Weaning myself off diesel?

[Clariman]

I am sure that I first bought a diesel car when the powers that be said that they were better for the environment and they also had much better mpg.

Bring the sad anorak that I am, I drive with the trip computer displaying my average mpg since buying the car. How do I wean myself off this obsession and move back to petrol?

Also the car model that I have driven for the last 10 years is no longer made. I think I am heading for a traumatic period of adjustment.

Any help much appreciated.

Clariman

[Slarti]

Even with petrol, I do tend to keep the computer showing the average mpg as an indication of how well I'm driving, but I tend to do a reset every 6 or 8 tanks of fuel, or if about to go on a road trip.

I never believed the PtB about oil burners being better for the environment, mainly because of the smoke that you so often see and the smell. And now with the added mechanical complications they are even less financially competitive than they used to be. Over the life of the vehicle, that is, unless you do a high mileage.

I did the sums before my last car, about 15 years ago, and before the one before that 22 years ago and even doing an annual 22k business miles pa a petrol car was a better deal. Now that I am below 10k total miles pa there is just no comparison. Petrol wins hands down.

HTH
Slarti (45mpg average over the last 4.5 years)

[staffordian]

Most petrol engines these days are far more economical than their counterparts of a decade ago, so you may well find that the shock to your system is going to be far less severe than you anticipate.

Have a look at autotrader.co.uk where you can search by all sorts of parameters, such as fuel type, economy, insurance cost, number of doors, style of body, tax rate, performance, capacity etc. to get a range of makes and models to fit your initial criterea.

Then having perhaps got a shortlist, look at specific examples on that site, which will give you a feel for prices and economy.

Staffordian

[bungeejumper]

I also watch my fuel consumption carefully. And my current petrol car does 10-12 mpg less than the diesel I traded in last March. At my current 10,000 miles a year, that represents an additional fuel cost of about £300 a year.

Apart from a cleaner environmental conscience, what do I get for that £300? The knowledge that my car hasn't got an £800 fuel pump, a £1500 turbo, a £1000 dual mass flywheel, a £1500 particulate filter, or a ridiculously complex urea injection system. You know, it's odd how I sleep better at night.

The petrol car is faster, quicker on the uptake, and warms up more quickly. But it isn't quite so relaxing to drive on a 600 mile journey across France, something which I do twice a year. (It's having to change down for hills and overtakes. No more flooring it in any gear at any time.....)

Oh, and I kept stalling the petrol car when I first got it. I kept on trying to pull away at low diesel revs, which doesn't work too well. Took me a fortnight to recalibrate my brain.

BJ

[tjh290633]

I changed from diesel to petrol at my last change, because my annual mileage was insufficient to justify a diesel now that particulate filters are mandatory.

I went slightly smaller, from a 2-litre diesel to a 1.6-litre petrol. I don't trust on-board computer results for MPG as they are usually over-optimistic, when compared with actual calculations of fuel used against recorded mileage.

My last diesel (a Peugeot 407) was bought secondhand in August 2005 and sold in November 2013, so ran for over 8 years. It used 912 gallons over 40,470 miles, giving 44.4mpg.

Its replacement (a Suzuki SX4) is now over 3 years old, and has consumed 551 gallons over 21,700 miles, giving 39.4mpg. With the price advantage of petrol over diesel, I am not unduly displeased. Depending on the type of running, the fuel consumption has varied from 32mpg to 44 mpg.

Back when working I had a Rover 600 2-litre petrol from 1994 to 1998, which used 3296 gallons of petrol over 111,569 miles, giving 33.8mpg. In between I had a Peugeot 406 2.1-litre diesel, which used 1,147 gallons over 52,400 miles in nearly seven years, giving 45.7mpg. That was a big change in fuel economy.

Nowadays some of the latest petrol vehicles have more efficient engines, maybe with start/stop features and smaller capacity turbocharged versions. The big difference that I noticed was the higher gearing of the petrol versions, and the closer gearbox ratios in the diesel cars, so that you could stay where the torque was highest.

I think that the change back to petrol is less traumatic now than it might have been.

TJH

[Clariman]

Thanks everyone. I enjoyed driving a petrol car in the US last year, but it may have had a 4 litre engine for all I know!

[Slarti]

Thanks everyone. I enjoyed driving a petrol car in the US last year, but it may have had a 4 litre engine for all I know!

It almost certainly had an auto box, in the USA?

Did you know that modern auto boxes are more fuel efficient than manual boxes?
And with 95% of drivers, much more fuel efficient.

So I've read.

Slarti

[DrFfybes]

Bring the sad anorak that I am, I drive with the trip computer displaying my average mpg since buying the car. How do I wean myself off this obsession and move back to petrol?

Clariman

2 options..

1) buy a car without this feature - probably difficult these days.

2) buy something with a 5L V8 engine, then you won't want to look at it.

Paul (who can get 28mpg from MrsF's Z4 compared to her 23 )

[gadjet]

Paul

Do you still have the Mazer ? What mpg does that do ?

[DrFfybes]

Paul

Do you still have the Mazer ? What mpg does that do ?

20mpg on a run on UK supermarket UL, either m/way or cross country.
About 17 on mixed but mainly open road use.
Single digits on the commute.

However at 4000 miles per year, fuel is still not the major annual expense

When they're called "The poor man's Alfa Romeo", it isn't a reflection of your wealth when you buy one.