Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

which car?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • which car?

    I've caught the biodiesel bug.
    I'm planning to build a biodiesel plant in my garage. however, first i need a car that can run on diesel.
    i'm after a small sub 2 litre car that can match or beat the power to weight ratio of my current 1975 civic 50hp/750kg. even though my civic is still going on the original engine and is totally thrashed, i still enjoy driving it.

    the car must seat 4 passengers (not including driver) unlike my current civic. I would like city economy to be sub-9L/100km

    i think the perfect car would be a golf turbo diesel however they are only available in europe.
    any suggestions welcome
    gaan oat da windyman

  • #2
    Re: which car?

    HI Windyman,

    Not sure which "south land" you mean from your profile, but if you are talking about Australia, there are now a few options for you in the diesel range.
    Since Australia now uses ULSD, the European vehicle manufacturers, like VW, Peugeot and Citroën can now be more confident about bringing out their diesel models here.

    You'll find options from all these manufacturers that will more than double the power output and of the good ol' Civic and halve the economy (103Kw and 5-6L/100Kms).

    There are still a few old diesel Daihatsu Charades that can be found floating around 2nd hand.

    Holden are also soon going to be releasing their Astra in a diesel model here as well (which of course is just the German Opel). Mazda will also be bringing out their 6 as a diesel too, which I am looking forward to. (The only reason I bought my Freelander was because it was the smallest diesel passenger car that I could find on the Australian market when I bought it nearly 5 years ago).

    So, as you can see, Australia is finally waking up to the diesel engine for a passenger vehicle, so our options for biodiesel are much better now.
    Robert
    Administrator
    Last edited by Robert; 22 May 2006, 10:21 AM.
    Robert.
    Site Admin.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: which car?

      i might give diahatsu a look.
      i went to tradingpost.com.au and put in any car under $4000 and on diesel, and i didn't get much
      gaan oat da windyman

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: which car?

        Hi,
        "Which car?" seems to be a very confusing prospect for a new car buyer. Having missed out on the 400 TDi VW Golf MKIIIs brought to Oz back in 96/97, I rue the day I bought one of the "big 4" fleet cars (a Magna V6) swayed by a mix of NRMA's review / NCAP rating / running costs / reliability. Even though 9 years of totally trouble free motoring, the cost to fill a tank is crazy!
        The Polo seems the ideal small TDi car - even if slightly pricey for a small car - but still sub $25k. All the rest are all around the $35k mark once you add onroads (would really love a Polo Cross)
        Thank you Robert for a previous email you sent me about my Polo TDi enquiry. Im still looking at getting one - though I the C4 HDi looks good (not sure about real world feedback).
        Thanks,
        Paul

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: which car?

          Paul,

          looks like Holden have finally got the act together with the diesel Astra.

          Astra CDTi Diesel Overview

          Very similar price to the Golf and the 307. Would running costs be cheaper (parts, service etc)? Any thoughts?

          Comment


          • #6
            Well finally took the Biodiesel step, first tankfull Thursday before Easter long weekend. Wish I had done it sooner. Running a Land Rover Discovery TD5 Yr 2000 with no problems. Suppose you could say I'm more a SVO cut with kero and a few additives and filtering. Works great.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: which car?

              nnnnnnnnnn

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: which car?

                i forgot to mention, my budget is $3k
                gaan oat da windyman

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: which car?

                  I did have a diesel gemini, well actually the wife had a petrol gemini, the engine died in it, so I bought a wrecked diesel gemini and carefully labeled the bits and swapped them over, including the front half of the wiring loom (it had a plug to the back half), the dash (which is held in with 10 bolts) glow plug timers, etc.
                  It did about 6l/ 100 on dino diesel, and was converted to run on SVO.
                  The original diesels weighed about 100kg more than the petrol ones, I suspect it was all sound deadening, as you could only get a diesel in the top of the range model.
                  I wished I could have kept it and its a long and sad story about why I didn't.
                  They are probably getting a bit long in the tooth, I did have some hassles with parts, but overall a great little car.
                  If you can manage to find your way into the news classified search may find something, as it is where I found my merc.
                  If you do buy a merc watch out for loss of consciousness during acceleration. Not due to high speeds, but to falling asleep!
                  Best of luck.
                  Captain Echidna
                  Senior Member
                  Last edited by Captain Echidna; 16 June 2006, 10:33 PM.
                  cheers<BR>Chris.<BR>1990 landcruiser 80, 1HD-T two tank, copper pipe HE+ 20 plate FPHE, toyota solenoids and filters. 1978 300D, elsbett one tank system.<BR>

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: which car?

                    Originally posted by windyman
                    i forgot to mention, my budget is $3k
                    hehe, that rather changes things given the advice you received so far.

                    I just bought a 1986 Pajero 2.3 turbo diesel with 170,000 on the clock for $3800. You could probably get something round this age with more ks for $3000 (though any car in that price bracket will tend to need $300-$1000 of work done on it). While there's a lot of negativity held towards "great big gas guzzling 4x4s", the long wheel base I have is shorter and narrower than our 1995 Vienta stationwagon and the fuel consumption of the diesel version should be slighly less too (can't confirm this as I'm not yet through my first tank). The SWB is even shorter (and lighter) of course.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X