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Hi all, hope you’re all well during these crazy times
all my cars have been on motability since I was 18 (would’ve got my license earlier if I knew you could via disability) anyway we’ve had two Tiguans and a 3008 all diesel, just ordered recently the q3 which is a petrol, I’ve heard things like it’s better to drive petrol cars if you’re mostly doing “town drives” which is what we mostly do, I probably just do 400miles a year on the motorway. So my question is what’s it like to drive/own a petrol car
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The main differences are MPG and torque available. You’ll have to get used to using much more power to pull away and later gear changes. I doubt you ever get past 3000rpm normally driving diesel, you’ll probably be changing gear at 4-5000 rpm now, and using more fuel.
Previous Motability Cars
2006 - 2009 Skoda Superb VR6 2.0tdi
2009 - 2012 Citroen C5 2.0tdi VTR Nav
2012 - 2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.5dci tekna
2015 - 2018 Ford Kuga 2.0tdi Titanium X
2018 - 2021 BMW 220d X drive 2 Series Active Luxury
2021 - 2023 Hyundai Kona Electric Premium SE
2023 - Hyundai Kona Electric UltimateThey are generally quieter and more free revving, in some respects I miss my two litre Leon, it made a beautiful noise if you pushed it hard, upside of my current diesel is around 30 percent better fuel economy in all circumstances and vastly more grunt torque, especially noticeable under load, the Q3 is nice, you’ll enjoy it.
Currently driving Seat Ateca 2.0 FR Sport TDI 190 DSG 4drive
Mokka E ultimate on order
Diesels give you the advantage of far better torque and therefore mid range performance, as well as better fuel economy. Petrol cars tend to be a bit quieter, so sound more refined. Diesels need to run at higher temperatures (I.e. motorways) and for decent length journeys regularly or can become problematic, whereas petrol cars are happier with lots of short journeys. I like diesels but they are only really of benefit if you do more than say 12,000 miles a year. With advancements in petrol engines in recent years, good petrol engines are now almost as economical as diesels used to be, so the economics are narrowing (unless you go for a petrol Volvo XC40 as some members are posting very poor mpg results on those). Motability seem to be hiking AP’s of diesels, which further tips the balance towards petrol. The Q3 is quite small as SUV’s go and, being an Audi, I would think is perfectly adequate with a 1.5 litre engine. Sounds to me as though you have made a wise choice.
I think the torque and midrange performance advantage of diesels is no longer the case, Glos Guy. Most petrol cars now have turbos and other techniques to provide low end grunt. The B48 engine we have discussed is better at power delivery than any diesel I’ve driven. And of course even the best diesels have some harshness at very low revs – hard to hide the fact that fuel is exploding in there.
iv always had diesel and am worried about have a petrol as i do abour 19/20,000 miles a year. iv got 65plate xc60 awd diesel and get 4o plus mpg
i did look at xc40 but the mpg is very bad i think it would end up costing me a lot to run
The Volvo B4P 2.0 petrol has 35% less torque than the VW group 2.0 diesel, and probably the same deficit in overall fuel economy, no escaping the facts
Currently driving Seat Ateca 2.0 FR Sport TDI 190 DSG 4drive
Mokka E ultimate on order
I agree, over the years the gap between petrol and diesel has narrowed, more so if you have petrol turbo like many do now.
I think diesel still has a slight advantaged in the MPG area even taking into account the MPG you lose with the modern filter systems they have now to clean them up.
Although I had to change back to diesel in my current car I prefer petrol as those engine seem to be more refined and quieter and my diesel only sounds quite because of all the soundproofing padding it has and the weight of that adds to a slight cut in MPG.
I’m more or less sure my next car will be petrol (electric is just a dream I had once ?) because I do 80% short journeys and although I have had no problems with my 3 Motability diesel cars with the Diesel Particulate Filter it’s still a little niggle in the back of my mind and as my KIA manual says I shouldn’t used the car for journeys less than 5 miles, like a lot are, I could be on thin ice as far as the warrantee goes should it have a DPF problem.
When i was 18 the only things that ran on diesel were lorries and buses.
Diesel will always be more economical because diesel fuel contains 15% more energy than petrol for the same volume. And diesels will always be noiser because diesel fuel explodes whereas petrol burns.
Can’t get away from the science…
Ah guys thanks a lot for all this information, very very insightful, thanks again
And boats, Mick. I had a boat with a 15hp two cylinder diesel built in 1935. Needed next to no attention in the dozen years I owned it.
Thinking about the dozens of cars I have had over the years, and the hundreds of different ones I have driven, I have never had an engine problem with any of the diesels, but I have with several of the petrol cars. None the less, we are likely to switch back to petrol when we change. Mrs Glos Guy is quite determined on this. Something to do with saving the planet ??
I just switched to petrol last year after 20 years of turbo diesels – like most the main differences are the mid range torque & the obviously the fuel economy. Though I can only speak for lower bhp vehicles – as I’ve never had any more powerful than 160 bhp & most just 115/125 bhp
I know petrol cars have improved mpg in recent times but I remember years gone by when we used to drive down to the Costa Brava Spain every year. As company cars I had a Ford Focus Ghia 1600 petrol in 2006 then in 2009 I had Ford Focus Titanium 1600 diesel both estates fully loaded with roof boxes and bike rack on the back. With the petrol the trick was to get to the Spanish border on three tanks, the fuel is/was significantly cheaper in Spain, with the diesel it was two tanks.
Daughters motability car Hyundai Tucson Ultimate self charging hybrid Serenity White Moss Grey interior.
My car SEAT Ibiza SE Tec 1.2 petrol TSI 2017.I have recently gone petrol after having 3 diesels on the scheme, One of the factors was that I’m just not doing as many longer journeys as i was before and am still doing a lot of short journeys like the school run twice a day (right now it’s a short trip to the shops and back etc) and during the 1st lockdown the dpf got blocked for the 1st time ever.
Since june i have done only 3ooo miles in the new petrol and have had no issues and i do think petrols have got alot better and years ago diesel was cheaper at the pump than petrol but now it’s more. Not really seeing that much difference in mpg over the combined driving i do now to the 1.6 tdi golf i did have before as i don’t really drive to save fuel alot of the time.
i did do a trip to london using acc mainly set at 78mph in the civic 1.5l 182 bhp sport in normal mode
and got 51 mpg is pretty good the golf maybe did around 54 mpg set at 78 on acc but it does depend on the time of day and traffic etc. On the way back i used sport mode and acc and got less mpg as i needed to be home by a certain time and was a bit of traffic so had to speed back up a bit quicker to crusing speed.
I been driving it quite fast of late using sport mode and the paddles to get the vtec to come in alot (addictive sound that) and am getting around 30 mpg (which imo is still pretty good) and the car is so much fun, really does pull and push you back into the seat more than any diesel would.. When the revs are high the power is so much better than in a diesel i had but then it does have more power also and 220 nm of torque where my golf had 110 bhp and 250 nm, both where autos also. I did have a 2.0l tiguan as a hire car for a week and i was shocked at how much it drunk over the golf, so size weight could also be an issue.
right now i very happy with my choice all things considered and having more fun to..
In past have had two Superbs, one diesel, one petrol. The diesel was one of the “dieselgate” variety. Dead quiet, wouldn’t know you were driving an oil-burner. Also had 4×4, which should be compulsory on powerful vehicle that size. Petrol one was a 2.0L with 230ish bhp (pre Daily Mail). This was outstandingly smooth, quiet and satisfying to use. Only downside was that it was not 4×4 and would scrabble wheels coming out of a turning at anything but dead slow.
I know petrol cars have improved mpg in recent times but I remember years gone by when we used to drive down to the Costa Brava Spain every year. As company cars I had a Ford Focus Ghia 1600 petrol in 2006 then in 2009 I had Ford Focus Titanium 1600 diesel both estates fully loaded with roof boxes and bike rack on the back. With the petrol the trick was to get to the Spanish border on three tanks, the fuel is/was significantly cheaper in Spain, with the diesel it was two tanks.
That is easy to achieve getting to Spain on one tankful because it’s all down hill but coming back to the UK it’s all up hill. ?
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