[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by srvshaun

While diesel by design is more efficient than petrol, this is what I got while driving to Mysore on a 180hp 1.8 Octavia that does sub 8 sec 0-100 in it's stock form. This was 100% AC as well (as I can't drive with windows rolled down).

The diesel torque is highly addictive (had a remapped Ecosport TDCI pumping ~130 BHP) - But the sweet sound and refinement of a high revving petrol is equally compelling.

That's interesting. Seems like direct injection petrol turbo engines have come a long way and as you mentioned, diesels may hold even higher potential. Nevertheless, 15kmpl is very respectable fuel economy from 1.8TSI. BTW, I get around 8-9 kmpl from my 2.0TFSI, never in double digits yet! Part of it is also because I am hard on gas pedal

[AZT]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

CNG is not a bad or scary word for someone like me who has lakhs of km of CNG experience. It’s a straightforward mod, proven, and we have lakhs of CNG cars successfully running on gas here in NCR.

Building on this, in Bomby I've seen the CRV and Accord converted to CNG so it is not unheard of for premium cars as well.

[patwardhan]

I have stopped using diesel long ago when I opted for the Altis CVT.
I think with EVs coming in as an option, it will be interesting to see how the diesel car sales perform. With likes of Maruti discontinuing/ reducing diesel models, more will opt for non diesels for sure.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by srvshaun

While diesel by design is more efficient than petrol, this is what I got while driving to Mysore on a 180hp 1.8 Octavia that does sub 8 sec 0-100 in it's stock form. This was 100% AC as well (as I can't drive with windows rolled down).

.

I feel pretty sure this would have been a reasonably sedate driving - cruising 80 - 110 range and a light foot on the pedal. If you were to switch to a little more aggressive throttle pinned down / hard acceleration style I would not be surprised to see that figure plummet pretty down as fast as the speedo needle redlines up. Even more so if in city limits.

In contrast, regardless of how I drive my diesel 4 cylinder, it consistently gives me similar mileage on highways and dabbles double digits or just shy of it within Mumbai city limits.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by srvshaun

While diesel by design is more efficient than petrol, this is what I got while driving to Mysore on a 180hp 1.8 Octavia that does sub 8 sec 0-100 in it's stock form. This was 100% AC as well (as I can't drive with windows rolled down).

Well, it isn't about what the car is capable of but how it is driven, that decides the FE. In this case, driving a turbo petrol conservatively will result in good FE. Once you try exploring those 180 bhp and 0-100 figures, the FE will be single digits.

A diesel Octavia will return double of the FE while having 80-90% same performance.

[SoupRaw]

What a great timing! Even though I prefer petrol engines, the norm of 3 cylinder turbos and the astronomical costs of petrol keeps me at bay.

The Freestyle diesel is on my radar and the poll just restored my faith in getting the diesel over the petrol.

[greenhorn]

I used to a be a giant fan of diesels due to the torque, but then newer automatics do a fairly good job of masking the weak torque - the next car I buy - Diesel vs petrol will be a much harder decision.

[achyutaghosh]

The poll results so far are interesting. 52% will continue to buy diesel till kingdom come.

Will be good to see if these results can be sliced by location, or atleast the NCR votes can be identified. Think the results may be significantly different for NCR.

[airbus]

I have been driving my diesel car for nearly six years now. I love the low-end torque offered by my TUV3OO. At this time I am not planning to replace my current vehicle and will wait for some time to understand electric vehicle scenario and options. If I don't get a suitable electric vehicle with sufficient range, I might buy a diesel car again.

[axe_deo]

Originally Posted by ashis89

..

A diesel Octavia will return double of the FE while having 80-90% same performance.

The diesel Octavia used to be almost 2 lakhs more expensive than the equivalent petrol one. And it had an inferior suspension setup (torsion beam on the diesel and multi link on the petrol). Hence, I chose the 1.8 tsi over 2.0 tdi when I made my purchase.
But, I chose the powerful 1.6 crdi when buying the fluidic verna earlier. So, my choice was based on which engine offers more be it petrol or diesel.
I know many people who chose the 1.4 turbo petrol over the diesel in creta as the 1.4 petrol offers much better performance at the same price as the diesel.

[Coastrider]

52% voting for diesel is quite stunning considering every model carries around a lakh premium over its petrol compatriot.

But then having been a petrol head for more than a decade, I recently bought a pre-owned Innova 2.5V diesel. I can't believe I would say this but the driving experience has been very impressive specially on highways, its lighter on the pocket and going by its past maintenance records I don't think I will have to break a bank in the coming years.

Having said that and despite knowing the diesel car ban in Delhi, I took this gamble to have a first hand experience at diesel cars before they are banned around the country (hopefully in a much more phased manner). Not only do I intend to keep this Innova for another 2-5 years (as the thread suggest) but maybe much more till the EV car manufacturing and infrastructure round the country takes place.

[Chhanda Das]

I was, am and will continue to be a petrolhead till the end even though my family has owned and continues to own diesel vehicles as well. I am not even considering EVs yet since the technology is clearly incomplete and the environmental costs are too huge to ignore. Similarly, I would not consider CNGs since they can explode just like EVs, are a hassle to maintain and their long term reliability is highly questionable.

Here are the advantages of a petrol car over a diesel car - lower initial buying cost, low NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels, lower pollution levels, lower maintenance costs, lower requirement of maintenance, easier service procedures, lower insurance and registration costs, lower taxes, lower rates of depreciation value, lower wear and tear on consumable parts (like brake pads/shoes, tyres, etc) due to lower weight and torque, etc. Moreover, if we want to drive aggressively, the life of various parts of diesel engines get reduced substantially as diesel engines do not like to be revved to high RPMs and this is especially true for the turbocharged ones. There are no such issues with petrol engines. That is exactly why you will mostly find racing cars and bikes with petrol engines. And petrol cars are still environmentally cleaner after all the advancements in diesel engines.

But when it comes to carrying heavy loads, there is no substitute for a diesel engine due to their higher torque. That is why it is nearly impossible to find a petrol-powered truck. Another advantage of diesel cars is the higher fuel efficiency especially if we have to travel long distances on a regular basis. Diesel cars also have higher resale values but that is largely offset by the higher initial buying cost, higher taxes and duties, higher rates of depreciation, higher requirement of maintenance, higher cost of maintenance, etc.

The priority for me is long term reliability and there is no beating a naturally aspirated petrol engine in this regard. No wonder that the current record for the longest driven car in the world is held by one with a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder petrol engine at almost 52 lakh kilometres
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com...ehicle-mileage

If petrol prices wouldn't have been artificially jacked up like in India, we would have seen a lot more petrol cars. However, I absolutely do not support the MoRTH's decision of mandatorily increasing ethanol content as that is bound to bring down the long term reliability quotient of car engines

[ritedhawan]

What doesn't hold true : is the significant price difference that Diesel fuel used to enjoy compared to Petrol which weaned buyers towards a Diesel car compared to a Petrol one!

What does hold true: is the greater kilometres one can extract out of one litre of Diesel compared to a litre of Petrol along with the torque and punch delivered by the former which is perhaps the reason why many Diesel car buyers would stick with their fuel choice.

Considering the narrowing down of the price difference of these 2 fuels to the detriment of Diesel fuel and couple that with the fact that for a long term owner of a car the Diesel car maintenance will be significantly higher compared to a petrol, and the black smoke bellowing out of the exhaust of a Diesel car owner causes some disquietude(after years of using Diesel car), and that you can keep a Diesel car for 10 years compared to a Petrol one for 15 years.

In sum total, I think the above could wean a prospective Diesel car buyer towards a Petrol car. Notwithstanding the fact, that the Mileage card for Diesel still wins.


I choose last option.

[lsjey]

I think the Indian Govt has skewed the prices favorably towards diesel. Given that energy is higher in diesel, I think the price of diesel should be higher than that of petrol. A quick google search gave me this link: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_gnd_dcus_nus_w.htm

If the diesel prices are set properly, the market will adjust IMHO.

Regards,
lsjey

[Mafia]

This is one poll I could not vote for. Have been a petrol head for many many years. I drove a Turbo diesel over a long distance last year. That was a revelation. I really enjoyed the power and hi-speed cruising ability.

I want to buy a diesel turbo now. The price parity between diesel and petrol is a big downer. The additional investment and the clamping down on renewal of registration after 10 years is making me unsure of the long term ownership.

I do realize that diesel abroad is more expensive than petrol and even then the diesel heads swore by the diesel performance.