Petrol or Diesel

[solo284]

I have an A6 Avant 1.8T (petrol) on a V plate with 75,000 miles. I get low mpg as it does multiple short runs on a cold engine. Been considering changing to a diesel. Any views from owners on here as to whether they would, or have made the same switch.

[Peter D]

What MPG and how many miles per year. rRgards Peter

[solo284]

Around town about 20 mpg. On a trip up to mid 30's.

[adamss24]

I have an A6 Avant 1.8T (petrol) on a V plate with 75,000 miles. I get low mpg as it does multiple short runs on a cold engine. Been considering changing to a diesel. Any views from owners on here as to whether they would, or have made the same switch.

Let me give you an example, my missus previous car wass a 1998 vw passat 1.6 petrol, no AC, just front electric windows and managed 250-300 miles per tank- 62 litres ! Now, she drives a 2000 vw passat sport estate, with climate control, all round electric windows, sport trim, etc. and she does 450-600 miles per tank ! Not only the new car is bigger, drives better due to the 110 Bhp egine that has lots of torque, it's also more economical to run and less to insure as well ! You do the mats !

[Menenlily]

I have an A6 Avant 1.8T (petrol) on a V plate with 75,000 miles. I get low mpg as it does multiple short runs on a cold engine. Been considering changing to a diesel. Any views from owners on here as to whether they would, or have made the same switch.

Hi solo,
In my experience of petrol and diesel engines, although diesels are more economical in the long run they take much longer than petrol engines to warm up (I'm not talking about new cars here, same sort of ages as yours). So if you're looking for fuel economy you won't get it from a diesel engine on short runs.

However, I changed from a gutless V-reg Rover 416 petrol to a lovely S-reg A6 2.5 TDi and despite the massively heavier car and bigger engine, I get many more MPG from the A6 overall.

Considering this and the longer lifetime of diesel engines generally, I wouldn't buy another petrol car unless they halved the price of petrol.

Here's another thought... LPG conversion in a diesel car. That's real economy. I had one of those too in a Discovery I, and I'd definitely get one again.

Hope this helps.

[Peter D]

LPG in a Diesel car ????? What ignites the LPG exactly. !! Regards Peter

[Menenlily]

...oops, beg pardon, I meant petrol of course. Thanks for pointing it out.

[buster]

LPG in a Diesel car ????? What ignites the LPG exactly. !! Regards Peter

You can get LPG for a diesel but it just injects the diesel as well as LPG when you are at a constant speed. (around 30% diesel and 70% LPG). No good for town work and expensive. Ok for HGVs trucking up and down motorways. They are working on it however, or so I am told.

I have a 2.7T coverted to gas and I get around 20mpg on gas. 20*1.039(petrol price)/0.425(lpg price) = 48.9

So I get an equivalent to 48.9 mpg with my 2.7 twin turbo quattro tip

It is a lot easier to get economy by going for the diesel however. I had an A4 1.9TDi and it was fanstastic. I gave it to my nephew when it had covered 185,000 miles and he is still driving it around today; over 200K now.

When I drove the TDi (90bhp) around scotland, just touring and not in any hurry, it averaged 56.8 mpg.

[Niall76]

If you are a boring old fart then get the diesel.

However, if you actually enjoy driving then get the petrol.

[chat]

With fuel prices the state they are in and only likely to get worse, for me diesel is the way to go. I have just swapped my 2000 Daewoo Leganza CDX auto (2000cc) for a 2004 1.9 A6 TDI Multitronic and the saving in fuel every month virtually pays for the car, and I dont do many miles either. The Audi also makes the Leganza feel gutless (Although its 136bhp) due to the vastly superior torque. If you are looking for a sporty car to chuck around then really you shouldnt be driving an A6 because its designed to be a fast "Executive" cruiser with lots of style, build quality and understated image. Perhaps you should try a Seat Leon Cupra R. Had one of those too-big grin factor!

If you can adjust to the slightly noisy and lumpy character of a diesel, then in my opinion thats the way to go.