Apart from arm-and-a-leg stuff like beemers and Audi, whose diesels are good now?

Ford? Vauxhall? VW? SEAT? Renault? Pug/Citroen? Honda? W.H.Y.?

Looking at a possible Focus/Astra sized second car, and interested in the engine first. (So no posts about VW build quality or residuals, thanks )

Alcazar

 

D5 Volvo engine

 

I may be wrong here but I think Ford and Peugeot share the same diesel engines?
Peugeot always seemed pretty good at diesels.

I've had a VW/SEAT diesel in a Caddy van I once had.........

 

I love my old renualt diesel engines My k reg 1.9 clio does 60mpg Bought it off some old codger for £250 4 months t+t 4 new tyres and a mostly full renualt service history. all eith only 7k on the clock.

 

It's a Ford isn't it? Anyway, Volvo=arm-and-a-leg

Alcazar

 

I would personally say the 1.9t VW(VAG)
So make that SEAT too

Best bang for buck anyway.

 

Yes, the 1.9 TDi from VW is considered the best

 

I thought the 2.2 from Honda is highly rated

 

My Caddy has the 1.9 TDI. Excellent engine with plenty of torque

 

And very mappable too

 

Yes very. Apparently 140BHP and about 250 lbs ft.

I've been tempted.

 

And the Skoda Fabia for the same size

 

I see no-one has mentioned either Ford or Vauxhall yet?

And yet the Focus is reckoned to be best in it's class? Is this just for petrol engines then?

Alcazar

 

They do say that over the coming years the VAG 1.9t will suffer due to their lack of investment in updating the engine. Newer cars are starting to take over.
However in the S/H market, and even the current new I guess, I would have to say the VAG it best in class without a doubt.

Paul, once mapped they become beasts lol, especially the newer 170bhp standard Golfs lol

 

Alfa JTD is very good. Ford CDTi and VAG 1.9

You mention audi as arm and a leg. VW, Skoda, Seat are all the same engine. It also has many variations though, I doubt the 12ish year old design of the 90bhp engine is that similar to the latest golf GTi TDi engine.

 

Vauxhall/Saab 1.9 engine is made my fiat.

Make you own minds up about that.

 

VAG did the same with the 1.8t lump too.
If it aint broke.............. just make it better

 

I like my diesel 2.0 x type... It is a 50mpg commuter, £115 a year tax and despite the lowish BHP, torquey enough to keep up with the other TDI cars...
Plus it with the sports model I got, I am blessed with all the luxury of an "arm and a leg" car with sportier ride, but managed to pick up a 3 year old one for a midges tit over 10k
Some classic bargains out there in the 6k bracket if you know what to look for

 

vauxhall diesels were always crap when i worked for em,very under powered and unreliable that was a while ago so might be better now.

the 1.8 in my transit connect is ok it is just like a 2 stroke the amount of oil it gets through it is only 3 months old aswell.engine is basically the same as the old days just had the 1 belt changed for a chain and made common rail.
as said vag are very good and also found the psa hdi engines to be good

 

Skoda Octavia 2.0l 140bhp turbo diesel

About 50 quid to fill up the tank last week, and that does for over 500 miles - depending on left foot enthusiasm

 

180bhp and 312 lb/ft in my Fabia

30-70 thru the gears in 5s (unofficially timed on my stopwatch) which matched Prodrive's quoted figures for 03-05 STi PPP's and yet I can still average 65mpg if I drive like the pope.

 

Owned a mondeo TDCi 115 and it was a fantastic car, the engine was superb, upto the 120k miles I had it. would probably still have it now if it wasn't written off in an accident.

Have driven the Astra Diesels more times than i can remember, my personal opinion is they are poor diesel engines, no where near as good as the Ford

 

The 130 TDCi's even better than the 115.

 

Anything Vauxhaul is poor. FULL STOP !

 

audi 2.0tdi only 140bhp - but superb motor especially when mixed with a good suspension

 

Yup, mine moves along quite nicely. 40+ mpg at 85 mph. Enough torque to spin the wheels in second, third in the wet

 

It seems fashoinable to say this, but I've had a few of them (bought myself) and they have been very good. Reliable, comfortable, economical.

I've not bought them to do trackdays and go fast, just get from a to b with some toys.

But if you are talking about the diesel engine then I'd agree. I've a 2.2 (I was scarred of the 1.9 fiat unit) and it's a bit noisey on start up but returns 43mpg and is a fantastic tourer. At 70 you can not hear anything.

 

3 vauxhall diesels 3 money pits, had to sell the last one for scrap rather than pay £900 for a new fuel pump.

 

Depends what your looking for:

If its for general communting and economy then I quite like the Ford/Peugeot/Citroen/mazda/Mini Diesel/Suzuki 1.6 110 bhp diesel engine (yes, all these cars have the same engine)

For a 1.6 diesel it goes very well - it defies its capacity, obvioulsy its not a speed demon and never will be, but its smooth and progressive - not peaky like many diesels and very good on fuel. Ideal for a shopping car. 90ps units are a bit lethargic though.

The PSA 1.4 units aren't up to much for both performance and economy (because your foot is planted to the floor most of the time).

The lastest Vauxhall 1.9 120ps cdti units pull very well. Not so good on fuel though from what I noticed (tried it Astras and new shape Zafiras). The 1.7 cdti isn't that great, it feels eager and promising at first at low speeds, but it quickly runs out of breath once on the open roads.

Renault 1.9 Dci perform very well and good on fuel, but they have terrible reliability and the car you usually find with them in is a megane, which is horrible to drive.

Alfa JTD 1.9 again, nice. But its out-classed by all the other makers with the same bhp engine.

I currently have a Seat Altea 2.0 140ps to abuse. Which gets the "meh" rating from me, yeah it pulls nice, but doesn't feel anything like its as powerful as the figures say (138bhp). Although its only got 1000 miles on it, so maybe it need more thrashing

The Leon 1.9 PD 105ps unit goes well, but its peaky so it feels faster than what it actually is. It felt faster than the Altea 140ps unit- when in reality its the opposite (obviously).

Our Transit has the Mondeo 115ps 2.0 unit (yeah its a front wheel drive Transit ), and it shifts like the clappers. But its quite laggy on the turbo - very odd for a modern diesel.

 

thought the Audi 2.0 was 170 ??