question Diesel or Petrol

[MBDevotee]

I think there isn't much in it.

When there were no turbos - Diesel would have won every time....

Then most diesels were turbos and most petrols weren't and the balance swung towards petrol...

Now the petrols are turbo'd and I think it's gone back again to being broadly down more to the driver & servicing than the engine.

However...

The more and more power we eek out of smaller and smaller engines, the shorter the life will be.

A 5.0 V8 will probably never break - it's rarely if ever stretched to it's limit - and the only guys who can afford to fuel and tax them are probably older.....

Whereas a 1.2 Turbo kicking out 130 - 150hp is going to have it's neck wrung every drive by the spotty 21 year old who's bought it as he can just about afford to insure it!


The more power we kick out of diesels per litre the same becomes true....


Longest lasting engine of all - probably a 5.5 V8 with no turbo, driven by an older guy well serviced.....

So Malcolms car really!

 

[television]

I think there isn't much in it.

When there were no turbos - Diesel would have won every time....

Then most diesels were turbos and most petrols weren't and the balance swung towards petrol...

Now the petrols are turbo'd and I think it's gone back again to being broadly down more to the driver & servicing than the engine.

However...

The more and more power we eek out of smaller and smaller engines, the shorter the life will be.

A 5.0 V8 will probably never break - it's rarely if ever stretched to it's limit - and the only guys who can afford to fuel and tax them are probably older.....

Whereas a 1.2 Turbo kicking out 130 - 150hp is going to have it's neck wrung every drive by the spotty 21 year old who's bought it as he can just about afford to insure it!


The more power we kick out of diesels per litre the same becomes true....


Longest lasting engine of all - probably a 5.5 V8 with no turbo, driven by an older guy well serviced.....

So Malcolms car really!

I will sleep on it overnight then reply

 

[hawk20]

Perhaps worth mentioning that longevity is not much of an issue nowadays as both engine types do lots of miles and few owners keep their car long enough to mind much.

What is happening before our noses is a pretty remarkable switch from over 90% of E's being petrol driven in the UK in 1992 to over 90% being diesel driven today.

All that in only 20 years.

And 95% of X5s are now diesel. And BMW has said publicly it doubts if making V8 petrols will remain economic much longer.

Notice how petrol engines seem to be being quietly dropped e.g. the ML used to offer 320, and 5 litre petrols. Now it is just two diesels or the ML63 petrol - which is really a halo model not meant to take much market share.

Sad to see in many ways but the relentless pressure from Euro legislation to achieve specified emission and economy figures forces car makers to go in this direction. And rising fuel prices and their effect on our wallets forces us consumers to go that way too.

As it happens, as ST4 rightly says, the quietness, refinement, and performance of the modern diesel make this no great hardship. I never thought I would ever like diesel as much as petrol, but I do now.

 

[television]

Perhaps worth mentioning that longevity is not much of an issue nowadays as both engine types do lots of miles and few owners keep their car long enough to mind much.

What is happening before our noses is a pretty remarkable switch from over 90% of E's being petrol driven in the UK in 1992 to over 90% being diesel driven today.

All that in only 20 years.

And 95% of X5s are now diesel. And BMW has said publicly it doubts if making V8 petrols will remain economic much longer.

Notice how petrol engines seem to be being quietly dropped e.g. the ML used to offer 320, and 5 litre petrols. Now it is just two diesels or the ML63 petrol - which is really a halo model not meant to take much market share.

Sad to see in many ways but the relentless pressure from Euro legislation to achieve specified emission and economy figures forces car makers to go in this direction. And rising fuel prices and their effect on our wallets forces us consumers to go that way too.

As it happens, as ST4 rightly says, the quietness, refinement, and performance of the modern diesel make this no great hardship. I never thought I would ever like diesel as much as petrol, but I do now.

But BMW do not have an equivalent AMG market so the chances are that Mercedes will continue with the petrol. Also the CL is still not offered with a diesel engine. I do not think there are any diesel RR or Bentleys.

 

[Blobcat]

BMW have their "M" range to compete against the AMG, you can get a 5 ltr V8 twin turbo X5 but I doubt they sell many of them.

The Jag XF 275 V6 Diesel is 0-60 in 5.9, limited to 155 mph and 47.1mpg combined
The Jag XF 340 V6 Petrol is 0.60 in 5.7, limited to 155 mph and 29.4 mpg combined
The Jag XF 510 V8 Petrol is 0-60 in 4.7, limited to 155 mph and 24.4 mpg combined

I very much doubt they sell many 340 Petrols of V8's

I really wish Mercedes did a CDI CL with the V8 diesel engine

 

[television]

You can see that I do not follow BMW

 

[Blobcat]

No, Mercedes are generally in front...;-)

 

[Royston59]

well that was interesting....

but did it sway my opinion....no....and im not sure that I had one. Its a bit of an NFR topic for me as Im about to buy another old 4wd for going shooting, running the dogs out etc etc, In the past we have alway had 3.0l diesels but I have a chance of picking up a 3.0l v6 petrol with decent miles and i was just wondering if it would be similar reliability. As has been said I guess if its been reasonably looked after, (which this one shows sign of), then it will most likely do the job.
Cheers
R