I know the normal arguements about Diesel vs Petrol. i.e. Diesel will give better economy, torque is useful and it will pay for itself if you do more than 15k / year.
We are looking at a Midi MPV, and having test driven a few (Mazda5, Verso etc.) the Diesel engines seem to suit my wife's driving style / car weight better (low end grunt, meaning less gear changes in stop/start traffic, and plenty of torque for motorway overtaking).
The concern I have is that 95%+ of her journeys are going to be short ones, less than 5 miles from a cold start, plenty of it stop / start traffic.
What would the real world fuel economy of a Diesel engine vs Petrol from a cold start over a short distance be (I presume the Petrol would warm up quicker)?
I've also heard a number of horror stories of particulate filters clogging and severe fuel dilution of oil after only 3k when a car has been subjected to such short journey abuse.
Should I be concerned?
Is a modern Diesel still a sensible(ish) choice for a school run car?
TIA - Rufus.
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The concern I have is that 95%+ of her journeys are going to be short ones less than 5 miles from a cold start plenty of it stop / start traffic.
What will the other 5% be? How much mileage in total?
What would the real world fuel economy of a Diesel engine vs Petrol from a cold start over a short distance be (I presume the Petrol would warm up quicker)?
Diesel Audi A3 - 35-40mpg on a 7 mile commute, Focus 1.8 25-30.
I've also heard a number of horror stories of particulate filters clogging and severe fuel dilution of oil after only 3k when a car has been subjected to such short journey abuse. Should I be concerned?
This depends on your other 5% answer. I do predominantly shortish urban journeys during the week, but the car has a two mile 70mph blast everyday as part of the commute and at weekends it often has a motorway trip. With this use the DPF warning system has never activated.
If it has a DPF and only does short journeys I would avoid as I too have heard of problems for those who use one for pootling around congested cities most of the time.
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my experience is that diesel mpg holds up better to short journeys than petrol. We've gone from doing long commutes in both cars to doing standard runs of about 5-10 miles (public transport non-existent and I'm not doing 5 miles up and down hills with a child on the back of my bike).
The A4 1.9tdi is currently doing 8 mile journeys and showing 43mpg (down from 49 when doing 50mile high speed commutes). The Volvo 2.4tdi doesn't have a decent trip computer but I estimate is doing a little better than 35mpg on 5 mile journeys whereas I never managed better than mid 40's on longer runs.
The DPF thing is a worry though when I really could do with replacing both cars.
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My own experience is that my 405 TD drops by 10% (44 down to 39-40 mpg) on short runs, while the Mk1 Focus auto drops by 20% or a bit more (37 down to 29mpg)
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Thanks everyone - so looks like Diesel won't be too stupid a choice, provided it gets a weekly blat!
All I need to do now is convince SWMBO that I *HAVE* to rag the nuts off the thing to keep it running sweetly!
Rufus.
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