HDi fun
TC ModFather
Right, then: Diesel......
No longer a dirty word. The performance has been sorted out. The refinement has been sorted out. The driveability has been sorted out. I was the original diesel hater, BTW.
But - is it really the economical fuel any longer?
I love the way modern diesel cars drive, with immense muscle from little over idle speed right through to the rev limiter. It's hard to ignore diesel as the performance option now. To some extent diesel has started to become the preferred performance option for many.
Now let's consider real total cost of ownership rather than fuel economy alone.
1. The fuel costs more per litre.
2. Servicing in usually more frequent (and if it's not prescribed by the manufacturer maybe it's just them trying to make the car seem competitive against it's petrol powered brethren).
3. Servicing is usually more costly. Diesel engines require very specific oils these days and it can cost upwards of fifty quid for a fill. Fuel filters need to be replaced constantly. Particle filters often require a specific additive to be replenished.
4. Dual mass flywheels - most 4 cylinder diesels use these to reduce vibration. But they seem to fail regularly, possibly due to the ridiculous torque figures that diesels produce.
I reckon, all up, that you're possibly better off with a 3-3.5 litre NASP petrol engine over a 2 - 2.5 litre turbo diesel with similar performance.
Diesel's (as in Rudolf) original brainchild was economy. That seems to me to have died of late.
Perhaps another ten years or so of development will see some significant improvements.
FOr me - next purchase is to be put to the jury. I like the idea of a Mondeo 2.2 ST TDCi with a remap. But, would I be any worse off overall (say 5 years of ownership) with a 2nd user BMW 535i in stock tune?
I shall continue to extol the virtues of diesel and the driving characteristics of such engines but I suspect that we need to consider more than fuel economy from both sides. Don't necessarily buy petrol for performance - diesel engines will serve you well in those stakes but I don't think you should plump for diesel simply to save money.
Ignoring engine size and ignore the cc for cc comparions even £ for £ at purchase - diesels will generally win this contest in the performance stakes.
But total cost of buying, owning, running I don't think is reason enough anymore to buy diesel.
No longer a dirty word. The performance has been sorted out. The refinement has been sorted out. The driveability has been sorted out. I was the original diesel hater, BTW.
But - is it really the economical fuel any longer?
I love the way modern diesel cars drive, with immense muscle from little over idle speed right through to the rev limiter. It's hard to ignore diesel as the performance option now. To some extent diesel has started to become the preferred performance option for many.
Now let's consider real total cost of ownership rather than fuel economy alone.
1. The fuel costs more per litre.
2. Servicing in usually more frequent (and if it's not prescribed by the manufacturer maybe it's just them trying to make the car seem competitive against it's petrol powered brethren).
3. Servicing is usually more costly. Diesel engines require very specific oils these days and it can cost upwards of fifty quid for a fill. Fuel filters need to be replaced constantly. Particle filters often require a specific additive to be replenished.
4. Dual mass flywheels - most 4 cylinder diesels use these to reduce vibration. But they seem to fail regularly, possibly due to the ridiculous torque figures that diesels produce.
I reckon, all up, that you're possibly better off with a 3-3.5 litre NASP petrol engine over a 2 - 2.5 litre turbo diesel with similar performance.
Diesel's (as in Rudolf) original brainchild was economy. That seems to me to have died of late.
Perhaps another ten years or so of development will see some significant improvements.
FOr me - next purchase is to be put to the jury. I like the idea of a Mondeo 2.2 ST TDCi with a remap. But, would I be any worse off overall (say 5 years of ownership) with a 2nd user BMW 535i in stock tune?
I shall continue to extol the virtues of diesel and the driving characteristics of such engines but I suspect that we need to consider more than fuel economy from both sides. Don't necessarily buy petrol for performance - diesel engines will serve you well in those stakes but I don't think you should plump for diesel simply to save money.
Ignoring engine size and ignore the cc for cc comparions even £ for £ at purchase - diesels will generally win this contest in the performance stakes.
But total cost of buying, owning, running I don't think is reason enough anymore to buy diesel.
The example given was for a much larger petrol engine giving similar power.
