Petrol Vs Diesel- Update 22/09/11

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by 320touring

TBH, if going Diseasal, I'd be looking for a later car than I currently have- If its a "Daily" I want it to be easy to get parts for, and possibly "more" reliable than the cars I run at the moment

However, deffo not up for a Rover, they make the 206 look acceptible.

It'd probably have to be something like a 306 TD /passat tdi/golf tdi or Skoda octavia

I feel we have not bonded Any Rover not a classic will be later than anything to the left of your posting

It was a left field suggestion, they are good fun (handle better than their image) and the L-Series is less "grenadable" than the XUDT - HGF

And as for a Golf, I assume a Mk IV. Are you considering a change of career towards hair care ?

[320touring]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

I feel we have not bonded Any Rover not a classic will be later than anything to the left of your posting

It was a left field suggestion, they are good fun (handle better than their image) and the L-Series is less "grenadable" than the XUDT - HGF

And as for a Golf, I assume a Mk IV. Are you considering a change of career towards hair care ?

The only rovers worth having are pre the SD1

Mk3 golfs were built up to 97, so not really. plus mk IV are too "electrickery" for my liking

hows your 2nd Salon going?

[Arragonis]

Mk3 Golf, are you stark raving bonkers

[320touring]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Mk3 Golf, are you stark raving bonkers

They're hammerfixable and I can weld..

Wherein lies theissues?

ye of ROver and french faith!

[Arragonis]

At least Rover didn't have to have a night shift on to fix what the day shift had made - thats what VW had to do with the Mk3.

Why I chose my Rover over a Pug 306 (which was the #1 hatch at the time - 1997) what the interior if I'm honest. The Pug was slightly bigger but the Rover was just so much a nicer place to be - the seats came from the 800, the instruments from the 600 as did most of the switches, the dash was solid and the interior didn't smell really bad like the Pug one did. Even the Focus was poor compared to it, the plastic was hard compared to the Rover's soft touch and it rattled a lot.

I dodged the bullet of the K-series HGF by choosing the Diesel, and as someone else was paying I didn't mind that it was overpriced for what it was - and it was.

Plus it was white - so in the outside lane of any motorway all people saw was a white Rover with its headlights on...

EDIT - If you do go Mk3 - remember that the Mk3 is so strange that the 5 door shell is actually STIFFER than the 3 door one, and is therefore preferred.

[320touring]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

At least Rover didn't have to have a night shift on to fix what the day shift had made - thats what VW had to do with the Mk3.

Yeah they didnt bother fixing the faults SD1 with the extractor fans DRAWING IN moisture to the painting line?Genius!

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Why I chose my Rover over a Pug 306 (which was the #1 hatch at the time - 1997) what the interior if I'm honest. The Pug was slightly bigger but the Rover was just so much a nicer place to be - the seats came from the 800, the instruments from the 600 as did most of the switches, the dash was solid and the interior didn't smell really bad like the Pug one did. Even the Focus was poor compared to it, the plastic was hard compared to the Rover's soft touch and it rattled a lot.

I dodged the bullet of the K-series HGF by choosing the Diesel, and as someone else was paying I didn't mind that it was overpriced for what it was - and it was.

Plus it was white - so in the outside lane of any motorway all people saw was a white Rover with its headlights on...

I like how the best parts of the car are from OTHER models from the range, and even then, not great cars.. I get what you mean though the 200/400 were decent back in the day-they really went downhill in the 25/45 stage.

Originally Posted by Arragonis

EDIT - If you do go Mk3 - remember that the Mk3 is so strange that the 5 door shell is actually STIFFER than the 3 door one, and is therefore preferred.

If its a diesel golf i'll not be othered about torsional rigidity!

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by 320touring

I like how the best parts of the car are from OTHER models from the range, and even then, not great cars.. I get what you mean though the 200/400 were decent back in the day-they really went downhill in the 25/45 stage.

Apparently it was called Project Drive where they tried to remove items that nobody would notice...

[groar]

Is there any insight 1 in Scotland ? At what price ?

I can barely imagine any 1000L diesel being more ecological than your gasoline car. Today no diesel is as clean as a 2000 prius or a 2000 insight... It all depends on your ecological sensibility and the ecological problem you want to solve :

• lower CO2 emissions/dinosaur juice consumption for cooler atmosphere in 50 years
• lower pollutants (particles/NOX) emissions for better air nowadays

CO2 can be lowered by hypermiling/ecomodding
You can emit a lot more pollutants by racing your car, but hypermiling/ecomodding will not have as much impact than for consumption.

Now if this is about saving money only then a spreadsheet is your best friend, depending also on your mechanical skills.

Denis, saving money one tank at a time to buy a Prius that will generate much less pollutants but cost a little more per distance.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by groar

Is there any insight 1 in Scotland ? At what price ?

I can barely imagine any 1000L diesel being more ecological than your gasoline car. Today no diesel is as clean as a 2000 prius or a 2000 insight... It all depends on your ecological sensibility and the ecological problem you want to solve :

• lower CO2 emissions/dinosaur juice consumption for cooler atmosphere in 50 years
• lower pollutants (particles/NOX) emissions for better air nowadays

CO2 can be lowered by hypermiling/ecomodding
You can emit a lot more pollutants by racing your car, but hypermiling/ecomodding will not have as much impact than for consumption.

Now if this is about saving money only then a spreadsheet is your best friend, depending also on your mechanical skills.

Denis, saving money one tank at a time to buy a Prius that will generate much less pollutants but cost a little more per distance.

Which way you choose depends, as you tap, on your view. In this case I think the focus is on reducing fuel usage and cost rather than on reducing CO2 - but the OP can answer that one directly.

CO2 being a problem or not is a whole different debate, and it may go into politics (I have reputation for this so I will go no further...)

As for the Mk1 Insight I have seen 2 in the UK (they were both the same colour and in Scotland so it may have been the same one twice...) they are rare - very. There is apparently an expert on them and especially the batteries used who is based in the UK but I haven't researched it more than knowing this.

I did do a search when I was looking for a car recently and found a couple on Autotrader and one on e-bay and they are spendy for what is really a tiny Honda.

On reflection though 320, that would make an interesting project if you could fine one ? Not for under 1K though I would wager.

[320touring]

After some wait for conversion costs for the iS to come back, it seems that a multipoint LPG system can be had for about £895 INC Vat, but about 400 miles away (approx £120 Fuel cost)

or a single point one installed for £950 +vat (£1140) about 5 miles along the road..



So I took these figures and did som "back of a beermat" maths based on the current cost for My iS, and the costs of:

a Diesel getting 55mpg (UK) (£1.379/litre)

an LPG car getting 30mpg (UK) (£0.70/litre)

Miles to date Extrapolated to a year
Total Miles 11,767.1 15,297.2
Total Cost £1,778.05 £2,311.47
£ per mile Fuel £0.15

55mpg Diesel Fuel £1,341.22 -£436.83 £1,743.59 -£567.88
£ per mile Fuel £0.11

33mpg LPG £1,248.18 -£529.87 £1,622.63 -£688.84
£ per mile Fuel £0.11


These seem to suggest I'd pay back an LPG conversion in approx 2years.. But- Do I wanna have such Low MPG?

or is Diseasal a plan?

THere's an iS near to me for wale with LPG fitted-I could buy it, strip it and sell it on..

too many choices!

What would you do?