Best Japanese diesel?

toyota are the nicest I know, get an avensis

mrcheerful

The current status is something like:

Honda: 1.7 unit is from Isuzu. 2.0 unit is their own. Toyota: Uses its own engines Nissan: 1.5 unit from Renault. Announced plans to use 1.9 Renault unit. Rest are their own. Mazda: uses units from Ford/PSA.

New or used? If used, beware that the Japanese have only recently started fitting diesel engines that compare with Europe's best. Buy a 3 year old plus, and you may be getting an diesel engine that is far from class leading.

Ian

And if you want a diesel automatic then you can forget the Japanese entirely. In the Avensis class there isn't a single Japanese manufacturer who mates their diesel engines with an auto box. Heaven knows why - but it has lost them at least one customer!

Kev

Probably because the Japanese develop their autoboxes primarily for the Japanese market, where fitment of auto is very high, and diesel penetration is minimal.

Ian

Ian Riches ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Apart from the subtle detail that few of the current "Avensis class" Japanese cars are actually developed in Japan or even available there.

Given that all the main Japanese makers have (at the very least) technology sharing agreements with European makers who do offer diseasel autos, it does seem a little odd.

Almost as odd as anybody wanting an Avensis or Primera in the first place.

That's true...but even though they are developed over here they still tend to stick with the Aisin / JATCO transmissions that are developed for the home market. That's why I said "develop their autoboxes" ;-)

Diesel autos are still a very small market, in relative terms, for Europe, especially in mass-market vehicles. Also, the Japanese manufacturers are still playing catch-up in diesel.

What would I know, I drive a Skoda ;-)

Ian

Japan is also phasing out diesel altogether.

In news:41407ace$1 snipped-for-privacy@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com, jeremy decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Now there's a transport policy I agree with.

I would imagine so. Isn't the whole point of a Diesel to get excellent fuel economy? Then why hook it up to something which is going to make you use more fuel? Doesn't really make sense.

Anyway part of the fun of driving a diesel is the torque, you lose much control over that when you take away the manual gearbox.

The message from "Mark Hewitt" contains these words:

Not entirely - as you say yourself, part of the fun is the completely different style of driving. Suits me /far/ better than petrol.

Sorry but I disagree entirely with the above. I know there are still some people who, despite congested roads and stop/start motoring still prefer all that left-leg pumping and stick waggling. I gave it up four cars ago and will never go back to manual again. Over the years I've introduced several people to auto motoring and they all say the same: They wished they'd gone auto years ago, and they'll never go back. Now, having said that, there is certainly a minor fuel consumption penalty to owning an auto (same as if you moved up from a 1.6 to a 2.0 litre car also) and so it makes sense to try and offset that penalty if you can. Moving to a diesel auto is the perfect answer. You have the massive benefits of the auto box but better fuel consumption than the equivalent petrol manual. I also disagree totally with the auto box not making best use of the diesel's torque. The power band on a diesel is narrower than on the petrol equivalent and with a manual this means even more silly stick waggling. The auto box takes care of all this for you - enabling you to sit back relaxed and enjoy the drive, and the torque of the diesel motor. Perfick !!

Kev

The message from "Uno Hoo!" contains these words:

I'd love a diesel automatic - but I can't find one at the price I want that does what I want.

At the moment I've got a 7-seat estate - but finding a diesel auto one of them is fairly unlikely. Particularly for the £250 I paid for mine!

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Uno Hoo!" saying something like:

Quite so. Ford, for example, will make a diesel auto Transit on request. I had a go in one some years back and was reasonably impressed at how well it went in comparison to the manual.

The message from Grimly Curmudgeon contains these words:

My old firm has a diesel Mercedes minibus with an auto box. Not a Vito, the next size up. Lubberly, it is.

BAA use automatics round Heathrow 'cos they don't get abused as much and they don't keep having to replace clutches.