(G) very economical diesel

I got my last fill of diesel for 110.9 I think which saved about 7p a litre. I bought a diesel for the torque and economy. As for trying to better my economy figure I think this would be possible on a really long run staying around 60mph. I read recently that you use 10% more fuel at 70mph than at 60mph.

Thinking longer term. My post on breaking even between the two.

Well im convinced . There is no real finantial reason to buy a diesel based on price differentials of initial cost and running costs. The resale differential is unkown atm but it is unlikely that we get that much money back so all thats left is the difference in the engine character. I like torque, but is that worth £1400? I guess thats a personal thing ! I have a diesel on order so I made my choice

These arguments can go on forever, depending on your choice! The 1.2 won't go up hills at 2000rpm but how on earth do you think the Italians managed in the original 500, it isn't a flat country you know. Down a couple of gears and a bucketful of revs and up she goes. For a someone who likes a revvy engine the 1.3 doesn't come near touching the 1.4's performance.

It comes far more down to driving style preference than a "correct" decision financially.

Cheers
Baldrick

If we stay at sensible speeds in the 1.3MJ it always hits above 70mpg, but even gunning it everywhere we only drop down to mid 60's.

Not many cars will go 0-60 in under 9s, hit over a 115mph and still return those king of figures!

We have done just shy of 10,000 miles testing and hooning about in it and still I am not bored of it. I went from the Midlands to Chichester, then Gosport then Salisbury before back to the midlands today, yesterday I went to Ripon then Wrexham before goingback to the Midlands and its cost me about £60 in BP Ultimate :-)

I drive a Diesel Audi A3 2.0 TDI which I love. Regularly returns 60MPG, 0-60 in 8 seconds and top is around 130. I do journeys of around 37 miles to work and an average of 19,000 miles per year so it is perfect.

When looking for a new car for the Wife, it's a no brainer, she does lots of short trips around town as a community health worker, lots of stop starts from cold, low mileage. It's got to be the 1.2 PETROL 500 (at least that's the first option choice made )

Horses for Courses

Vic

Temperature of engine does not make a difference to diesels, they are equally economical from cold to full running temperature, whereas the petrols will always guzzle until they are warm, so for short trips around town you are better off with the diesel.

(BTW, this is not meant to be a diesel is generally better than petrol post)

Good to hear people are getting good returns on their diesels at last. Mines due to arrive any day now, so I'm just hoping there won't be any hg, economy or trim faults...having nightmares about it actually!

Its all about which you prefer to drive.

Ive got a small car with a TDi engine and its great, by far cheaper to run than my other car (the same car but a smaller engined petrol).

IMO the 1.3 diesel is against the 1.4 engine, as its the same price, therefore cannot reallt compare to the 1.2. A 1.3 will remap too so will give near 1.4 performance, if not a little more.

Id get the diesel, as thats what i prefer to drive.

And yes, i do have a petrol stilo, but i still maintain, a diesel is a better drive - generally.

Untrue, Deisels take much longer to reach best economy and working temperature than petrols do due to their nature of operation which is why Deisels are a better buy for higher mileage use.

I agree. Diesels rely on high compression and nice warm cylinders to get the most out of the fuel. Thats why old Diesels tend to be smokey when cold as the fuel isn't fully burning and appears as smoke.

Exactly !

Sorry, but your'e both wrong. The diesel is more efficient which is why it takes so long to deliver heat to the cabin in cold weather. Yes it does use slightly more fuel when cold but not to the same extent as petrol. The high mileage equation is only used for recouping initial purchase costs, most of which will be recouped on trade in anyway as diesels are worth more. Simple as that.

On the other hand the particulate filter will be self cleaning more often and will use more fuel in doing so. The efficiency will still be better. Old diesels smoke more due to the innaccuracy of their injection systems, which has largely been eradicated by the advances in sequential multi stage injection... hence the multijet name.

[quote=dougl65;1483700]The high mileage equation is only used for recouping initial purchase costs, most of which will be recouped on trade in anyway as diesels are worth more. Simple as that.[quote]The big change with modern diesels is that people would only buy diesels if it was going to make a significant saving to runing costs. Diesels were slower and noisier than their petrol equivalents. The choice is less clear cut now as a modern turbo diesel can offer similar performance to a similar size normally aspirated petrol albeit in a very different way.

The high mileage equation still holds true in which case financially diesel is the best choice. At lower mileages it is so marginal and speculative (based on estimated residuals of new models) that preference is the key. Low down torque or revvy power.

With some models (like say a Zafira) the diesel offerings are weak performance wise compared to the petrols, so the diesel teds to be choice for hign mileage users for financial reasons, whereas the stronger performing petrols are the engine of choice in the range.

With the Fiat 500 no engine seems particularly weak each having their own characteristics and performing to expectations for capacity.

So go with your gut feel, the calculator won't really help!

Cheers
Baldrick

I agree, a petrol makes a better town car generally.

I have two Arosas, one is a 1.0S and the other a 1.4TDiS. The 1.0 warms up so much faster and is lighter so better for town use. Especially the warming of the engine, in the winter this is really welcome.

The TDi takes forever to warm through and uses a load of fuel in the winter. Even on longer runs it does worse in the winter months, but loves the summer months - MPG wise.

Although saying that i still get better MPG from the diesel around town.

Really, imo, if you do a lot of miles and/or prefer the torque of a diesel then id get the diesel. Otherwise the 1.2 would probably be fine.

Just hit 58.7 mpg on my 1.2 - very impressed indeed That's a fair bit over Fiat's official combined figure!