Thread: Diesel vs Petrol

Aedo,

There's a couple of threads on this subject if you want to do a search but in summary:

Everyone wants the diesel.
Almost all hesitate re the 10K+ price diff.
Around town I get 15.6 while a mate of mine with the TDV6 gets 12.6.
3-4 l/100km diff makes for a very long payback.
Some would argue that resale is a big factor in favour of the TDV6.
The TDV6 has better range than the petrol.

Personally, I think 64k for the V6SE is excellent value. I've had mine for 6 months and love it.

Cheers,

Mark

ID go diesel but mainly because the characteristics of a diesel engine more suits my driving style than the newer petrol engines do. The fact that diesel is now more expensive that petrol in most places goes a long way to tip the inital purchase back in favor of petrol. Once upon a time when diesel was a lot cheaper than petrol you could save the difference in purchase price in about 3 years, now it takes a lot longer.


If you can get the dealer to authorise having an LPG system fitted and covered/serviced as part of your new car warrenty Id be mighty tempted to go petrol.

When the going gets tough the difference in consumption of the petrol will be much greater. Also when the going gets tough often fuel can be hard to find

Depending on how long you will keep the D3 will help your decision on the diesel. With careful driving I am getting figures fluctuating from around 10.3 to 10.7 for highway driving from my diesel. Usually sitting on 100 to 110 depending on speed limits and using cruise control.
City driving seem to show 11.6 to 11.9 occasionally up to 12.2 when pushing it hard. I am however a conservative driver in city traffic.

Do the sums.

Petrol SE 65k onroad
Diesel SE 81K onroad

Service to 108k
Petrol $2582.00
Diesel $3364.00

Resale proberly not 15k in it.

If you do less than 25k a year hard to justify diesel.

Reason to own diesel. you want the range available.

Michael.

I have had both Diesel and Petrol 4x4's and I will in future only go for diesel...

* Better range out of the tank
* Lower flash point... ie: less likely to explode
* Lower engine/exhaust temperature so less likely to start fires in the scrub
* Torque curve is much lower and where it is needed for more serious 4x4ing
* Doesn't really evaporate if there is a leak in ya Jerry can
* More kms out of your engine
* Better for water crossings
Anything else I missed?

Mate, a diesel is the go!!!

Chosen

Cheers All,

I do have significant experience with other diesel 4x4s and understand the general preference for diesel - but economically the diesel really doesn't cut it (as per HSVRangie's comments - my calcs were similar). Mark - thanks for your specific fuel figures for petrol vs diesel - your petrol figure is better than I used!

On a performance basis the petrol one seems marginally quicker on road (haven't had a chance to test drive either yet) and I imagine will be more than adequate off road (despite noteably lower torque than the diesel). The range and fuel availablilty issues are very good points and I will give that some more thought - as we have small kids we don't tend to travel too far off the beaten track.

I guess I am really seeking to find if there is a "fatal flaw" in the current petrol SE price but it doesn't seem so Hopefully will find the right vehicle very soon!

Many thanks for your help - I'll be back looking for places to take it now!!

Cheers
Aedo

One other thing to look at.
The V6TD is a special engine, from Jaguar, developed and toughened by Land Rover. It will be expensive to repair or replace.

From what I've heard, the V6 petrol is similar to the Jaguar S Type and there are plenty of those around, at good prices