Thread: The great petrol vs diesel debate

Diesels will become more economic to run than petrol the larger they get as the RUCs become a much smaller part of the running cost.
My wife has a 1.6 turbo diesel sedan which has wonderful torque and runs on the smell of the proverbial oily rag but she pays just as much in ROC as she does for diesel!
I was looking at some specs on petrol/diesel vehicles the other day and in one model, the 2.0 litre turbo diesel produced TWICE the torque of the larger petrol version at much lower revs and peak torque was spread over a 1000 rpm band right at the rev range you need it. No need to thrash them to accelerate quickly.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Diesels will become more economic to run than petrol the larger they get as the RUCs become a much smaller part of the running cost.
My wife has a 1.6 turbo diesel sedan which has wonderful torque and runs on the smell of the proverbial oily rag but she pays just as much in ROC as she does for diesel!
I was looking at some specs on petrol/diesel vehicles the other day and in one model, the 2.0 litre turbo diesel produced TWICE the torque of the larger petrol version at much lower revs and peak torque was spread over a 1000 rpm band right at the rev range you need it. No need to thrash them to accelerate quickly.

Have the old man's 3.0 outback same grunt in his new 2.4(?) turbo diesel and WAY better economy

I went from diesel to petrol for a different reason - I would often forget to top up my RUC and would get pinged by a cop for it so that ended up being uneconomic

A stupid reason but I'll fess up to it

Originally Posted by 308

I went from diesel to petrol for a different reason - I would often forget to top up my RUC and would get pinged by a cop for it so that ended up being uneconomic

A stupid reason but I'll fess up to it

I just time mine so it's needs doing when I do the oil change

Originally Posted by 308

I went from diesel to petrol for a different reason - I would often forget to top up my RUC and would get pinged by a cop for it so that ended up being uneconomic

A stupid reason but I'll fess up to it

I know it. I have 5 diesels to do and used to miss all the time. Now I put a reminder on my phone to check every 3 months. i haven't missed for awhile. Same with rego but like a birthday.

Originally Posted by 308

I went from diesel to petrol for a different reason - I would often forget to top up my RUC and would get pinged by a cop for it so that ended up being uneconomic

A stupid reason but I'll fess up to it

Shit, I better have a look at the Mrs wagon..... we are both crap at remembering for the rucs .....

Oh and it's a Ford kuga titanium, goes bloody well (when i get to drive it) and on a sniff of a oily rag (when I don't get to drive it)

Originally Posted by mikee

I hear ya. I have 2 diesel Vehicles a 93 Pajero SWB and a 2009 BT50. The pajero has done 240K , never been babied and drowned twice, and apart from a wee gearbox repair and servicing costs me nothing but RUC and diesel and always starts / runs the other "thing" cost 36,000 second hand and has done 117K and cost in repairs so far is $11,000. Now we purchased a 3 year warranty when we brought it and another when the original warrenty expired so this cost has been met by them. The ironic thing is this was the most I have ever spent on a vehicle, the most we have ever spent on preventative maintenance and the lowest KM vehicle I have ever brought but over the 4 years we owned it would have crippled us if not for the warrenty (and thats another story)

Now I reckon it would not matter weather it was a Mazda, Toyota , Nissan or ............................................ we would have same issues. One of my mates upgrades just before the warrenty expires on his new ones as he reckons he could not afford to fix one out of warrenty with even a simple "few thousand dollar" repair

All new vehicles are potential time bombs these days. A lot of high end Japanese cars are hardly any more reliable than European ones anymore.
With consumers demanding lots of power with good fuel economy and Governments demanding stricter and stricter emissions targets, it's not surprise that something has to give.

I though about buying a newer more comfortable car for my 200km a day commute, but after doing a fair bit of research I decided I'd be better off to spend the money on my 1998 diesel hatchback that's done 350,000kms.
It barely wears out tyres, good on fuel, easy to get parts for that are cheap, doesn't shit itself everything I forget to do an oil change and the manual gearbox is pretty well bullet proof.
Will be interesting to see in 20 years time how well todays new vehicles are holding up, while they are new people are willing to shell out $2000 for new injectors or $4000 for a new gear box, but I doubt they will in 20 years time. Where as 20 year old Toyota, Nissan, Mitsi, Landrover etc still fetch a surprisingly good price.

Some of the new technology in new cars is pretty phenomenal though, petrol and diesel cars with all the mod cons you can dream of, heaps of power and seat 5 adults, that get under 4L/100km is pretty extraordinary when you think about it.

Originally Posted by 223nut

I just time mine so it's needs doing when I do the oil change

Wouldn't work for me, as I am almost as useless at doing the oil change as I am at buying RUCs.

Ive looked at everything.. Cant stand that Common Rail Rattle your balls off till its hot or 20 Kms later.

My land Cruiser was petrol leave any diesel for dead including bro in laws amarok.

Probably I m a petrol head not a diesel head.

Reckon I ve found the solution .. Time ll tell .



and Yep its petrol .. I probably don't do any
where near enough mileage wise to save anything over a diesel

170 Kw is pretty cool as well.

What are the torque figures?

Originally Posted by Ryan

What are the torque figures?

Ha ha I wondered who d say that .. Who cares . It tows like a tow truck.
I actually don't tow a caravan as I like to camp.
How many four wheel drives smoke the tires in two wheel drive ?
Its petrol head heaven ............. In a 4WD
The brand new Hi Lux I drove in diesel was not impressive.
The four year old Nissan work ute would kill it .But it rattles its tits off all day . Yay

I care because I asked, not because I wanted a justification of why you bought it but because I'm curious. I don't really have any skin in the game petrol / diesel, they both have their merits.

Originally Posted by Ryan

What are the torque figures?

Looks like 376 nm @ 3800 rpm (if it is the engine I think it is - 4 litre V6 petrol).
The 2 litre turbo diesel Kia Sportage (haha) produces 400nm of torque at 1750 - 2800 rpm.

So does my tractor its 25 years old though. (Ha ha ). It's fun to drive both

Originally Posted by Shearer

Looks like 376 nm @ 3800 rpm (if it is the engine I think it is - 4 litre V6 petrol).
The 2 litre turbo diesel Kia Sportage (haha) produces 400nm of torque at 1750 - 2800 rpm.

170kW & 376nm is plenty usable - I'd be happy with that.