petrol astra(56 reg) with 138bhp and does 0-60 in 9.7s the closest comparison i can think of a mk1 octavia 1.9SDi which has 67bhp and does 0-60 in 18.8s. to get teh same performance the diesel needs a turbo and be a 130Pd at that(yes it has 8bhp less but it also where the astra has 129lbft the octavia has 234lbft so getting on for double!! )

the difference is massive, diesels are way behind petrols power wise still.

my dad has a 1.8 petrol astra(56 reg) with 138bhp and does 0-60 in 9.7s the closest comparison i can think of a mk1 octavia 1.9SDi which has 67bhp and does 0-60 in 18.8s. to get teh same performance the diesel needs a turbo and be a 130Pd at that(yes it has 8bhp less but it also where the astra has 129lbft the octavia has 234lbft so getting on for double!! )

but what's the in-gear acceleration like? and the mpg??

:P

screw mpg

wont somebody think of the mpgs...!! :faints:

wont somebody think of the mpgs...!! :faints:

Im getting 25mpg at the moment...

Since you raise it, however, how about comparing Jason's TDi with my Octy then - 260 bhp diesel vs 180 petrol. His car won't do 100 in 3rd either.

I'll start in 2nd to bring it back to a level playing field. My 4th will max out at about 110 I think.

This thread is like waving a red flag at a bull - a lot of people are really very happy with their diesels....

No need to beat up one side or the other - whatever you're happy with for whatever reason is fine....

wont somebody think of the mpgs...!! :faints:

The MPG's are irrelevant unless your doing over 40k a year, under which, you'd be saving money by driving the petrol.

I still dont understand why people think they are saving money by driving a diesel? the simple fact is, you aren't!

Good thing my mileage is so high then :P

The MPG's are irrelevant unless your doing over 40k a year, under which, you'd be saving money by driving the petrol.

I think that's assuming you buy new. I did the sums before I bought my diesel (bought at 3 years old) and even for 20k a year, I am £1000 better off over an ST220 (inc fuel, insurance and servicing) and £200 better off over a 2.0-16v petrol. My purchase price for buying each of the cars would have been the same

And after a couple of years, I can put what I've saved towards a fun petrol powered second car

Chris

Good thing my mileage is so high then :P

Mines not though... maybe I should get a car with a big petrol engine...

I am driving a petrol 1.6 at the moment, and although it's pretty decent on fuel, it uses more fuel than my Fabia vRS with more than twice the power (plus torque is a tad better too )

With the kinda mileage I do, driving the petrol costs me about 30-40 quid more a month easily. The car wont cost me a lot though, as it was purchased at a bargain price, and assuming MOT can be passed, should give me cheap motoring for as long as it needs.

I understand the maths of the "you gotta do 40k or more a year to benifit from diesel" and when I worked for the AA we were offered the 1.6 petrol focus, OR an 1.6 diesel focus..... The deisel cost the AA more to lease. so cost us more in weekly franschise, and the AA did the math and said unless you are going to do 50k a year or more, use the petrol car, its cheaper to run... I looked at the math and agreed....

however talking to people working in the same area, doing the same miles, paying more for their franschise on the diesel , they still ended up better off at the end of the week..... the saving in fuel costs outdid the extra cost of the diesel...

wierd.... shouldn't work when you do the maths, but did in real life....

maybe the maths just went on goverment figures, and real life is just not the same......

i think a driving instructor is slightly different as the learners don't cane the car, they sit there all day changing gear at 2-3k everytime and very rarely putting their foot down.

i think a driving instructor is slightly different as the learners don't cane the car, they sit there all day changing gear at 2-3k everytime and very rarely putting their foot down.

possibly... also how many times would a normal person spend on tickover, nudging a car along slowly? (manouvers for an ADI) ..... guess it all depends on how you are going to use your car rather than simple figures......

yeah, i bet driver instructor cars get awesome mpg when teaching.

yeah, i bet driver instructor cars get awesome mpg when teaching.

not really due to the slow stuff...... a general day gives me 47 mpg....

I tried a "bang on" 70 mph motorway run and got 59.9mpg.....

the best is from slow 'traffic' a-road driving in 6th when it can go into the 60's... got it to 63 once!

but in "context" you are right.... a driving instructors day will use less fuel than a "normal" drivers day....

1) very small percentage of "cold" engine driving in comparison to someone driving to and from work for say 15 miles - me 1% of my drive, them 20% of their drive...

2) on a general day, my car NEVER sees full throttle, as you stated, changing up about 2.5-3k revs.... this makes a big difference compaired to the "average " persons drive.....

but then people are really stressed about buying en ex-driving school car! lol.... it's almost never been thrashed, and most of its drive is gentle.... If its from a private school (i.e not BSM ect) then it's clutch will have been looked after, the instructor will have made sure of this.... on my fabia, the clutch was "as new" at 80k, and how many "normal" drivers on here have experianced clutch propblems before that mileage?! lol....

anyway... bit drunk and going off on tangents.........