On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 8:46:41 PM UTC+1, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 05/10/2015 15:02, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
At one time diesel cars were slow. Modern engine management means they are
now little different to petrol - but still have an MPG advantage in slow
moving traffic. The lower VED simply being icing on the cake.

My limited experience of modern diesels is that while they feel much the
same as petrol for a bit you soon realise

- That's because you're driving them on the power band, not the torque
band. Try to drop a gear and nothing happens
- In any case there's horrible turbo lag
- and to round it off the power band is really narrow.

Perhaps some are better than the couple I've tried.

Andy

I find my astra 2.0 turbo diesel to be much nicer to drive than a standard 2.0 non-turbo petrol (e.g. both in the 150 - 170 BHP range). Turbo lag is there as with any turbo car, but you can give the throttle a blip to wind the turbo up a bit before you pull off.
Power band is a bit narrower (1700 - 4000 RPM) than petrol but the ability to drive in it without revving like a loony is excellent. Makes for a relaxing but "muscular" drive.
You have to be careful to not get stuck below the power band and try to floor it there, else you basically go nowhere until the turbo picks up. That has caught me out a few times, and I would say could actually be dangerous.
Running out of power at the top end has never been an issue for me since I never liked to rev my petrol car up to 6000 RPM to get maximum power anyway, so getting a nice surge of power at 3000 RPM is great.

Of course a 400 BHP turbo petrol is another thing altogether ...

Simon.