Modern Diesel Engines and short journeys.
Discussion
Looking for a small petrol or turbo diesel car for commuting. Hoping to sort one this week.
I've read quite a few things recently regarding blocked diesel particle filters if used on short journeys. How 'short' is a short journey?
My commute is about 35 mins (10 mile) but no motorways, or long stints on any one road.
Will this cause issues for a modern diesel engine, or will is that an adequate amount of time for everything to warm through and negate build ups?
I've read quite a few things recently regarding blocked diesel particle filters if used on short journeys. How 'short' is a short journey?
My commute is about 35 mins (10 mile) but no motorways, or long stints on any one road.
Will this cause issues for a modern diesel engine, or will is that an adequate amount of time for everything to warm through and negate build ups?
A colleague runs an 08 Leon FR and does 14 miles a day each way. Normal commuter type traffic but slow and does get his DPF light popping up occasionally, should be 60 mph but due to traffic he barely sees 40 if hes lucky.
I run an 09 Impreza and do 25 miles each way mostly on the A1m, and it takes about 40 mins, so a fair bit of 70 and 60. In the 2.5 years I've owned the car, I've never seen my DPF light except on ignition on.
I run an 09 Impreza and do 25 miles each way mostly on the A1m, and it takes about 40 mins, so a fair bit of 70 and 60. In the 2.5 years I've owned the car, I've never seen my DPF light except on ignition on.
I'll be interested to hear what people think about this too. My commute is a 16-mile round trip which is a bit on the short side. The car does do long journeys at the weekends and it does get a fairly regular Italian tune up.
I expect that so long as the oil gets warm enough to vaporise the moisture in the engine, you don't thrash it from cold etc etc it should be okay. I think you expect a degree of accelerated wear on an engine used for short journeys, but with modern oils hopefully not drastic.
I also expect that the "diesel is pointless unless your doing a million miles a day" brigade will be along soon.
I expect that so long as the oil gets warm enough to vaporise the moisture in the engine, you don't thrash it from cold etc etc it should be okay. I think you expect a degree of accelerated wear on an engine used for short journeys, but with modern oils hopefully not drastic.
I also expect that the "diesel is pointless unless your doing a million miles a day" brigade will be along soon.
For a short distance commute like yours, I would now go for petrol. IMHO DPFs are a liability in this area, and I doubt that you would be able to clear / regenerate the DPF.
The other half's car was a diesel (without DPF)which we wanted to change after 8 years, eventually went for the petrol version as the new model had a DPF (although we ended up keeping the old diesel as well). Whilst it does get decent runs, it also spends a lot of time on short distance runs.
As a potential idea, look at the warranty work on this one:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3322472.htm
Have a look under the warranty work re DPFs. It's quite likely that manufacturers now will not cover DPF if they can say it was down to inappropriate use. It may be that they were replaced under warranty as they were relatively new thing at the time, now everything has them.
Skoda used to issue a leaflet stating that DPFs may not be suitable if car used for short journeys.
Your call, but it might be worth talking to several impartial people before finally deciding.
The other half's car was a diesel (without DPF)which we wanted to change after 8 years, eventually went for the petrol version as the new model had a DPF (although we ended up keeping the old diesel as well). Whilst it does get decent runs, it also spends a lot of time on short distance runs.
As a potential idea, look at the warranty work on this one:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3322472.htm
Have a look under the warranty work re DPFs. It's quite likely that manufacturers now will not cover DPF if they can say it was down to inappropriate use. It may be that they were replaced under warranty as they were relatively new thing at the time, now everything has them.
Skoda used to issue a leaflet stating that DPFs may not be suitable if car used for short journeys.
Your call, but it might be worth talking to several impartial people before finally deciding.
Classic Grad 98 said:
You may well be right but multiplying his daily commute by the number of days in the year is hardly going to give an accurate reflection. He might do an 800 mile round trip every weekend for all you know.
As I say, I've looked at both. Only reason I looked at diesel is the increased mpg and the fact that I could then use it for the longer trips. Holidays, visiting relatives, driving to airports for holidays etc. However these are every few weeks or months, NOT a daily or weekly event.
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