Diesel>Petrol

[bornwild]

Torque? Warranty?

lol...racecars....a diesel is dominating LeMans at the moment, you are aware of that?

[bornwild]

hmmm kw's go to waste if you don't have enough torque to pull you out of a corner, sad but true

[entice]

uh huh.. that's right.. talking of lemans reminded me of teh diesel technology used.. which helped Ferrari win the Melb GP...
both excellent road cars.


oh, and VW.. are they the largest Diesel market?

How much did they spend on the Veyron?
Nice diesel motor in that one...

[entice]

Look, no-one's ever changed someones mind in an arguement, and I dont wish to argue, just state my opinion... I think i have done so. Also, I have stated my affinity for the diesel, but am mindful (in my opinion) of it's current limitations/limited experience.

[bornwild]

I'm not trying to change your mind....I'm trying to convince you to cut down on your greenhouse gas emitions by sporting around in a diesel....:P

[entice]

Like I said, there are currently 2 cars I'm closely looking at, one that I might be convinced into...

number 1 is the elise, but depends on spatial requirements at the time.
number 2 on the want list is the CDTi (above and beyond the sri, sriT, and VXR). this is looking most likely
number 3 is a SSVcommodore.
(I am biased, i can access discounted pirces on GM stuff, hence weighted to the Holdens)

I turn cars over pretty frequently, so it's not a decision i'd make thinking long term anyway

But you make an interesting point re emissions. I was chatting to someone at the GP who was talking about the environmental impact of our fuels. Now this looked at not just the emissions that come ouyt of the tailpipe, but the accumulative emissions that come from drilling teh stuff out of the ground, refining, and transporting it to you, and then what you end up creating.
IF I remember correctly, diesel aint that environmentally friendly.
He then continued to talk about the likelyhood of (now this is where I cant recall if it was ethanol or electic) new "fuel" service stations along australia's most popular truck routes. Apparently it would save the companies mega bucks, and significantly reduce teh ecological impact these vehicles create.


Food for thought

[dieselhead]

entice, why would you keep comparing extreme engines, like the STi, with a humble 1.9 turbodiesel?! the Subaru is more than twice the price, and twice the fuel consumption. sure, is 1.5 seconds faster to 100km/h, but i'll give that a miss for $35k, thanks. add insurance, maintenance and fuel costs and see how punishing is driving a supercar like the STi or Evo.
the tuned Astra is a 7 and change seconds car, with plenty of grunt and torque. when driven hard is still as frugal as a bloody Yaris. that's the bottom line for me, that's exactly why i bought it. as said above, the kW/$ and Nm/$ ratios are outstanding, just as the 72% Redbook resale value.

and one more thing: could people that haven't driven yet a modern turbodiesel just stop talking about how superior petrol engines are? they're just different animals, you need to sit behind the wheel for a while before making an relatively objective opinion! thanks

[entice]

hrm interesting points dieselhead.

I dunno about you, but i think most cars are purchased as total packages. Not due to 0-100km/h times.

The sti wasnt brought into teh equation byme, but by someone else... I was merely using a car with a similar capcity to the 1.9cdti for power figures. the dollar/power bit you mention. I didnt mention it.. if i recall correctly someone else did...when they referred to the powerful 120d.. no trhanks, i'd take the sti anyday over that

Now, for teh power, the cdti represents excellent VFM.. read my above post. itr's on my shortlist for that very reason. But, a tuning platform for a trackweapon it is certainly not. By the time you prend some dough at AP Brakes and get the suspension sorted, it no longer is a $35K car for the track. Granted, very few STI's are brought to the tracks, but horses for courses.

again, i re-state (4th time?) I like the CDTI.. it's on my shortlist I definitely am NOT bagging it.

[bornwild]

Entice, if I were you I'd avoid the Elise at any cost if practicallity plays any role in the buying. The diesel Astra in Australia is too low spec, you can't order leather seats, sports seats, sat-nav etc etc. The ideal car to buy, I must say, is the Commodore SS-V, since fuel consumption doesn't seem to play a big role in your decision making. The commodore will be the most fun car but don't expect any Astra like quality in ride, handling or finish.

I've worked on the new line in the Holden factory, designed the hydraulic lifts for the engines and so on and it gave me a glimpse on how they weld and put together the car and so on and I must say I'm quite disappointed. That's another story altogether.

Anyhow, get the SS-V, since you'll get it with a GM discount, so you won't lose much on resale value. The same applies for the diesel, it's just the lackluster option sheet that begs for more.
Unfortunately, thats the way it works, Australia gets the cars that they can't sell to the smart Europeans, a perfect example would be the CDTi Auto and the SRi 2.2.

[bornwild]

PS. Tho' if you do plan on putting the DTUK chip in, you'll destroy any SS-V in the 80-150 acceleration gap, just a thought