Golf TDI / Corrola D4D??

Enygma

Hi,

I'm looking into buying a diesel at the moment (doing around 25K+ a year) and I was thinking about either a Golf TDI or a Corolla 2L D4D

I've never driven a diesel before so any information would be helpful. I've already got a 1.4L Golf which I like so I'd be inclined to go for the TDI. There seems to be a huge range of engines though, how can I tell the bhp of an engine?

The 2L D4D seems to be very scarce, as is the golf, anyone know anywhere that deals in them?

Also, people talk about diesels having more torque, what exactly does this mean?

How do the diesels perform at 50-70?

Thanks!

Kimbot

What about a Corolla 1.4 D4D??? That would be cheaper to run in the long run and less maintenance than a Golf!!

Enygma

As far as I'm aware the 1.4 D4D is only out in the last year or two, I'm looking at a 01 or 02 really budgetwise.Should have pointed that out.

smash

A friend got the golf and it's lovely. And althought I don't like them have you thought about a 1series Diesel?

Kimbot

Here's a list of all the 2litre d4d's available at the moment!!

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&MakeID=31&xMakeID=31&ColourID=&xColourID=&ModelID=263&xModelID=263&Doors=&BodyID=&Engine_Min=&Year_Min=2001&Engine_Max=&Year_Max=2002&Price_Min=&Price_Min_integer=Minimum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&CountyID=&xCountyID=&Price_Max=&Price_Max_integer=Maximum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&BusinessID=&xBusinessID=&IsPrivateSale=&FuelID=2&SortBy=MakeAsc&MaxRows=100&InsertPeriod=&ResultFormat=&submit=Find+%3E%3E

You could go for an avensis aswell!! 2.0 D4D!!

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&MakeID=31&xMakeID=31&ColourID=&xColourID=&ModelID=259&xModelID=259&Doors=&BodyID=&Engine_Min=&Year_Min=2001&Engine_Max=&Year_Max=2002&Price_Min=&Price_Min_integer=Minimum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&CountyID=&xCountyID=&Price_Max=&Price_Max_integer=Maximum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&BusinessID=&xBusinessID=&IsPrivateSale=&FuelID=2&SortBy=MakeAsc&MaxRows=100&InsertPeriod=&ResultFormat=&submit=Find+%3E%3E

kluivert

steve06 wrote:

A friend got the golf and it's lovely. And althought I don't like them have you thought about a 1series Diesel?

These things should be binned.....

Anyway.....

Mazda 6 1.6 diesel is a good goer or Skoda 1.9TDi

I would choose the Corolla D4D if I had to choose from the above two.

www.honestjohn.co.uk go to left hand side breakdown of car by car. Good read.

conor_mc

Torque is basically the ability to deliver the power to the wheels. Where a standard petrol engine might only start to accelerate quickly at 3000rpm or so, a TDi is doing the same (or better) at about 1800rpm. Put another way, you know when someone slows you down in a petrol car and you have to drop a gear to overtake - well, you needn't bother dropping a gear in a TDi, it'll pull away easily enough at low rpm.

Wouldn't be in the least worried about 50-70 range, even a basic TDi will probably deliver the power fairly evenly up to about 100mph. 50-70 in fifth gear, you'll probably be turning about 2000-2500 rpm.

Henry Ford III

Torque vs horsepower. Two entirely different concepts.

For me two extremes demonstrate the difference best.

1/. A tractor. Low revs - pulls like a mad thing, and tows heavy loads easily. Slow and runs out of puff. All torque and low power

2/. F1 car. Ticks over at 6000rpm. Revs to 13,000rpm. Very narrow powerband right up at the top of the rev. range. Will not pick up in any gear unless revved very hard. All power and low torque.

Modern TDI's/TDCI/D4D/CDI attempt to bridge the gaps with varying degrees of success.

AlanD

conor_mc wrote:

Torque is basically the ability to deliver the power to the wheels. Where a standard petrol engine might only start to accelerate quickly at 3000rpm or so, a TDi is doing the same (or better) at about 1800rpm. Put another way, you know when someone slows you down in a petrol car and you have to drop a gear to overtake - well, you needn't bother dropping a gear in a TDi, it'll pull away easily enough at low rpm.

Wouldn't be in the least worried about 50-70 range, even a basic TDi will probably deliver the power fairly evenly up to about 100mph. 50-70 in fifth gear, you'll probably be turning about 2000-2500 rpm.

to put it more technically, torque is the measure of pressure generated that will turn an axle or cause rotation of some sort. Imagine a very large screw that you want to put in to a very large wall. You have a big wrench to turn it but you are the only one there to pull on it to try and turn that screw. Therefore you can only apply your own strength to the wrench which could be only 20 lb/ft of pressure. That could be a small weedy petrol car. Get yourself Paul O'Connell and some of his mates to pull on it and you could be talking diesel power, or 100 lb/ft...in other words more pressure to turn the screw, hence it turns easier with less effort.

So change that turning screw to a wheel axle and you might get an idea of how torque makes a difference. Driving up a hill, bhp won't get you up there. A car with small amounts of torque (which is measured at the flywheel and has dissipated somewhat before it gets to the wheel itself, although new Ferrari 599 has eliminated a lot of this torque loss) going up a hill may struggle because the pressure/power available to turn the wheel isn't that great. A diesel generates way more turning power and will get up that hill with much more ease. Hence the ideal that diesels pull containers, trains, horse boxes. They generate more torque.

Actual sprint figures may not be so hot in diesels, but the ease at which they can generate speed makes a lot of difference in the real world, as pointed out above.

smash

kluivert wrote:

These things should be binned.....

I completely agree but it might have been an option for him... different strokes and all that!

Enygma

I dunno, you'd wanna be pretty crazy to want a 1 series

Thanks for the responses guys. I do love Golfs but I like the newer Corollas too. I guess it's a matter of which one I find first at the right price!