My opinion on modern diesels. Do you agree?

[anonymous-user]

Jimboka said:

Sounds like you chose the wrong diesel.

I've driven many, to me they're just transport. The best so far was the D5, at least it had some character.

[ZX10R NIN]

Ghost91 said:

ZX10R NIN said:

The auto is fine in fact it suits the car better than the manual, also remember (if you drive one tomorrow) that they will pull away in 2nd unless you have it on S.


I've found the auto box makes the car a more relaxing place to be & helps the miles slip by.

Test drove the C class yesterday, couldn't find a facelift nearby so it was a 52 plate. I have to say it was rather nice, relaxing is the right word - both myself and my OH are car hunting at the moment so we were in lots of different cars one after the other and I have to say it was among the nicest to drive on the dual carriageway. I haven't had an auto for a long time and on my daily I think it would be quite nice, plus 170 brake isn't bad!

I'm not hellbent on having one after that but it would sit a lot better with me knowing the dpf and dmf wouldn't be an issue! I think it would be a good daily to run alongside something a bit more unpractical. The one I test drove had receipts for the gearbox oil change this year too... Great recommendation, thanks

No problem glad you liked it, I use the diesel so I can run & keep the more impractical cars but the diesel is still a fun drive (Penske Coilovers will do that) so I'd say in that respect the 270 fits the bill then you can go & get something very impractical

As a sidebar a little remap will see you with around 210bhp & even better fuel consumption.

696bhp of fun

[stuart-b]

I've gone from a 4 pot 320d to a 3 litre twin turbo petrol. Never looking back !

[Noesph]

SuperHangOn said:

Most minicabbers round my way inflict themselves with a Prius rather than a modern diesel, they must know best.

I've been thinking that myself for the last little while. For short trip, city driving a hybrid would work out cheaper than anything else.

Or it could be that I'm just a bit tempted to get a Honda CR-Z.....

[daemon]

stuart-b said:

I've gone from a 4 pot 320d to a 3 litre twin turbo petrol. Never looking back !

Which is great and a very gung ho statement to make, but if you were subsequently doing 25K miles a year i suspect you will think otherwise.

Paying out a fortune in fuel every month gets very boring very quickly.

[daemon]

0a said:

My main issue is that even the latest six cylinder diesels are so unrefined - those that say they are okay have cloth ears or are lying!

Even back in 07 when i'd my 535d the engine noise was at best a distant thrum.

What new diesel are you particularly thinking of?

[Ghost91]

Best I've had for noise was an Alfa 159 with the 5 cylinder 2.4 JTDm engine... Doesn't compare to a petrol though, just good for a diesel

[ZX10R NIN]

The best diesel noise I've heard is the OH's Alpina D3, my 320cdi X-pipe is okay but not as good as hers.

[Ghost91]

ZX10R NIN said:

No problem glad you liked it, I use the diesel so I can run & keep the more impractical cars but the diesel is still a fun drive (Penske Coilovers will do that) so I'd say in that respect the 270 fits the bill then you can go & get something very impractical

As a sidebar a little remap will see you with around 210bhp & even better fuel consumption.

696bhp of fun

That's a beauty!

[Devil2575]

daemon said:

stuart-b said:

I've gone from a 4 pot 320d to a 3 litre twin turbo petrol. Never looking back !

Which is great and a very gung ho statement to make, but if you were subsequently doing 25K miles a year i suspect you will think otherwise.

Paying out a fortune in fuel every month gets very boring very quickly.

At one point I was filling up once every 3-4 days and was regretting the decision to buy a petrol. Even driving as sensibly as possible the 1.8 petrol Mk1 Focus would never better 38 mpg. Thankfully it only lasted about a year. I couldn't have imagined doing it in a less economical car.

[Ghost91]

Devil2575 said:

At one point I was filling up once every 3-4 days and was regretting the decision to buy a petrol. Even driving as sensibly as possible the 1.8 petrol Mk1 Focus would never better 38 mpg. Thankfully it only lasted about a year. I couldn't have imagined doing it in a less economical car.

If your after a fuel efficient petrol then a 1.8 focus isn't the best or quickest idea though I guess? But Id consider owning one now - 800 quid to buy, and the other X amount of pounds saved on purchase price could be used for fuel and still loads left..

My mechanic bought the 1.6 mk1 off eBay, won it for £350, nothing wrong with it, 100k on the clock. In a year and a half all he has done is cambelt it and change the oil, still going strong 30k later. When I took mine in for a service last week he had just got back from Devon in it. What good value motoring!!

[Ghost91]

I suppose what I'm trying to say is MPG isn't the only factor...

I got bored of filling up my 2.8 v6 golf but only because the mpg wasn't justified by performance. My own bad choice in car... Even so it cost me less to run than my GT TDI did because that had no end of problems, wish I'd kept the v6 instead of getting rid for a more fuel efficient diesel

[Devil2575]

Ghost91 said:

If your after a fuel efficient petrol then a 1.8 focus isn't the best or quickest idea though I guess? But Id consider owning one now - 800 quid to buy, and the other X amount of pounds saved on purchase price could be used for fuel and still loads left..

My mechanic bought the 1.6 mk1 off eBay, won it for £350, nothing wrong with it, 100k on the clock. In a year and a half all he has done is cambelt it and change the oil, still going strong 30k later. When I took mine in for a service last week he had just got back from Devon in it. What good value motoring!!

I'll admit the Focus was a good car. We ran it from 50 to 120k and it was very cheap to maintain. You're right, not the most economical choice. Similar type of driving and my 1.8 Tdci Mk 1 Focus gets 55 mpg, which over the year we did 25k would have saved us over a grand in fuel. Over 5 years of ownership that would have been the cost of the car saved.

[OldGermanHeaps]

There is no real reason fo diesels to cost so much to keep on the road, you can buy a new turbo chra for £85, good used fuel pumps or injectors for under a ton, just mechanics rub their hands together when they see a diesel. Get a clue and a socket set and you are golden. I love the torque of diesels and the mpg is great. Just helping out a mate who bought a trafic with a failed engine for £400, then a crashed 74k mile laguna for £200, a days work and the trafic is running sweet, he sold the gearbox for £100, wheels for £75 interior for £60, fitted the leater wheel, gearknob and cruise control to the trafic and weighed in the laguna. If you arent afraid of a bit of dirt underyour fingernails you dont need to choose between getting your wallet raped by mechanics or by the petrol pumps.

[anonymous-user]

Weren't the 205 and 309 offered as 'GTD' in Europe? For most a modern diesel is fine, it'll be at 50-80K when the over stressed turbos, DMF, EGR, DPF etc start to fail.

Old school diesels were great. This obsession with emissions renders them less reliable than petrol.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Dpf and egr can be solved with a £30 remap,way better mpg after too.
Aftermarket cheaper dmfs or solid conversion kits become available as engines become established and turbos are now dirt cheap. But hey ho, carry on the scaremongering i'll happily carry on buying tidy cars with easily fixed faults for buttons.

[ZX10R NIN]

Ghost91 said:

That's a beauty!

Thanks only 18mpg to the gallon if I'm lucky so I have to measure it in smiles per mile instead.

[anonymous-user]

OldGermanHeaps said:

Dpf and egr can be solved with a £30 remap,way better mpg after too.
Aftermarket cheaper dmfs or solid conversion kits become available as engines become established and turbos are now dirt cheap. But hey ho, carry on the scaremongering i'll happily carry on buying tidy cars with easily fixed faults for buttons.

Did you ever get the Brabus Vito, perhaps everyone just doesn't want the same thing as you? The thing is the driving experience is just so different you have to really want diesel these days to justify the gains, which are not as much as everyone makes out. 30-40K a year, absolutely, 10-15K no question petrol is still the best solution financially...let alone when you add 'fun' into the equation.

[daemon]

OldGermanHeaps said:

Dpf and egr can be solved with a £30 remap,way better mpg after too.

Whos doing remaps for £30?

What about the blocked up DPF in the exhaust? That still needs taken out. Can be done but not for £30 all in.

OldGermanHeaps said:

Aftermarket cheaper dmfs or solid conversion kits become available as engines become established and turbos are now dirt cheap. But hey ho, carry on the scaremongering i'll happily carry on buying tidy cars with easily fixed faults for buttons.

Turbos are cheap for cheap turbos, often with no warranty and "refurbished". Get it wrong and you're back to square one in 3 months time.

And its all "hassle". Who wants to be bothered with all that st?

[Ghost91]

Do these 'fixed' cause the car to kick out a shed load of black smoke? Because if so I'm not keen on that either