Do you eventually get over the claterring of a diesel?
Discussion
WinstonWolf said:
cerb4.5lee said:
HustleRussell said:
frugal but depressing motoring
This hits the nail on the head for me...spot on.I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
cerb4.5lee said:
WinstonWolf said:
cerb4.5lee said:
HustleRussell said:
frugal but depressing motoring
This hits the nail on the head for me...spot on.I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
It's a hell of a powerplant but it's the exception not the rule 
RobM77 said:
I haven't got used to it, no, I hate the sound of an idling diesel engine as much now as I did before I bought my first diesel six years ago. However, once you're above about 10mph you genuinely can't hear it, or at least you can't in my car. Given that I never drive in towns or multi-storey car parks, it therefore doesn't bother me.
At 60mph threading my car down a B road or at a steady 70 on the motorway I would genuinely not know from sound alone whether I was in my previous car, a 3 litre straight six, or my current car, a 4 pot diesel. When you accelerate it does sound a bit different, yes, but at 2, 3 or 4k revs, diesels don't clatter (mine doesn't anyway, it just sort of whirs), they just lack the music of a nice petrol engine. I prioritise other things over sound though; other things that my car delivers in spades, so despite hating the sound of diesels at idle, I'm very happy with it. You need to look at the whole package with a car and if other factors aren't there to win you over and sound is very important to you, then don't buy a diesel.
At 60mph threading my car down a B road or at a steady 70 on the motorway I would genuinely not know from sound alone whether I was in my previous car, a 3 litre straight six, or my current car, a 4 pot diesel. When you accelerate it does sound a bit different, yes, but at 2, 3 or 4k revs, diesels don't clatter (mine doesn't anyway, it just sort of whirs), they just lack the music of a nice petrol engine. I prioritise other things over sound though; other things that my car delivers in spades, so despite hating the sound of diesels at idle, I'm very happy with it. You need to look at the whole package with a car and if other factors aren't there to win you over and sound is very important to you, then don't buy a diesel.
HustleRussell said:
The clattering slowly but relentlessly erodes your soul until you lose the will to rid yourself of it and resign yourself to a lifetime of frugal but depressing motoring, years of diesel followed by electric before your inevitable death.
The best you can hope to do is insulate yourself from it and the erosion will be slower still (but no less relentless)
The best you can hope to do is insulate yourself from it and the erosion will be slower still (but no less relentless)
Maybe there are other pleasures to driving though beyond the engine? I've owned and driven cars with memorable and lovely engines and I've owned cars with dull and mundane engines. The vast majority of my enjoyment though has come from the chassis and steering of those cars, or to a lesser extent their brakes, gearchange, driving position etc.
Each to their own though - if the engine is critically important to you and the handling less so, there are plenty of marques that satisfy that (no names mentioned!). We all like different things. Personally, if you put a Micra engine in an Elise or a Caterham I'd still have a grin on my face The other thing we need to remember is what's available in the real world. In theory we'd all be driving high revving V8 cars with rear wheel drive that weighed 1000kg, did 50mpg, had no PAS at all, were 1 metre high and seated two adults and three children with a boot that swallowed three pushchairs, five surf boards, five bikes and a drum kit. That car doesn't exist though, so what we have to do is to list our priorities and find which car suits us best from those available. Sometimes that means buying a diesel, perhaps even front wheel drive in extreme cases 
Phon_E87 said:
cerb4.5lee said:
This hits the nail on the head for me...spot on.
I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
Why?I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
I mean it's your opinion and all but I'm curious as to why?
I still hate the noise they make and the low rev smoothness is poor when compared to a petrol equivalent, appreciate though a Diesel engine is fine cruising at motorway speeds but never once have I felt what a satisfying and lovely engine a diesel is.
My daily drive is a Merc E320 diesel and yes, it does sound a bit noisy especially when first fired up but once you're in the car it's quiet enough not to bother me.
It's a 3.2 straight six and once it's warmed up, if you give it some beans it sounds surprisingly good.
No, I don't actually do mega mileage (around 9.5k a year) but two thirds of that is motorway driving and a diesel for motorways just makes sense. It's a tough engine, 370lbs-ft of torque makes overtaking effortless and it's economical! For those reasons I can live with the diesel noise.
It's a 3.2 straight six and once it's warmed up, if you give it some beans it sounds surprisingly good.
No, I don't actually do mega mileage (around 9.5k a year) but two thirds of that is motorway driving and a diesel for motorways just makes sense. It's a tough engine, 370lbs-ft of torque makes overtaking effortless and it's economical! For those reasons I can live with the diesel noise.
cerb4.5lee said:
Phon_E87 said:
cerb4.5lee said:
This hits the nail on the head for me...spot on.
I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
Why?I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
I mean it's your opinion and all but I'm curious as to why?
I still hate the noise they make and the low rev smoothness is poor when compared to a petrol equivalent, appreciate though a Diesel engine is fine cruising at motorway speeds but never once have I felt what a satisfying and lovely engine a diesel is.
I agree entirely. I find some modern diesels impressive (320d for example: it has the same power as my 1990s 325i 2.5 litre straight six had, but does double the mpg!), but not pleasurable or lovely, no. I love my car's other facets so much though that it doesn't bother me that it's a diesel. I suppose in that sense it's like being happily married to someone who eats with their mouth open; irritating at times and often fairly unpleasant, but you learn to ignore it for ten minutes a day if everything else is great. As I said above though, it depends where you drive. I never drive in towns or multi-storey car parks, so I never really get to hear my diesel engine idling, except on my driveway for five seconds or whilst I reverse park at work every day for another five seconds.
To answer the question; I couldn't stand the clattering of my Merc SLK diesel. It was the single worst thing about the car, to the point where I handed it back before the end of the lease.
BUT I agree it depends on how much you care about engine noise, and those of us that do care are a minority of drivers I'd say.
I'm unlikely to buy a 4 pot diesel again because of the unpleasant engine noise, but I accept I'm unusual in this view.
BUT I agree it depends on how much you care about engine noise, and those of us that do care are a minority of drivers I'd say.
I'm unlikely to buy a 4 pot diesel again because of the unpleasant engine noise, but I accept I'm unusual in this view.
Do people who go from diesel to petrol ever learn to live with the lack of low to mid range torque? It must get tiring having to drop gears and use high revs to make civilised progress. If you do get a petrol car with diesel low-mid range torque it usually needs a fill up every 350 or so miles, that must be miserable?
cerb4.5lee said:
HustleRussell said:
frugal but depressing motoring
This hits the nail on the head for me...spot on.I find it hard to believe that anyone gets out of a diesel thinking how great the engine is.
I've had 2 diesel vehicles. The only one that suited it was the Defender. The other was a Volvo with the fairly well regarded TDCi engine.
I hated it. It had an annoying thrum at 70 that just grated on my nerves and I was seriously pleased to get rid of it. I've never had a diesel since and wouldn't consider one even though my commute is 80 miles per day.
I personally find the low RPM cruising of diesel engines to generate an irritating very low frequency vibration. Even as a passenger in diesel vehicles I have found this to be the case irrespective of number of cylinders or brand and is at least in part due to the nature of compression ignition engines.
OldGermanHeaps said:
Do people who go from diesel to petrol ever learn to live with the lack of low to mid range torque? It must get tiring having to drop gears and use high revs to make civilised progress. If you do get a petrol car with diesel low-mid range torque it usually needs a fill up every 350 or so miles, that must be miserable?
It's not an issue for me when I drive my wife's car, which is an extreme difference in where the torque is: I have a 320d and she has a Civic Type R. It's just like adapting to the other things that are different between cars for me: brake response, steering response etc. I own a petrol racing car too and I find the same - no problems, just different.OldGermanHeaps said:
Do people who go from diesel to petrol ever learn to live with the lack of low to mid range torque? It must get tiring having to drop gears and use high revs to make civilised progress. If you do get a petrol car with diesel low-mid range torque it usually needs a fill up every 350 or so miles, that must be miserable?
I have recently done this, not through, as my last car was written off!The simple answer is Yes, but in my case it might be an exception.....the old car was a 180hp diesel (295 lb/ft) and the new one a 300p petrol (280 lb/ft) l, so not much difference.
That said I've also just changed my other car from a 140hp diesel to an 89hp petrol and whilst they're different and the latter does lack both power and torque, it was cheap.
OldGermanHeaps said:
Do people who go from diesel to petrol ever learn to live with the lack of low to mid range torque? It must get tiring having to drop gears and use high revs to make civilised progress. If you do get a petrol car with diesel low-mid range torque it usually needs a fill up every 350 or so miles, that must be miserable?
Miserable is clatter and rattle, no revs to play with, tiny power band etc...OldGermanHeaps said:
Do people who go from diesel to petrol ever learn to live with the lack of low to mid range torque? It must get tiring having to drop gears and use high revs to make civilised progress.
My mrs much prefers diesel/turbo petrols for exactly the reason you state and when she drives the 330i she hates how flat and gutless it is low down and she just thinks it's really slow(its not that fast to be fair but you just have to drive it differently.) Edited by cerb4.5lee on Wednesday 24th August 11:21
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