Diesel V Petrol(Gasoline)

[Dorsetmike]

In the UK and Europe diesel cars are now between 50 - 55% of total registrations, in USA still around 5%, one of the reasons I've seen is that Diesel is taxed about 25% more than petrol in US (Diesel 24.4C Gas 18.4C per gallon - compare to UK both petrol and diesel tax is 58p per litre plus 20% VAT = about another 20 -25p making a litre between £1.30 to £1.40 that would equate to a US gallon at $8) [1 US gallon = 3.78 litres = 0.83 UK gallons]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-european-diesel-cars

http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/

What do members drive? What would make you change from petrol to diesel (if you ain't already done so) ?

I drive a 10 year old 1.4L Mazda turbo diesel, get about 62 MPG and road tax is only £30 per year. I've been driving mostly diesels for over 20 years now.

 

[teddy]

There is no doubt that I am benefiting from better fuel consumption with the diesel, with the same size engine and even with diesel being more expensive than petrol there is an advantage. I was paying 1.33 Euros a litre at the French supermarkets (approx £1.20 a litre in real money) but over there diesel is cheaper than petrol. However some of the small modern petrol cars can return better mpg than the equivalent diesel models which means that with the higher cost of buying them and the higher cast of fuel it becomes no contest. Anyone driving in Europe a lot would do well to consider diesel but I still prefer the response of a petrol engine. Can't wait to go back to a BMW.

teddy

 

[Krummhorn]

I'm wishing now that I had opted for the VW Jetta TDI (diesel) Turbo instead of the 1.8 gas turbo (gas). Lots better mpg on diesel and that outweighs the higher cost which is about 50 cents higher than the normal petrol grade.

When we were in the UK (2010) we drove a Ford Mondeo with a diesel turbo ... fantastic amount of get up and go, and still got 55 mph consistently. Ford does not make that model for sale in the US ... but they should, imho.

My ride is a 2004 VW Jetta GLS with a 1.8L Turbocharged engine (185 hp) and I get an average of 26 mpg city, 32 mpg highway. Because of the turbo it requires the premium grade (91 octane) fuel. Even with that higher cost, the Jetta is cheaper to run than my wife's Honda CR-V with its 2.4L 4 automatic which gets 21 mpg city/24 mpg highway.

When we do long road trips, we always take the Jetta. When going camping, the Honda is used.

Kh ♫

 

[Dorsetmike]

Your MPG figures always look worse to us in UK until we remember your gallons are smaller than ours so your 26MPG would be 31 MPG here.

From that linked article

Right now only Volkswagen, Mercedes and Jeep sell diesel-powered cars in the U.S., but Ford, Nissan and others plan to launch American versions of diesel models already successful in Europe within the next year.

So hold off trading in your old gas guzzler for a few months!!

 

[cwarchc]

I drive a 1.6 Citroen diesel, it has to be the most efficient car I've ever owned
I average about 62mpg with mixed town and motorway/highway driving
We towed our caravan around the Highlands of Scotland in summer for around 950 miles and averaged 44mpg
I've driven diesels Ford/Fiat/BMW/SAAB/Mercedes & Citroen for the last 20 years
I love the economy, but also the torque delivery of a diesel
I've worked in the motor trade, since I left school 1978, and wouldn't choose a petrol, if I can avoid it

 

[JHC]

Dirty smelly Bliddy diesels ... should be banned grrrrrr :devil::devil: and caravans.

 

[Dorsetmike]

Present day diesels are not dirty nor smelly; caravans towed by cars however should be banned, if you want a caravan have one transported by a purpose built vehicle and placed on a permanent site, better still rent a presited one on a licensed caravan park, otherwise use a tent, we enjoyed tents for over 40 years.

 

[JHC]

Present day diesels are not dirty nor smelly;

90% are Mike at least in NZ because they are not maintained correctly or regularly. A Diesel is perfect for heavy vehicles Truck and Artics etc also for Heavy machinery and Ships due to fact that it has better low end torque but it is not a patch on the petrol engine for cars as it has a very narrow window of power and is quite a bit heavier due to its construction, it is cheaper to run if that is your main criteria also the exhaust from a diesel is carcinogenic, there is nothing worse than being stuck behind a line of trucks/cars going uphill with them belching out copious quantities of evil smelling and possibly life threatening smoke.

 

[Dorsetmike]

Colin, in UK anything belching out black smoke like that - or even a fraction of that - would not be allowed on the road. Part of the MOT testing monitors the emission levels and will result in a failure, which in turn means you can not re-register the vehicle until the problem is solved.

Our police would stop the vehicle in your pic which would mean a hefty fine for the operator, and probably a ban on using the vehicle until such time as the necessary repairs/tuning etc is carried out to achieve a satisfactory emissions result.

In UK you may occasionally see a small amount of smoke when starting from cold, but only for a very short time.

Very few car makers do not now offer a diesel option in EU, Ford, GMC, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Jaguar, Volvo and others all have diesel options. Exceptions would include Morgan and similar sports marques.

 

[teddy]

I do not seem to enjoy the torque I expected from a diesel. I have a 2003 2.00 litre 307 Peugeot with the 90 Hdi turbo engine. The BMW 2.0 litre 24 valve twin cam (2.00 5 series SEi) could be drooped int 5 th gear at 30 mph and still pull. The Pequot will not run happily in 5 until about 37 mph. I am trying to work out the fuel consumption of my last trip (1430 miles) mainly motorway and it appears to be 42 to the gallon. Locally I get 42 mpg (mainly 3 or 4 gear). I can only assume that consumption drops at speeds of 80 mph. Cruising the BMW at mainly 85 mph I was obtaining 35 mpg. I have not tried the BMW diesels yet but will be interested to drive one when I swap back. Many years ago (18???) I drove a Citroen diesel (BX?) with the air suspension and considered it a wonderful little car. The ride took a little getting used to after conventional suspension but was very comfortable. Sorry, this is a little disjointed.

teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

We had BX19RD's as company cars in the late 1980s, so impressed that I bought one with my redundancy money.

I would expect much better than 42MPG even from a 2L turbo diesel, maybe you wear concrete boots?

I find the Mazda 2 1.4TurboDiesel doesn't like pulling at less than about 1500 revs in any gear above 3rd; never had the problem with te BX nor with a Peugeot 205, both had a 1.9 diesel, maybe the turbo has something to do with it.

 

[teddy]

No concrete boots Mike. I did a 30 mile round trip to Canterbury in the BMW in full economy made and averaged 48 mpg. Mid you I did not go over 60 mph. I think the size, age and the turbo make a difference even though I do not let the turbo cut in very often. Plus being an estate must add to the weight. It certainly weighs more than the 205 or BX.

teddy

 

[JHC]

Colin, in UK anything belching out black smoke like that - or even a fraction of that - would not be allowed on the road. Part of the MOT testing monitors the emission levels and will result in a failure, which in turn means you can not re-register the vehicle until the problem is solved.

Our police would stop the vehicle in your pic which would mean a hefty fine for the operator, and probably a ban on using the vehicle until such time as the necessary repairs/tuning etc is carried out to achieve a satisfactory emissions result.

In UK you may occasionally see a small amount of smoke when starting from cold, but only for a very short time.

Very few car makers do not now offer a diesel option in EU, Ford, GMC, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Jaguar, Volvo and others all have diesel options. Exceptions would include Morgan and similar sports marques.

We have simular emission requirements plus our vehicle tests are required every 6 mths but the police can’t be everywhere and it is really a matter of the owner keeping up regular engine maintenance so for new vehicles it is not a problem but when they hit the second hand market it is a different scenario the vehicles will have clocked up a fair mileage and a lot of the new owners don’t bother with maintenance, we do not have enough police to spare as vehicle checkers.
Having said all that you know I am a sport car nut so just a tad biased.

 

[JHC]

@teddy regarding low end torque from diesels, the old MK VII Jag saloon a really heavy car would pull away from about 15mph in top gear very smoothly with no shuddering or pinking and that was a 3.5L straight 6. A straight 6 is still the best common configuration for a decent engine.

 

[Dorsetmike]

So what do you term a fair mileage, my Mazda has done 102K so far. I only have a service once a year. Somehow I can't imagine a diesel getting to the condition suggested by your pic in 6 months, or else he's managing to either avoid the tests or the tester is at fault; is a pass on the tests mandatory for renewing a road licence or whatever registration you use over there. Now that automatic number plate recognition software is used, police can tell in a very few minutes if a vehicle has current road tax, insurance and MOT.

Maybe the colonies haven't caught up with technology

 

[JHC]

asldi 999 "mnahrre ??:crazy:

 

[JHC]

So what do you term a fair mileage, my Mazda has done 102K so far. I only have a service once a year. Somehow I can't imagine a diesel getting to the condition suggested by your pic in 6 months, or else he's managing to either avoid the tests or the tester is at fault; is a pass on the tests mandatory for renewing a road licence or whatever registration you use over there. Now that automatic number plate recognition software is used, police can tell in a very few minutes if a vehicle has current road tax, insurance and MOT.



Maybe the colonies haven't caught up with technology

Things are supposed to happen but this is NZ the "She'll be right" country your Mazda 102,000. mls wow and still going. how old is it ?

 

[Dorsetmike]

Things are supposed to happen but this is NZ the "She'll be right" country your Mazda 102,000. mls wow and still going. how old is it ?

I've only had it since April last year, but it was first registered Jan '04 so coming up to 10 years, just over 10K per year, not a high annual mileage by UK standards, although these days I don't do much over 1000 in a year, back in the early '60s I did over 22000 in a Mk1 Cortina in 14 months from new, that's only 45 miles a day, I know some that commute over 100 miles each way daily and one bloke that did 140 each way. The longest commute I did was 95 miles each way, but that was not every day, it makes for a long day!

 

[teddy]

For 10 years I regularly clocked up 25,000 miles a year. Used to change the car every two years at 50K. Colin, I agree about 6 cylinders being better. Certainly inproves the torque. I want to drive the 2.00 litre BMW diesel as It uses 4 cylinders. Will it be so good on torque? I recently persuaded a client of mine whom runs an executive private hire company to change from the Audi A6 to a diesel 5 series BMW estate with 6 gears. He now is a convert and is very pleased with the 62 mpg at cruising speeds.

teddy

 

[EddieRUKiddingVare]

In Aussie where more like the US with our car mix but diesels have started to increase in recent years but is prob only 10% diesel cars to 80% petrol and 10% LPG fueled cars. Our fuel prices are around diesel $1.50-$1.60 dollars per litre, Petrol $1.30 to $1.40 litre and LPG $0.70 to $0.80 litre but depending on LPG setup can use 50 to 100% more per Km.


I drive a 1.5 year old 3.0L v6 Holden Captiva petrol and get about 23 MPG (12ltr/100km and have done about 37,000Km in it. Most family cars here still are petrol and have 6cyl engines of 3 to 4 ltr cap with still and number of v8 5 to 6.2 ltr cap. 2ltr ish petrol cars are becoming more the norm with diesel cars still very few.

Old Holden