Petrol vs Diesel

neil.c said:
Our 89 MKII Golf GTi 8V used to do 50 mpg on my weekly motorway commute, our later (heavier) MKIII GTi 16v used to acheive 45mpg, our S3 acheives 38 mpg, and our 911 acheives 31mpg, all aceptable figures and all better drives than most oil burners.

I drive an Astra diesel company car Monday to Friday which averages between 47 and 52 mpg and I would drive any one of the above at the weekend in preference to the oil burner.
Click to expand...

How on earth do you get that?
Surely you drive at walking pace?

I have a Mk3 GTI 16v...and I get 25-28 MPG out of it...
I have a 911...and I get 18 MPG average...and once, an impressive 26 MPG (but the air con was broken...and I was very low on petrol)
I have a Fabia vRS and I get 40-43 MPG...
My S3 was averaging 25 MPG...
All driven the same way, by the same driver...that is, used and used hard.

I just don't see how firstly, you get the sort of economy you do from the petrols...and secondly, how you can't fail to get much better economy from the diesel when driven in a similar manner to the rest.

As for 'better drives'...if the Mk3 GTI 16v is standard...then a standard vRS is a vastly better drive! So diesels can be fun...maybe not so much an Astra.
 
Well I used to get 32mpg from our 1.8T A3, so how on earth you think you're getting 38mpg from your S3 god only knows, unless you only drive downhill!
50mpg from a Mk2 GTi? - I don't think so!
 
I only do low miles so sold the old clunky smoker and opted for a petrol engine again.:rockwoot:
 
was a no-brainer for me.........
MK5 VW GTI (previous car) - 17to25 mpg
A3 2.0TDI SPORT - 40to50 mpg
Really starting to get concerned about the price of diesel though
 
Been out today looking at a new company car for the wife. Has to be a small one, as bless her, she doesn't like driving a big car and parking aids don't help.

Looked at getting her another Golf TDI sport, facelifted, free leather, tints etc. A3, although with the impending face lift, cannot get any exact date for delivery - no good when she also does 40K pa. So settled on the below. - Quote from Whatcar? website.

120d M Sport
A vibrant 175bhp 2.0 diesel engine powers the entry cars and that's enough to hit 62mph in just 7.6sec. Average economy is 58.9mpg.

Handles surprising well, even in a wet day like today - scared the salesguy mind!!

Now the 2.0D is quicker to 60, and top end than the 2.0L petrol, and far more mid-range grunt. Slightly dearer (£700), although official figures averages 16mpg more.
 
Good to see some interesting debate on this one :)

I've gotta say though, I'm in the camp that's struggling to believe a 'lively' petrol (a GTI, S3 etc.) are delivering such high averages when being driven with a bit of vigour. I'd be guessing 20mpg being driven that way and maybe 30mpg when getting a bit more sensible... But then the difference is a diesel being driven the same way will give ~40mpg when going at it a bit, and 50mpg+ when chilled out. It doesn't take many miles for that to start saving money.

Anyway, like I said in my earlier post, the comparison as it affects me isn't based soley on fuel economy. If I'm driving a TDI with even 200lb/ft of torque, I'm going to be having to run something much tastier as a petrol than I could afford to in terms of insurance, maintenance and the rest in order to get something that feels as much of a solid drive.

I had some good news the other day anyway...

Unfortunately I have to keep a hire car for a bit longer :(

However, the company phoned to offer an exchance... I suggested they keep talking...

I'm getting rid of the petrol Focus which I've revved the nuts off for 12,000 miles...

In return I will receive a brand new Golf...

Black...






...And a TDI :)

I'm looking forward to getting back to that effortless and comfortable cruising! :)

Regards,

Rob.
 
FactionOne said:
I'm looking forward to getting back to that effortless and comfortable cruising! :)
Click to expand...

Just back from an airport run collecting a friend and my car (A6 2.4 V6) does this in spades. And at 70mph slower moving traffic is dispatched safely and comfortably with a small flex of my right big toe :) with no need to down shift a gear. Still working on the economy, but Meh! :p

lil_coz said:
It's bliss on motorways isn't it! :yes:
Click to expand...

See above. :yes:

james0808 said:
And sounds like an old tractor when in traffic.:noway:
Click to expand...

:friends:
 
Sorry guys, I had been drinking and it is all ******** :)

Well almost, The fgures for the S3 and 911 are from the wife although over the same route bear in mind that it is a motorway commute, saying that we never got less than 30 mpg out of our 16v MKIII no matter how or where I drove it. My enthusiastic averages for the S3 and 911 respectively are are 22 and 20 mpg
 
Oh, our 16v MkIII had modded suspension as the std setup was like sailing.
Don't get hung up on the fact that this was the average mpg as it wasn't, just for the commute which is about 5 miles to the motorway 40 miles up the motorway and 4 miles at the other end. I have just been out to the garage and took snaps of the OBC's on both cars (which I reset when I fill up)
P1000066.jpg

The Porsche has had a few around town runs since it was filled up including a fast run back from an indian (19 miles at speeds upto 125mph) and a run to Donnington circuit today, which was all of about 5 miles each way. 259 miles since reset

P1000061.jpg


Don't even know where the S3 has been, the doctors plus Tescos amongst others I suspect so pretty much local driving for its 102 miles
 
audi upgrades
What did I start ?!!

I shalln't go into the pros and cons of LPG then...!!!

Although a only 60p/l and a conversion cost of c£1500...


:)
 
LPG is really good,i drove from Notts to Heathrow in a Merc S500 and not hanging around,filled it back up for £17 when i got there.Not bad for a 5.0l and almost 140 miles.
 
Thanks to the widening gap in the price between petrol and diesel, I'm saving around £45 per month driving in and out of London in my Prius than I would over the same journey in my Sportback 2.0TDI. It's a double bonus - the Prius does just shy of 60mpg whereas the A3 can only manage around 45mpg in the city, and petrol is cheaper thus pushing the savings further.
 
Diesel engines get you approximately 30% further on a litre of fuel so if unleaded is £1.19 per gallon diesel would have to cost more than £1.54 for you to lose out finanacially. This based purely on the cost of fuel.
 
It's actually nearer 50%.
Do you honestly think they'd leave LPG on a subsidised tax if it became popular?
 
AndyMac said:
Do you honestly think they'd leave LPG on a subsidised tax if it became popular?
Click to expand...

Not a snowballs chance in hell!! The only reason we're not taxed on the amount of air we breathe is because nobody has figured out how to measure the amount we do.

If they ever do, then we are all screwed! :mad:
 
benw123 said:
Thanks to the widening gap in the price between petrol and diesel, I'm saving around £45 per month driving in and out of London in my Prius than I would over the same journey in my Sportback 2.0TDI. It's a double bonus - the Prius does just shy of 60mpg whereas the A3 can only manage around 45mpg in the city, and petrol is cheaper thus pushing the savings further.
Click to expand...

Life can never get so bad, that you have to drive a Prius, can you not walk/run/roller-skate?!

The missus had one for two weeks as a swap when someone went on their hols and wanted to borrow her car - God what a miserable car the Prius is. And now it's deemed to be worse to the planet than a V8 Discovery, what an amazing bit of marketing Toyota did..
 
But nearly 60mpg around town from a Prius is truely awful economy considering the petrol engine isnt meant to start below 30mph! Most Prius' I see are hammering down the outside lane of a motorway, not exactly being efficient! I think most people buy them thinking they're doing the polar bears a favour but they're not really at all!
 
Well, the new Rolf is pretty quick compared to that shed of a Focus I had before...

I assume it's a 140 TDI... It averaged about 42-44mpg on a short Motorway journey with a bit of national speed limit single-carriageway at either end. That's doing 80 on the needle (mid 70s GPS) on the Motorway and 65 (ish) on the needle on the other roads. I was making sure to get the full enjoyment of 2nd and 3rd gears on slip roads / from roundabouts though. I was quite surprised, thought it'd be higher than that.

I also drove it like a loon for a bit after resetting the computer. Average dropped as low as the late 20s / early 30s.

I've not really looked at it too much yet, but I'll do some more 'testing' today and post the averages...

I'm not that fussed anyway... Being driven the way I normally do, at worst it's only about the same to run as the Focus, but it's a much nicer drive...

Regards,

Rob.
 
well my S3 gives 300 miles to 68 quids worth os v power, the wifes TDI golf (140) gives 500 + for 64 quids worth of fuel.

The golf is easy to drive and pulls well and as we are keeping the car and got it cheap at 6 months old then its a win win for me.
 
There has been quite a few other threads on derv vs petrol; and from what I have read it really comes down to your driving requirements...obviously.

My thoughts and I could be wrong because I haven't done enough research are

The depreciation value of diesel over a petrol is relative. The diesel is more expensive and will sell at a higher price, but the petrol will be at a similar rate. At the end of the day, it depends what sort of deal you got when you bought it and how much someone is willing to pay to take it off your hands. If you buy it from a main dealer, then sell it privately, hopefully you will reduce its depreciation value.

As for diesel costs; 60% of drivers chose to have a diesel, so there is an increased demand meaning the buggers out there feel they can charge more for diesel in comparison to petrol. If the tables are ever turned, I am sure unleaded will become the more expensive.

If you are looking for performance, diesels have a nice level of torque, but what I don't like is the short rev range. Took on a 1.8T Toledo once in my fathers 1.9TDI Toledo. Did well up to 3rd gear, but as soon as I changed into 4th, the 1.8T left me for dust. Felt that if I didn't have to change gear so early I may have been in with a chance.:( It totally depends what you want out of the car, but exta wear on the tyres and clutch need to be considered.

Consumption comes down to the miles per year...nothing new there.

Think I will stick with petrol turbos for now...although still love driving my fathers 2.0 A4. Although less torque, the instant performance over the turbo lag is great.
 
bigdom71 said:
Life can never get so bad, that you have to drive a Prius, can you not walk/run/roller-skate?!
Click to expand...

Life has got better since buying the Prius. It costs little to run, rides nicely, is totally stress-free to drive and has surprised me by turning out to be a really decent family car - all my two-year-old son's things would be a real squeeze in the Sportback, but the Prius swallows the lot easily.

Nickynibbles said:
But nearly 60mpg around town from a Prius is truely awful economy considering the petrol engine isnt meant to start below 30mph! Most Prius' I see are hammering down the outside lane of a motorway, not exactly being efficient! I think most people buy them thinking they're doing the polar bears a favour but they're not really at all!
Click to expand...

60mpg is the overall average of driving in all conditions, not just around town. Sometimes I reset the fuel computer in the Prius when I reach the bottom of the A1 at Stirling Corner each morning. The best I've seen by the time I get to West London is just over 82mpg. I did two runs up to Cambridge and Towcester last week and saw over 60mpg from both without really trying. The latter figure might not seem that interesting but again, the difference in price between petrol and diesel secures a decent saving.

As I've said before, I realise the Prius isn't everyone's cup of tea and that's absolutely fine by me. I didn't buy it to save the environment; I bought it because it's easily the cheapest and most comfortable way of getting in and out of London for work. That it happens to be a very underrated car will be lost on many unfortunately.
 
"all my two-year-old son's things would be a real squeeze in the Sportback, but the Prius swallows the lot easily."
Now you are taking the ****!
 
benw123 said:
That it happens to be a very underrated car will be lost on many unfortunately.
Click to expand...

True. I had the loan of a Prius for two weeks when they 1st came out. Nice enough car with some very impressive technology.

Unfortunately they are now a victim of their own advertising and hype.



Btw, were you ever warned about not power hosing the rear vents on yours. Apparently the vents lead straight to the batteries.
 
When I collected the one I borrowed, the dealer pointed it out to me. It's o.k to hose around the vents. Just not directly into them.
 
Are diesels that much more to buy than the petrol equiv? I thought the Audis were a only a couple of hundred more...

Personally I drive a bigish engined petrol car as my daily driver. I average 280ish from a tank so around 28mpg. Which I think is acceptable. I cover about 35K a year.

When I had my A3 2.0Tdi I only got high 30's out of that on my commute and it wasn't as fun to drive as my BM.

For the family car we went for a diesel as it suited the car a lot better.

I'm planning on sticking with petrol for my next car as well.

J.
 
audi upgrades
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Diesel vs Petrol?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Neilybabs
Neilybabs
ardandy
Diesel v Petrol!
Replies
9
Views
1K
marmite
marmite
M
petrol or diesel.....
Replies
32
Views
2K
aragorn
A
Igdos
Petrol price = Diesel price
Replies
21
Views
2K
jojo
jojo
A
Save money on petrol & diesel with a free Pipeline Card!
Replies
4
Views
882
voorhees
voorhees
Top
Back