Can anyone with techi knowledge explain to a girl who luvs cars, but does not understand engines... the difference there will be between the power of the 1.4 petrol and the 1.3 diesel?

I have looked at the specs, but dont really understand the difference between torque and bhp...I have had a car with a bigger engine that was no more powerful than the smaller one that I now have so don't really know how to tell whether it will be nippy or sluggish ....and have never had a diesel.

Would appreciate your help ... thanks

Torque is the turning force the engine can apply. The power is simply a function of torque and engine speed.

With the diesel there is lots of torque from 1800-3500rpm, which makes it easy and relaxing to drive - no need to change down up hills, straight into 5th from 35/40mph etc.

But ultimately revving over 3500rpm is just pointless as the torque drops off quickly - it's better to change to the next gear.

Contrast to the petrol - it's a bit of a gem near the red line.

Then again the diesel will give you 70mpg+ driven carefully whilst I'd guess the petrol would be more like 40-45.

HTH

Thank you so much jj ....appreciate that

The 1.4 will give up to 50mpg if drven gently. Expect more like mid 40s most of the time and only down to 42ish if driven hard. You need to know the turning circle of the 1.4 is awful because of the six speed box. I had a 1.4 and if I bought again it would be the diesel its a little gem as torque is brilliant up hills etc.

the main differences you would notice is that the diesel is far better on fuel but the performance is nearly the same as the 1.2, the 1.4 is a lot faster.in any situation. tbh the diesel is best compared against the 1.2 as performance and eco are very close on both engines but for instance you want to overtake a lorry on a dual carigeway from 50 mph you would stay in 5th gear and just put you'r foot down in the diesel, in the petrol you would go down to 4th gear to achieve the same manouver. hope this help's

To be honest I have not driven the 1.4 but the 1.3 diesel I own, I think it's pretty powerful for a small car at least in my surroundings and the best thing it's not noisy at all.(nosier than petrol but it's hardly noticeable)

Thank you sooo much nuova, white and omaragra ...really helpful

The diesel is not recommended for a lot of town driving. The diesel particulate filter, that which takes the particles of soot from the exhaust requires to regenerate regularly. It needs a 20 minute run to do this.

Cheers

SPD

rallycinq said:

The diesel is not recommended for a lot of town driving. The diesel particulate filter, that which takes the particles of soot from the exhaust requires to regenerate regularly. It needs a 20 minute run to do this.

Cheers

SPD

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I am sure, if it's running fine in India it will be super in UK. LOL

I found the 1.3 multijet engine to be slow to pick up with lag (doesn't really pick up until 1.7-2k or at least the version i drove didn't) but good midrange punch...it can be left in 5th during a 40-70 acceleration rather than changing down and be faster than a petrol in this increment, personally I'd take a petrol as I value both initial response to throttle and being able to rev above 4k without engine power dropping off to pretty much 0, when the petrol engine would just be getting going but the diesel waves the white flag. Working entirely in the midrange it has many merits however go off either end of this i.e. low revs or high revs and it has little power. The chunk of midrange go does make it feel quicker than it is though, because of the delivery, nothing....not much...boom! when the turbo does come in it feels quick by comparision. However although a petrol does without the big chunk of mid range power it has a more even spread of it so is less likely to be caught out 'off boost'.

I will point out I drove the 1.3 mjet in a Swift DDIS (suzuki share diesel engines with fiat) and all comparisons are drawn against a swift 1.5 VVT