Diesel vs Smaller Petrol engine fuel economy

[biggrim 0]

Question for all here. Looking for personal experience and facts and figures if possible.

 

I know that diesel engines give better fuel economy, but what size of petrol engined car would yo have to buy to get similar returns per tank of fuel?

 

I'm asking cause when I sell the rado, I want to replace it with something a bit more sensible from a fuel point of view. However, I would like it to be able to pull the skin of custard unlike my fiance's 1.4l MK5 Golf and give decent mpg.

 

I'm thinking Passat or A3/4 diesels or petrol equivelant???

 

I do about 10k a year going to work etc and about 2k privately p/a.

 

Any suggestions?

[Goldie 2]

Diesel anyday over a small petrol...

 

Youll have to rag a little engine too hard and will loose all the economy anyway...

[Walesy 0]

As above, diesel every time, i've got an Audi 80 Avant TDI at the moment and it's great. They run fine on 50/50 vege oil too :)

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

i still opted for a petrol instead of a diesel and i brought a little clio 1.6 16v and im averaging 39mpg to that and 41-43 on the motorway which i am very happy with so just depends what you want!

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

p.s also your not doing massive mileage so if you can get a petrol with good economy a diesel wont be saving shed loads! if you were doing 20k+ a year i would say buy a diesel i have been told that one of the small yaris engines is lively and gives very good mpg

[Dan_NI 0]

not sure about prices in england but diesels are much harder to buy than petrol cars in NI so the fuel economy is offset by the higher purchase price.

 

Over here diesel A4's go for a couple of grand more than the equivalent petrol.

 

With your low miles you might get a higher fresher spec petrol.

[biggrim 0]

Good input guys, thanks.

 

I do want to be able to overtake people when required without having to have a 4 mile clear straight ahead of me! LOL

[StuartFZR400 0]

"a bit more sensible..." but still able to go nippy. Most of the larger deisels will; 1.9 , 2.0 TDI etc.

 

I've driven a 1.5 Megan, gives me 58mpg and more. Nippy upto 80 but dies after that. Whereas the 1.9 keeps going for a while; but mpg is more like 50.

 

Bloke in the office got a 2.0TDI Passat today, while his GT Alfa is in for service. He says its goes very well. To second that oppinion my mate with his 20v Turbo hates it when he barely leaves these big deisel saloons.

 

Still get that nasty slimey feel on your hands at every fill up though :pukeleft:

[biggrim 0]

Wear the lovely plastic gloves at the petrol station!!

[G60Jet 1]

I've just done 585 miles on a tank at £55 to brim the tank, in my TDI lean and thats with Ultimate Diesel from BP @99.9p per litre. PLUS the trip still said i could go another 60miles.

[double-6s 0]

If you're only doing 10k a year is fuel economy really that big an issue mate?

 

For example, the difference between fueling a diesel doing 50 mpg and a vr doing say 30, is about 600 quid!!

 

For that amount of cash, I would drive a vr and enjoy myself. Personally.

[biggrim 0]

I hear what you're saying matey but it's 90% rush hour traffic and the G60 just drinks petrol (always optimax). At this moment in time, £600 is a lot of money. I've always wanted a VR and will most likely get another Rado someday but at the mo, the G must go and be replaced with a sensible mo fo!

[Jim 1]

Worth going for, provided the car needs no work doing to it.

 

My MK4 TDI was mega economical.. almost managed a months driving on a tank full of diesel once, which was just superb. Problem was it broke a lot and negated any savings I would have made.

 

But definately.. I did feel more flush every month driving a diesel. There were noticable savings to be made even though I do comparatively low mileage.

[VR6JAM 0]

Get a good Turbo-diesel mate and get a re-map or tuning box and you'll get the best of both, 50mpg and a fair bit of go too!

 

Believe it or not mine doesn't feel too far behind the VR although the noise can't quite compare .

[LisaK 0]

I'd choose a TDi over a small petrol engine definitely - my other car is a 2001 SEAT Ibiza 1.9 TDi Sport. I get a nice average 50mpg, it never goes below 47mpg, even when "spirited" driving and I get pretty much 430-450miles to a tank :)

[double-6s 0]

I hear what you're saying matey but it's 90% rush hour traffic and the G60 just drinks petrol (always optimax). At this moment in time, £600 is a lot of money. I've always wanted a VR and will most likely get another Rado someday but at the mo, the G must go and be replaced with a sensible mo fo!

 

:(

 

Yeah I see what you're saying bud. A dark dark day cometh......

[G60Jet 1]

the 1.9TDI engine is so torquey, it'll match the normal Cupra/petrol FR leon easy. a remapped tdi 150 with give a standard cupra r a run for its money

[Neil VR6 0]

My Pug 205 TD does 53mpg (1.7) and it only cost me £550 :lol:

[dr_mat 0]

It's a no brainer, really. Diesels don't rev much, and without the turbo they're pathetic, but with the turbo they're both economical AND performant. Small petrol cars can easily do 45-50 mpg on long journeys, but they'll come nowhere near the torque of a TDi.

Of course, you might well find that the TDi is dull, soulless and uninspiring. But you pays your money, you takes your choice.

 

Essentially, if you want torque and easy driving and economy and enough pace to worry the hot hatch brigade, TDi it is, but if you want free revving and an interesting noise and excitement .. you need a petrol engine for those moments when you want to play, not just "go fast".

[jonnyboyo 0]

I'd go for a diesel. Mate of mine has just got a 150bhp TDI VW Boring (Bora) and it goes like STINK i'm telling you. Its a bog standard 2003 ex company effort with FSH, 103k, all the toys like 4x leccy windows, air-con & climate, premium sound system upgrade which goes loud as fook with tons of bass, alloys, in dash 6 disc CD etc. And all for £5250, plus its absolutely mint. The fuel economy is awesome and it sounds rather beefy too. No car that fast should be returning 40+ mpg urban when driven like its been nicked.

[dr_mat 0]

Remember fast is not equal to fun, necessarily.. You can have more fun with a slower car that responds nicely than a stonkingly fast one that doesn't involve..

[jonnyboyo 0]

True. But its still awesome!!! Got me thinking of a 150bhp tdi engine transplant lol! All the C fun and still fast, but economical. I'm just a brassick Northern tight arse :lol: :lol:

[mbaker8v 0]

My remapped 8 valve C throws out 132BHP, about the same torque in lb/ft ( all at the flywheel fro mAmD RR) and returns 41mpg on myA road run to work..... And no i dont drive it like a pussy, and no 8v's arent as crap as you all think....

[TomB 0]

I like my GTD :-) Nowhere near as fun as a 'rado but cheaper & runs on veg oil & gets 450-ish miles to the tank.

There was a late model with PAS & a tacho on eBay for £250 the other day.

[jonnyboyo 0]

MBAKER8V how did you manage to get that much bhp & torque? What other mods have you done other than a re-map?? Any headwork???