Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

Some people will not buy a diesel vehicle and many diesel vehicle drivers are unlikely to return to buy a petrol engined one.
The first diesel vehicle I drove was an Austin J4 van in the early 1970s and what I remember clearly was the noise, smell and a top speed of around 60mph.

40 years later and I would not consider anything other than a diesel engined car or van for every day use. On a more prosaic level my elderly mother has driven diesels since 1994 and appreciates the fact that they are hard to stall.

New petrol engines are now very advanced, many having turbochargers, variable valve timing, all have fuel injection but I prefer the torque of a turbo diesel and the fuel consumption advantage especially now that diesel is cheaper than petrol.

In the future petrol engined cars will in all likelihood end up burning ethanol and bio diesel is already here. In Thailand all "diesel" vehicles must use locally produced palm oil derived diesel.

I believe that electric cars, fuel cell cars and the Hydrogen powered cars that BMW are experimenting and evaluating will be far in the future.

THe choice therefore in the medium term is petrol or diesel.

Which do you prefer and why?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[kevin2306]

As a high mile muncher it's a diesel every time for me, current BMW 520 is superb with loads of torque and very quiet.
Last one was a golf and that was also very good but a bit small.
Biggest surprise was a recent hire car in a ford mondo 1.6 tdci, drove exceptionally well and you would never have thought it was a low cc diesel!

Kev

[Riley Blue]

"THe choice therefore in the medium term is petrol or diesel. "

I don't agree; there's a greater choice than that now however, if I must plump for one or the other, I'd chose petrol. In fact I did last year when I bought an A8 4.2 petrol instead of a 3.0 diesel (the 4.2 diesel was out of my price range). After 15 years of driving diesels (Golf GTD, Ibiza TDI and two A4 TDIs) I've had enough of the noisy, smelly, polluting things.
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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[kevin2306]

[ukdave2002]

We are talking modern here?
Last year I moved from a 6 cylinder BMW 6 series petrol to a 4 cylinder Mercedes E class's estate deisel and frankly haven't really noticed much difference in driving , had I been on a track it would have even different, but on the road the Merc diesel has all the torque I need


Dave

[Riley Blue]

[lowdrag]

Have been driving diesels for 15 years now and wouldn't go back if it weren't for my mileage getting smaller and potential problems with the DPF and concurrent cost thereof. Still, would a petrol achieve these statistics? I doubt it, and as said above, once moving I can't really tell the difference in my C class.

[peter scott]

Modern turbo diesels are slightly noisier than their petrol equivalents but the really high mid range torque of the diesel makes them much nicer things to drive than petrols.

A litre of diesel has a greater energy content than a litre of petrol so diesels will always give better mpg.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[emmerson]

I worked too long on diesel engines to even consider one in my private car. Dirty smelly noisy spawn of the devil stuff!
As herself and I left our local cafe this morning, a merc diesel and a mondeo diesel went past, and the smell lingered for ages.Its horrible.
I'll stick with my "modern" 1.8 petrol Berlingo, and my Range Rover LSE V8, which is on (almost) non-polluting LPG.

[Ashley]

[Keith D]

I loathe diesels!

I hate the smell of the fuel, both burnt and unburnt. I hate standing in a pool of the stuff if I fill a car. Spilled petrol evaporates - diesel doesn't, So I take the stink inside the car on my shoes. The engines seem always slimy with an oily sheen that Australian dust quickly adheres to.

I understand that it is highly carcinogenic. (World Health Organisation)

IMHO diesel engines belong in tractors, trucks and trains, not in cars.

As far as economy goes, diesel vehicles are far dearer to buy (In Australia) than their petrol equivalents. My son has a diesel Mitsubishi Pajero and tells me how much less fuel he uses than my petrol Jeep Cherokee. The Jeep is fed LPG and my actual fuel cost in dollars is far less than his diesel. And I don't have to listen to the sound of a hammer banging on an anvil! And I don't create anywhere near as much pollution.

My Mitsubishi Magna (3.5 litre 6 cylinder petrol) I run on LPG. It uses a bit more gas than petrol, but cost wise it equates with about 40 - 45 mpg on petrol and I drive quite hard and fast and frequently tow.

I'll stick with LPG powered petrol engines thanks!

Keith

[clan chieftain]

My son has a 1993 Astra petrol with the Ecotec engine. It is a great running car with only 38000. It is sore on oil but there are no oil leaks. He says this is common with the Ecotec. Surely he cant be right.?
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The Clan Chieftain

[peter scott]

[ukdave2002]

Keith

5 years ago I would have the same veiw as you, but frankly modern diesels knock spots of petrol counterparts on every level, as Peter illustrated.

I remember driving a naturally aspirated diesel Vauxhall Astra over the Pennines on the M62 a few years ago, It was noisy I was getting overtaken by lorries on the hills !! It was truly awful ! , however things have changed over the last decade or so, not much can be done about the smell, but they are now quiet, refined, powerful as well as being economical .

So here is one person who a few years ago would have had a diesel "over my dead body" now a convert .

Dave

[47Jag]

I love my diesel Jaguar XF. The power that it has is amazing. I have to drive with the handbrake on to keep the speed down

Art