Does anyone make a decent diesel engine?
Does anyone make a decent diesel engine?
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acme

Original Poster:

3,034 posts

228 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Currently swapping between three diesels; 54 plate Golf GT TDI/2.0 TDI, 13 plate 1.6 Peugeot 308 & the OH's 12 plate 116D (2.0 litre not ED 1.6). The Pug & BM are recent, having done 50k miles in the Golf.

Can't deny the BM & Pug are quieter but I'm amazed at how the engines are barely any smoother, still have narrow power bands and much to my amazement I thought the BM's would be the 'best' by far, it's not much if any better at all.

So the question is, does anyone make a smooth, fairly linear, quiet and refined diesel, does such a thing exist?

This is not a 'knock diesels' thread, they have their place and I've enjoyed owning the Golf, what's made me realise & reflect on all this was a holiday to Italy where we had a 1.2 Fiat 500 as the hire car, underpowered it was but it was a joy to once again drive a small capacity 4 cylinder petrol which was light, had a nice light fly wheel and you could rev 'cleanly'!

Just interested, that is all.....

Disco You

3,749 posts

210 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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BMW x35d

Krikkit

27,938 posts

211 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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JLR's V6 is quite good - it doesn't sound great, but it is very smooth. Their V8 is apparently extremely good according to many hacks.

gambisk

184 posts

195 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Honda's 2.2 units are supposed to be very good. The one in my 08 civic has been reliable and is quite smooth and eager to rev albeit to 4.5k I don't have any other diesels to properly compare it with but it was infinitely better than the vauxhall astra I test drove at the same time.

andycaca

472 posts

158 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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i concur with the above. the 2.2 honda diesel is the most "petrol-like" in its delivery. no massive rush of torque in a narrow powerband (criticism of the VAG diesels), just solid acceleration to the redline.

my old e36 325 tds had a sweet engine too, however that had a tuning box in it and also pulled hard and smoothly to redline

littleredrooster

6,412 posts

226 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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currybum said:
The ones that Ford designed, developed and build?
Ford/Peugeot collaboration, wasn't it? Used in Pugs/Citroens, Jags and Discos/Rangies.

Lovely engine in either 2.7 or 3.0 guise.

joburgporsche

43 posts

178 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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I think given their limitations you need some of these sequential type turbo Diesel engine to get smooth and refined. By far the best 2 diesels I have driven are the BMW 123d, had it remapped. Great levels of torque and all round the rev range it went well.

A hired Audi a5 had a 3 litre diesel also astonishingly rapid and very refined for what they are. Haven't checked if it was the 2 turbo type but a super engine.

Don't consider diesels on a par with petrol, they are intrinsically designed for different jobs but on the criteria you asked for these 2 were excellent.

Yadash

722 posts

155 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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The Honda 2.2 diesel either the i-CTDI or the i-DTEC are very good diesel engines. They have a wider power band, between 1,500 RPM to 4,000 RPM but do start to feel a bit harsh at higher revs. Very good for motorway cruising and powerful enough for overtaking and so on. Brilliant with an Autobox for the best cruising experience.

Jimbo.

4,231 posts

219 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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The JLR 3.0 V6 is an absolute gem.

red rider

212 posts

222 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Massey Ferguson or David Brown

moebiusuk

345 posts

188 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Slightly off topic but I hear you can remap those Honda engines to 200hp. How does that affect the smoothness? Anyone with experience of them?

EDIT: For the record, I'm aware of the clutch issues with this car. A replacement is required.

Edited by moebiusuk on Friday 8th November 18:10

Vladimir

6,917 posts

188 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Disco You said:
BMW x35d
Agreed. Been out ages, still not been bettered.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

285 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Chatting to an engineer the other day and we both agreed that the day of the diesel is numbered.

Look inside a modern diesel, equipped with an exhaust gas recirculation valve, and you'll find all the crap from the exhaust, piped back through the induction, has filled the engine with carbon.

This can only get worse with the forthcoming two levels of emissions regulations from the good ol' Union of European Socialist Republics and it's not going to be worth developing technology to comply with all this bks.

Petrol engines will be cheaper to develop and as they become more efficient and begin to use less fuel, who will need a diesel?

Patrick Bateman

13,204 posts

204 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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To get any sort of smoothness with a diesel you'd have to be talking a straight 6 I'd have thought.

T1547

1,247 posts

164 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Patrick Bateman said:
To get any sort of smoothness with a diesel you'd have to be talking a straight 6 I'd have thought.
Agreed. BMW S6 diesel in my last 5 series felt nice and smooth. 2.0d in the current one series (120d) less so but still not bad.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

285 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Patrick Bateman said:
To get any sort of smoothness with a diesel you'd have to be talking a straight 6 I'd have thought.
My straight five is lubbery and smooth...smile

Fleckers

2,880 posts

231 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Cummings

Motorrad

6,811 posts

217 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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Four cylinders suck donkey dick whatever fuel they burn.

Superhoop

4,915 posts

223 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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The SkyActiv 2.2 diesel in the Mazda6 and CX-5 is quiet, pretty grunts and in my 6 does mid 50's to the gallon with the auto box - definitely sounds more like a petrol than any other diesel I've ever had

I've got a new Mazda3 coming after Christmas, same 2.2 but only 150hp, but really looking forward to it.

gaz1234

5,233 posts

249 months

Friday 8th November 2013
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tourag v10 tdi