Petrol or Diesel

[Sportie]

Car of the Year. Wonderful decision that . I was listening to ABC radio the other night & they said that Holden invited Robbo (I think he’s the editor) back from Europe a few years ago to observe all of the development work and testing with a view to writing a book at the end. It’s just been published. Suddenly it all became clear.
Anyway, can’t be too critical because when they did their “megatest” of the top hatches the winner was GOLF. That led me to the wonderful Sportline that keeps me smiling day after day. Of course that led me here to dream that one day I may be in the terrible position of having to decide whether to buy the GTI or R32. Bloody wheels magazine.

[blue_r32]

I haven't driven the petrol version, but the loan TDI that I picked up this morning is a great car to drive, it surprised me when it came on boost actually!

I would certainly buy one (for the missus, I'm keeping the .:R), very low fuel consumption is great.

[fergVdub]

Hi Denilu,

i am the happy owner of a TDI Jetta, I drive around the city but regularly drive in the bush and this is obviously where the diesel comes into its own, but I must say that being somewhat lead footed and still getting 750K + in he city whilst getting 990+ on the highway does it for me, and I stll get performance when I push the peddle. I have about 5k+ on the clock at the moment and from what I understand the fuel consumption will only improve as the engine beds down.

How fast do you need go whilst still saving fuel and being kind to the planet,as has been previusly said go the diesel!!

good luck

ferg

[dilbert_rocks]

Hi all

I am tossing up between current Golf 2.0FSI and 2.0TDI. I am not sure whether to go petrol or diesel. I have rented diesels o/s and had not issues. I am not sure about maintenance costs for the diesel compared to the petrol version.

I read somewhere that diesels are a lot more hassle for mechanics and that they will cost much more to service.

99% of my driving will be around Sydney in traffic - will I see the lower fuel costs in the diesel of it that for country driving?

I test drove a Jetta TDI (DSG), and basically had to stomp the pedal to the floor to get the thing to move up a gentle incline. Once it got into the boost range though I didn't notice much difference with the Turbo FSI (except for the noise). I think I read somewhere that both the FSI and TDI are a better match for the manual box.

I thought the TDI was noisy at low revs, but there are other posts that mention that after about 10,000km they quieten down. The salesman told me by 10dB - which I think is just blowing smoke up my exhaust. 9dB = 2^3 (ie: 8 ) times as soft. Put another way, 1 new TDI is louder than 8 "run-in" TDI's put together. Sorry - don't believe it would be that much.

I have heard similar stories about diesels requiring qualified diesel mechanics (ie: less common) to service them, but is anyone besides VW qualified to service your vehicle anyway? That's a concern I still have. Fuel consumption is tempting though.

[gldgti]

I test drove a Jetta TDI (DSG), and basically had to stomp the pedal to the floor to get the thing to move up a gentle incline. Once it got into the boost range though I didn't notice much difference with the Turbo FSI (except for the noise). I think I read somewhere that both the FSI and TDI are a better match for the manual box.

I thought the TDI was noisy at low revs, but there are other posts that mention that after about 10,000km they quieten down. The salesman told me by 10dB - which I think is just blowing smoke up my exhaust. 9dB = 2^3 (ie: 8 ) times as soft. Put another way, 1 new TDI is louder than 8 "run-in" TDI's put together. Sorry - don't believe it would be that much.

I have heard similar stories about diesels requiring qualified diesel mechanics (ie: less common) to service them, but is anyone besides VW qualified to service your vehicle anyway? That's a concern I still have. Fuel consumption is tempting though.

your maths on dB is correct... but i dont think that assumption is accurate.

besides, its still not going to be noisy per se.... i guess you need to priorotise whats important in a car for you. for me, its someting like:
0) longevity
1) mechanical robust-ness
2) general build quality
3) handling
3) power/efficiency
4) cost
5) comfort
6) useless crap that you pay extra for - ie gadgets.

[brackie]

I test drove a Jetta TDI (DSG), and basically had to stomp the pedal to the floor to get the thing to move up a gentle incline. Once it got into the boost range though I didn't notice much difference with the Turbo FSI (except for the noise). I think I read somewhere that both the FSI and TDI are a better match for the manual box.

That's not how to drive a diesel! If you "stomp the pedal" you're wasting fuel and your time. I guess it's a bit like Dirty Harry... "Just squeeze the trigger, Sonny..." Driving diesels is all about torque and feel. Sure, they don't leap off the blocks like an equivalent petrol engined car, but they suffer from turbo lag much less. You get boost in the 1500 to 1750rpm range and then you use the gears to keep it on boost. With a DSG box the ECU does it for you.

[brenno]

We've got both an FSI 6A and a TDI DSG.

I prefer the FSI by a fair margin for city use. The TDI is just too noisy and laggy to drive for stop start stuff. You get over the massive torque hit that the TDI delivers pretty quickly.

The FSI is smoother to drive, and the instantaneous torque delivery is far better for city driving.

If I was going to drive to Canberra tomorrow though, I'd probably choose the TDI.

[brackie]

Fair call and you would be in the best position to make a comparison. I rarely drive in the city. There's no doubt that the petrol engine would be quicker off the blocks. On my country driving and long journeys the TDI is an absolute joy.

[dilbert_rocks]

There's no doubt that the petrol engine would be quicker off the blocks.

Yes, I was meaning from a standing start, and I was actually quoting the salesman "stomp on it"!

Given that most of my driving is stop/start and signalised intersections, the sluggish takeoff was v.annoying. Plus, we enjoy listening to opera / classical music while driving - hence the concern with cabin noise. I want to test the T FSI again to see how intrusive the turbo noise is when cruising. Is 100km/h in the boost range?

[acdcfan]

diesel hands down mate!!!!

I agree 120%, i