Modern diesels - good in proper cold?
Discussion
Hello folks, a long time lurker here but I'm not particularly prone to posting! So, I shall take a moment to combine this post with an official 'hello' from me.
Well due to a dramatic change of circumstances (namely the demise of puberty and the end of university education) I'm currently in the position of seriously pondering a move to Aberdeen for work. Being a member here, you can probably imagine that my first thought is that of what this means for the garage.
Should I make the move I'm going to be covering a lot of miles, and with my other activities once in a while I might be into the odd bit of towing. With a desire for torque and good fuel economy therefore, I'm thinking diesel. I'm just a young man, the fun stuff comes later
I'm thinking in the line of 320Cd or maybe 330Cd coupes. I'm not really asking for advice on the cars as such, as I can get an idea from test driving and trailing the 'net for issues. But, living somewhere where in winter a temperature of -19.3 degrees Celsius has been reached and clearly it's always much colder I'm a bit concerned that diesels won't work as well. Obviously there's the issue of warming up (I shouldn't do too many short journeys I think) and beyond that I'm a bit concerned about the characteristics of diesel in proper cold conditions. If anyone of more experience and knowledge than myself could lend a young man a hand I'd be very grateful
Thanks for your time chaps 'n ladies.
Well due to a dramatic change of circumstances (namely the demise of puberty and the end of university education) I'm currently in the position of seriously pondering a move to Aberdeen for work. Being a member here, you can probably imagine that my first thought is that of what this means for the garage.
Should I make the move I'm going to be covering a lot of miles, and with my other activities once in a while I might be into the odd bit of towing. With a desire for torque and good fuel economy therefore, I'm thinking diesel. I'm just a young man, the fun stuff comes later
I'm thinking in the line of 320Cd or maybe 330Cd coupes. I'm not really asking for advice on the cars as such, as I can get an idea from test driving and trailing the 'net for issues. But, living somewhere where in winter a temperature of -19.3 degrees Celsius has been reached and clearly it's always much colder I'm a bit concerned that diesels won't work as well. Obviously there's the issue of warming up (I shouldn't do too many short journeys I think) and beyond that I'm a bit concerned about the characteristics of diesel in proper cold conditions. If anyone of more experience and knowledge than myself could lend a young man a hand I'd be very grateful
Thanks for your time chaps 'n ladies.
Check what sort of heater the car has. I had a new 320d in 2004 that took a fair bit of time before blowing warm air out of the blowers in the cold. My 2012 520d blows warm air within a minute.
A diesel Merc I used to have was even quicker.
On the flip side I've had a 2007 S Max that the heater used to stop blowing any warm out out at in winter if doing a lot of stop start driving. Modern diesels are very thermodynamically efficient so the heater can suffer as a result.
I would strongly recommend you get a diesel car that has electrical assistance in the heater to blow warm air out very quickly if you know you'll be subjecting it to very cold weather.
A diesel Merc I used to have was even quicker.
On the flip side I've had a 2007 S Max that the heater used to stop blowing any warm out out at in winter if doing a lot of stop start driving. Modern diesels are very thermodynamically efficient so the heater can suffer as a result.
I would strongly recommend you get a diesel car that has electrical assistance in the heater to blow warm air out very quickly if you know you'll be subjecting it to very cold weather.
It gets down to -35 some winters here in Poland and theres thousands of BMW diesels on the roads in fact probably every other car is a BMW diesel so they must work fine. Also you see them for sale regularly with more than 350k KMS on the clock so they must be pretty reliable (Poles don't seem to have the same idea on preventative maintenance that we do)
The e46's seem to really rust though in snowy countries.
The e46's seem to really rust though in snowy countries.
It is seldom that baltic here unless you move right out into the sticks mate, it does get colder than where I am from originally (Huddersfield), but you'll be hard pushed to see it as cold as that.
The worst winter I have seen in five years was 2010 into 2011 which was a right nightmare, the snow was horrendous and the lowest I saw the car reading (but it may not have been accurate) was -16, I lived in Dyce at the time.
The worst winter I have seen in five years was 2010 into 2011 which was a right nightmare, the snow was horrendous and the lowest I saw the car reading (but it may not have been accurate) was -16, I lived in Dyce at the time.
Not sure if it is much help to you, but I live up in the Scottish Highlands and my Dad has an A4 3.0 TDI and we have had no problems at all.
He had a Saab 95 2.2 TID before that and it was fine too.
His job involves driving right up to Wick, Thurso, and Stornoway on a regular basis including in the winter and no cars have given him any problems what so ever.
You will be fine, my 1998 E46 has survived too
He had a Saab 95 2.2 TID before that and it was fine too.
His job involves driving right up to Wick, Thurso, and Stornoway on a regular basis including in the winter and no cars have given him any problems what so ever.
You will be fine, my 1998 E46 has survived too
vikingaero said:
Biggest problem with diesels is getting the car to defrost especially if the interior glass is iced up. And on a lot of them you won't get any meaningful heat from the heater for a good 5 miles. If there is the option for a heated front screen then take it!
This is my experience of diesels too. No problem starting even when we had that stupidly cold winter in 2009 (I think, or maybe 2010), diesel Fiat Bravo fired up as normal on a -12 degree C morning.However, it did take 15 mins of idling before enough heat was generated to keep the screen from re-icing.
Jonny_ said:
vikingaero said:
Biggest problem with diesels is getting the car to defrost especially if the interior glass is iced up. And on a lot of them you won't get any meaningful heat from the heater for a good 5 miles. If there is the option for a heated front screen then take it!
This is my experience of diesels too. No problem starting even when we had that stupidly cold winter in 2009 (I think, or maybe 2010), diesel Fiat Bravo fired up as normal on a -12 degree C morning.However, it did take 15 mins of idling before enough heat was generated to keep the screen from re-icing.
As I live in rural Aberdeenshire and drive a few modern diesels, you'll have no issues other than the typical slow to warm up heater. Heated seats are probably a good idea if you get something with leather.
As for temperatures, coastal Aberdeenshire (including the city) rarely drop much below about -10c but inland it does occasionally drop a bit lower, but it's academic really, even at an indicated -24c, my 2005 a6 2.7 tdi fired easily.
As for 4wd, again unless you're going to be living somewhere rural, winter tyres will see you through with no issues - road clearance is generally much better than the southern Uk.
As for temperatures, coastal Aberdeenshire (including the city) rarely drop much below about -10c but inland it does occasionally drop a bit lower, but it's academic really, even at an indicated -24c, my 2005 a6 2.7 tdi fired easily.
As for 4wd, again unless you're going to be living somewhere rural, winter tyres will see you through with no issues - road clearance is generally much better than the southern Uk.
My high mileage 406 (330 thousand) started in -15
Usually it would start in under a second at those temperatures it took about 3 seconds
The only differences were it took an absolute age for the heater to blow warm air and the LCD on the radio froze
The following day I shoved some bin bags Inthe grill at the front and it warmed up a lot quicker, I then removed this once it got upto temp
This was in Germany a few years back
Usually it would start in under a second at those temperatures it took about 3 seconds
The only differences were it took an absolute age for the heater to blow warm air and the LCD on the radio froze
The following day I shoved some bin bags Inthe grill at the front and it warmed up a lot quicker, I then removed this once it got upto temp
This was in Germany a few years back
My A4 1.9tdi in Norway has the Nordic pack which is mostly a bigger battery and a diesel heater. The fuel here in winter is winterised diesel and we run Nordic compound winter tyres in everything from 15degC down to ice-station-zebra cold.
However, Aberdeen is not a 'cold' place and is full to brimming with high spec German diesels!
However, Aberdeen is not a 'cold' place and is full to brimming with high spec German diesels!
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