How many miles to justify a Diesel?

rudgey

Mk2 Leon TFSI Sport '06
Jul 2, 2008
286
0
near Midland VW ;)
Crikey guys!!!! Either my shortish journeys kill my mpg, i'm constantly trashing the ass off mine OR i have a problem!!!! I get about 250 miles from a tank in my tfsi sport!!! Sorry to hijack, but should i be worried????
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
im not sure to be honest, i drove from belfast to dublin a few weeks back which is around 100 miles, gave it stacks on the way down and used just under half a tank averaging 26mpg, then drove home at just over 60mph on cruise control to save some petrol, averaged 35/6. the drive down sounds kinda similar to your consumption, though i was on a motorway, so maybe itd be easier to get that kind of cunsumption around town. also, mine is stage 2, so i think the extra power/torque should slightly help the mpg. but at 26mpg using almost half a tank to go 100 miles, thats about 250 miles per tank roughly
 

Cupranation

Active Member
Aug 20, 2009
74
0
Warwickshire
I guess a lot of it comes down to what floats your boat. What I can say however is that having both a Cupra and an Octavia vRS CR 170 in the household, is that the driving experience is very different and this affects the economy in different ways.

Its also worth thinking about what the cars are capable of vs. what you will actually get depending on your driving style and types of journey that you do. Our Octy is easily capable of 50mpg on runs but I noticed that on short trips or if I thrash the pants off it then realistically you are talking mid 30s. The Cupra is probably only capable of low 30s max and realistically I usually average about 28. I'm guessing that a petrol FR will be marginally more econmical than a Cupra.

However, I have to drive the Octy much harder than the Cupra for similar results so in my case there probably is only about 10mpg difference between the two if the journeys and driving styles were the same.

I know that it differs geographically but round here derv is generally about 2p/litre more expensive than petrol.

I quickly did the calculation on 10,000 miles, Cupra 28mpg, Octy 35mpg, derv 2p more. The Cupra would have cost me £347 per year more than the Octy would have done in fuel.

Hope that helps.
 

beeko85

Active Member
Apr 27, 2009
322
0
Bangor, N.I
id take a pound a day all year long to have a tfsi over a tdi, but thats just me. the dealer told me the cupra actually had a slightly better fuel consumption than the fr, due to the higher power/torque figures, you never have to push it as hard, that said, i think the way id drive a cupra if i had it might prove otherwise
 

OLDOILER

Full Member
Jul 28, 2005
1,292
1
Wiltshire, UK
CUPRANATION: I noticed that you have a OCTY, I was thinking of chopping in our FR Tdi for one of the new Octy's CR having been disapointed in the MPG [ unless you do less than 55mph] norm being 38mpg what the handling like?
 
I'll start by putting my cards on the table and saying that I prefer dervs and after 17 years of derv-dom wouldn't be in any hurry to return to petrol - but that is just what suits me, my driving style and the miles I cover. :)

If you are looking at this from purely financial grounds and cover mileages below 15K pa, with shorter daily and stop-start journeys, then the petrol may be the best option. If you compare the difference in purchase cost between equal spec TFSI and TDI, then work out how many litres of fuel this would buy, it should start to put your thoughts into a real world situation.

If you are going to hang onto the car for a few years then maybe the TDI is more inviting. If weekly fuel bills are a major concern and you are not going to rag the guts out of it, then the TDI may be best for you.

As regards the DPF, the style at which you drive is just - if not more - important as the miles you cover. Tyre wear - I've just replaced all four corners at 23K after swapping them round at 15K.

Just my two penn'orth - I'm no expert. Good luck in your decision. :D
 

Nick G

Full Member
Morning all, thanks for all the help and info!

I've mentioned the Petrol idea to the wife, but she's thinking a TDI would probably still be better for the trips to see her Mum (150 mile round trip) as that alone would be cheaper in a TDI.

The whole DPF thing is a slight concern as most days the car will only be doing a short 6-7 mile journeys, not sat in traffic but more A & B roads so i doubt it will even get warm on that sort of journey??

Does anyone know the servicing intervals & costs on either car? It's more just about weighing up if the TDI will actually be cheaper to use or not - i don't really mind either from a driving point of view.
 
Never mind the DPF, as the TDI is more thermo efficient than the petrol engine, it takes much longer to warm up: mine takes about 3 or 4 miles in normal uk winter before the temp gauge starts to move off the zero mark, and that is on A & B roads.

If you can get the DPF hot and working once or twice a week you may be ok. If you are clearly looking at a TDI you may be better off looking at a 140 and tweaking it a little...
 

jezyg

Active Member
Feb 21, 2003
2,323
21
Derby
As long as the car has 1 good run every week above 40mph for 10 mins then you won't have a problem with the DPF. A bit of sprited driving every now and then is actually a good thing to blow soot out of the EGR ect as well. Now on my 3rd DPF equipped car and not had any problems with any of them. I did use to do short 5 mile journeys with one 50 mile round trip a week. But now down to 1 car and me on the bus lol :cry:
 

FR_Flavoured

Guest
Both myself and my wife purchased Diesel Mk2 SEAT Leons recently.
I have the TDI PD170 FR, and she has a TDi 1.9 Stylance.

My commute to work and back, is an 80 mile round trip, each day!
Primarily motorway, with a bit of urban driving each side, a Diesel takes this in its stride.
For every tank of fuel, i see over 500+ miles, before its time to fill up again. Also 50+mpg.

My wife travels no more than 10 miles daily to work and back.
In her car the other day, she still had 3/4 of the tank full, and had driven oround 200 miles!!

Back to my TDi FR - STYLING - Theres not alot of difference between it and a petrol Cupra (it doesnt have Aero BTCC kit). It does have all the same Toys, however under the bonnet/performance, is where the major differences can be found. But who will tell the difference just by looking at the car... (apart from the Badge!).

I just cruise most of the time - I'm not racing around, and the Diesel FR does that with no hastle, however DOES have potential, when I need to put my foot down, ie overtaking etc!

We are MORE than happy driving Diesels, they are clean, perhaps a fraction noisier, but we fill them up and forget!... good for over 500 miles of driving... without having to plan to fill up again at the next petrol station (petrols)! :D
 

Cupranation

Active Member
Aug 20, 2009
74
0
Warwickshire
CUPRANATION: I noticed that you have a OCTY, I was thinking of chopping in our FR Tdi for one of the new Octy's CR having been disapointed in the MPG [ unless you do less than 55mph] norm being 38mpg what the handling like?

Its not bad at all. Softer than a FR/Cupra but still tight, good body control, little roll and a vastly better ride (probably due to slightly longer wheelbase). Only thing I don't like is that the steering is quite a lot lighter and the front end feels a bit vauge at times. Compared to a lot of other stuff though its a very good ride/handling compromise.

There is another issue for you to consider between the two in my experience: Leon 18k miles unscheduled visits to dealer = 4, Octy 65k miles unscheduled visits to dealer = 1:blink:
 

OLDOILER

Full Member
Jul 28, 2005
1,292
1
Wiltshire, UK
Its not bad at all. Softer than a FR/Cupra but still tight, good body control, little roll and a vastly better ride (probably due to slightly longer wheelbase). Only thing I don't like is that the steering is quite a lot lighter and the front end feels a bit vauge at times. Compared to a lot of other stuff though its a very good ride/handling compromise.

There is another issue for you to consider between the two in my experience: Leon 18k miles unscheduled visits to dealer = 4, Octy 65k miles unscheduled visits to dealer = 1:blink:
Cheers for that. I thought the level of steering assist could be adjusted via Vag Com?? dealers used to do it but now its not offered. ...........................?@!~
 

red line fun

Full Member
May 24, 2004
602
12
Scotland
being a typical scot i prefer putting £20 worth of fuel in and seeing it last longer than it would if i drove a petrol. unless you're doing ridiculously low miles e.g. under 5k a year or something i'd say just go for what you prefer and forget all this calculation stuff i.e. cost of fuel divided by miles multiplied by bhp divided by gross national debt etc etc ...

now on my second diesel after years of petrol cars and doubt i'll ever go back. my annual mileage is around 10k - 12k and i don't care if a petrol would be cheaper unless we're talking about massive amounts of £ per month and i doubt we are.
 

warren_cox

Back from the dead
If money were no object then no amount of mileage would justify a diesel for me.

I do between 12-15k a year probably averaging out at about 27mpg, but to me a car isn't just about frugality or being able to go as fast as possible and return huge mpg's. There are days when it's about the way the engagment of the process of driving a car makes you feel; like when the sun is shining, you have a clear winding B road ahead of you, good visibility, and 7250rpm of rev limiter to exploit.

We had a remapped FR TDi a few years back, and whilst I respected it enormously for how quick it was, it was pretty soulless to drive. Not once did I get in it, fire it up and feel anything other than 'well this will be a prompt but utilitarian and economic journey'. The saving grace of diesel is you can drive them quickly and return decent MPG ALL OF THE TIME. But back then there was a real differential to the price of diesel vs petrol. The Government have now spotted it and are closing it down fast.

The trade off of the 2.0TFSi is that if you drive it like a diesel you will get pitiful MPG, but I'd rather drive it with some restraint when commuting, then enjoy the red line when I choose to go out for a proper drive. Like the diesel, the 2.0T has a pretty poor soundtrack without some well chosen modifications, so it is never going to set your world on fire, I just find it pushes more of my personal buttons when going out for a blat.

If you have to budget your motoring costs, then you are going to be able to hoon about more readily in a diesel than in a petrol without watching your wallet (if you are doing 15k+ pa).

It is as much about personal preference at the end of the day as anything. You can get used to pretty much anything over time, maybe 4 months wasn't enough to convince me that diesel was the way forward. That said, I can't knock it, because what it does do it does very well.
 

FR_Flavoured

Guest
red_line_fun / sooty -

Thanks for posting in here, has made the Thread alot more interesting.
I promise I did try to read all that you wrote, but I found my eyes constantly switching back over your Avator.... !

:p :D
 
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