Engine Making the case for petrol - help

[nig.j]

1st post - usual sort of question!!

Looked at buying a Civic a few months ago but backed out of the deal as the car just wasnt right (tatty example) it was Diesel. Have been keeping a close eye on whats available and thought I wanted a Diesel to replace my TDCi Focus, however have seen I can get more for my money by going petrol. My logic follows:

At the moment diesel is 14p / ltr more expensive than petrol = 63p more per gallon which really knocks the economy case on the head providing the petrol does do 40+ to the gallon.

To fill up with diesel (10 Gals) is approx £56

To fill up with petrol is approx £50

I can get an extra gallon of petrol and do the same number of miles as a diesel for the same cost.

I do a long journey of 115 motorway miles twice a week, would it be possible to get 40+ MPG on this run from the 1.8 petrol??

Thank you in advance - nig.j

Oh - a second point does the honda have a duel mass fly wheel??

[kenP]

I can see where your coming from on the petrol, the case for the diesel purely on economy grounds isn't looking so good with current cost of fuel.

I have had my Civic for over two years now and most of my travelling is to and from work on the motorway, which is 16 miles each way with some stop start traffic each end of the journey.

I keep a spreadsheet of mileage and fuel (sad but true), and over the two years the car has averaged 38.5mpg. The worst figure has been 36 and the best 43.

I haven't been doing any special economy driving and do like to push the peddle every now and then, so with your longer journeys I don't see you having any problems getting 40mpg.

[Bungle]

It depends on how you drive. When I drive economically, I usually get between 40-45 mpg. On motorways its normally much closer to 50, sometimes over. When I'm enjoying myself in it, get mid 30s.

I am a huge fan of the petrol engine in the car, and have driven and really disliked the diesel. But that's just my opinion.

[illegalhunter]

Ive had 37mpg out of my R in 100 mile motorway journey

[SluffGuy]

For diesel to work out as more economic you have to do a reasonably large mileage per annum or the figures just don't add up.

The diesel will cost more to purchase and as you identified the cost of fuel is much higher. It used to be that the cut off point was about 15,000 miles per annum but I suspect given the larger and larger difference in price this has probably gone up.

My previous car was diesel and I made a conscious decision to switch back to petrol with my Civic. The driving style is quite different but one thing driving a diesel teaches you is to keep the revs low and this has helped enormously with achieving good economy with my 1.8 petrol. It's done about 1100 miles now and I can get around 38-40mpg with a mix of motorway and town driving.

Overall it depends on whether you are more interested in how the car drives or how much you can save.

[nig.j]

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking about a 1.8 ES as I want cruise - my journey is nearly all motorway / duel carriagway and intend to set the cruise at 70 - 75.

Any advice on the type of flywheel (just having it replaced in my TDCI!!)

Nig

[Charles_Harding]

Go for the petrol.

Not only is the fuel cheaper, but also cost of the car on delivery and the necessary servicing required.

......and no nasty Polish lorry drivers muscling in on the forecourt!

"If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you get old!"

[sfboy]

Bizarrely I drive less than 4k miles, but still went for the diesel. When I purchased my car the price of diesel and petrol was about the same, so thought I'd be getting 30% MPG.

The argument runs deeper than raw economy though, in my opinion. I preferred the feel of the diesel, I drove two diesels and two petrols before I bought, the steering felt twitchy in both the petrols, whereas it felt solid in the diesel and the pull of the diesel in second gear is really nice.

For the same money that I bought my 2.2 sport, I could have had a 1.8 Ex, and somedays I do miss the satnav, leather steering wheels and mostly - power fold mirrors - I need to get out and push the mirrors up when I want to put my car away.

The car is still cheaper to run than the petrol and I'll hopefully get more for it when I sell than I would have done if I'd bought the 1.8ex.

[Essexboy]

Don't forget that the servicing is a lot more expensive for a diesel, that's more expense....

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by sfboy

Bizarrely I drive less than 4k miles, but still went for the diesel. When I purchased my car the price of diesel and petrol was about the same, so thought I'd be getting 30% MPG.

The argument runs deeper than raw economy though, in my opinion. I preferred the feel of the diesel, I drove two diesels and two petrols before I bought, the steering felt twitchy in both the petrols, whereas it felt solid in the diesel and the pull of the diesel in second gear is really nice.

For the same money that I bought my 2.2 sport, I could have had a 1.8 Ex, and somedays I do miss the satnav, leather steering wheels and mostly - power fold mirrors - I need to get out and push the mirrors up when I want to put my car away.

The car is still cheaper to run than the petrol and I'll hopefully get more for it when I sell than I would have done if I'd bought the 1.8ex.

I'd like to see how you have come to that conclusion. With higher costs of servicing, and the higher price of diesel, I can't see how it can be cheaper to run.

[minisweeper]

I wish people would stop making the diesels out to be expensive just because it's the truth! I must say though that I got a petrol courtesy car while my Diesel was in for its (expensive) service and I absolutely hated it. I was really looking forward to playing with the vtec but it was just absolutely appauling. Not helped by the fact that the car was also an SE so i was missing all my lovely EX toys but it was just such a depressing experience. I guess both types of engines take a while to get used to and find their sweet spots but with the petrol I always felt like I was having to put so much effort in for a bit of fun - it's not convenient to hover around the 4krpm mark just so you can find some power if you need to - granted once you're up there it is quite enjoyable and the engine sounds nice up to the red line but it just didnt do it for me. I'd take the diesel every time regardless of cost (granted I've also not tried the type R).

N.B. all opinions expressed are my own and i'm probably wrong etc

[Willie]

If diesel doesn't come back to roughly the same price as petrol I think that diesel cars second hand prices will drop.
I passed a garage in Glasgow this afternoon and diesel was £134.9 per litre.

[FWH]

Originally Posted by Willie

I passed a garage in Glasgow this afternoon and diesel was £134.9 per litre.

At that price, I will be sticking with my petrol.

[Essexboy]

More and more people are buying diesels, this is going to mean that diesel is going to stay well above the price of petrol as demand increases.

[pcr]

At 70mph on motorway my 1.8 does 51mph. If I were to go faster, there may be a threshold at about 75mph where the economy begins to fall.
Don't no about flywheel but am interested to know why you want to know.

[kenP]

Originally Posted by pcr

At 70mph on motorway my 1.8 does 51mph. If I were to go faster, there may be a threshold at about 75mph where the economy begins to fall.
Don't no about flywheel but am interested to know why you want to know.

I know the speedo is inaccurate but it's not that bad lol

[IanG]

I've had 37 mpg out of my Type R on a long journey

I dont do the miles to justify running a diesel espcially given how much it costs these days

I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing in moving back to Petrol after 8 years of diesel driving but the cost of it these days justifies why I did it

And the noise from the VTEC helps as well

[nig.j]

Reason for asking about fly wheel is because on my TDCi Focus it is a dual mass flywheel which is being replaced for the second time!! Seems that a lot of new cars have them and they cause prolems, VW, Skoda, Renault all have them and garage where my car s have said that they are starting to do quite a few of them.

If 70MPH returns well over 40 then that really is pushing me towards petrol - my TDCi returns anything between 44 - 48 MPG

[Essexboy]

Originally Posted by pcr

Don't no about flywheel but am interested to know why you want to know.

I've heard that they've proved to be less than reliable in other makes of cars, perhaps that's why...

[mrh339]

On a run to Yorkshire from Gloucestershire M5 M42 M1 ect...at 75 mph (where possible) with cruise control set I got an incredible 47.1 mpg from my 1.8 EX.