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[ali]

Im lucky to have both but I cant decide which one to keep and which one has to go!  I have only driven it around our country lanes but off round the M25 tomorrow so will have a better idea how to compare to the petrol. The only chip mine has is on a Saturday night back from the takeaway The diesel has been very easy to work on for a complete novice but not sure I can live with the noise. Maybe after a fe more oil changes it will quieten down???When I drive the petrol I keep thinking its died at the junctions because its so quiet I love driving these cars and after driving cars for Audi I love it even more!!!!!

[Cybertrucker]

off round the M25 tomorrow

Well, you should get plenty of opportunity to test its acceleration from nought to six...   I'll lend you my automatic if you like, save the wear on your left leg!  

[cem_devecioglu]

A neighbour has a Diesel Passat and it rattles like noones business.

Another has a new Mondeo Diseasel and he was parked about 40 foot from me one morning with it idling and I couldn't hear my V6 over the clatter, and I was sitting in my car.

  diesels as usual

[Cybertrucker]

There's a reason why diesels always knock on tickover, and I think it's something to do with the fact that whereas petrol engines reduce the amount of air entering the cylinders as well as reducing the amount of fuel, diesels always draw in the same amount of air regardless of the throttle setting (they have to, otherwise at low throttle settings they'd draw in so little air they wouldn't compress it enough to make the air hot enough to ignite the diesel).  This means that on low throttle, or tickover, diesels are running extremely weak, and I think that's got something to do with the knock.

The knocking sound is produced in the combustion chamber by the burning fuel/air mixture, anyway, it's not because the diesel engine is mechanically rattly.  Manufacturers can do things to reduce the knock, (or fit loads of soundproofing so you just can't hear it!) but it's inherent in the way diesel engines work.

[Omegatoy]

Having been the proud(ish) owner of a 2.5TD for the last couple of months, I think the engine is reasonably good, but I don't think it does it many favours being coupled to an automatic gearbox. (Does an auto box improve any engine???)  I'm quite capable of handling the different power/torque characteristics of a diesel engine, being an ex-lorry driver, but I'm not convinced the gearbox knows how to do it.

The auto box makes town driving dead easy, true - no fun, but dead easy, you just point and press.  Having done the run to/from my Dad's three times now, though (160 miles each way on the M5), I seem to find that at lower motorway speeds I'm working quite hard to keep the speed up, then once it hits 75 it seems to get the idea and I have to work to keep the speed down.  (Don't mention cruise control, I hate it with almost the same passion that I hate speed limiters on lorries, but at least I get to choose whether to put the cruise control on, ie never.)  I thought I'd got used to the Omega, and was actually starting to enjoy owning it, but on the way down to my Dad's on Friday, out of nowhere I suddenly started to wish I was driving something else.  For one thing I wish Vx had spent less money on electronic toys and had fitted springs between the roadwheels and my arse instead.

Maybe the petrols are different, maybe the manuals are different, but there's something about this car I don't like.  It looks beautiful, it's a nice motor to be seen in, it's luxurious inside, it's comfortable to sit in, it has lots of high-end gadgets in it, and I think the fuel consumption is very acceptable, it's a beautiful car right up until the moment I start to drive it, and then something goes wrong somewhere.

:-/

REALLYN THINK YOU HAVE ANSWERED IT YOURSELF BUD, ITS OBVIOUS YOU DONT ENJOY THE AUTOSLUDGEPUMP EXPERIENCE!! HAD MINE A GOOD FEW YEARS NOW AND WHEN I FIRTS GOT IT I WONDERED WHAT I HAD BOUGHT!!! ONCE IT WAS CHIPPED THOUGH IT ALL CAME TOGETHER AND THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE BECAME MUSCH MUCH IMPROVED, THE MANUAL IS A DELIGHT TO USE AND WITH THE TD BEING SO TORQUEY ITS ALMOST LIKE HAVE AN AUTO AS YOU TEND TO JUST NOT CHANGE GEAR!!!
'dangle berries' didnt realise caps lock was on sorry guys!!!

[ali]

                                                                                                          

off round the M25 tomorrow

Well, you should get plenty of opportunity to test its acceleration from nought to six...   I'll lend you my automatic if you like, save the wear on your left leg!  

Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control
Daft question no ? do you drive a diesel any different than a petrol? what is all this talk of chips? Im feeling left out as I doubt Syd is chipped?

[Turk]

                                                                                                         

off round the M25 tomorrow

Well, you should get plenty of opportunity to test its acceleration from nought to six...   I'll lend you my automatic if you like, save the wear on your left leg!  

Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control
Daft question no ? do you drive a diesel any different than a petrol? what is all this talk of chips? Im feeling left out as I doubt Syd is chipped?

Chipping a Mig adds about 30bhp and makes a big difference  

[Cybertrucker]

    Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control
Daft question no ? do you drive a diesel any different than a petrol?

I know what you mean - I'm having some difficulty getting used to an auto after 30 years of manuals in everything from Mini vans to 38-ton artics.  After all my years of advanced training, HGV licence, and experience of dozens of different vehicles over hundreds of thousands of miles, I seem to have handed control of gear changes over to my four year old grandson.

Basically driving a diesel is exactly the same as driving a petrol except that the diesel engine produces its power over a smaller rev range than a petrol.  My tractor goes into the red at about 5,000 rpm, whereas I think the petrol ones redline at about 7,500.  This came as a surprise to me actually, lorries usually rev much more slowly - some of the ones I've driven have been in the red at about 1,800 rpm.  (That's why they give you sixteen gears!)  Just listen to the engine as you're driving, if it seems to be labouring change down, if it's getting towards the red line change up.  You'll get used to it almost without realising it.

    what is all this talk of chips? Im feeling left out as I doubt Syd is chipped?

Your engine is controlled by the Engine Management System, which is basically a computer.  This computer has in it a memory chip which tells it how to make the engine respond to different combinations of speed, throttle setting, load, etc.  When they refer to 'chipping' a car they mean taking that memory chip out and throwing it away, and fitting a different memory chip which tells the EMS to respond in a different way.  This different response is usually intended to give you more power.  It's unlikely that SYD has been chipped.  I'm pretty sure mine hasn't either, and I don't intend to do it because i've read elsewhere on this forum that the auto box can't cope with the extra power from a chipped engine, and I've got better things to do with my time than replace the gearbox every time the souped-up engine rips it apart!  

[kjf7]

i want to do mine (manuel) so anyone else got a spare chip as this one sounds as if it's sold
Is this in the wrong place now i'm confused!

[Andy B]

       ......
Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control  ......

terribly sorry old boy, I am a little tired!    
2 feet .... 2 pedals. How can you be in any more control when there's another pedal? In an auto one pedal makes it go faster and t'other makes it go slower, how much control do you need over a car???  :-/  :-/

 

[Turk]

       ......
Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control  ......

terribly sorry old boy, I am a little tired!    
2 feet .... 2 pedals. How can you be in any more control when there's another pedal? In an auto one pedal makes it go faster and t'other makes it go slower, how much control do you need over a car???  :-/  :-/

 

Technicaly it should be 1 foot. With an auto the left foot should not be used at all.  

[Cybertrucker]

       ......
Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control  ......

terribly sorry old boy, I am a little tired!    
2 feet .... 2 pedals. How can you be in any more control when there's another pedal? In an auto one pedal makes it go faster and t'other makes it go slower, how much control do you need over a car???  :-/  :-/

 

I'm driving along, and want to go a little bit faster.  Here's the sequence of events in a manual car:

1. Press pedal down slightly.
2. Car speeds up slightly.

Here's the sequence of events in an automatic:

1. Press pedal down slightly.
2. Nothing happens.
3. Press pedal down a bit further.
4. Gearbox makes jerky downshift, to discomfort of driver and any passengers. Engine goes faster, car doesn't.
5. Press pedal down a bit further.
6. Car takes off like scalded cat, with engine screaming, alarming horses and small children.
7. Brake back down to desired speed.
8. Gearbox makes jerky upshift, to discomfort of driver and any passengers.


Incidentally, there's also no engine braking in an automatic - as soon as you come off the accelerator the (diesel) engine drops to 800rpm and the car coasts, so you have to brake, whereas in a manual car you can finely regulate the speed by using the accelerator.

I suspect that it's this lack of direct control which I don't like about the car - I'm not in control of it, and at some deep psychological level I think that worries me.

[TheBoy]

       ......
Thanks but Im a manual girl, I like to feel in control  ......

terribly sorry old boy, I am a little tired!    
2 legs .... 2 pedals. How can you be in any more control when there's another pedal? In an auto one pedal makes it go faster and t'other makes it go slower, how much control do you need over a car???  :-/  :-/

 

That explains why I want a manual

[TheBoy]

TD chip - adds a reasonable bit of power (and mpg, so double whammy ), but for me, it was the increased 'drivability' that made it so worthwhile.

The guy who provided my chip, and Omegatoy's chip, asks £70 delivered from memory.

If you are interested and have a manual or a AR35 auto, PM either me or Omegatoy and we will forward your details

[feeutfo]

TD chip - adds a reasonable bit of power (and mpg, so double whammy ), but for me, it was the increased 'drivability' that made it so worthwhile.

The guy who provided my chip, and Omegatoy's chip, asks £70 delivered from memory.

If you are interested and have a manual or a AR35 auto, PM either me or Omegatoy and we will forward your details

anyone mentioned that chipping T(ur)D with an ar25 auto will almost certainly destroy the box,sorry couldnt be bothered to read the whole thread...