Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 15:21

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - CliffDee

I am looking at buying a new Mitsubishi ASX. I would like the level 4 model with leather seats etc but I can not decide on petrol or diesel. All my instincts say diesel especially as it has twice the torque and gives more mpg but my question is which is really the cheaper to run? Is the 1.6 petrol enough? I only need 2wd.

Realistically except on annual holidays the car will mostly contains 1 person or sometimes 2 and we don't tow anything so perhaps I am being greedy. I like the thrust my 2.0HDI Peugeot has now.

Could someone out there with a 1.6 petrol reassure me it is adequate and not a bit sluggish.

I built a spreadsheet and allowing for the £2250 difference in price, 40 mpg versus 49 mpg and diesel being 10p a litre more expensive the petrol is cheaper to run until 125000 miles. This is making no allowance for servicing being more frequent and expensive on the diesel and the extra weight causing more wear to tyres, brakes etc.

I think I am convincing myself but just want to be reassured by someone who bought one and is happy with it. \i am going to test drive one buttest drives don't recreate real world experiences.

Also I want to avoid dpf problems in the long term.

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 15:42

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - TeeCee

> but test drives don't recreate real world experiences.

Get 'em to lend you one for the weekend then. It's a big chunk of your money, whichever way you go, so you need to be sure. If the lads you're speaking to won't do a long term test drive, try another dealer. There must be one out there who would like that big chunk of your money to become a smaller chunk of their money.

Just tell 'em it's a Mitsu vs. A.N.Other decision rather than a petrol vs. diesel one.

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 15:47

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - CliffDee

Problem with the weekend test (which they will do) is I am currently car less and therefore insurance less and its a real faff to get the paperwork sorted. I will have to do it if the test drive (and feedback here) is inconclusive.

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 16:55

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - unthrottled

Is the 1.6 petrol enough?

I would say no. Not if you are used to a 2.0HDi

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 17:49

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - daveyjp

I would say yes, as long as you don't drive it like a diesel. Petrols like revs, but this is easily forgotten after getting used to a diesel.

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 21:32

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - Avant

This one pinpoints a factor that's easy to forget in the petrol v diesel debate - that the engines available aren't always equivalent when it comes to performance.

I've looked the ASX up in the back of What Car and here we're comparing a 1.6 petrol with 115 bhp and 114 lb/ft of torque with a 1.8 diesel with 148 bhp and 221 lb/ft.

As Daveyjp implies, it depends how you're going to drive it - but the ASX is quite a big car and the 1.6 petrol won't be a barrel of laughs. But there is a big price difference (similarly with the Toyota Verso) which makes the argument a different one from the £1,200 difference between petrol and diesel Kia Ceed SWs, being debated in another current thread.

Edited by Avant on 30/01/2012 at 21:33

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 21:45

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - CliffDee

I used to drive a Belmont GLSi. That was a 1.8 petrol with about 112bhp and that used to cruise very nicely but I suspect it was lighter.

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Mon 30 Jan 2012 21:55

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - Avant

Yes, a 1.8 petrol is what the ASX needs, and the silly thing is that the Mitsubishi Lancer is offered with one. Mitsubishis don't sell well in the UK, and marketing decisions like that help to explain why.

The ASX looks to my eyes very like a Mercedes B-class, which you might consider: the price isn't that much more, although the diesels are very noisy.

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Tue 31 Jan 2012 09:14

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - ChannelZ

Yes, a 1.8 petrol is what the ASX needs, and the silly thing is that the Mitsubishi Lancer is offered with one. Mitsubishis don't sell well in the UK, and marketing decisions like that help to explain why.

WAS offered. The Lancer is no more, they've stopped selling them. The 1.8 was the GEMA engine shared by all-and-sundry, and not particularly good. Mitsubishi's own 1.5 was a better engine.

The diesel in the Lancer was a variation of VAG's 2.0PD TDI. I had a Lancer GS3 2.0 diesel, and only kept it 8 months. Awful car. Rubbish interior both from design and build quality standpoint, and the car was totally unable to cope with cold weather - door handles froze solid, washer system froze solid, climate cotrol's heater couldn't cope with -10C and gave up producing heat, the brakes were like something off a Corsa (276mm front brakes on a 170hp, 1500kg saloon car, give me a break!).

I wouldn't touch another Mitsubishi with yours.

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Sat 4 Feb 2012 14:51

Mitsubishi ASX - Head or Heart. Diesel or petrol - CliffDee

Bought a 1.6 petrol today. Got an ASX3 in the end as the price was right and I wanted the gadgets. Test drive showed it was plenty fast enough, very smooth and quiet. Might be a bit stressed by 5 adults and their holiday luggage but thats not my stage of life. Happy days.

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