Do diesels rule?

[chrisdc]

Originally Posted by cookie

diesel for plodding, turbo petrol for fun, biggest problem with oil burners, however reliable, and however powerful, the power band is small, 1500-4000 Vs 2500-6500 on a turbo petrol

You've raised an interesting point about the power band. Driving the little Peugeot, the first thing I became aware of was the engine thrashing away at 3500rpm at our legal limit. Suddenly I realized why so many manufacturers are adding a 6th gear. My diesel on the other hand is ticking over at about 2400rpm at the same speed. It's a case of one mans (or woman's) meat is another mans (or woman's) poison. A friend of mine once remarked that he liked the sound and smell of a diesel. It's kind of agricultural in a way. I realized I liked it too. And just to confuse everyone.... My last two cars were petrol 3500cc V6 convertibles. A Merc SLK and a Nissan 350Z. One, a 7 speed auto, the other a 6 speed manual.

Originally Posted by cookie

, and found limits of engine and box on the T4, and exceeded them

My condolences Cookie, that must have been a sad day.

[krisby]

The diesel will of course rev lower due to the engine characteristics, but also an auto will always be lower. My 528i auto was doing 2100rpm at 70mph (and from memory still under 3000rpm at 90), when I got the ST220, being a 3L I expected it to have long gearing as the engine can cope (as opposed to a buzzy 1600 peugeot that isn't really made for long distance touring), but no, 70mph was 3000rpm, my motorway cruising speeds were closer to 4000rpm, much too high for my liking and more akin to my old Toledo 2.3V5.
The 2.5T on the other hand, 2500rpm at 70mph in a manual, so I am very happy with that.