Why buy a Diesel?

Diesel vs Petrol - Why Diesel is king for money-saving motoring

There are two reasons for buying a diesel’s. The first has to be performance, while the second reason is economy. The impressive performance figures of all the latest diesel engines can be found on any manufacturers websites. Not only are these vehicles much more economical, but also to put it into real terms -how many miles you will get to a tank, and how much it will cost you in fuel over a set distance of motoring.

It is noteworthy that most manual models are capable of 45mpg+ more than 10mpg better than a gently driven 2.0 litre petrol engine.

The DIESEL Revolution

A motoring revolution is set to see diesel cars outsell petrol vehicles within the next few Years.

Last year diesel car sales in the UK were up nearly 45% to 460,000. And in the first two months of this year they are up 60%. As a result diesel sales are expected to break 500,000 barriers by end of 2006. But it has taken some time for the British to catch up with Europe ’s love affair with diesel motors, where one in three new cars sold runs on Diesel. Last year the number of diesels sold in Europe passed the five million mark.

Economy

In France and Spain diesels already out sell petrol vehicles, while German motorists alone bought more than one million of the oil burners last year. This is largely due to the new generation of cleaner, more powerful diesel engines like the Hdi. An increase in the refinement of diesel engines, many of which nearly match their petrol equivalents, has also furthered the cause. Diesels also give up to 30% better fuel economy than petrol cars and boast less carbon dioxide emissions. So it now makes sound sense to drive around one. This year a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 Eco Diesel returned an incredible 145mpg on a 237 economy run, while a VW Lupo diesel clocked 91.46mpg on the RAC’s Fuel Economy Marathon. Figures show that the driver of a diesel car such as a Peugeot 406 can save at least £1200 in Fuel to petrol rivals over 60,000 miles of motoring. The New company car taxation rules, published in April 2002, were set to favour diesels. Under the new benefit-in-kind laws, taxation will be based on the value of the car and it’s carbon dioxide emissions- instead of the value of the car and the mileage driven in a year. Diesel cars also offer better re-sale values with a three-year-old VW Passat 1.9 worth £1025 more than the petrol model

Caravans and Towing

The low-down torque (pulling power) of a diesel engine means that they are well suited to dragging loads and towing trailers/caravans etc so they're perfect for use in load-lugging station wagons. The relatively unstressed design of diesel engines also gives them greater longevity, another positive aspect to using them in estate car workhorses.

In Summary

The main advantages of diesel cars are that they are more economical, the day-to-day servicing/running costs are generally lower and as a result, they usually have better residuals than their petrol counterparts.