Does anyone drive a 1.4 diesel car on motorways?

Weird_Nev

Drove a 1.4 Tdi Fabia (2006, 70bhp model) 50,000 miles, about 40,000 was on motorways.
Absolutely fine. Cruised really well at 70*Mph and returned over 60Mpg doing so.
Also had 1.4 Corsas, at work, and whilst I would never recommend anyone buy one because they're generally awful, they did not suffer a lack of power on the motorway either.
there's far more to a cars motorway ability than engine size.

Steve059

DUTR wrote: »

I suspect the OP is on about overtaking ability rather than just raw cruising speed, I remember having to drive to Brentwood for a meeting in a Rover 214, whilst it could do motorway speeds, it struggled to pass lorries and coaches when required.

It can still overtake any other vehicles doing less than the legal maximum of 70 mph.

Weird_Nev

go_cat wrote: »

I am thinking of a Toyota auris but will be spending a lot of time on motorways, but restricted what I can get

We had an Auris at work too - It was also OK on the motorway, not quite up to the Fabia.

Diesels drive a bit differently, you can't "rev them out" for maximum power. You are very reliant on the mid range torque from 2000-3,500 rpm. They tend to start to feel gutless after that, with no point at all exceeding 4,000 rpm. This is even more apparent with the small diesels. The new generation diesels are excellent though, they're really been refined into useable engines and no the tractor overstock they used to be (in the 80's).

I'd suggest a test drive to check that the car meets your needs. There isn't a car on the market today that will struggle to get to and maintain 70mph, but you might not like the way it does it.

DUTR

Steve059 wrote: »

It can still overtake any other vehicles doing less than the legal maximum of 70 mph.

Yes you can........eventually, even the highway code says "When overtaking do so quickly" it used to frustrate me when cars seemed to take forever to pass a coach or lorry then take another 'eternity' to return back to lane, but after that trip I understand why , you could feel the drag from the large vehicle and it really held the car back , the OP's selection may be somewhat different to the 214.

interstellaflyer

DUTR wrote: »

Yes you can........eventually, even the highway code says "When overtaking do so quickly" it used to frustrate me when cars seemed to take forever to pass a coach or lorry then take another 'eternity' to return back to lane, but after that trip I understand why , you could feel the drag from the large vehicle and it really held the car back , the OP's selection may be somewhat different to the 214.

Frustration or impatience? If they are overtaking and doing 70mph then they are doing nothing wrong, yes you will always get people who sit at 60 overtaking a wagon doing 56, however that's down to the driver not the power output of the car.

I drove a 1.3 CDTi Astra H estate for 3 years, most of my driving is A34 between Milton and Botley and that's busy dual carriageway, never had any issues, ok sometimes you needed to go from 6th to 5th if you needed to change lanes quickly ie take advantage of a gap in the traffic already in lane 2 buts that was no big deal, I even needed to do that in my 1.9 CDTi Vectra, I currently drive a 1.5 dci Qashqai and again, no issues at all with it being a smaller engine.

oldagetraveller

laurel7172 wrote: »

1.4 diesel Yaris, and it's absolutely fine.

+1. Totally relaxed and unstressed at 70mph.

Prothet_of_Doom

I've only ever owned 2 diesels.

The first was a normally aspirated AX 1.4 D, with about 45 bhp, and acceleration saping AXGT wheels and tyres (great around bends, especially as you never wanted to have to slow down) Motorways were dire, especially the M65 around blackburn where it would struggle to maintain 5th gear up one of the hills.

The Second was a 2.2 iCDTi Variable Nozzle Turbo Honda Accord. Fuel consumption is similar, and I had it at 135 leptons on a trip to Germany. 140 BHP I think.

I'd suggest that you need 85 Bhp and 150 lb ft torque in a small car to be comfortable everyday on the motorway.

alastairq

DUTR wrote: »

Yes you can........eventually, even the highway code says "When overtaking do so quickly" it used to frustrate me when cars seemed to take forever to pass a coach or lorry then take another 'eternity' to return back to lane, but after that trip I understand why , you could feel the drag from the large vehicle and it really held the car back , the OP's selection may be somewhat different to the 214.

Not surely suggesting drivers should flout the Law by exceeding hte speed limit, simply to 'overtake?'

On a motorway, that is what lane 2 [or even, lane 3] is for......

It really is a 'sign-of-the-times' when people who drive consider a one litre engine pushing out 50 or so BHP in a lightweight vehicle as 'unsuitable for motorways'...and is a 'struggle' to drive.

I don't know what has changed over the decades.......motorways are motorways, the speed limits haven't changed,and when I started driving, one was lucky to find a 1.5 litre car with as much 'power' as today's one litre motors....and nobody 'struggled'.

I think it really s how people today view the driving licence?

Is is really an indicator of driving competence? Or, a travel pass?

I admit, I'd be happy with half, or less than half, the power available from modern small engines......overtaking anything, anywhere, should involve planning.

And it is that planning which is sadly deleted from most drivers' box of skill-tricks.

If one has concerns over the '70 mph' limit..then why not cruise at around 60 mph or so....then, when one starts to catch up with the inevitable slower vehicles, one has that 10 mph of leeway, up to 70, to pass.

If the length of time to pass is of concern, plan the overtaking manoeuver to coincide with right hand bends in the motorway.....by using lane 3, for example, one is on the inside of the bend, and will pass slower vehicles far more quickly than one would , overtaking on left hand bends.

Same thing with regards to hills?

[bear in mind, LGV's will pick up speed going downhill.......and slow going uphill......to overtake going uphill, in a small petrol engined car, change down early [to 4th?] for the engine to produce more power.......many leave that inevitable downchange too late when dealing with uphill roads.....or, don't bother at all, and complain of a 'lack of power'?]

Motorways aren't about 'high speed'...they are about uninterrupted travel....it's all about raising average speeds..to shorten journey times.

knightstyle

Our 1.4 Auris is fine on motorways, easily up to 90mph on motorways abroad. The place where it loses out is when accelerating fully loaded to overtake but you soon learn to allow a bit extra for that.

Iceweasel

Low powered diesel engines is not the real problem here.

I can well imagine that some drivers will be frustrated and perhaps angry at the overtaking manoeuvres that I often find myself in.

I have a diesel engined van (2.8 tonne GVW with a tachograph for when I tow a trailer) which on motorways I drive legally (without a trailer) at 70mph - fair enough.

What should I do when I come up behind someone doing 65 - 67mph or so?

Due to speedo error they think they are doing 70mph, but I am sure that I am doing 70mph - my Sat-Nav and my calibrated tacho confirm this.

So I pull out into an empty 2nd or 3rd lane and overtake - but by the time I have completed the overtake several cars which were doing well over 70mph have formed a queue behind me.

I could easily do 80mph or more to overtake quicker - but why should I break the law to move out of others' way so that they too can break the law by an even greater amount?

Such is the frustration of having unrealisticly low speed limits - but I know exactly what would happen if it were increased to 80mph.

So how to fix it - have no speed limits? As on many autobahns in Germany? I think not.

We need better driver training and more tolerance of other road users. Fat chance of that happening any time soon though.