In a manual car, in a traffic jam, creeping forward slowly occasionally, there is ONLY one type of engine.
Diesel every time: low revs + torque.
Smelly? No. Noisy - well if an HGV yes but modern ones are nearly as quiet as a petrol and quieter than a clattery Sierra with tappets adjusted 100,000 miles ago and an oil change last century (literally).
Fuel consumption? no contest
Starting ? first time
Problems with damp? no
But in winter heater can be cold for miles unless you have an auxiliary heater.
As for filling at pumps, the experiences described above are obviously by habitues of The Greasy Spoon transport caff.
madf
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>>but modern ones are nearly as quiet as a petrol and quieter than a clattery Sierra
A modern diesel versus and old tech, unmaintained, 100,000 mile plus Sierra ? Yup, that would about sum it up.
And by the way, petrol engines start first time these days as well.
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"Diesels are not quieter"
"I want to hear that power when it gets delivered and I don't in a diesel."
Just run that past me again Ads - oh, I see, you like the thrashy sound of a petrol compared to the smooth quiet power delivery of a diesel!! And as for your your Focus, it's quieter than a 530d BMW? How the heck do you hear the power delivered by the Focus then?
Problem is, most of the discussion here is pure opinion, the only answer is to see which you prefer, and if pfm prefers the petrol, fair enough and I hope he enjoys his new car. Me? Diesel everytime - and you won't persuade me otherwise - I like the characteristics, I like the fact that the flexibility means you DON'T have to change gear so often and yep, I like the sound of them when they start and the fact that you can't here them at anything above about walking pace.
Red wine or white? Bitter or lager, cats or dogs, blondes or brunettes? (The latter is for big bad dave!!!), diesel or petrol?
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Hi Phil,
>>oh, I see, you like the thrashy sound of a petrol compared to the smooth quiet power delivery of a diesel<<
Yes. Exactly. Although I'd question your use of the words "thrashy" and "quiet".
When the coil pack went on my car, it sounded exactly like my mate's Dad's Passat diesel (54 reg incidentally). My car is quieter on startup and idle and low speeds than the BM. When I thrash my car, I like to hear the "thrashy" noises it makes. I think too much emphasis is places on "smooth, whisper quiet" rides. I like to feel the road and hear what the engine's doing. But that's me as you say. You're spot on. I wouldn't say I hate the diesels I've driven or been in, but I would certainly choose the petrol equivalents over them. That's just me. You like diesels, I don't. I'm not going to try and convert you. I'm not going to get all defensive when someone has a go at Fords/petrol engines/me. To me, the only advantages of a diesel are having signifant grunt at certain bands of the rev range but that's not enough to switch me to diesel for the time being. (I have driven a 535d by the way)
I like my engine's quiet at idle and loud and thrashy at speed ;-)
Red, lager, dogs, blondes and petrol.
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Adam
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Fair enough!! But how can I trust the judgement of someone who prefers lager to bitter?!! And are you confusing blonde with beige??!! Actually, I quite like the sound of a blonde Focus!!
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[inane babble]Actually - the only bitter I like is Tetley's for some reason. Now if it was a toss up between Tetley's or Lager then Tetley's would win all the time.[/inane babble]
Just so this doesn't get deleted, I'll throw in a comment about petrol diesel. I was wholly impressed with the Merc 320 CDI Dad used last year. Cracking performance and a lot of power. But I'd have the 320 petrol (do they do a 320 petrol?) every time.
What with the premium on diesel cars, and the horrific price rises, I'm not sure even the consumption figures will be able to save them soon.
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Adam
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Red, bitter, depends on the type of dog, brunettes and biodiesel!
Drove petrol cars for the first six years of driving. Switched to diesel four years ago, would never consider petrol again. Have to say that I notice the stink of petrol when at the pumps far more than the smell of derv, but there you go. I find petrol exhausts more unpleasant on cars, but lorries/buses etc never seem to burn the diesel cleanly so those are pretty stinky too.
PS - filled up with biodiesel in Co. Wicklow the week before last for 70 cent per litre - about 49p ...
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Food for thought Adam - plus, these seem to be available in beige ...
www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=...2
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Very nice. I may just get one if I didn't think the new Focus was the most boring looking car to date.
In fact, I'm falling asleep now just looking at that picture - and it's nothing to do with the talk of biofuel ;-)
On a similar note, how come despite the cost of oil has fallen, the petrol prices are still rising?
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Adam
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Have to agree with you there, what's the world coming to when the new Honda Civic looks much more interesting than the Ford Focus? All the same, I'd have a Mazda3 over either of them if they sold it with a faster diesel.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Fair enough!! But how can I trust the judgement of someone who prefers lager to bitter?!! And are you confusing blonde with beige??!! Actually, I quite like the sound of a blonde Focus!!
The Focus IS available in a lovely blonde colour - much better than all those tiresome blacks and silvers.
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Diesels are not quieter and they do smell.
You're comparing a a modern diesel to an old Sierra.
Example - BMW 530d. Very nice car I'm sure but my 1.8 Focus sounds a) better and b) quieter.
I don't care about economy or whether I get it on my hand - I care about how it runs and how it sounds.
I feel numb when driving a diesel - power? Yes. But I want to hear that power when it gets delivered and I don't in a diesel.
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Adam
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