Right car?

[vaynah]

So after reading some posts about diesel vs petrol etc etc, I started wondering if I got the right car(engine wise).

It's a 2004 2.0D, great engine with plenty of torque.

My annual mileage however is no more than 6k, 90% is A roads daily commute.
The engine hasn't given me any problems yet in the 1+ year I've had it.

Would I be better off with a 1.8 petrol?

[gswede]

Other than the T5, the 2,0D would be my choice..

You`d be susprised of the level of disapointment the 1,8 petrol delivers

[theRsole]

if you've not had any problems then you've made the right choice, I can confirm that the 1.8 petrol isn't the best engine from a driving point of view! (well, if you ever need to overtake)

[Ninja59]

Pointless on that mileage having diesel it will be costing you more in fuel and servicing.

2.0 Petrol rather than the 1.8 in the P1 cars. The 1.8 and 2.0 are Mazda MZR (in a majority Mazda designed)/Ford duratec engines with a few minor tweeks obviously. Also used in the MX5 but of course that weighs substantially less.

[Welton]

I mustard mitt 6K/yr is not really the best reason to get a Diesel, I do 8K/yr in my T5 and its been plain sailing for me.

Your diesel engine may not be reaching its optimum temperature to deliver good economy and this in turn can lead to a build up of deposits thanks to the EGR system. It would benefit from having the EGR blanked off (if that's possible on these engines without it throwing a fault?).

You may find that you're only getting low-30's MPG? something that petrol's can do with cheaper fuel and fewer potential problems.

You would also be wise to do 6-monthly oil changes and use the best quality diesel fuel you can find. You are most likely lucky that you don't have a DPF being an early car and this is a godsend.

As said though if it aint broke and all that......

[TheFiend]

if you've not had any problems then you've made the right choice, I can confirm that the 1.8 petrol isn't the best engine from a driving point of view! (well, if you ever need to overtake)

I drive a 1.8 C30 R-Design and it certainly doesn't disappoint me.... and my previous car was a Porsche 944. And I'm getting 40+MPG out of it. My last full tank included a 280 motorway trip at 70+ and it still managed 39.6MPG

[Ninja59]

I mustard mitt 6K/yr is not really the best reason to get a Diesel, I do 8K/yr in my T5 and its been plain sailing for me.

Your diesel engine may not be reaching its optimum temperature to deliver good economy and this in turn can lead to a build up of deposits thanks to the EGR system. It would benefit from having the EGR blanked off (if that's possible on these engines without it throwing a fault?).

You may find that you're only getting low-30's MPG? something that petrol's can do with cheaper fuel and fewer potential problems.

You would also be wise to do 6-monthly oil changes and use the best quality diesel fuel you can find. You are most likely lucky that you don't have a DPF being an early car and this is a godsend.

As said though if it aint broke and all that......

Actually bizarrely the earlier cars (06/07) in some instances had DPF's 2008/09 I have never seen one on...(based on the manual)

[Ninja59]

I drive a 1.8 C30 R-Design and it certainly doesn't disappoint me.... and my previous car was a Porsche 944. And I'm getting 40+MPG out of it. My last full tank included a 280 motorway trip at 70+ and it still managed 39.6MPG

That is pretty impressive from the 1.8 my best with roughly the same engine in the MX5 if a little more steady is 53.5 MPG.

[TheFiend]

That is pretty impressive from the 1.8 my best with roughly the same engine in the MX5 if a little more steady is 53.5 MPG.

Previous fill up was 41.2MPG for my daily commute. I think the warm summer has contributed towards these figures.

[Falmouthboy]

Having had a 1.8, I found it to be a perfectly adequate engine for 'local running'. Another gear and so bit more power would have been nice for the 'open road', but it depends where your priorities lay.

As for the early 2.0d, as said, you don't have a DPF which would be the root of issues for your type of driving and it's true you don't maximise the benefits of owning a diesel. However, give it a decent run every few weeks and run it on premium fuel and you should bad fine.

[The Thong]

I've just got a V50 2ltr D and so far I'm pleased. To be honest, petrol is nicer but we're doing more distance these days so an oiler is the better choice. I still live in the days of mechanical injector pumps etc but time rolls on and modern diesels are run by black magic or fairy dust. The 2ltr does suffer from throttle body failure as mine did. It's a job you can do yourself though. It's got loads if grunt and providing I don't get any injector issues I think it'll be a good power plant. I need to do a tank to tank calculation but according to the mpg average I get 56mpg on a run...... I'm sceptical but it looks good :)

TT

[alexstanleyv50]

When I had my 1.8 petrol V50 I would be lucky to get 33mpg. In the T5 V50 I now have I get 32mpg along the same 20 mile semi-rural (30mph - 50mph with a 2 mile dual carriageway 70mph (honest!) blast).

I did find the 1.8 a little wet when trying to overtake etc but the T5 doesn't even have to be half thrashed to get a wiggle on.

So same (ish) mpg but twice the power....

[theRsole]

When I had my 1.8 petrol V50 I would be lucky to get 33mpg. In the T5 V50 I now have I get 32mpg along the same 20 mile semi-rural (30mph - 50mph with a 2 mile dual carriageway 70mph (honest!) blast).

I did find the 1.8 a little wet when trying to overtake etc but the T5 doesn't even have to be half thrashed to get a wiggle on.

So same (ish) mpg but twice the power....

really wish I'd held out for a T5 - there doesn't seem to be that many around in the v50...

[alexstanleyv50]

really wish I'd held out for a T5 - there doesn't seem to be that many around in the v50...

Took me an age to find one! When it popped up it was the only T5 manual around. There's a few T5 geartronic but I wanted a manual!

[theRsole]

yeah, I saw a dark red one the other day that looked brilliant, half thought of stealing it!!
the 1.8 is fine for town and motorway driving but I go up the west coast of scotland in mine quite often where a wee bit more poke would be very useful...