Is 2011 the peak year for diesels?

Lum

Obukit wrote: »

I think we've probably reached a plateau - too many people who live in cities are buying diesels and never letting the engine stretch it's legs. But they will always be popular as fuel prices rise, especially as diesels will run on biofuels more easily (as soon as they perfect commercial algae oil production, this will be a big plus).

I hope to keep my 1996 1.9 VW lump on the road for as long as possible - they don't make them like it any more

Modern faffy diesel engines actually wont run on biofuels you'll get clogged injectors and all sorts of problems, if you look in the manuals for these cars they will often state things like a maximum of 10% biofuel. It's not like the one you have that will probably run on chip fat.

They really are crap for a lot of the uses people are buying them for.

thescouselander

vikingaero wrote: »

The latest turbocharged small capacity petrols have adequate fuel consumption on paper, but really poor fuel consumption in the real world.

I wouldn't say that - here's the fuel consumption I get on my petrol driven Audi A4 - the trip computer is pretty close to reality too (I've checked it using the brimming method)

Note that I forgot to reset the trip milage at the beginning of the journey (but remembered later) - this result was actually achieved over a 225 mile trip.

vikingaero

newfoundglory wrote: »

Any evidence of this poor economy, please?

I wouldn't have imagined fuel economy would be a big factor - because a diesel is usually a few thousand £ more to buy, costs more to insure (generally speaking) and you'd have to be able to make all that back in fuel savings.

If you are doing enough miles to justify a diesel, surely you wouldn't be buying a small turbocharged petrol car in the first place?

I read some time ago in possibly Autocar magazine that they had either a 2 litre or 1.6 Ecoboost engine in a long term test Ford S-Max that was claimed to achieve 35mpg. Most of us would expect 30mpg in the real world from this weight of car and engine combination and the figure was lower than that.

david69_2

thescouselander wrote: »

I wouldn't say that - here's the fuel consumption I get on my petrol driven Audi A4 - the trip computer is pretty close to reality too (I've checked it using the brimming method)

Note that I forgot to reset the trip milage at the beginning of the journey (but remembered later) - this result was actually achieved over a 225 mile trip.

Is the audi a 2.0fsi ?
I was looking at a 3 petrol after being dissapointed with my bmw diesel only getting just ove 42 to the gallon even when driven like a vicar

Have to agree about the modern diesel being too complex i had a 1.9tdi golf about 12 years ago super reliable and excellent mpg

Notmyrealname

thescouselander wrote: »

I wouldn't say that - here's the fuel consumption I get on my petrol driven Audi A4 - the trip computer is pretty close to reality too (I've checked it using the brimming method)

Add 10MPG to that and you get what my 8 year old 165,000 mile Mondeo is doing being thraped round the nice country roads around here. When I do my weekly 200 mile motorway run I see over 60MPG and have seen 70MPG once.

jase1

Lum wrote: »

Sales figures are going to be determined by the "OMG! must get a diesel, save money on fuel" mentality which will likely take a few more years to shift and result in a lot of angry customers wondering why their 3 year old school run Fiesta is broken already.

Absolutely. Whatever the positives of each are, the average punter who uses sheep-logic to make their decision is always several years behind the truth.

Witness Skoda and the Koreans (and the Japanese 20 years previously) who took years to be recognised, Renault's problems in the early-mid 2000s which are hurting their sales now when their cars have improved etc.

One thing is for certain, by the time the inevitable diesel backlash really starts, the manufacturers will have ironed out the bugs completely.

One reason I never listen to the guys at work, and make my own decisions. I was buying reliable, ultra-cheap Korean metal when everyone thought they were tin-cans that broke after 18 months.

attila_

Skoda now do a Superb (larger than a passat) with a 1.4 tsi!! Do me a favour. Its embarrassing.

Diesels are for the large car market, not poky little city cars and small hatchbacks.

avantra

attila_ wrote: »

Skoda now do a Superb (larger than a passat) with a 1.4 tsi!! Do me a favour. Its embarrassing.

Diesels are for the large car market, not poky little city cars and small hatchbacks.

I suggest you try it. On paper yes this is ridiculousness but when I tested one at our local Skoda I can simply tell you that it's pulling in a similar fashion to my AWX PD 130 Passat diesel. Just my impression.

Like someone here said, to buy an old design where all the bugs were ironed out is probably the best course of action. I read many long terms tests on various publications and you will be surprised to know that the current Renault's are probably more reliable than new VW's.

thescouselander

david69 wrote: »

Is the audi a 2.0fsi ?
I was looking at a 3 petrol after being dissapointed with my bmw diesel only getting just ove 42 to the gallon even when driven like a vicar

Have to agree about the modern diesel being too complex i had a 1.9tdi golf about 12 years ago super reliable and excellent mpg

It's the 1.8TFSI, I believe the 2 litre unit is about the same or even slightly better.

Notmyrealname - I've never seen 70 mpg from a diesel ford and I drive quite a lot of them as that's what they give me to drive in work if I go anywhere. 50 - 60 mpg is more like it.

Notmyrealname

thescouselander wrote: »

Notmyrealname - I've never seen 70 mpg from a diesel ford and I drive quite a lot of them as that's what they give me to drive in work if I go anywhere. 50 - 60 mpg is more like it.

Difference between you and me is one of my former employers put me through a defensive and economical driving course. It really does make quite a difference. For example, take exiting a motorway. I'll back off the throttle at the 300 meter marker and coast in gear up to the roundabout at the end of the sliproad - all of which is completely free mileage - and try to time hitting the give way line so that I can pull out without having to stop which uses less fuel than setting off from standstill. Similar when approaching traffic lights on red - I'll back off a fair way back with the aim of reaching them still moving when they change. Also I'll drive it like a diesel and not a petrol engine which means changing gear earlier and taking advantage of the max torque being around 2000RPM and not 5000RPM. My wife drives a petrol car and I can always tell if she has driven mine by the fact the first figure on the trip computer MPG is a 4.