Bemused by engines !

[Johnsonsyard]

Hi I have always been a Ford owner and love my Fiesta Zetec Ecoboost . My daughter needs a new car and I am in the dark about all these engines such as TDCi and Ti-VCT 85ps etc etc. I have recommended Ford to her but all engine types mean nothing to me . She does mostly urban driving but does also travel long distance several times a year. So it's something that got a bit of acceleration to it that she need. Not sure she can afford and eco boost .  Would be grateful for and advice and  enlightenment . Thanks. 

[TomsFocus]

TDCi is diesel - no good for mostly urban driving, avoid those!

Ti-VCT stands for 'twin independent variable camshaft timing'.  Which is a complicated way of saying the engine can physically alter the timing slightly for better efficiency.  This is the most 'basic' petrol engine engine Ford currently offer as it's non-turbo charged.  Fairly reliable and very cheap, but not particularly powerful or efficient.

EcoBoosts are turbocharged petrols as I'm sure you're aware, and are the best compromise between power and economy but they do cost more to buy.

[zain611]

Diesel is good depending on her mileage and if she goes on the motorways often. I have a 1.6 TDCI fiesta with no DPF and I hardly do much mileage with mainly urban driving. Diesel are cheap on tax and pull well even at higher gears thanks to the torque. I've found it really hard to stall a diesel. Its a reliable engine where I only had an issue of a leaking injector a day after buying it which would be about £80 for a reconditioned one or cheaper for a second hand low mileage one. 

[Johnsonsyard]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

TDCi is diesel - no good for mostly urban driving, avoid those!

Ti-VCT stands for 'twin independent variable camshaft timing'.  Which is a complicated way of saying the engine can physically alter the timing slightly for better efficiency.  This is the most 'basic' petrol engine engine Ford currently offer as it's non-turbo charged.  Fairly reliable and very cheap, but not particularly powerful or efficient.

EcoBoosts are turbocharged petrols as I'm sure you're aware, and are the best compromise between power and economy but they do cost more to buy.

Thanks for reply . Very informative , but what does the suffix 85 PS etc mean . I think I'm getting a real education here. 

[Johnsonsyard]

55 minutes ago, zain611 said:

Diesel is good depending on her mileage and if she goes on the motorways often. I have a 1.6 TDCI fiesta with no DPF and I hardly do much mileage with mainly urban driving. Diesel are cheap on tax and pull well even at higher gears thanks to the torque. I've found it really hard to stall a diesel. Its a reliable engine where I only had an issue of a leaking injector a day after buying it which would be about £80 for a reconditioned one or cheaper for a second hand low mileage one. 

Thanks for reply. She mostly does urban around a city . Trying to pin her down to a price bracket is proving difficult. Will be going round a rew dealers with her. Needed to know what the options were especially as she wants a brand new car. 

[Freddy42]

PS is metric horse power and for all intents and purposes, PS and brake horse power are the same ie 85PS = 83.8bhp.  The higher the figure, the faster you go.

[TomsFocus]

4 hours ago, Johnsonsyard said:

Thanks for reply . Very informative , but what does the suffix 85 PS etc mean . I think I'm getting a real education here. 

As Freddy says, that's the power level.  Essentially how many horses you would need to do the same amount of work as that particular engine.  As you can imagine, strapping 85 horses together would be inconvenient!

I'd suggest going no lower than the 99bhp in the latest Fiesta really.  Anything less than that may be a bit slow for overtaking or joining motorways.  Of course she can always test drive both and see which she prefers.

As you are looking at new cars, the diesels will all have DPFs (diesel particulate filters) which will cause huge problems when used mainly for urban driving, I would strongly advise against choosing diesel with your requirements.

[Guest]

I recently bought a 100ps ecoboost and it is great. Very punchy for what it is, put your foot down on the motorway and you can pull past lorries etc without issue. It also does 70 at just over 2000 rpm so it's really not screaming the place down.

This is the first car I have owned with any sort of turbo and it is a huge improvement over anything I have driven before. If they budget will stretch to an ecoboost I would recommend it.

In my opinion I would advise staying away from a diesel as no one knows what is going to happen with legislation. For example whether more places will introduce a surcharge. Good forbid we see price increases on diesel like the French have.