16V or 8V - whats best

mutley74

My relative is seeking a new or nearly new C3 picasso and seen some used for sale. Many cars are 1.6 HDI but some are available as 16V and 8V, and dealers quote these as both with 119g CO2 emissions thus same tax group.

i cant find any efficiency figures for the 16V and thus my relative is stuck what is the best type of engine to buy. Car will mainly be used for town and local driving, so he wants the most economical type to run and maintain.

thanks

jaydeeuk1

16v I'd imagine. Engines usually a newer design, better performance and similar MPG.

Only diff may be insurance, but if you're a codger then it shouldn't make a difference.

Stigy

16-valves tend to be more refined and thus more ecconomical. Diesels of this ilk tend not to be as noticeable as a petrol model, as diesels, by default are rattly noisy in comparison to petrol engines.

ani_26

mutley74 wrote: »

My relative is seeking a new or nearly new C3 picasso and seen some used for sale. Many cars are 1.6 HDI but some are available as 16V and 8V, and dealers quote these as both with 119g CO2 emissions thus same tax group.

i cant find any efficiency figures for the 16V and thus my relative is stuck what is the best type of engine to buy. Car will mainly be used for town and local driving, so he wants the most economical type to run and maintain.

thanks

If the car is going to be mainly used for town and local driving, and they are looking for economy, to run and maintain, along with cheaper insurance, then i'd recommend the 8V option.

Hope this helps

bigjl

I reckon the 8v engine will be a little more flexible at lower revs but the 16v may be stronger at the top end?

Just thinking out loud there.

I would tend to go for the 16v engine if they were the same engine size, there are two versions of the ZAfira Cdti, 16v and 8v. I was told by a vauxhall bloke that most, but strangely not all according to him, of the 120bhp engines where 8 v, and all the 150bhp versions where 16v.

We have loads of these at work and apparently the 55 and 56 plates are 8v but the 57 are 16v. Even though they are all 120bhp. I do know the 57 plates are very sluggish at low revs, but who knows i have never taken the engine cover off to have a good look.

In the OP's position, unless there is a difference in roadtax i would go for the 16v

End_of_tether_2

Depends on what sort of driving experience you are after.
8V's are normally more responsive at lower revs but will run out of puff at the top end of the revs, whereas a 16v engine will need to be driven a bit harder at higher revs to get the response.
For town and local driving (assuming mostly town roads and B roads) I would go for the 8v, but on a modern engine you may not notice a great amount of difference.

Diesel engines are far more refined in recent years. A well maintained warm diesel engine can be almost as quite as a petrol engine when driving.

datostar

I just replaced a Megane 2.0 8 valve with a 1.6 VVT Megane 16v. The 1.6 is 110bhp and the old 2.0 113bhp so not much difference there nor in quoted top speed. As stated in other replies, the torque of the 8 valve comes in at lower revs so for sedate smooth progress without a lot of gear changing in towns (or towing) they're less hassle. The 16v is certainly livelier but won't pull in a high gear at low revs like the old one did. You might also find things like cambelt replacements, cylinder head work etc. cheaper as the 8 valvers are normally single cam with fewer mechanical parts and easier to work on.

Strider590

bigjl wrote: »

I reckon the 8v engine will be a little more flexible at lower revs but the 16v may be stronger at the top end?

Pretty much.

The only other real difference is that 8v's tend to be chain or pushrod driven, 16v tend to have complex cambelt systems.

If a headgasket goes on an 8v it's also a lot simpler to repair.

mutley74

Thanks for replies. I will let him know that of your opinions.
On another note do people think it makes much difference if a 1 year old car has 2 owners with less than 7,000miles on the clock? As he has been offered one at reasonable price, but other option is to fork out £1k extra and got for something less than 6mths old, 1 owner and less than 5,000miles…..just curious what people think if a car about 1year old has had 2 owners….does that mean the car is suspect?
(I have seen and test driven the car to help him and could find no faults with it)

bigjl

Strider590 wrote: »

Pretty much.

The only other real difference is that 8v's tend to be chain or pushrod driven, 16v tend to have complex cambelt systems.

If a headgasket goes on an 8v it's also a lot simpler to repair.

If it meant not having a cambelt to replace I would go for an 8v.

I used to like the fact that 8v Vauxhall engines fitted to the Cavalier and Carlton back in the ninties where non interference engines, I know of one bloke that used to run his Carlton, 2.0 GLi, till the cambelt snapped, then he would get recovered home by the AA, his brother would then fit a cambelt and e was back in work the next day.

Another driver at the company thought this was a great idea and did it aswell, sadly he had a slightly newer Omega 2.0, which was a 16v, I believe the bill was over £2000. :rotfl:

dazzadub

8v if you want stay local and dont do huge amounts of miles and dont drive fast,

16v better for driving more miles as the car tends to react better to the engine when doing motorways and creates bit more power, and its a lot smoother, and most 16v cars are now probably better on fuel,

but most above have already suggested the same