Would you drive an oil burner?

[Mustang]

I was most definitely always in the NO camp. But with rising fuel costs and the development of durge engines in recent years, diesel is not the life sentence it used to be. There have been some interesting cars in recent years.......
The BMW 525 tds (163bhp)
BMW 330d (193bhp)
Skoda fabia RS (130bhp)
And with turbo engines theres some scope for tuning...big torque and reasonable power gains....
What do you all think?

[Mustang]

There have been some interesting cars in recent years.......
The BMW 525 tds (163bhp)
BMW 330d (193bhp)
Skoda fabia RS (130bhp)

I forgot to mention two of the more recent and impressive (on paper at least) cars.
Alfa 159 2.4 (200bhp)
Toyota 2.2 (175bhp) to be fitted in IS220d, rav4 and eventless

[Myfeckin FTO]

If I was driving a family saloon then yeah I would consider a turbo diesel - esp if it was in the new Alfa 159 or IS220 diesels or any BMW diesel - good torque and power along with better mpg - will never sound as good as a high revving V6 petrol though.

While I might even consider a diesel engine in a warm hatch - I would never consider a diesel engine in a coupe or sports car - it just doesn't mix.

[Dave]

the old man just got a new merc E280 CDI (3 litre V6), puts out about 200bhp and 300lb torque!! seven speed gear box, 18's with dual exhausts, not a bad looking machine and fairly quick..... (for a diesel)

[Mustang]

I would never consider a diesel engine in a coupe or sports car - it just doesn't mix.

The coupe/diesel mix does seem like a bit of a mongrel (sp?). Cars that spring to mind are the 406 coupe and alfa GT. In the case of the GT the diesel has 150bhp as a result it has more power and torque than it's 1.8 petrol stable mate...thats just wrong!

[Myfeckin FTO]

The coupe/diesel mix does seem like a bit of a mongrel (sp?). Cars that spring to mind are the 406 coupe ..........

My mate has the turbo diesel 406 coupe - its actually better performing than the 2.0 litre petrol version but the car still drives like a comfortable exec saloon - a sports car it most certainly isn't.

The big problem with most modern day coupes like the new 407 coupe/ Alfa GT etc is that they've just gotten too heavy - all laden down with traction control, ABS, 6-10 airbags, very heavy chassis/pillars etc due to stringent crash test regs, Climate control, electric and heated seats - the list goes on. Average weight of at least 1400kgs - and they're mostly running engines circa 150-180bhp - thats quite a poor power to weight ratio.

Theres a lot to be said for the sports cars of the late 80's/early 90's - light cars with big power engines - will we ever see another R32 GTR skyline / NSX / MR2 turbo Mark II / FTO / RX7 / Supra TT ????

Modern day "sports cars" are way too conservative - the manufactures are way too cagey about releasing a stripped (light) high powered car with none of the trimmings. They load the cars with safety equipment (mostly as a way of marketing the car) and very high levels of spec and then stick in a reliable (low powered) engine with a very restrictive exhaust (to meet tougher emissions laws) . The cars are designed for your average driver not petrol heads because thats what sells.

Hold onto your FTO - it harks back to a time where manufacturers put the driving experience first - and thats got to be worth something in the future.

[IrishPhoenix]

Then there's the new Audi A4 3.0 TDI Quattro.

"The ultra-modern six-cylinder unit with common rail direct injection and Piezo injectors made its A4 range debut in the new A4 Cabriolet, and propels the A4 3.0 TDI Quattro Saloon to 62mph in an impressive 6.8 seconds on the way to a top speed of 152mph."


http://www.dublinpeople.com/cms/index.p ... &Itemid=38

IP - Not bad, eh?

[Myfeckin FTO]

........"The ultra-modern six-cylinder unit with common rail direct injection and Piezo injectors made its A4 range debut in the new A4 Cabriolet, and propels the A4 3.0 TDI Quattro Saloon to 62mph in an impressive 6.8 seconds on the way to a top speed of 152mph.".............

Hmm 204 bhp in a car that weights 1500kgs+
And all for the cracking price of just €60K.

Where did I leave my credit card?

[IrishPhoenix]

The article is more about the fuel economy that the new engine is capable of, not the car's power or price, but i get your point.

[soc]

Skoda fabia RS (130bhp)

I've heard the Fabia RS is a cracking little car - chip it and you can get 170bhp and some crazy torque figure (300lb/ft or something like that). Handles well too....

Nothing wrong with a diesel coupe in my opinion but then I have been converted to turbo power for now and prefer to lots of mid range punch to having to rev the nads off a car to get it to go, especially around town.... although I really, really miss the sound of the FTO and still reckon it's the best allround sports car on the market today (especially when you consider the price).

[Myfeckin FTO]

The article is more about the fuel economy that the new engine is capable of, not the car's power or price, but i get your point.

I was just kidding IP - NOI. - The Audi is a fine car and I certainly wouldn't say no to one - though I'd still rather something in the RS6 mould.

[Mustang]

I've heard the Fabia RS is a cracking little car - chip it and you can get 170bhp .

Impressive, that would be quite a good stealth car....

[CJ]

Those of you that attended the rolling road session in 2004 might remember Robs superchipped Mondeo TDCI, it would easily pull a donkey out of a swamp with those torque figures (double that of the FTO) and it was pretty quick to boot:



CJ

[Mustang]

Last week I was a passanger on a 10hr round trip in a passat TDI chipped to ~165bhp the torque figure was apparently ~400Nm (around 300ft.lb) similar to Rob's car. It seemed to have a fair amount of pace.....
And it was returning around 50mpg by my calculations (computer was indicating figures in L/100km)

[mr.bishi]

I don't care how good diesels are getting,there's always a better petrol engine out there.....plus diesels sound awfull!

And that's coming from someone who works for Cummins Diesel Engines!!

Here's a vid of the Cummins dragster doing a pass.. http://www.cumminsracing.com/images/852%20palmdale%20short.wmv ..smoke screen anyone!