petrol

[gcol]

Could you point me at a 1.8TDi that does 0-60 in 6.9s and tops out around 140mph?

Frankly I'd be surprised if a standard NA petrol would achieve those figures unless it was in a small lightweight hairdresser type car. What car are we talking about here and is it standard?
In any case, I can't think of many 1.8 tdi's, but I recently sold my 1.9 Golf GTI diesel (to make way for company car ) that had had a remap and would blow those figures you mentioned away. 195bhp and around 300 ft lbs torque (and still gave brilliant economy!). The 0-60 and top speed figures don't tell all the tale for a car's performance, but for comparison 0-60 was no more than 6.5 secs. I would suggest that anywhere between 30 and 100mph would leave you a little embarassed.
I will hand on heart say that I will not buy a petrol car again - there's just no need.

 

[PE]

Yep another petrol head who drives a diesel now and not because of cost. Swapped a V8 BMW for a twin turbo diesel version and love it. The torque is mind blowing. Economy is probably 60% better, offset by a 15% difference in cost of fuel. Servicing similar

Those who buy and drive cars becuse of their 0-60 figure really are missing the point I am afraid.

Downsides: Slightly nosier at idle and low speed acceleration, but quieter at cruising speeds. And yes despite BMW best efforts it doesn't sound as nice as a V8 obviously

All the nasty stuff out of the exhaust is taken care of by the technical stuff BMW have thrown at it. France, SPain etc have had more diesels than us for years and years and how are their cancer rates etc?

 

[namsag]

Recent study said if you don`t do a lot of mileage it is actually cheaper to run a petrol car. Every second siunday we have the same discussion in the pub about how dear fuel is .
I honestly could not tell you off the top of my head how much a litre of either is, if the car needs petrol it gets filled if the van needs diesel it gets filled and i pay whatever it says on the pump.
Now for the scary bit purely because of the lazy way i drive(re gear changing) i get about 20 to gallon out of the van 1.9 diesel. And the car 2.5 is about 18 according to the computer but i dont do big mileage so accept it .
Keep on saying next one will be automatics they will save me a few bob

 

[Donkmeister]

As 60% of new care sales are now diesels I'm obviously in the minority

However, being a pedant I couldn't stay away from this!

Could you point me at a 1.8TDi that does 0-60 in 6.9s and tops out around 140mph?

Frankly I'd be surprised if a standard NA petrol would achieve those figures unless it was in a small

yes it is...

lightweight

not really, it's 1200kg...

hairdresser type car.

Some (most?) would say yes, as someone who owns one I would say no

What car are we talking about here and is it standard?

MG TF 160, in very much standard form. The basic engine design is pretty old, despite fancy VVC hardware, and the original design was centred entirely on economy over performance.

The 0-60 and top speed figures don't tell all the tale for a car's performance, but for comparison 0-60 was no more than 6.5 secs.

I agree that's very much nippy in anyone's books, but as you say it's modified and it's 2-litres and it's turbocharged And as Fifth Gear showed last week, MPG of a diesel can be worse than the equivalent petrol.

Torque and driveability are very important, but there's the thing: despite the torque I really don't find diesels driveable... The torque is too peaky so it's not always there when you want it. Very subjective, but I'd say that if you are buying a diesel to have lots of torque for big acceleration, then you're buying it for the wrong reason. Need to look at the area under the torque curve, not just the peak.

 

[Shytalkz]

Keep on saying next one will be automatics they will save me a few bob

Lexus IS250 Auto is more economical than the manual version, saving £150+ on RFL . And it's nicer to drive too.

 

[Steve]

Torque and driveability are very important, but there's the thing: despite the torque I really don't find diesels driveable...

I disagree (though I know this isn't what you meant). They are very driveable - much more so than petrols - if you have a clumsy left foot! I can gradually lift the clutch in my car, and not have to press the accellerator. Most diesels can be driven on the clutch, including the transit I drove once.

IMO diesel cars are ideal for women (re. stallability)

 

[WDIK]

Buy a diesel car. It'll run on anything. Bullet proof.

shushhhh, be quiet, if people knew the power. longevity and enconomy of diesels they will want one.

so please keep your opinions to your self...

oops


remember diesels are total 8ollocks

 

[Donkmeister]

I can gradually lift the clutch in my car, and not have to press the accellerator.

I think my little Coiffeur's Cabriolet may be an exception to the general rule here, but I can get up to 4th gear and 15mph before touching the throttle! It is renowned for being an excellent engine though... until the head gasket goes and the whole thing fills with Hellman's.

IMO diesel cars are ideal for women (re. stallability)

I recently made the mistake of suggesting that to my mum, and she was NOT impressed.

Each to his own, I suppose that with more diesels on the roads the petrol may even become cheaper still I'm planning on moving straight from petrol internal combustion to alcohol or hydrogen internal combustion though. I love spark plugs, me.

Anyway, why are there no diesel hybrids? Diesels are ideal with a constant load (such as, oooh, driving a generator to power leccy motors or recharge batteries?) and have a higher thermodynamic efficiency (such as, oooh, when trying to build something economical?). You could probably get 80-100mpg from a hybrid Ford Ka with the right design choices.