1.6 Diesel Or 1.6 Petrol?

[Barky]

Hi

Which fiesta engine would you all recommend, the 1.6 Diesel or 1.6 Petrol?

Has anyone any good (or bad) stories about their engine performance or economy?

[lmclaney]

Is this for the MK7? I have the 1.6 Diesel TDCI and I think it's an excellent engine. I came from a 1.2 petrol, so the power increase is definitely noticeable and comparable to bigger cars. There is some engine clatter at low speeds, but once you get going the engine noise smooths out to a nice tone. There is plenty of power for overtaking and accelerating, it's probably not the fastest car on the road but also not the slowest.

The economy is great, I'm averaging 48mpg (and rising) at the moment and I tend to gun it around town ;) The engine also puts the car in insurance group 4 which I think is one lower than the petrol, so it's a good choice if you are trying to save the pennies.

[Barky]

Is this for the MK7? I have the 1.6 Diesel TDCI and I think it's an excellent engine. I came from a 1.2 petrol, so the power increase is definitely noticeable and comparable to bigger cars. There is some engine clatter at low speeds, but once you get going the engine noise smooths out to a nice tone. There is plenty of power for overtaking and accelerating, it's probably not the fastest car on the road but also not the slowest.

The economy is great, I'm averaging 48mpg (and rising) at the moment and I tend to gun it around town ;) The engine also puts the car in insurance group 4 which I think is one lower than the petrol, so it's a good choice if you are trying to save the pennies.

Oh yeah sorry about that, i did mean the MK7.

Can you think of any downsides to the diesel engine?

[Magenta]

Hi

Which fiesta engine would you all recommend, the 1.6 Diesel or 1.6 Petrol?

Has anyone any good (or bad) stories about their engine performance or economy?

I have a mk 7 TDCI 1.6 and it certainly is a punchy engine with lots of torque up hills. As already said, its obviously diesel at low speeds but smooths out once you get going. Clutch is a lot heavier than petrol models. Apart from that can't think of a downside. MPG is around 50 in my case, rising to nearly 60 in good conditions.

[Maffoo]

Also, if you're buying new the cost is a big downside... You'll have to be doing a few thousand miles a year to make sure that you're saving money (cost of car vs cost of running petrol)

[cyb]

I have a diesel (and my previous car was too :) ) but based purely on cost unless you do more than 20,000 miles a year would stick to petrol.

[Barky]

I have a diesel (and my previous car was too :) ) but based purely on cost unless you do more than 20,000 miles a year would stick to petrol.

20k miles a year?

i probably only do 12k a year but as i tend to keep my cars for at least 5 years it should work out cost effective if i go for a diesel (petrol and diesel prices are the same, road tax £85 cheaper, 30% more miles to gallon approx).

I just hope the diesel is as much fun to drive as the petrol..

[Hilly23]

diesel

:D

[AndrewL]

I must admit I haven't driven the diesel but the 1.6 petrol is a lot of fun when you give it some stick up through the gears - feels quite quick too, especially between 3000-6000rpm. It's pretty low geared though so if you do a lot of motorway miles then maybe you should go for the diesel. There's something about being between 3500-4000rpm at cruising speed which makes me feel uncomfortable - I'd never leave the revs that high in a lower gear.

Economy is decent, usually get between 35-38.5mpg now - that includes a lot of city driving. On the motorway at 75mph I get about 40-42mpg and any faster a lot less!

[Hilly23]

have driven both and prefered the diesel due to the torque and the fact that i can chip it.but to be fair that won't be for a while yet. :D

[bryfly]

20k miles a year?

i probably only do 12k a year but as i tend to keep my cars for at least 5 years it should work out cost effective if i go for a diesel (petrol and diesel prices are the same, road tax £85 cheaper, 30% more miles to gallon approx).

I just hope the diesel is as much fun to drive as the petrol..

The other thing to bare in mind is the part ex value when you trade it in for another Fiesta, if you look at "what car" and "parkers" part ex values for a 1.6 Titanium 2009 / 09 the diesel is worth appox £1000 more than the petrol model on p/ex.

[amarokuk]

20k miles a year?

i probably only do 12k a year but as i tend to keep my cars for at least 5 years it should work out cost effective if i go for a diesel (petrol and diesel prices are the same, road tax £85 cheaper, 30% more miles to gallon approx).

I just hope the diesel is as much fun to drive as the petrol..

12k a year over 5 years you may just break even. Don't forget higher servicing costs for diesels in general and expensive things like EGR valves and carbon filters can require regular maintenance and often cause MOT failures on emissions checks.

[Rogue_Shadow]

I asked the same question

On the same forum :D

Have a look at my thread, some really good points posted by other members, helped me decided

But definitely test drive before considering either :)

[lmclaney]

I just hope the diesel is as much fun to drive as the petrol..

The diesel is great fun to drive, they both handle the same and it still has enough power. I suppose it depends what you are used to, if you haven't had a bigger engine than the 1.6 TDCI then you will be happy with it. Worth a test drive though if you're not sure.

[boggyb68]

I haven't driven the petrol, but better economy and £35 a year for tax swung me to the diesel, and as I got such a good deal on the car I won't need to do 20k a year to reap the financial rewards... and it hasn't disappointed.

It's smooth and quiet enough, and overtaking isn't an issue, drop a cog and it is an effortless procedure.. ;)

Buying new maybe more sense to get the petrol... ex demo/nearly new get the diesel and save a chunk and still get great economy and low tax and insurance..

I would say just test them both and see for yourself which you prefer... and that's logical, so it is! :)

Cheers

B.

[Barky]

12k a year over 5 years you may just break even. Don't forget higher servicing costs for diesels in general and expensive things like EGR valves and carbon filters can require regular maintenance and often cause MOT failures on emissions checks.

5 years to break even? the diesel is only £600 more, the road tax alone would break me even over 5 years, and i was hoping the diesel would be about 25% more efficient on fuel (hoping)...

[cyb]

road tax £85 cheaper, 30% more miles to gallon approx).

I just hope the diesel is as much fun to drive as the petrol..

Regarding the cheaper road tax…

best wait until after the budget, there has been a lot of moaning about us diesel owners paying less for RFL.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the government looked at this as a way of getting some money back of the motorist.

[sussex]

Diesel has lower road tax, insurance and better mpg but it does cost more (if new especially) one thing that worries me, I know they are turbo diesel and have good pulling power the bhp on the 1.6tdci is 88bhp (according to parkers) and 118bhp on the 1.6 petrol. I am not a font of knowledge on cars so comparing diesel and petrol bhp's may be quite hard but seems quite a difference!

[daisbuys]

I have both.

Diesel for motorway driving and petrol for everything else.