Petrol or Diesel

[denilu]

Hi all

Newbie here - my name is Lou and I am in Sydney - excuse the dumb questions as I know very little about how to fix what is under the hood.

I am tossing up between current Golf 2.0FSI and 2.0TDI. I am not sure whether to go petrol or diesel. I have rented diesels o/s and had not issues. I am not sure about maintenance costs for the diesel compared to the petrol version.

I read somewhere that diesels are a lot more hassle for mechanics and that they will cost much more to service.

99% of my driving will be around Sydney in traffic - will I see the lower fuel costs in the diesel of it that for country driving?

I also read on another thread here that VW are getting rid of TDI and moving to common rail diesel. Does that mean I should wait or perhaps get a petrol car?

I am looking for a car we can keep for at least 6-7 years.

Any tips would be appreciated.


Thanks

[eestison]

hi, and welcome

i had the same decision to make and ended up going for the 2.0TDI. i have had mine now for ~15 months.

i do mainly city driving in brisbane and manage to get 800km out of a 55l tank of diesel with a weighted foot, the economy is great, on the highway i get a little over 1000km from a tank now that the car is run in. i have done just under 17000km.

as for the servicing costs, i am not sure. i have have free servicing for another two years. i believe the scheduled costs begin around $350 for the first sevice and then go up in small increments per 15000km service interval. i think the 60000km service is around $450 to $500.

my car used approximately 600mL of oil in the first 10000km, over an 11 month period. it has used no more oil since the first service at 12mths.

as for the TDI being phased out... well, yes and no. the TDI will still be a TDI, but the PD (pump duse or unit injector) type engines are being replaced by CR (common rail) engines.

The current 2.0TDI engine code is BKD, the 2.0TDI (with CR technology and DPF) engine code is BMN. The BKD engines are good for 103kW and 320NM of torque, the BMN engines are good for 125kW and 350NM of torque.

The BMN engines are being used in the euro spec VW/Audi models, they are not yet available in the models we get here - i am hoping to see them here soon .

The BKD engine is capable of the same figures as the stock BMN engine. There are a number of companies offering software upgrades for this, oettinger is one of them.

http://www.oettinger.com.au/oau_vwgolf5_et.html

hope this helps.


*edit

and i forgot to mention the most important thing. the 2.0TDI is loads of fun, aside from a little lag off the line it goes exceptionally well. from a standing start or accelerating in gear this car gets up and goes very well indeed. i drove both the 2.0FSI and the 2.0TDI on extended runs in mixed conditions and the 2.0TDI won hands down... the only thing that i preferred in the 2.0FSI was the engine note at high rpm. The 2.0FSI punches out 110kW (an extra 7kW or 10HP over the 2.0TDI) and 200NM of torque.

2.0 TDI = torque = fun

*edit mk II

my apologies. i stand corrected, the 125kW 2.0TDI with DPF is not a CR engine - so i am told. apparently the CR engines are yet to even be in production - this is news to me. oh well, any improvement made by VW is sure to be a blast to drive over and above the PD 103kW and PD DPF 125kW engines.

boy is my face red. haha. oops. i should not have rattled off that it was CR before i knew for sure.

watch this vwvortex thread for more info... http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3099705

[shogun2]

hi, and welcome
and i forgot to mention the most important thing. the 2.0TDI is loads of fun, aside from a little lag off the line it goes exceptionally well. from a standing start or accelerating in gear this car gets up and goes very well indeed. i drove both the 2.0FSI and the 2.0TDI on extended runs in mixed conditions and the 2.0TDI won hands down... the only thing that i preferred in the 2.0FSI was the engine note at high rpm. The 2.0FSI punches out 110kW (an extra 7kW or 10HP over the 2.0TDI) and 200NM of torque.

2.0 TDI = torque = fun

If you want more you can always chip it.
The 2.0 TDI with chip is awesome!
I have the Diesel Power chip, and whilst I haven't done a dyno on it they say that I should be getting 30% extra power and 400nM! Fuel consumption is approx the same as without the chip - but driving is a hell of a lot more fun! Just need to change tyres, cos they have a habit of squealing too much.

[Sportie]

Hi all, new member with first post. Hope I know what I'm doing.

Wheels magazine did a comparison test between the two. I think it would have been 2005 or early 2006. You may be able to see it at your local library (which is where I saw it). They divided it into sections and each model had it's share of wins. From memory they decided the FSI by a nose, because it was cleaner at the fuel pump, but I must say my memory isn't the best. Certainly worth a read. If you don't have any luck I may be able to find again.

[phaeton]

Welcome denilu & Sportie

denilu- if you have the money wait for the GT with TSI that would be the best overall

Sportie-Yeah I remember that article too, IIRC was the Prius also involved with that test ?

[Sportie]

Just 2 golf's.

[GoLfMan]

diesel hands down mate!!!!

[phaeton]

Just 2 golf's.

O cool thanks

They did a later one with a Prius IIRC as well

[gldgti]

Hi all, new member with first post. Hope I know what I'm doing.

Wheels magazine did a comparison test between the two. I think it would have been 2005 or early 2006. You may be able to see it at your local library (which is where I saw it). They divided it into sections and each model had it's share of wins. From memory they decided the FSI by a nose, because it was cleaner at the fuel pump, but I must say my memory isn't the best. Certainly worth a read. If you don't have any luck I may be able to find again.

welcome mate....

but..

wheels magazine is possibly the crappiest car mag around, the people who do the testing and writing are not clever or practical, hence the new bommadore being car of the year last.

there is a common dislike of diesels among "aussies" which is a total load of crap. all the best aussies care about is the future of the planet and our fine country yes? so the diesel should win hands down every time... even if it was half as powerful and cost twice as much.... but its not, so theres a nice bonus.

now, stepping off my soap box...

[Guy_H]

Just got some info from my friends inside VW:

125kw diesel Golfs due in April - its a 3rd model, sold for more than the 103kw & 1.9l

Golf GT 1.4 TSI is due in June (we are ready!)

http://www.oettinger.com/navi_e.php?motor_id=1028

The higher output diesel will arrive in the Jetta & Passat in the MY 08 models.

[Sportie]

Car of the Year. Wonderful decision that . I was listening to ABC radio the other night & they said that Holden invited Robbo (I think he’s the editor) back from Europe a few years ago to observe all of the development work and testing with a view to writing a book at the end. It’s just been published. Suddenly it all became clear.
Anyway, can’t be too critical because when they did their “megatest” of the top hatches the winner was GOLF. That led me to the wonderful Sportline that keeps me smiling day after day. Of course that led me here to dream that one day I may be in the terrible position of having to decide whether to buy the GTI or R32. Bloody wheels magazine.

[blue_r32]

I haven't driven the petrol version, but the loan TDI that I picked up this morning is a great car to drive, it surprised me when it came on boost actually!

I would certainly buy one (for the missus, I'm keeping the .:R), very low fuel consumption is great.

[fergVdub]

Go the Diesel

Hi Denilu,

i am the happy owner of a TDI Jetta, I drive around the city but regularly drive in the bush and this is obviously where the diesel comes into its own, but I must say that being somewhat lead footed and still getting 750K + in he city whilst getting 990+ on the highway does it for me, and I stll get performance when I push the peddle. I have about 5k+ on the clock at the moment and from what I understand the fuel consumption will only improve as the engine beds down.

How fast do you need go whilst still saving fuel and being kind to the planet,as has been previusly said go the diesel!!

good luck

ferg

[dilbert_rocks]

Sluggish?

Hi all

I am tossing up between current Golf 2.0FSI and 2.0TDI. I am not sure whether to go petrol or diesel. I have rented diesels o/s and had not issues. I am not sure about maintenance costs for the diesel compared to the petrol version.

I read somewhere that diesels are a lot more hassle for mechanics and that they will cost much more to service.

99% of my driving will be around Sydney in traffic - will I see the lower fuel costs in the diesel of it that for country driving?

I test drove a Jetta TDI (DSG), and basically had to stomp the pedal to the floor to get the thing to move up a gentle incline. Once it got into the boost range though I didn't notice much difference with the Turbo FSI (except for the noise). I think I read somewhere that both the FSI and TDI are a better match for the manual box.

I thought the TDI was noisy at low revs, but there are other posts that mention that after about 10,000km they quieten down. The salesman told me by 10dB - which I think is just blowing smoke up my exhaust. 9dB = 2^3 (ie: 8 ) times as soft. Put another way, 1 new TDI is louder than 8 "run-in" TDI's put together. Sorry - don't believe it would be that much.

I have heard similar stories about diesels requiring qualified diesel mechanics (ie: less common) to service them, but is anyone besides VW qualified to service your vehicle anyway? That's a concern I still have. Fuel consumption is tempting though.

[gldgti]

I test drove a Jetta TDI (DSG), and basically had to stomp the pedal to the floor to get the thing to move up a gentle incline. Once it got into the boost range though I didn't notice much difference with the Turbo FSI (except for the noise). I think I read somewhere that both the FSI and TDI are a better match for the manual box.

I thought the TDI was noisy at low revs, but there are other posts that mention that after about 10,000km they quieten down. The salesman told me by 10dB - which I think is just blowing smoke up my exhaust. 9dB = 2^3 (ie: 8 ) times as soft. Put another way, 1 new TDI is louder than 8 "run-in" TDI's put together. Sorry - don't believe it would be that much.

I have heard similar stories about diesels requiring qualified diesel mechanics (ie: less common) to service them, but is anyone besides VW qualified to service your vehicle anyway? That's a concern I still have. Fuel consumption is tempting though.

your maths on dB is correct... but i dont think that assumption is accurate.

besides, its still not going to be noisy per se.... i guess you need to priorotise whats important in a car for you. for me, its someting like:
0) longevity
1) mechanical robust-ness
2) general build quality
3) handling
3) power/efficiency
4) cost
5) comfort
6) useless crap that you pay extra for - ie gadgets.