DIESEL. PETROL. DIESEL. PETROL

[fatjoez 3]

If this has been discussed to death... sorry.

I've been talking to all the big brand dealers lately in the hunt for a car.

The general concensus from them is that diesel is getting more popular by the day.

I went to VW in newmarket and saw a black passat cc 125KW diesel

Came back the week after and it was sold..

Personally I'm still not a fan just cause of the noise and just for the fact that it sounds cheap driving a diesel lol.

That said, I wanted to get everyones opinions / thoughts on Diesel / Petrol in 2010,

in relation to BMW and other Car companies current offerings.

ps: is Diesel "the future" (mercedes newmarket, auckland dealer rep lol)?

[DRTDVL 0]

Diesels are quieter now than most petrol engines... Well the pug ones anyways...

[kiwi535 538]

i hate the smeel of deisel.I f ihad a deisel car i would end up haveing special shoes and gloves for use at fill up time.Modern deisels are nice to drive i would like to try a manual 530 or 535 deisel or a dsg skoda or vw

[OP6 27]

European diesels are just as quick, if not quicker than their petrol equivalents. They have so much grunt the auto is the only way to go. I would have driven every BMW diesel available in NZ along with all the Ford diesels smaller than the Transit and am constantly impressed by the torque. An auto diesel on a trip is great, smooth, powerful and economical.

Having said that, at this stage I could not live with one - not a big enough rev range, unpleasant as a manual, and a ratshit exhaust noise - least as a daily driver.

At one stage last year a salesman at BMW told me that more than 50% of the new BMWs sold in NZ are diesels. So all in all they are the way to go for the present, next up will be hydrogen, hybrids and electric cars.

[kiwi535 538]

European diesels are just as quick, if not quicker than their petrol equivalents. They have so much grunt the auto is the only way to go. I would have driven every BMW diesel available in NZ along with all the Ford diesels smaller than the Transit and am constantly impressed by the torque. An auto diesel on a trip is great, smooth, powerful and economical.

Having said that, at this stage I could not live with one - not a big enough rev range, unpleasant as a manual, and a ratshit exhaust noise - least as a daily driver.

At one stage last year a salesman at BMW told me that more than 50% of the new BMWs sold in NZ are diesels. So all in all they are the way to go for the present, next up will be hydrogen, hybrids and electric cars.

agreed,the 530d i drove was really nice,but i think i would get bored.Everynow and then i give the ol 535 a rev up and it completely changes character at about 3500-4000 rpm.

The 530 had two or three traits that identified it as a deisel.The engine note was more basso the a 530 petrol.At traffic lights there is about a car length or two of not much urge.If you are surrounded by other vehicles or next to a solid fence you can hear the distictive deisel rattle at idel

[elmarco 56]

I'd have a modern european turbo diesel over the petrol equivalent any day.

[1rotty 40]

A diesel beemer rattled past me yesterday-just didnt seem right lol.

But yep seems like its the future

[DRTDVL 0]

you need to change your driving style to really drive a diesel... it's not something most people can do easily.

I'm bias but after driving the VAG diesels, and a few of the jap diesels - i can safely say they have a long way to go before they catch up with the Pug Diesels epically the new diesel engine in the 308.

The older HDI pugs where fantastic, didn't sound like a diesel and drove effortlessly.

[my_e36 43]

I'd have a modern european turbo diesel over the petrol equivalent any day.

Same here. I drive a VW Polo BlueMotion diesel (1.4 turbo) as a courier car, if I have a choice, I will pick this car again.

So much torque at low/mid rev, it feels like a 2 litre car from a 1.4 diesel engine. I can go up Bombay Hills sitting at 2000rpm in 5th!!

When I had my car serviced the other day, they gave me a petrol Polo of the same year but in auto (mine's manual), didn't like it. Diesel wins hands down compare to a same capacity petrol.

[AN E30 Fan 1]

My Family here in Barcelona have a new 535d Manual, it doesn't seem to loud and I tell you what its bloody quick.

Almost every car in Europe is a diesel and manual I think that in 10 years time NZ will be much like this maybe not in the manual department but definetly diesel. I wasn't such a fan of diesels but I would definetly look into them as an option now

[simke 0]

Few months ago I drove E90 320d around Europe for couple of weeks and was more than impressed with the engine. Before picking it up I thought it would be crap to drive being 2l diesel, but I was very wrong. With 6 speed manual gearbox it moved around quite nicely. And the economy was unbelievable. If I was buying brand new euro today I'd definitely consider a diesel.

Edited February 7, 2010 by Simke

[Braeden320 0]

I wonder how long it will take for electric cars to take off?Fair enough they are still expensive and the infrastrusture isn't quite in place but its a very interesting concept.I've been following the news on it for some time now.

Tesla have built one and Mecedes Benz have recently brought 10% of Tesla.They wouldn't have done that for no reason.

Website makes for very interesting reading if you are into technology etc.

Family member has 407 Diesel and it is a very nice car to drive.Well speced

[bravo 34]

you need to change your driving style to really drive a diesel... it's not something most people can do easily.

Exactly what I was going to say. I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of the 320d I drove, and the specs speak for themselves. 320i 125kw, 210Nm vs 320d 130kw, 350Nm.

If you drive a diesel like a petrol, you'll spend too much time at the top of the fairly small rev range and it'll feel like it's run out of puff. Change earlier at any revs above the turbo spool threshold and make use of that low-down torque, and you can feel the punch in your back.

I think that modern diesels are really suited to modern Auto transmissions.

I'd buy one without a doubt.

[lidistick 70]

I drove a 118d in Munich. 5 of us fully loaded and it had no problems doing 170 ~180km/h on the autobahn. No diesel clatter on the inside and pretty quiet on the outside. It was a manual and if you stopped at the lights and push the clutch in and popped it into neutral, the engine shut itself down. I thought I broke the damn thing!

Consumption was amazing. 12L of diesel for 286km of driving. Thats 4.2L/100kms! Involved autobahn driving at full tilt and some city driving on a Sunday from Munich to Schwangau to see the Schloss Neuschwanstein.

It would depend on what sorta car and for what sorta use. If it was a daily driver, then sure, an automatic diesel is not a problem. Definitely not for a weekend car tho

[Guest Simon*]

Totally agree that the modern Euro diesels are awesome. RUCs need to be addressed though to make the financial incentive better. Split commercial from private use and charge accordingly if they want us to adopt clean burning efficient diesel cars.

[Jo Blogs 11]

Totally agree that the modern Euro diesels are awesome. RUCs need to be addressed though to make the financial incentive better. Split commercial from private use and charge accordingly if they want us to adopt clean burning efficient diesel cars.

Well after owning my Pug for 3 months now i have to say i would not go back to a petrol, Filled it on thursday, $46 Hehehehe.

Done 980Km so far,(150Km of that was towing my boat) and still have 1/4 of a tank left, They are the best on long trips, loads of tourqe, they dont have to rev, they are so quiet, cruise up big hills at 2000rpm, and you can tow anything with them,

Only down side is RUC, and a little bit extra for Rego, I don't think it would be worth it if you only did say 10,000 km a year, but i average 40,000km +.

Its clean burning, no smoke whats so ever, hell the oil doesn't even turn black, thats how clean it is.

[DRTDVL 0]

thats because pugs rule!

[tibbs.james 1]

I drove my old mans 2006 v8 Fairmont Falcon quite a bit And the same goes for his 2009 2.0 TDI Mondeo.

Don't miss the Falcon v8 at all, TDI monedeo has shitloads of torque smooth quiet and the auto is the best one i have tried yet.

It makes the 5.4L capacity of the falcon rather pointless when the Mondeo can do so much with so little.

Same goes for a lot of other small diesel i have rode passenger in, very quick reliable and quiet

diesels these days are nothing like a clacky old international truck , the people i have spoken to who dislike then have never really done their homework or had a decent drive on a modern turbo diesel

[kiwi535 538]

thats because pugs rule!

there arent any manual deisel pugs on TM(ok ther might be one)

[kiwi535 538]

I drove my old mans 2006 v8 Fairmont Falcon quite a bit And the same goes for his 2009 2.0 TDI Mondeo.

Don't miss the Falcon v8 at all, TDI monedeo has shitloads of torque smooth quiet and the auto is the best one i have tried yet.

It makes the 5.4L capacity of the falcon rather pointless when the Mondeo can do so much with so little.

Same goes for a lot of other small diesel i have rode passenger in, very quick reliable and quiet

diesels these days are nothing like a clacky old international truck , the people i have spoken to who dislike then have never really done their homework or had a decent drive on a modern turbo diesel

its the turbo thats done it...i reckon a whole generation of direct injection mid capacity LPT petrol engined cars could change motoring too

[Jo Blogs 11]

there arent any manual deisel pugs on TM(ok ther might be one)

I had to fly all the way to Duneden to get my Pug, In auto, It is 2004 so it has the adaptive box, it is better than a manual, Lol, lets not turn this into a auto/manual war though.

It changed down gears when approaching corners, or under braking, it adapts to your style of driving,

I think that auto is better in a diesel, but a BMW M3 should defnitley be Manual

[DRTDVL 0]

I drove my old mans 2006 v8 Fairmont Falcon quite a bit And the same goes for his 2009 2.0 TDI Mondeo.

Don't miss the Falcon v8 at all, TDI monedeo has shitloads of torque smooth quiet and the auto is the best one i have tried yet.

All 2009 Specs

Holden R8 = 550Nm at 4600rpm (6.2-litre V8)

Holden SV6 = 350Nm at 2900rpm (3.6-litre V6)

Peugeot 407 2.7 Diesel = 440Nm at 1900rpm (2.7-litre V6)

Peugeot 407 2.0 Diesel = 320Nm at 2000rpm (2.0-litre IL4)

All the new pugs diesels use a Porsche developed 6 speed tiptronic gearbox, and i can safely say it's a damm nice box to drive...

[Jo Blogs 11]

All 2009 Specs

Holden R8 = 550Nm at 4600rpm (6.2-litre V8)

Holden SV6 = 350Nm at 2900rpm (3.6-litre V6)

Peugeot 407 2.7 Diesel = 440Nm at 1900rpm (2.7-litre V6)

Peugeot 407 2.0 Diesel = 320Nm at 2000rpm (2.0-litre IL4)

All the new pugs diesels use a Porsche developed 6 speed tiptronic gearbox, and i can safely say it's a damm nice box to drive...

Haha, Not to far of eh? You should put up the fuel consumption specs to! That would be a laugh !!!

[antil33t 90]

I'd be pretty keen for a decent sized turbodiesel... I could easily live with a 535d with the "m" kit.

[swordfish 30]

This is awesome!!! Nobody is for petrol cars so far It's a shame... Well don't kill me guys... But unfortunately I think petrol era is not finished yet. I love petrol cars... all of them 4 cylinders, 6 cylinders, v8, v10, v12, w12, v16 and yeah one of the favourites line 6 cylinder engines. All of them have their own style, their character, sound, feel... would you get the same feel with a diesel engine... I might be wrong, but I do think so... It is all kinda of the same. Yeah, you can get more power wilth a volume increase or a turbo charger you might change a sound with a super filtered back to engine type exhaust system that does knows what to you engine. But what an enjoinment to sit in the car and listen to the noise of you engine on the low 4 cylinder rumble or line 6 revving up so high like singing... and then putting your foot of that gas paddle hearing how its steadily going down... Or a v10 giving you the feel of a F1 car in new m5. I can't speak for a v12 and 16 because I have ever had a chance to be in one. I don't know about you guys... But as far as I am young and stupid I love petrol cars. They give you individuality. Looking at all of the specs you are right Diesel wins. And you can proudly, say Diesel power! But ask you self a question would you rather have a new 330cxi coupe or a 330d???

Edited February 8, 2010 by swordfish