Advantages v disadvantages of a diesel!!!

Not at all.

I remember reading about the a very favourable report on the BMW 330D when it first came out, in Evo... a performance mag, not for burberry totting chavs.

Maybe, maybe not.

Fresacely.

Diesel's are for OAPs, petrol for chavs.

I did far less than 100k with some of the diesels I had when I was a courier, and they cost much less to run overall, than the petrols I had.

They also didn't invariably spend their day kicking the fan in and out constantly, when on a 60+ drops, urban session.

You are of course, correct... which is why all the Octavias around here, are TDis, and not SDi models.

I see - speculation is a crime now is it?

As mentioned above - if you're gonna run 300k miles then you hit payback -

100k miles and you might not.

And cab firms don't care about performance or noise (although they should - noise exposure over an 8 hour day in a diesel car can be significant), only about costs.

And you appear to have missed the point that as a rule, I don't buy new cars, or even nearly new cars...

Yes, there is an SDi in the original Octavia range, of which they still use loads of them round here.

huh (to the fans) - as to the cost less overall did you not see my costs breakdown? Hard numbers and yet you deny the facts. 100k does not make up the typical differences in higher non-fuel costs.

There's an SDi? Can only see the TDi on

- 90bhp, 0-62 13s,

41.5 urban, 1400kg, 155 lb ft - they obviously chose it for performance.

Not actually true. The older diesels (eg 1990ish) are more reliable than their petrol cousins. Eg no ECU to worry about.

(dunno about the modern ones).

cheers, clive

In terms of finance / depreciation etc., yes it does.

And hold their money.

Mine did... and I sold them on without losing too much more often than not, be they petrol or diesel, but as I've said so many times elsewhere in this thread, what do I know, I was only there!

If I'd been buying them and driving them til they were ready to be scrapped, you may, if the diesel had cost that much more, and not been used for enough miles in the interim to make up the difference in initial cost, in fuel savings, then you might have had a point relevant to you knowing ever so slightly more than the 'f*ck all' you know about me and the cars I've had, in this context.

Not at all.

I preferred the torquey drive around town, amongst other things - it made my life easier when on multidrop duties, and when I have to drop various members of the family off in the rush hour across the other side of town.

You don't like them... fair enough - don't buy or drive them on a regular basis, then.

I do like them, and for the various reasons I've stated throughout this thread - if you cannot accept that I've come to these preferences through experience of a lot of cars, petrol and diesel, driven over a lot of miles in sometimes quite harsh conditions for the cars in question, then there's nothing else I can do to get you or anyone else to respect my opinion, is there...

I've not criticised your personal choices in terms of car really, have I?

It's been a long day... they use TDis, even though when they bought them, they could have bought the cheaper SDi models.

Ahh right - you buy /older/ cars and that changes the economics? Used diesels of same age and mileage as equivalent petrols are normally also dearer. Yes the amount of money is less, so the breakeven point is less, but the only benefit is lower fuel consumption. Still.

You said they used TDi, now you say they use SDi. Make your mind up.

"How long is a piece of string?"

It depends what you buy, and how much you pay for it in the first place.

Well you don't, do you really... and yet you seem to know my own mind better than I do!

Take a small to medium sized petrol engined car... pull away using just the clutch.

Now do the same in the diesel equivalent, be it NA or a TD, indirect or direct injection.

In *my* experience, you get away with a lot more in a diesel - the throttle cable went on one I had recently, and I was driving, stop start in heavy traffic, pulling away *up* a slope, with just the clutch for control - no problem at all, and no bulking, or shuddering.

I'd have had a real job doing the same in a petrol equivalent.

Diesels of the small to medium variety at least, are a smoother drive in terms of things like this, around town, in my experience... it's a virtue I've come to appreciate of something more for the daily drive, than the weekend scratcher.

Nope. The way they drive as well - see above.

They're not even that noisy, much as Burgervan would have you believe otherwise.

In the face of much criticism of my own choices?

*shrug*

I can't help it if your constant self reassurances about your own personal four wheeled choice, come across as exactly that now, can I.

Indeed - but then you'll find V8 BMWs are cheaper than Diesel BMWs, for example. Same goes all round. Parts tend to be cheaper for the mainstream petrol engines (1.6 golf as opposed to 1.9tdi etc).

Same is true of any car past the 4 yr mark.

So, you admit, no difference between petrol or diesel?

read that again...

Torquey drive comes from having big amounts of air coming in at low revs - am I wrong?

So anything turbo'd, supercharged or big capacity would fit the bill. So the only benefit is lower fuel consumption.

I try not to.

I seem to recall you inferring it as more of a penis extension than a car...

I think you are confusing the group's highlighting of your mis-apprehension that diesel cars have any benefit other than fuel economy with criticism of your own choices.

You called my choice a penis extension, I have /not/ criticised your choice, only your incorrect opinion that there is any benefit other than fuel economy of a diesel car, to which you offer no argument, but lots of abuse...

the vovlo diesel is quite nice as far as derv's go

didn't they use Isuzu units first?

'The group'.

That'll be you, Burgervan, and a few others, will it?

You're not 'the group'... and nor looking at the posts that have gone before in this thread, are you the overall majority, either.

*I* amongst others, like the power delivery of certain diesels, and the economy they offer. I also like certain petrols, and don't feel the need to constantly argue the case against them.

Some of the negative points raised about diesels, are valid, and some of them are quite frankly, unfounded - modern diesels are no more noisy in the great scheme of things on the move, than the petrol equivalent.

Top Gear highlighted the new 5 series diesel is quieter than the V8 one, at

70mph.

Well come on... explain to us all, why it is exactly, you *need* a big car like that.

ROTFL... you appear to have skipped quite nicely over the fact I made several other points in their favour, but whatever...

OK, how about this... If you have no idea how cars work and understand little a diesel is for you because all ya mates say they are torquey, and are now "MODERN" and somhow better than tractors...

If you understand all things mechanical, enjoy nice smooth tractable engines with a decent rev range and proper usable power, and dont want to smell of diesel, and vibrate your way to work slowly you go for the petrol / turbo petrol alternative because lifes too short to suffer for the sake of a few coppers on fuel...

OK now I know its a diesel jawa CZ twin 35....