Wuss

Mods - Please leave this in general for a while, thanks.

I have an MY00 + PPP with ~240 bhp and ~240 lbs/ft of torque.

I'm looking at diesels and I keep seeing 130-150 bhp and ~250+ lbs/ft of torque!!!

But, my Scoob can do 0-60 in around 5 secs, but the diesel is still 0-60 in 9+ secs???

Can somebody please explain, in simple terms, how the torque manifests itself in terms of the driving experience? I'm not interested in top speed, I'm more interested in 0-60's and mid-range acceleration. For example, is the punch in the back at 4,000 rpm a product of:

a) the torque
b) the power
c) a combination of the two
d) something completely different?

I am trying to decide if I can handle owning a Diesel.

Please help!

Mark.

OllyK

Diesels have a lot of torque low down, which makes them good for towing!

The rev limit is much lower so you have to change gear much quicker.

Do a search on here as torque / bhp comparison was discussed before christmas, somebody gave a nice analogy with bike riders which explained things quite nicely.

mik

Read THIS.

Hopefully that will help

EDIT: I believe this is the article that Olly is reffering to.

[Edited by mik - 1/28/2004 10:26:32 AM]

Wuss

Doh! Just noticed the link!

Mark.

[Edited by Wuss - 1/28/2004 10:38:55 AM]

mik

The power and torque figures.

mik

You'd need a scooby-weight diesel with over 200bhp and over 300lbs.ft to be as fast as your scooby "in the real world give & take". Even then, the higher ultimate power figure means that the Scoob will be ultimately faster when you can exploit it ie. when you can take the car to peak power for a significant proportion of the time ~ when doing a 0-100 sprint for example.

mik

Aha!

You sorted then?

Wuss

Well, sort of!

My only remaining question is, will the midrange acceleration be similar to my Scoob. One of the best aspects of the PPP is the feeling when you boot it in either second or third at about 3,500 rpm. The performance from 30-80 mph is what I will miss the most. Will a TD with 250+ lbs/ft of torque be able to reproduce the feeling or will it be more sanitized?

Recently, I went in a bog standard MY00, without the PPP and it was horendous in comparison! I'm amazed at how quickly you get used to the power!

Sorry to bang on, but I don't have the time to go around test driving loads of cars!

Mark.

[Edited by Wuss - 1/28/2004 12:52:37 PM]

mik

I would say mid-range will be similar. It's difficult to compare, as 3rd in the TDI will be higher than your current 3rd gear.

To account for the higher general gearing you'll need a fair bit more torque than your current car to get a similar response for any given speed. Basic remap on a VAG group 130 or 150 takes you to 185ish bhp and 300+ lbs.ft, which is more than enough.

I've got a remapped Leon (older 110TDI though) with approx 150bhp / 230lbs.ft. Had a few runs with Scoobs and a TT225. 50-90 give & take on the motorway - I'm stuck to them both as no-one is changing down.

Onto a more open straight from 40mph where they start using their power advantage.......... and both leave me for dead.

Not what you want to hear, but you really need to drive one

Dazza's-STi

technical explnation.
http://www.car-videos.com/articles/h...wer_torque.asp


[Edited by Dazza's-STi - 1/30/2004 9:28:27 AM]