"degree in pop music"
As you suggest, he may well become too deaf to be able to make use of it, even assuming that it will be of any use anyway...
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Audi/VW diesels are - imo- simply intolerable at low speeds and in town - low frequency vibrations/noise/coarse. Great whne on motorways..
Since I drive a lot in towns - and Audis are unreliable - I got rid. Would never buy Audi/VW diesels again. My ears can't stand them...
madf
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So,madf, what do you drive now?
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Have diesel engines really gotten quieter or has the cabin / engine bay just been better insulated from the sound?
I had the bonnet of the Leon up on Saturday while giving her the old 70,000 service, from outside the car with the bonnet lifted she sounded like a factory full of sewing machines.
This couldnt be further from the truth when inside cruising at 2500 rpm.
When I removed the sump guard if you could call it that, had many little blocks of raised plastic of varing height attached which faced up towards the engine. Presuamably this also is a means of noise supression?
BTW running on 100% biodiesel definately causes my TDI to run smoother and quieter
Leon
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Audi/VW diesels are - imo- simply intolerable at low speeds and in town - low frequency vibrations/noise/coarse. Great whne on motorways.. Since I drive a lot in towns - and Audis are unreliable - I got rid. Would never buy Audi/VW diesels again. My ears can't stand them... madf
Hi madf
totally agree with you on this.I have had various diesel cars over the last 10 years,culminating in a Golf PD 130. This engine was so coarse and the vibration and resonance so bad the performance and mpg did not go any way to compensate for this roughness.
It finally drove me back to petrol. I am enjoying the smoothness of a Honda Vtec.Maybe I should have tried a PSA diesel?
HectorG
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I am enjoying the smoothness of a Honda Vtec.Maybe I should have tried a PSA diesel? HectorG
Yes
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I've met lots of people who remark how lovely a Triumph straight six or a V8 sound but not one who says 'Wow, that diesel sounds gorgeous'.
It's the smelly fuel that puts me off most. Get that on the soles of you shoes and it follows you around all day.
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New Fire Engine engines sound amazing, I think it was a SCANIA one that went through out shopping area a few weeks ago, stopped everyone in their path, it had just the lights on and an almighty whoosh and roar.
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I've got a Rover 75 CDTi and the engine in mine is the 131Ps 2L BMW and it sounds like a bag of broken spanners in the morning when cold. It's not too bad when warm though and the sound of the air-con compressor drowns out most of it. It sounds like a slightly tappety petrol engine when warm. My neighbour commented on it when I got it with something like 'Oh, it doesn't sound like a diesel' and then went out a bought a Stilo JTD which I admit is also a fairly quiet engine.
I can bearly hear mine inside the car though, mind you I can bearly hear anything outside at all. I can't stand the sound of Transit diesel now that is a revolting sound.
It's my first diesel although I did have a Pug 306dt as a loan car once and that was noisy but a superb engine.
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I can bearly hear mine inside the car though, mind you I can bearly hear anything outside at all. I can't stand the sound of Transit diesel now that is a revolting sound.
I agree. Transit engines sound like a thousand maniacs have been let loose with hammers in an oil refinery.
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That reminds me. MkIII Fiesta 1.8DL. I'm sure it's a coincidence that I was given one of these as a company car shortly after damaging a top-spec Escort Ghia and not-so-gently placing a Fiesta RS1800 in a ditch.
The most hateful pile of four-wheeled crud I have ever had the misfortune to drive. It used to hit the rev-limiter before you had even turned the key in the ignition, sounded like the afore-mentioned hammer-wielding maniacs were running past some metal railings, cornered at a time and place totally at odds with any steering input and generally made me want to kick small children and drown kittens. It was truly horrible.
So when it was time for that one to go back into the car pool, they gave me another one. I left Ford shortly after that and went to work for one of their dealers instead.
Still, since then I haven't had a single accident. Lesson learnt, I would say.
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>It's the smelly fuel that puts me off most. Get that on the soles of you shoes and it follows you around all day.
Matters not if you have petrol or diesel. As garages have both pumps in the same island these days, petrol users get the diesel over shoes as well.
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>It's the smelly fuel that puts me off most. Get that on the soles of you shoes and it follows you around all day. Matters not if you have petrol or diesel. As garages have both pumps in the same island these days, petrol users get the diesel over shoes as well.
Don't agree. Petrol is a much lighter fluid and evaporates much quicker. Smelly oil hangs around much longer. Why else do garages give free gloves by diesel pumps? And take a look at the floor by the pumps.
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>It's the smelly fuel that puts me off most. Get that on the soles of you shoes and it follows you around all day. Matters not if you have petrol or diesel. As garages have both pumps in the same island these days, petrol users get the diesel over shoes as well.
"Don't agree. Petrol is a much lighter fluid and evaporates much quicker. Smelly oil hangs around much longer. Why else do garages give free gloves by diesel pumps? And take a look at the floor by the pumps."
So you do agree then!;-)
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>> >It's the smelly fuel that puts me off most. Get that >> on the soles of you shoes and it follows you around >> all day. >> >> >> Matters not if you have petrol or diesel. As garages have >> both pumps in the same island these days, petrol users get >> the diesel over shoes as well. >> "Don't agree. Petrol is a much lighter fluid and evaporates much quicker. Smelly oil hangs around much longer. Why else do garages give free gloves by diesel pumps? And take a look at the floor by the pumps." So you do agree then!;-)
Not at all, my local garage has a couple of diesel-free islands, thank God.
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PeterB,
I have a Triumph straight six AND a diesel. Both sound gorgeous in their own, very different, ways.
Admittedly the diesel (Rover 75 CDTi) can be described as sounding 'gorgeous' only when it's on the open road, perhaps with 60 mph on the speedo and just 2000 rev/min on the tacho.
Also when you gently squeeze the pedal at almost any speed, well into those which are illegal on the open road, there is a beefy surge accompanied by a manly growl, as opposed to the scream of a petrol engine as its gear lever is frantically stirred.
I mentioned in an earlier posting about the Rover pulling strongly from 800 rev/min in fourth. This was a bit of an exaggeration, however it does pull from 800 and soon gets strong, well before its max torque speed of 1900 rev/min.
My previous car, a 1992 BMW 525i (petrol) was a lovely car with a glorious straight six sound. However the engine needed to be turning at well over 3000 rev/min before it would start to pull strongly, its max torque coming in at, I think, 4250 rev/min (improved a bit on later models by the use of variable valve timing). That's something I definitely do not miss!
The relative quietness of the Rover CDT is due in part to the pre-injection feature. This helps keep the noise level down because combustion is not as sharp as it is in an engine where the fuel goes into the cylinder in a single shot.
The double bulkhead and effective insulation padding also helps but even with the bonnet open the engine is 'tappetty' rather than 'loud'.
I agree that the fuel is smelly if spilt but I am now 8 months into ownership and haven't experienced this yet.
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Also when you gently squeeze the pedal at almost any speed, well into those which are illegal on the open road, there is a beefy surge accompanied by a manly growl
This is realy too much excitement before lunch, but thank you for reminding me why this girl likes squeezing the pedal on a diesel ...
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... thank you for reminding me why this girl likes squeezing the pedal on a diesel ...
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That brought a smile to my face. However, Nowheels, I'd like to point out that my gratification from the beefy surge and manly growl is *completely* different from yours.
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my A3 TDi sounds "diesel", but not intrusively so..however one aspect I particularly enjoy is the high compression which almost as effective as a brake when you lift off the throttle. With all that torque, far less gear changing (over petrol) too!
I'm sold on oil burners, to say nothing of the consumption.
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I'm another convert to diesel. And that's after 11 yrs of big straight 6 petrol cars.
Don't mind the noise, love the low down torque & relaxed cruising (33mph/1000 revs) and don't miss the mega fuel & ins bills one little bit...
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And a low rate of VEL if you get a clean one.
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fact diesels are noisy so i assume its deaf people who put petrol in them by mistake, no offence meant to deaf people by the way
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The only "disadvantages" from my perspective in nearly 15 years of driving diesels are: slightly unpleasant odour when filling up and noise at idling. If I lived in London, the latter might be more of an issue. The former has never bothered me once I'm back in the car. As it is, neither goes any way near to outweighing the tremendous advantages of diesel cars. On the noise front, the most recent cars are SO quiet in comparison with my first ones, that I can honestly say that there is very little in it. In fact, I borrowed a petrol recently and got quite bothered at traffic lights that I might have stalled. Its good to know that the engine is working!
As for the sound at other times, the Ford TDCi 130 sounds marvellous - not far short of previous petrol V6s that I had aspired to own (and I too, Peterb, am a music grad). Needless to say, diesel motoring is so quick, quiet, efficient, relaxing and smooth these days, that my old aim of buying a nice petrol V6 is now well and truly defunct.
Splodgeface
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As for the sound at other times, the Ford TDCi 130 sounds marvellous - not far short of previous petrol V6s that I had aspired to own (and I too, Peterb, am a music grad). Needless to say, diesel motoring is so quick, quiet, efficient, relaxing and smooth these days, that my old aim of buying a nice petrol V6 is now well and truly defunct. Splodgeface
I would agree with everything you have said about modern diesels with regard to refinement, althought I think that the Ford TDCI has a gruffness about it that you don't find in the PSA HDI engines. Haven't Ford been involved in the joint development of an all alloy 2.0 litre diesel with the PSA Group recently? If so, is this to be seen in both companies' cars in the near future (if they are already).
There is one disadvantage of modern diesels though, they are very heavy in some cases. The 2.2 HDI in our C5 makes a big difference to the overall feel and handling of the car, compared with the petrol engined variants. It is to be hoped that an all alloy engine will solve this problem.
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