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Diesel or Petrol?

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    Diesel or Petrol?

    Started the long deliberation of what car to get next. Nothing too exotic, just a medium sized motorway cruiser that's not too dull or too expensive to run, around 3 years old and preferably under £15k.

    I've never owned a diesel before, mainly because I like something with a 0-60 of under 8 seconds. However looking on Parkers some of the recentish models offer a similar performance with diesel as they do with the equivalent petrol variant, yet still have an average mpg around the 50s where petrol is mid 30s at best.

    So is diesel becoming a no brainer? Road tax is typically a lot cheaper (e.g. diesel is band B or C where the petrol is F or G), performance is on par (even if it's delivered differently with low down torque rather than the high revs of petrol), and some diesels even sound less clattery than we've come to expect.

    As a non-diesel owner am I missing some downsides that need to be considered?
    Last edited by PAH; 27 February 2008, 09:48.
    Feist - 1234. One camera, one take, no editing. Superb. How they did it
    Feist - I Feel It All
    Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Later With Jools Holland)

    #2
    LPG

    Higher octane than petrol and half the price.

    Comment


      #3
      Audi A8 diesel. Clarkson recently drove one 800 miles on one tank.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by zeitghost
        Yes.

        Diesel stinks.

        Isn't that only if you've sourced it from the local chippy? I suppose there's an argument for getting an older car (that you're not worried about knackering up) and running it on the cheapest supermarket oil you can find. Tax free.

        I certainly don't like those puffs of smoke they beltch when the car in front floors it, but I think many newer cars have an additional filter to trap most of it? That reminds me, I suppose servicing of diesels is more expensive?
        Feist - 1234. One camera, one take, no editing. Superb. How they did it
        Feist - I Feel It All
        Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Later With Jools Holland)

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Ardesco View Post
          LPG

          Higher octane than petrol and half the price.
          Is it commonplace now or do you still need to know where the nearest stations are?

          I think LPG will be like diesel, which used to be a lot cheaper than petrol too. Then the goverment saw the rise in popularity of diesel and raised the price so diesel is more expensive than petrol.
          Feist - 1234. One camera, one take, no editing. Superb. How they did it
          Feist - I Feel It All
          Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Later With Jools Holland)

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by moorfield View Post
            Audi A8 diesel. Clarkson recently drove one 800 miles on one tank.
            I don't like big lumps of metal that are fine for motorway cruising but not as much fun on the A roads. I do like the style of the A8 though, but would prefer an A4 or something of similar size or a bit smaller.

            Forgetting image I quite like the newer Focus. Around the same size as an A3 estate (sportback) but looks a lot smaller due to the styling. Shame they only do slowish ones (0-60 in 9s or more) or the bonkers ST that averages barely more than 20mpg (despite Ford claiming 30mpg). Where's the model that does 0-60 in 7-8 seconds, which would be a nice compromise of performance and efficiency?
            Feist - 1234. One camera, one take, no editing. Superb. How they did it
            Feist - I Feel It All
            Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Later With Jools Holland)

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by PAH View Post
              Is it commonplace now or do you still need to know where the nearest stations are?

              I think LPG will be like diesel, which used to be a lot cheaper than petrol too. Then the government saw the rise in popularity of diesel and raised the price so diesel is more expensive than petrol.
              All BP garages seem to have it, (I've not come across one that hasn't for a few years now). You also get a petrol tank as well so that if no LPG is available you can run on good old fashioned petrol until you can refill at a BP again.

              Wouldn't surprise me if the government jack up the duty on it, but you'll have a few years yet before that happens IMHO.

              Was going to get a conversion on my car but it's done 140,000 miles now and is probably on it's last legs and I don't really fancy blowing £1,000 on it.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Ardesco View Post
                All BP garages seem to have it, (I've not come across one that hasn't for a few years now). You also get a petrol tank as well so that if no LPG is available you can run on good old fashioned petrol until you can refill at a BP again.

                Wouldn't surprise me if the government jack up the duty on it, but you'll have a few years yet before that happens IMHO.

                Was going to get a conversion on my car but it's done 140,000 miles now and is probably on it's last legs and I don't really fancy blowing £1,000 on it.


                I've certainly thought about it but don't really want a large car just so I've still got some boot space after the LPG tank is fitted. Unless they do less intrusive modifications rather than the usual doughnut that takes up as much room as a spare wheel.
                Feist - 1234. One camera, one take, no editing. Superb. How they did it
                Feist - I Feel It All
                Feist - The Bad In Each Other (Later With Jools Holland)

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by PAH View Post
                  I think LPG will be like diesel, which used to be a lot cheaper than petrol too. Then the goverment saw the rise in popularity of diesel and raised the price so diesel is more expensive than petrol.

                  AFAIR Diesel was never cheeper than unleaded cause unleaded is 3 Star. Diesel was cheeper than old 4 star, which you can't get any more....

                  Comment


                    #10
                    http://www.tinleytech.co.uk/sizes.html

                    I think a lot of people just replace their spare wheel with one and buy some of that foam stuff that fills up the tyre in the case of a puncture to get them home.

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