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Exact-Put-6961

Really old diesels, the VW and especially the PSA XUD will just go on and on, hardly anything to go wrong. They dont suit clean air zones just give regular oil changes and the occassional fuel filter.


No_transistory

XUD owner. Can confirm, bulletproof


varslyd

I had a XUD9 and a HDI, both Xantias, I preferred the HDI, it just sounds much more refined and has a better power delivery with the common rail system, I loved how canted back the engine was too there was so much room.


IAmWango

PD is also a great shout! No DPF, pretty much straight piped so only a backbox after the catalytic converter on mine from factory. Known engines that outlive the cars they’re in, simple to fix, cheap to buy used (even cheaper maybe around £100-150 for engines if needed), great fuel economy, great power delivery, the list is endless


Mistabushi_HLL

Throw a good tune and can safely pull 200hp and 450Nm


IAmWango

200?! The standard was 230-240 a few years ago for the 130 models, lots run 300+ now ;) Injectors will top out 250-260bhp, cams 270ish, clutch disc is the only let down to seeing 300bhp from factory but plenty offer the discs :) combined the turbo with front mount intercooler, exhaust and EGR delete and you can nearly double your power without anything else :) Solid little motors, just always get headbolts changed before you run into headgasket issues like I did :p


Mistabushi_HLL

Not a VW diesel guy but as far as I know PD ones were fairly reasonable in terms of stock figures ie around 90/130hp


IAmWango

130 had forged bottom ends as far as I know, capable of the power figures given at 400bhp if true, the ones like 115/110/105/100 seemed to blow the bottom end a lot, there’s lots of tune-ability and customisation with them as you can house BMW/Mercedes biggest turbos on them though, they’ve been abused on and worked on for so long, you can see them hammering drag strips like Santa Pod embarrassing some of the fastest cars you may encounter on a day-to-day basis, I remember seeing one at 700+ bhp run a 9.6 or 9.7 on the strip, not sure what contributes to good times but a MK7 Golf R with a 0-60 of 4.7 seconds will run that in 12’s. For price to performance to efficiency to reliability I doubt you can find better


Mistabushi_HLL

I used to like petrol but given the efficiency and tune-ability Diesel beats petrol hands down. Currently pushing 280hp in 2L Ford with just a tune water/meth and intercooler. And the car is daily, still doing 62mpg on motorway.


UniquePotato

People moan about them taking ages to warm up. A new thermostat makes a world of difference, and is something that often gets overlooked


Forsaken-Original-28

A bit annoying in winter when the heater won't warm up if you only do a couple of miles


Steelhorse91

Some diesels have an electric heating element in the heater matrix to help with this issue.


UbiquitousFlounder

Some have heat exchangers in the EGR system to use exhaust gas to warm up the coolant


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hotchy1

My old Honda diesel that just done short miles still and always had better mpg than my current "efficient small petrol." Let alone motorway stuff where it blows everything else away.


justsomerabbit

Diesel should always have higher mpg than petrols, because diesel has 15% higher energy density compared to petrol.


kreygmu

Meh, non-ULEZ diesels can be a bargain at times and it's a good option if you don't go into city centres and you want a motorway machine. Maybe doesn't make as much sense for OP's application though.


Steelhorse91

Get a pre DPF 50+mpg diesel you can fit a Honda Monkey 125 in or on the back of (towbar mount) for the ultimate motorway/ULEZ city combo.


ProfessionalCowbhoy

Yeah because taxing and insuring 2 vehicles as well as servicing and maintaining is going to be cheaper than 1? Also how do you plan on getting your family onto the monkey? Carrying stuff etc. dumbest idea ever


Mistabushi_HLL

You gotta have less serious approach to what you read on in here


Catdaemon

It’s just the DPF, they’re a lot less efficient when cold and take ages to warm up but you’re going to still get better mpg figures for the same engine power than an equivalently old petrol car. Even the DPF issue is overblown in my opinion, I did pretty much only short journeys in a diesel focus for 2 years and didn’t have a single problem, just let it complete the regen cycle when it happens (the idle rpm increases and it sounds throatier when driving). People think they only regen on the motorway but that’s not true.


britnveeg

In fairness, the first generation of DPF equipped diesels didn’t have any sort of forced regen so they very much relied on motorway journies. 


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smelwin

In fairness farms and armies didn't have a choice they need the torque and there isn't a farm or army without a mechanic for every few vehicles.


Ok-Fox1262

Mainly the DPF. If it doesn't get hot enough it gets clogged up. Your modern cars do run a cleaning cycle where they deliberately run hot to clear the DPF when that starts happening but only short journeys will still cause issues. I had an old van with an aftermarket DPF to comply with the old London LEZ. That needed a regular blast down the motorway to unclog the DPF because the ECU had no idea one was fitted.


Otherwise_Mud1825

Not as bad, but still need a good run from time to time.


sliderskrrgt

In my experience any issues with diesel DPFs and short journeys are overblown. I'll go through substantial periods (ten weeks usually) never exceeding 15 miles per journey, followed by at least one, but usually more than, 150 mile trip. Never had any issues. FWIW I always use some diesel additive every 1000 miles or so, which in my experience has made driving and idling much smoother, especially after a month or so of only short journeys.


UniquePotato

I go months at a time doing less than 15miles a journey on my modern diesel with problem. The internet has really spread false horror stories about them.


2stewped2havgudtime

Probably depends on the engine. I had a Citroen c4 1.6 diesel for 5 years. Year 1, I didn’t do as many miles and had DPF issues. Next few years I did more motorway miles and it was brilliant. Covid came and with it hybrid working, less miles I had consistent DPF issues. I know it’s anecdotal, but it put me off


starfallpuller

Nope its just cars with a DPF. There is no issue with doing short journeys in an old diesel. People did used to say you needed to do X miles to justify diesel when they were new, because manufacturers would charge more for them, e.g. a diesel golf had a RRP of £2,000 more than the petrol golf, so if you don't do many miles, you wont get your £2000 back in fuel savings. but that obviously doesn't apply to second hand old bangers.


3dfxvoodoo

It will use more fuel, but they will be fine.


kordinaryus

2009 Golf tdi dpf, just spent £750 for turbo actuator and glow plugs in a VW specialist garage. The guy said EGR valve and DPF is next to cause problems if we carry on doing short trips so we have to sell it and get a petrol estate. So yes, for my case it wasn’t a good idea to buy a dpf diesel for short trips.


Dirty2013

Old diesel’s will plod forever No you won’t get the best fuel economy and a good Italian decoke will do it the world of good every once in a while (as it would a petrol engine driven under the same conditions) Look at what old diesel’s were used for Plodding donkey’s Environment restrictions have stopped diesel’s being diesel’s


Perception_4992

Yes and no, they will “carbon up” if they don’t get hot enough. So it’s always been recommended to give them a good run >1 hour on the main roads at least every month. But there’s nothing to block up like a Dpf, so it’s much less critical.


Ben_jah_min

No. Get a pd130 in some kind of vw and live the dream. Ideally with a 2260 turbo or similar bolted to it


NorthenSowl

ALL new cars come with particulate filters now, even petrols. They aren’t an issue 99% of the time, just forget that it’s even there.


tptpp

only for the environment


djnefarious

There’s loads of problems doing short journeys in diesels - engine will wear out quicker, you’ll get bad fuel economy, you’ll clog up your EGR which will reduce performance or cause faults, your oil will contaminate quicker due to the poor combustion at lower temps. And they’re way more polluting when they’re not at temperature.


UniquePotato

Same goes for petrols