Common rail small diesels <1.5ltr , opinions for small motorway comfy car

Drove one a few weeks ago while looking for a car for myself - horrible engine, underpowered and very unrefined. Corsa is better with the 1.3cdti but the car is still a corsa.

Of all the small diesels the Yaris is the best, and 60mpg is easily acheivable in it. Next size up would have to be a Leon / Golf kind of thing.

From what I've heard the 1.7CDTI Astras are gutless (though other people have said different), and my worry with a 1.4/1.5 commonrail one would be that at higher speeds the economy would suffer a lot more than you might think, due to just lack of power - most are around 68bhp.

Mind you, you can get a Clio with an 80bhp 1.5dCi engine, which might be a good bet, but personally for very impressive economy at higher speeds I don't think you'll beat a VAG 1.9 TDI - either the 110bhp old-style one, or the 115/130bhp PD engine (which are obviously going to be dearer).

Or even the 90bhp version - something like a Polo/Ibiza TDI is positively

*excellent* on fuel at high-ish speeds. And they're not that expensive at all - should get a really decent one with change from £2k.

Peter

'gutless' is in the eye of the beholder. Yes, Tim Kemp isn't going to like it, but my mum might. Ditto 'higher speeds' - it really depends on what sort of a driver the OP is.

Eg the 1.9 NA BX doesn't drink at 70-75 - and that's got about 68bhp. So keep it within that and it's still economical.

cheers, clive

Aye, but given the OP's desire for it to be economical at "higher speeds", I'm guessing we're talking 80-85mph or so, so an engine with a half-decent amount of power, and known for superb economy is what's required, and a VAG TDI would fit the bill perfectly.

Peter

What is the service/oil change intervals & cost?

Guys guys...don't let this mushroom into something too complicated.

I do my own servicing using Millers XFD full synth oil @ 10000miles ( about twice a year )

My previous car was a 90bhp 1.9 TDI VAG unit....in the 1st known car to sport it..the Audi 80. I got 51 mpg out of that. It was very well screwed together but basic features and handling wasn't so hot. I get 48-51mpg out of the Laguna which seems to be dependant on ambient / fuel type / traffic levels. Typical motorway speed 80mph when there is an open road. I usually get an average mpg very close to the 'combined' figures in the sales data of cars.

So if there are any posters here who run a sub-1.5ltr diesel in motorway conditions, can they confirm what kind of mpg they get. EG, the 1.4 Yaris D4D has a combined figure of 64mpg on the parkers site. Does anybody ever get anyway near close to that ????

I'd consider finding a Clio dCI 80 and getting it chipped to 100bhp. But its easy to get sucked into thinking 100bhp means a 25% power increase, because the true measure should be the torque not the bhp

I'm not on a quest to best the ultimate mpg, I just want to sacrifice the space/size I don't need in favour of lower running costs.

hey, I drive a 1.7 CDi A class at the moment - the Astra is gutless even in comparison to mine. And noisier.

The VW 1.9 is as economical day to day and yet better to drive. The Yaris (yes it's smaller) is even better on fuel, and still good to drive.

Not true, what is needed is low CDA and a high efficiency engine. As I've said before, Yaris. Or Smart. Or corsa / punto with the new 1.3 diesel.