new car

[HDi fun]

I agree that some diesels can sound a bit rough at idle when cold and outside the car. A remapped one running higher boost sounds stunning under acceleration though.

Handling, yes, agreed they can be nose heavy but it's not all that bad. We're only talking small engines here not big 6 litre jobbies. I can quite see why the idea of a 911 diesel would be scary.

The torque really is the winner though. Torque isn't what allows your grandad to take a mini roundabout at 5mph in third gear. Torque is what flings the car down the road when you press the pedal.

There's a lot of conjecture about performance - 0-60 times etc.

Diesels are extremely good in real driving conditions with massive midrange wallop. Not that I consider my car's 0-62 time of 7 seconds exactly slow either.

[steve09]

one for hdi here... is the tdi different to the tdci on the focus. or have people just typed it wrong? if there is a difference what is it do you know? im a bit ignorant about fords so i dont really know about the different letters after the car

[pgarner]

dont now about the fords but the "c" is pretty much to do with common rail.
its the newer style diesel injection which utilises 2 fuel pumps one low pressure to take it from the tank to the engine and the other a high pressure pump which injects it directly into the cylinder at silly pressure, a petrol car 3 bar is sufficient a diesel your looking at 1800 bar.
basically all post 2000 cars will use common rail technology, these are where they stop being the older style lumpy no pull cheapskate diesel to the im going to kick you ass mid range diesel.

now im hoping HDI will back me up on this if not im sure he will correct me

[steve09]

ah i see so pre2000 diesels will not be common rail? is that in all cars?... i know its a bit off topic but i have heard of people when they have tuned up a car they have raised the redline of there car. is it just that they have taken the rev limiter off or actually done something to the engine so it can rev more, and does increasing the red line allow the car to peak torque higher up the revs? is there any point in doing this ?

[pgarner]

it was around 2000 that common rail started on mainstream diesels. this technology is starting to filter through to petrol engines as well
raising the redline can come from balancing the engine more

[HDi fun]

It's hard to raise the red line with diesel engines. Also, it's pointless because peak power is usually produced much lower down. The peak torque in mine is at 2200rpm, and peak power is a 4300. Red line is 5300! That's very high for a 4 cyl diesel engine. You don't need to rev 'em anyway. I rarely go over 3000rpm.

The ford TDi is a mechanical injection engine, old school thing, rough and not as lively as the TDCi. They're not tuneable electronically either.

[waynne]

It's got a lot to do with the slow burning nature of diesel and the way combustion works. I've heard that prewarming the fuel gives a quicker burn but as HDI says peak power will always be low down.