[nitinralli]

One thing i wanted to know, people say that diesel cars have a life till 1 lakh km, (which i doubt) so what happens when it crosses 1 lakh mark?? and for how long can we run the car , i mean how many km's can a diesel car run before the end dies. Anyone?????

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by RAC

I thought it would be same or less, considering how people look at diesel being a higher maintenance car when old.

Our family has been using Diesel Cars from 1998 with Indica DLE being the first Diesel and we used the car for 6yrs. and covered approx 75k on it without any problems. trust me when i say this. On highway with AC we used to get 24kmpl.
and we used to commute very frequently between Belgaum and Bangalore / Mysore. Never once it broke down.

WE had purchased it for 2.6lac on road. and sold it for 1.8lac just before the V2 was launched. I am cent percent sure this is an excellent value for the car which i am sure i would have not got in case of a Petrol Indica.

Now in our family we have 3diesel against 1petrol. (INDICA DLX 2004 - INDICA DLS 2006 - INNOVA 2007 - HONDA CITY 2006) while the INNOVA is used for our long distance travel and has covered 48k in 1.6months.

[raj_5004]

hey nitin, what doubt do you have? that a diesel engine wont last till 1 lakh or it goes much beyond 1 lakh? my old scorpio which is in kerela now has done 1,85,000 kms and still going stong. no engine works till now. no performance drop. yes, there has been a slight drop in FE, that is about 1-2 kmpl. see the old TATA trucks plying on our roads. they have easily crossed the lakh mark or maybe even two! these truckers dont care a damn about maintainence. still they are running fine, isnt it?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by nitinralli

One thing i wanted to know, people say that diesel cars have a life till 1 lakh km, (which i doubt) so what happens when it crosses 1 lakh mark?? and for how long can we run the car , i mean how many km's can a diesel car run before the end dies. Anyone?????

After 1 lakh kms a demon appears and eats your car.
Just kidding.
Nitin, people have misinformed you, a diesel engine easily runs for 1.5 lakh+ or even more(2-3L), and then you have to get it overhauled.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

After 1 lakh kms a demon appears and eats your car.
Just kidding.
Nitin, people have misinformed you, a diesel engine easily runs for 1.5 lakh+ or even more(2-3L), and then you have to get it overhauled.

that was real funny,when it comes to engine life diesels today are as good as petrol engines.

[greenhorn]

ok. I've been driving a few petrol cars over the weekend. Coming back to my car, Made a few observations.

The petrols rev lower than the diesels. Unlike diesels which give good torque down low and then die unannounced , I suppose the spark ignition keeps them going going a little lower.

while they do rev higher , and the engines seemed to take the abuse in their stride , all the way to the redline. And the engine sound was far better , very satisfying , I might add

Responsiveness- a boon or a bane. They are generally point and shoot, but the moment you press the pedal, your ride is already launched. You are not allowed to make a mistake, A diesel gives you a split second whether you should really jump the gun - again very subjective.

Overall driving petrols was very different, and interesting experience. One thing is , it felt as the petrol engine exhaust note had a lot more character than a diesel, so you get some emotional brownie points.

But all thes points came crashing down when we were on an incline , and my friends Swift D who was trailing us got impatient and ripped past us.
Lesson #1- torque. Still no match. We might have had the edge on level ground , but on inclines, torque rules. Though I was driving as if I was at 120(judging by the revs), the car had actually reached only 80. Flooring it didn't help at all.I felt that if I was driving my car. At least I could have kept up with the swift and not be left behind in diesel smoke.
Lesson #2- mileage. What else could i do, I downshifted and ripped to catch up with him. And the guy who owns the petrol ( he was drunk- that was why i was driving) suddenly became sober and started crying about mileage- When his car drinks more he gets to drink less . After a bit , I relented. but for most of us , what is the point of having driving pleasure when its a forbidden fruit? I know a lot here can afford to burn petrol like i burn diesel, but I get drive hard and the way i like, farther than he does , and yet end up spending less than him, and I make sure I enjoy every second I drive ( though the pleasure might be concentrated to the drivers seat and away from the tense passengers

My choice? I wouldnt have it any other way than the way I have it now
Right upto ( and beyond the point that diesels become unfeasible economically, I'll stick to diesel thank you. My monthly running is about 800km, so it doesnt exactly justify buying a diesel, but still, I'm sure even my next ride will be a diesel, unless I strike oil in my back yard )

[MuzzledMoose]

what diesel to petrol vechile did you compare here?

Trident’s 200mph 100mpg Iceni biodiesel sports car nears production

Biodiesel
runs 2000miles on a full tank
0-100kmph in under 4 secs
200mph top speed
mileage of 100mpg under standard test conditions.

price- 75000 pound sterling

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Well,there was a time when people hated diesel cars,they were supposed to be smelly,underpowered and better suited to public transport.Neither did we had many diesel cars nor there were many takers just because diesel passenger cars costed more to buy than the petrol versions.

Sure we did get the Merc E class diesel (W124) around late nineties but that was not meant for general public or aam janta.

Then it all gradually started changing.
In came the escort diesels,rover montego and the tata estate/sumo/sierra which changed the perspective of many buyers.Not only these cars were 'premium cars' then,they were reasonable enough to drive and were quite efficient.However,escort and montego bombed,so did sierra/estate and the only diesel vehicle which was preffered by Indian families was the Tata Safari.Sure,the sumo did sell,but so did the jeeps and sumo was a ultitarian vehicle rather than a premium option as a family vehicle.


Zen D too was far from a sucess initially but things changed drastically with TATA INDICA,which brought the diesel to the masses and while 800 is people's car,indica is people's diesel car in true sense.
There was no looking back after then,octavia diesel was an instant hit,and then suddenly came another revolution,the CRDi engine in Accent and it changed the way people looked at diesels.It was a decent performer and accent crdi too was a great success.


It has been no looking back ever since,with even 'common' cars like swifts sporting diesels which can give the petrols a run for their money,and then there are magnums and vernas with engines that put to shame most of the petrol engines around.
Just as I was reflecting back and thinking about all this,It appeared to me that Diesel is apparently the new premium fuel now,with most of the buyers right from the swifts to audi A4s preferring the diesels over the petrols and most of the business class too have seemed to develop a liking for diesel cars,so now is petrol the less popular fuel now? we have audi tdi engine in multiple le-mans winning car and few years down the line diesel may even threaten to make the petrol cars extinct.This may be too far fetched a thought but even if its gradual we surely seem to be moving in that direction.Atleast in India if not the other parts of the world.



@Mods:I tried looking for a similar topic but to no avail,kindly merge my post if at all any such active topic(s) exist


Regards

[akshay4587]

Yatharth its true
but you are living in chandigarh,here people will accept even if they were given Old NA IDI and DI engines,as you know how people used to prefer Diesel engines even before CRDI tech was launched in india.

But yeah some petrolheads will be petrolheads forever

[loving_alaap]

Only because it gives more FE, and in India, it is almost 30% cheaper than petrol.
The only reason!!!

In US i dont think diesel in A4 or Merce is such popular.

[ac 427]

Did you guys read the TOI article on "Premium Fuel' does not work. The Govt. had sent a notice that these fuels can't be sold at a premium as there is no recorded test that proves that Premium fuels improve efficiency.

Any news post that what happened ? ??

Cheers,
AC

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Yatharth its true
but you are living in chandigarh,here people will accept even if they were given Old NA IDI and DI engines,as you know how people used to prefer Diesel engines even before CRDI tech was launched in india.

But yeah some petrolheads will be petrolheads forever

Yeah,it is true that we have more diesels in this part of the country.And yes some of us will always remain petrol heads,but the number of new diesel cars I spot on roads is increasing by the day,we have half a year of waiting on diesel models of some car,and that alone shows it popularity,dont know if its the same at other parts as well.

Did you guys read the TOI article on "Premium Fuel' does not work. The Govt. had sent a notice that these fuels can't be sold at a premium as there is no recorded test that proves that Premium fuels improve efficiency.

Any news post that what happened ? ??

Cheers,
AC

Bro,from terming the diesel as 'premium' fuel i meant that its taking the place of petrol as 'preffered' choice of fuel and did not meant those xtra-premium and speed and other high octane fuels.
However,coming to them,i may add that most of the manfacturers of regular indian cars guide the customers to avoid the 'higher octane' fuels as the cars have been detuned to meet the indian fuel standard and due to the lower compression the high octane fuels are left marginally unburnt and get accumulated at the CAT-CON therby causing increased wear and tear.
Yes,I am talking about India only,US has a completely different type of market,and petrol is very very cheap in most of the Arab countries so they wont naturally go for diesels.

[greenhorn]

even in the south, diesels are in huge demand !. For that last D R I V E , there was just one petrol car in attendance!

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

even in the south, diesels are in huge demand !. For that last D R I V E , there was just one petrol car in attendance!

Yeah,that is what I was thinking about,as compared to say a decade back people now are switching loyalities and have started preffering diesel vehicles,the reason may be anything,whether the improved technology or the fact that we have many diesel cars available as compared to nineties,or anything else.But the general public's love towards the diesel is surely seem to be increasing by the day.