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-   -   Why did you buy a diesel? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/24761-why-did-you-buy-diesel-8.html)

1) Modern day diesel cars can be used as petrol car without any worry. Already mentioned is the reason why short runs are not liked by manufacturers.

2) Maintenance cost will be higher. Diesel engines run on higher compression and are built more sturdier than petrol motors. The reason why it require more energy for startup also. Some components can be costly, specially the injection components in common rail diesel cars.

That said, any regularly maintain and not abused diesel in this era can cross 1 lakh kms. mark easily without major trouble.
The economies are dependent on how much you run and where. That should be deciding factor.
A few things that are not necessary in diesel cars :
1) Revving hard before shutting down engine. Even today, I have seen Verna Crdi and Fiesta owners do this. Absolutely not necessary.
2) Starting with accelerator pressed. As soon as engine starts, it revvs all the way to high rpm. This must be avoided in all cars.

Interesting thread, since i'm also looking a buying an oil burner!


What about Diesel engine's reliability ? After say the engine has clocked 50K kms ? will it still be as peppy as a santro/zen ? keeping the maintainance same!

In the modern cars and if they are maintained properly - surely they will still have the peppiness.

I'm no longer looking at the economical aspect of this. The crdi engine has won a lot of hearts and I am one of the victims. Dieselust has caught up with me, and I really think its better to go for a diesel. Who knows, the mileage I cover might increase drastically! Might even have a driver drive me to college in my final year! But one things for sure. The new oil burners are as silent and docile sounding as the petrol engines, but the immense torque and the driveability of the engines make almost all drives a pleasure , rather than mere chores!

Reasons why I love my diesel:

1) Fuel economy most of all, I have around half the running cost as that of a Maruti 800, on the same trip, I burnt about 1800 Rs. worth of Diesel, my friend's 800 burnt about 3300.

2) Immense torque at low revs = wonderful driveability.

3) I love the engine sound, at the revs I usually run at (Around 1300-1500), my car's engine makes a gurgling sound like a happy kid, on high revs it has a wonderful deep throated roar.

However, some caveats when you go in for a diesel:

1) You will hate the turbo lag, esp. when you have to sudenly overtake. In a petrol, I can just floor the throttle, in my diesel, I have to slam down a gear and leave a smokescreen.

2) The car will take at least 3-5 kms to warm up to operating temp.

3) It is nose heavy compared to its petrol sibling, so turning at high speed is slower.

4) You will need to give the car it's head and run it at high speeds (100+) for at least 30-40 km at least once a month otherwise the EGR valve and the air intake will get choked.

Removing the economic aspects and battery, are the engine components affected by short runs. Say the vehicle would only run once or twice a week and that too short runs like 5-6 kms. And also what about the non-crdi ones?

From what I have read & what even I think, you should go for the 1.4 CRDi :)

Btw did you check/TD the 1.4 Auto?

Without hijacking the main thread: can you explain this statement?

coughar check the post by ImmortalZ on first page

In short on a smaller runs the engine doesnt warm up to the ideal working temperature which has its impact on the longer run.

The engine experiences the maximum stress when a car cold-started. Because it takes certain amount of time for lubricants to to reach every nooks and crannies of the engine. That is why you should never rev your engine hard when its not sufficiently warm. Also if you put load on the engine till you warm up - you stress the engine. With frequent starts and stops your battery will wear first - as it will not get sufficient charge in the short run period. Also, in the short run period the engine does not gets a chance to achieve various RPM - which is also detrimental to the engine in long run.

Strange. I had Ford Escort diesel 1.8 (normal diesel), where I think the manual recommended procedure was to start with accelerator pressed?

I drive a diesel elantra now at 120k kms,its running as good as new,it still gives bad times to most petrols even with shortshifting,no problems so far except clutch change at 60k kms. :D

Thats relatively an old car. Here IIRC, the ECU control most of the operations and hence the pressing of accelerator is not necassary. The ECU controls the injected fuel quantity and start of injection timing required for starting primarily determined by engine coolant temperature and cranking speed.
The common rail direct injection system uses electronic circuits to control the amount of fuel that is injected in to the cylinder. Also the injection quantity and pressure are all accurately controlled.
During the firing sequence of a particular cylinder, the high pressure tyipcally EUC controlled injector will be opened and fuel with a pressure of about 2000 bar is injected in to the cylinder

Also, by the meaning of pressed, its just a slight touch. Generally I have seen people misinterpreting the word pressed and simply floor the pedal. This will only harm the engine,nothing more. Avoid these high revv starts.

few myth vs fact questions I had in mind - not covered until now - it would help if somebody could answer these as well

is it a myth or fact that diesel engines emit more pollutants than petrol engine? let's consider the latest CRDI engines for this discussion sake.

what is the reason for cheaper diesel in India? Is Govt subsidizing it for farmers (to run tubewells) or is this a trend worldwide in capitalist countries also?

Me too.

So need some answers guys....

My usage is around 2500-3000 kms a month ,is this enough to go for a diesel ?
A fellow bhpian and a close friend (Harsh87) faced a lot of problems with his swift vdi after 40k kms.
I plan to keep this car for around 2-3yrs so will it give me hard time after 60k-70k kms ?
Am bad at calculations so can anyone tell me when/how will i fully utilize the 1 lac premium ill have to pay for the diesel engine ?