Not IMHO but a straight up technical question. Mum has decided her new car has to be a VW Golf, price, practicality etc all taken into account. But Mum (and I for that matter) aren’t too sure on what engine to go for. For economy’s sake I suggested a diesel- good mpg, more reliable. My Dad suggested a small petrol engine (1.4 litre petrol)- short runs in his opinion aren’t good for a diesel and diesels need more regular services anyway. Mum’s driving patterns by the way being split fairly evenly between longish distance crusing and short hops down town.
If anyone can dish the dirt on diesel vs petrol then do so now, this saturday is the tentative date for car shoppping!
If there isn’t a huge price difference and you live in Europe (as it sounds), I’d be inclined to go with a Diesel.
If you lived in North America, I would probably go with the gas myself.
Well, to aid in answering your query, could you provide some of the following:
What is the price per (liter? gallon?) of diesel/petrol?
What is the economy of the diesel vs. petrol engine?
Am I using the world “petrol” correctly to refer to gasoline?
I know that gasoline in Europe is on the expensive side, but despite that, I’d have to say that a tiny little 1.4L engine would get GREAT mileage despite any gasoline cost. Again, I’d have to see your figures that I asked for.
Oops I meant to get back to this one sooner. Yes petrol is the correct reference and mpg figures are in no doubt about the economy of a diesel (slight aside- living in Northern Ireland near the Irish border is probably the best place to be cheap Irish fuel and a strong British currency means diesel is roughly the equivalent of 50p/litre)
What I really need to know is if the short runs that I mentioned seriously harm a diesel. Dad was mentioning something vague about the diesel engine depending much more on being warm and lubricated than the petrol. Mums already lining up to buy a 1.4 petrol Golf so I’ like to be sure she’s going for the right car.
Deisels contaminate their oil a lot easier. When a deisel OR gas engine is warming up, excess fuel is dumped into the
engine (runs rich) to make it run smoothly. In a gasoline engine, the gasoline that gets into the oil this way is
more easily burned off. Deisel, being heavier and more
like a light oil itself, doesn’t evaporate out of the lubricating oil nearly as easily.
So a deisel is non-ideal for short trips. That’s my
understanding anyway.
-Ben
I got turned off diesels by my cousin’s new Jetta. It’s 18 months old and it has that diesel smell. 50 MPG is not worth that smell.
Ap