Would you still go Diesel...
Discussion
I do around 30k miles a year (i have a feeling that will be changing) and I have a young family. I will almost certainly get a big diesel estate (again) something like a E350d or 530d
Plenty of space for stuff in the boot, effortless on the motorway ( and most other places), not stopping to fill up every 3 days.
As much as they sound a bit agricultural at idle outside the car there is something highly satisfactory about the torque of a big 3 litre diesel engine mated to a good torque converter in a big saloon/estate for everyday navigation of the commute or one off long trips abroad.
Plenty of space for stuff in the boot, effortless on the motorway ( and most other places), not stopping to fill up every 3 days.
As much as they sound a bit agricultural at idle outside the car there is something highly satisfactory about the torque of a big 3 litre diesel engine mated to a good torque converter in a big saloon/estate for everyday navigation of the commute or one off long trips abroad.
WJNB said:
Certainly. On the sole occasion my employer insisted that I could only specify a diesel the moment I got it home the D badge was binned.
Top of the range model maybe but Oh the shame & the dam noise disturbing my neighbours at 6am. Felt like a pimply junior sales rep. not a senior manager.
Jesus! The cringe!Top of the range model maybe but Oh the shame & the dam noise disturbing my neighbours at 6am. Felt like a pimply junior sales rep. not a senior manager.
I'd be reluctant to buy a second hand Euro 4 these days, as they're already banned from a fair few places and the list is only going to get bigger, but wouldn't have an issue with a Euro 6 as I can't see them being any more of an issue than petrol's in the future as BEV's start to take over.
Monkeylegend said:
The problem is trying to find a decent petrol car when probably 90% plus of the cars you want are diesel, and they are not renowned for the excellence of their petrol engines which will cost you a few thousand more than the equivalent diesel as well.
That's assuming you are buying second hand, slightly older cars.
There are some good diesel bargains around at the moment and they are likely to get cheaper as the tide against them grows, and if you are not inclined to drive into the big cities and get hammered for emission charges, then they still make sense.
Well they do to me anyway.
Agreed. The choices for me were award winning/record breaking Honda 1.6 i-dtec engine or gutless, thirsty, slow 1.8 petrol engine. The petrol cars cost about 20% more than the diesel to buy. The diesel is the right engine for a big estate loaded up with people and bikes.That's assuming you are buying second hand, slightly older cars.
There are some good diesel bargains around at the moment and they are likely to get cheaper as the tide against them grows, and if you are not inclined to drive into the big cities and get hammered for emission charges, then they still make sense.
Well they do to me anyway.
This was looking at 2014 cars in May 2019. The diesel is euro 5 (DPF but no urea system).
Edited by mstrbkr on Monday 29th June 10:00
WJNB said:
Certainly. On the sole occasion my employer insisted that I could only specify a diesel the moment I got it home the D badge was binned.
Top of the range model maybe but Oh the shame & the dam noise disturbing my neighbours at 6am. Felt like a pimply junior sales rep. not a senior manager.
If its the badge on your car that makes you feel like a 'senior' manager i pity your staff and the company you work forTop of the range model maybe but Oh the shame & the dam noise disturbing my neighbours at 6am. Felt like a pimply junior sales rep. not a senior manager.
Prat
ps. Cars are like clothes.....you may think its the be all and end all but in reality nobody else notices or cares what you wear or drive and the very small minority who make a judgement based on it are not worth scraping off your shoe anyway
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" 
I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
C7 JFW said:
Diesel only seems worthwhile if:
- 20k miles per annum (or more)
Which is still only an 85 mile round trip commute. Well within the realms of EVs on sale today. Even a PHEV with charging both ends (like my employer provides) will cover that in many cases mostly on Electric.- 20k miles per annum (or more)
Limpet said:
Coal use has dropped mostly because many of the coal fired stations now burn gas.
Renewables are of course growing, and on some days in ideal conditions are our single largest source of electricity, but averaged over a quarter more of our energy still comes from burning gas.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/data-portal/electricity-g...
But gas is still significantly more efficient and overall cleaner than coal. Even if it is imported from the middle East, though some now comes from anaerobic digesters.Renewables are of course growing, and on some days in ideal conditions are our single largest source of electricity, but averaged over a quarter more of our energy still comes from burning gas.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/data-portal/electricity-g...
phil1979 said:
I've got a dirty secret.....
Recently I've gone from a V8 AMG petrol Merc estate to a 6-cyl diesel Merc suv.
I don't miss the petrol.... apart from the noise.
On a big car, and if 6-cyl and above, I really like diesels.
Recently I've gone from a V8 AMG petrol Merc estate to a 6-cyl diesel Merc suv.
I don't miss the petrol.... apart from the noise.
On a big car, and if 6-cyl and above, I really like diesels.
I went from a 'tweeked' BMW 135i to a X5 40d and other than idle from the outside, the monster torque and 35+mpg of the X5 is a very likeable way to waft around in (plus I need the ground clearance now)
And when filling up, its quit nice to the distance to empty readout give a figure of well over 700 miles
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
This is a sad fact. My last 3 cars have been diesel, but since 2016 I've noticed that I get more frequently shouted at by other motorists for driving the wrong car. It escalated in 2018 when I was beaten up by a bunch of teenagers in a car park because they'd noticed my dpf rengen had blown soot into their air.
Fast forward to 2020 and to avoid slowing down for junctions and roundabouts I simply plow through other cars and pedestrians using my superb low down torque because I don't want to be murdered for being in a car that everyone hates.
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
I actually meant outside of the forum. The feeling with the general public is that diesel now = bad.
I have never ever noticed this. Ever. Are you from that London? Maybe it's a thing down there perhaps where people are so crushed together?I have only ever noticed people getting annoyed about the witch hunt.
I think for passenger cars the ICE, regardless of what you fuel it with is pretty well finished. I've a good friend that works for Ford in engine development (he travels all over the place testing them in climates, altitiude and so on) and he reckons the latest diesel (it's a 2 litre banging out 220 bhp (if memory serves)) is the last one they will develop. Petrols not far behind.
So you can all sit there spaffing at each others rusty old Jags or whatever, but the truth is that petrols are going the same way.
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
I must admit I've never seen much evidence in the real world of the 'anti-diesel hysteria' I often read about on here. Sure I know a few people that have replaced a diesel with a petrol, but they're all people who were going to change cars anyway and probably should have had a petrol in the first place. Out here in the wilds of North Yorkshire diesel makes sense for a lot of people and so there are still lots and lots about, and on the few occasions when I have ventured into more urban areas in our diesel car I have not had so much as a nasty look.Roger Irrelevant said:
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
I must admit I've never seen much evidence in the real world of the 'anti-diesel hysteria' I often read about on here. Sure I know a few people that have replaced a diesel with a petrol, but they're all people who were going to change cars anyway and probably should have had a petrol in the first place. Out here in the wilds of North Yorkshire diesel makes sense for a lot of people and so there are still lots and lots about, and on the few occasions when I have ventured into more urban areas in our diesel car I have not had so much as a nasty look.Roger Irrelevant said:
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
I must admit I've never seen much evidence in the real world of the 'anti-diesel hysteria' I often read about on here. Sure I know a few people that have replaced a diesel with a petrol, but they're all people who were going to change cars anyway and probably should have had a petrol in the first place. Out here in the wilds of North Yorkshire diesel makes sense for a lot of people and so there are still lots and lots about, and on the few occasions when I have ventured into more urban areas in our diesel car I have not had so much as a nasty look.
I think a large diesel 100% makes sense in a larger car. Something like a 530d is still very hard to beat as an all-rounder. However, as someone who buys older cars and does low mileage now, I probably wouldn't buy another diesel. Not sure what my next car will be, but there are plenty of petrols available now that will cost you £30 VED a year and do 45-50 MPG in the real world and I'll probably settle for one of those until the infrastructure supporting EVs reaches the point where ease of ownership is comparable to that of ICE cars.
Oh and I don't think anti diesel sentiment is limited to Pistonheads. Chatting to 2 non petrolhead type people recently, both have told me they're not buying another diesel when they change in light of what they see as an incoming clampdown on diesels.
Oh and I don't think anti diesel sentiment is limited to Pistonheads. Chatting to 2 non petrolhead type people recently, both have told me they're not buying another diesel when they change in light of what they see as an incoming clampdown on diesels.
mikal83 said:
Dog Star said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Society is now 'anti-diesel' and that won't be changing.
No it isn't; it's only among a bunch of string backed glove wearing, adenoidal car bores on an internet forum who are all trying to "fit in" - I suspect they're all top helmsmiths, who all love the control of a manual gearbox and love the "sense of occasion" when they fire up the V8 engined "weekend toy" I think the truth is that they're all sat in their bedroom wearing rigid grey Y fronts.
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