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Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 7:13 am
by Whiskey 7
You are about to buy a new or a second had car......
I know the year is 2010 and there is the option of hybrid electric cars, but the question I pose is, do you consider diesel as a first fuel option or stick to petrol?
I am considering updating my wheels and ask your opinion as to a fuel choice at this time.
Diesel here is about the same price per litre/gallon as petrol and diesel cars are a little more expensive to buy (I think) so it nearly doesn't matter.
What's your thoughts?
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 7:24 am
by Eraser
Here in Europe diesel is far cheaper than petrol and these days diesel cars perform quite well. I'm not really up-to-date on the whole eco-friendliness of diesel but I thought the gap to petrol is mostly closed in that aspect.
Having said that, I do think road taxes are slightly higher for diesel cars here though.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 7:26 am
by DTS
You do realise you'll get better mileage with deisel, so you'll save money that way, don't you?
Edit: Reading Eraser's post made me realise I should add that this is for new cars, old deisel cars are diffrerent, your mileage may vary

Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:44 am
by seremtan
buy a velomobile, for laughs
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:54 am
by phantasmagoria
in the UK diesel's about the same price as petrol (even though it's cheaper to produce because it's less refined

) it goes further and with turbos etc it's got the same performance as petrol, so why you'd get a petrol car I don't really know :/
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:40 am
by Don Carlos
Diesel FTW
You can have a 200 bhp car that gives you 60mpg
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:58 pm
by werldhed
I would have preferred to buy a diesel... but here in the Land of the Free (Corporations) we just don't have the options.
In the end, the car we wanted only came w/ a petrol/gasoline engine, despite the fact that Audi is know for making nice TDI powerplants.
The only diesel vehicle that was close to what we wanted was a Jetta Sportwagen, but that was eliminated from our list for a variety of other reasons.
So yeah, I only have petrol/gasoline cars, but I wish that wasn't the case.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:33 pm
by Eraser
You're calling a Jetta a sportscar? Or did you mean to say volkswagen?
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:41 pm
by werldhed
Eraser wrote:You're calling a Jetta a sportscar? Or did you mean to say volkswagen?
Neither.
http://www.vw.com/jettasportwagen/en/us/

Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:46 pm
by Eraser
oic. Didn't know they had that.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:53 pm
by Doombrain
I had a BMW 330d, 260bhp, 0-62 <6.5sec and faster to 50mph then the new M3. i always got 46mpg out of it.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 4:33 pm
by Don Carlos
The 3 litre BMW diesel is a top engine. the 3.5 is a monster...
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 4:36 pm
by Nightshade
I would very seriously consider getting a diesel (especially a BMW) for my next vehicle. Diesel prices are much higher than gas in the US, have been since Katrina, much I think the mileage increase would more than offset that.
One of my clients drive a diesel Mercedes wagon and he runs it on biodiesel or waste cooking oil. In addition to that awesome french fry smell, I have to admit that there's a lot to be said for not going to a gas station anymore. Securing the oil supply might be a pain in the ass, but it's beats paying $3 a gallon at the pump.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 4:41 pm
by m4shke
Diesel is about 4$ cheaper here so I'd go with it
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 5:11 pm
by PhoeniX
Doombrain wrote:I had a BMW 330d, 260bhp, 0-62 <6.5sec and faster to 50mph then the new M3. i always got 46mpg out of it.
What was the yearly running cost like of those? I'm seriously considering one as my next car but I hear BMWs are expensive to maintain.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 5:26 pm
by Doombrain
indeed, kiss good buy to your expendable cash.
BMW 330d SE
Price: £29,390
Engine: 2993 cc 24 valve straight six turbodiesel
Power: 231 bhp at 4000 rpm
Torque: 339 lb/ft at 1750 rpm
0-62 mph: 6.7 seconds, 155 mph top speed
(electronically limited, official figure.)
43.5 mpg combined, 175 g/km CO2
mine was a company car on a year lease but got rid quickly because the tax band shot up on emissions.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 7:17 pm
by Don Carlos
Nightshade wrote:but it's beats paying $3 a gallon at the pump.
$3 = £1.96
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
Your fuel is £0.435 per litre
I pay £1.26 per litre
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
£1.26 * 4.5 = £5.67
$8.65 a Gallon
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 7:41 pm
by prince1000
PhoeniX wrote:Doombrain wrote:I had a BMW 330d, 260bhp, 0-62 <6.5sec and faster to 50mph then the new M3. i always got 46mpg out of it.
What was the yearly running cost like of those? I'm seriously considering one as my next car but I hear BMWs are expensive to maintain.
any german car in the us is expensive. i average around $142 per month in repairs on my aging passat, which i've owned for 4 years.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:03 pm
by Nightshade
Don Carlos wrote:
$3 = £1.96
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
Your fuel is £0.435 per litre
I pay £1.26 per litre
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
£1.26 * 4.5 = £5.67
$8.65 a Gallon
Annnnnd you're laughing for what reason exactly?

Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:05 pm
by phantasmagoria
because it's fucking ridiculous

Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:38 pm
by Don Carlos
Nightshade wrote:Don Carlos wrote:
$3 = £1.96
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
Your fuel is £0.435 per litre
I pay £1.26 per litre
1 Gallon = 4.5 litres
£1.26 * 4.5 = £5.67
$8.65 a Gallon
Annnnnd you're laughing for what reason exactly?

Laughing at you bitching about $3 a gallon good sir
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:46 pm
by Whiskey 7
Thanks all for your thoughts thus far.
I had my petrol A160 serviced the other day and my loan car was one of these..
Brand new beast with something like 1,000 k on the odometer

and they gave it to me for the day.
Having some shopping to do in a centre miles from home I just had to take it for a run. It wasn't until the return trip I thought this could be a diesel, and I was right. Kinda changed my mind on diesel as a fuel choice.
Just for interest they added I needed to spend $4,000 (AUD) on basically a $15,000 vehicle so I am seriously considering an upgrade soon. There is a strange but random fault on the little beast in the transmission
Funny too, I've never heard a bad car diesel story, so if you have one please tell

Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:10 pm
by Nightshade
Don Carlos wrote:
Laughing at you bitching about $3 a gallon good sir
Not bitching exactly, but I'm definitely laughing at what you have to pay.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:18 pm
by Whiskey 7
Nightshade wrote:Don Carlos wrote:
Laughing at you bitching about $3 a gallon good sir
Not bitching exactly, but I'm definitely laughing at what you have to pay.

Just as a matter on international money interest.....
I did say petrol and diesel here are about the same price. On the weekend it was $1.37 a litre, that's about $6.20 (AUD) a gallon.
Re: Diesel or petrol - What's your fuel choice?
Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 5:00 am
by AmIdYfReAk
Well, i love my VR6, And I'm waiting to swap a 1.8T in to a car.
but I've recently bought, repaired, and have been driving a B4 Passat with a diesel... And its making me second guess my 1.8T swap.
To be able to deliver ~250Ft.lbs of torque basically off idle, AND Still get ~5.9L/100km+ blows me away. ( thats ~40mpg for you yanks )