charcoalgrey said:

...The 1.6Mjt from the Bravo for the GP is something i'm keeping my eye on!

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Look like your wish has come true.

I'm picking mine up in September (allegedly, so says the dealer).

allanhelen said:

There is not much to choose betwee the mj90 and the 1.4 sporting as it is so wouldn't take much to make it quicker. The aftermarket remap guys can get 120 bhp and 265nm torque easily out of the mj 90 as it is

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Well I have a real mix of diesel power [ wifes a 90hp + tuning box = 110hp?, mines a 210hp Seat leon fr MK2] the Leon behaves like a petrol engine but the Fiat 1.3 behaves like a like a slug below 2.5k then its off like a rocket!! - with a very small power band. Looking at the charge air plumbing it needs to be much shorter?. I was hoping on this web site some chaps might have found a alternative charge cooler with shorter connection pipes. And diesel do need to have high miles before they give their best - And both have the cursed DPF which makes them use more fuel!?!?@!

Unfortunatly that sort of stuff would have to be custom fabricated. Although its just a characteristic of the engine, unfortunatly the turbo is quite big in comparison to the size of the engine (if it was a petrol it would be fine).


And yes the DPF sucks when it getting short journeys and starts blocking up, give it a hard motorway drive every so often to clear it out .

The 1.6 120 Mjet has a DPF I've heard (my 1.3 90 does not) and I understand that if you just drive it to the local school and back, eventually a light comes on that means "drive me hard down the motorway for 20 minutes or I'll switch to granny (limp) mode until you do".

I have also heard stories where the DPF gets so hot when its in "purge" mode that you can start forest fires if you then park in, say, a car-boot type field with long grass.

Perhaps they have improved the heat shielding around it since then.

What I don't fully understand is that if the particulate filter is suppose to *prevent* sooty exhaust, why does it then 'purge' the DPF? Doesn't this mean you just create a mini smog area every few hundred miles instead of a faint smog trail continuously as you drive?

Aresby said:

What I don't fully understand is that if the particulate filter is suppose to *prevent* sooty exhaust, why does it then 'purge' the DPF? Doesn't this mean you just create a mini smog area every few hundred miles instead of a faint smog trail continuously as you drive?

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It doesn't purge them it incinerates them at 600oC

T14086 said:

It doesn't purge them it incinerates them at 600oC

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Ah, that would explain the forest fires then!

And flames from the exhaust too, I shouldn't wonder. Could be impressive (or worrying) to the car following you!

600oc inside the exhaust

what forest fires....in Milton Keynes

Yes, I realise the temperature is inside the exhaust! Just me being silly. Still would be good to see some flames coming out of the exhaust though...

However, the point about starting brush fires (OK, no actual forest fires) is true though. Not sure if in MK or somewhere else but it was real and due to the temp of the DPF.

Regarding loss of performance, I'm guessing it can't be any worse than the catalytic converter on petrol engines?

your handbook will say do not park on long grass if your car has a catalytic convertor which retain high heat, the DPF cools down quickly after its 175-225 second duration.

So in fact I got the wrong way round: petrol cars might start fires but not diesel ones. Excellent!

I've realised these last few posts are a bit off topic, namely 1.3 Turbo lag.

So back on topic I've done some experimenting after reading some of the posts here.

I've discovered that getting it into 6th gear at 40mph isn't necessarily the best way to save fuel; it certainly gets you well into turbo lag territory.

To avoid the lag the engine really needs to be spinning at around 1900 rpm onwards, so keeping the revs there (and not trying to drop it into 6th gear too early) keeps it responsive and, more importantly, doesn't seem to adversley affect the mpg, at least according to the onboard computer.

Anyway, after nearly 3 years it's all a bit late now, as my dealer has said that my 1.6 120 Mjet Sporting is scheduled for delivery to him on 21st September with my delivery a week or so later. Sans the turbo lag, I'm hoping.

Well when your experiencing Turbo Lag the engine is laboured so as a result injects more fuel to prevent itself from stalling.

Ya there's huge lag until about 1900 rpm.. Especially if the engine is cold.. You get ****all power if the engine hasnt heated up. You dont really have probs with lag after 1st gear because you just drop gears

My 1.6 Sporting isn't immune either (as you say, more noticeable when the engine's cold).

Whilst in a different playing field to my previous 1.3, there is still significant lag when pulling off from roundabouts if you don't at least give the engine a bit of accelerator before bringing up the clutch.

Whilst the 1.6 has more low-rev torque (so it's less of an issue than with the 1.3) it's still hugely different to the driving experience of a petrol engine (where when you put down the accelerator it will respond immediately).

But my 1.6 Sporting has all the driving characteristics of a previously owned 2.0 litre Astra GTE - except for that turbo lag!

On the motorway I suspect my current Sporting could easily keep up with my old 2.0 litre (and has done so on modern 1.9 DTi Passat's for instance).

We have a 1.3 multijet but decided to go for the lower BHP because the turbo lag was so awful on the 90bhp.

For around town driving I actually found the 90BHP useless as went to pull out at roundabouts etc and nothing happened!

The lessed BHP multijet has very limited lag (infact none so you would notice) and didnt seem to be any less nippy around town.

So, seems to be a very common issue, if not all the 90BHP suffer from.