Petrol V Diesel

**buggerlugs** · 22-07-2008, 07:49 PM

Driving home from work tonight and you could get unleaded for $141.9 per litre and Diesel was $178.9 per litre. WTF ???? I have 2 diesel vehicles. How can there be so much difference in price ?? I'm on the Sunshine Coast in Qld.....

Daymoe · 22-07-2008, 07:58 PM

Diesel is $1.89 down here in Vic in my country town.

burnz · 22-07-2008, 08:11 PM

yes it's wrong as diesel is a byproduct just like grease.

BadMac · 22-07-2008, 08:22 PM

Multiply the cost of Diesel by the difference in efficiency between a diesel and the equivlant petrol engine and you will find even at those prices the Diesel is cheaper to run.

Martyvan · 22-07-2008, 08:36 PM

Badmac, agree 100% and because of the price of diesel the bottom has dropped out of the diesel market (2nd hand) and you can get some good bargains at the moment

ILLaViTaR · 22-07-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadMac

Multiply the cost of Diesel by the difference in efficiency between a diesel and the equivlant petrol engine and you will find even at those prices the Diesel is cheaper to run.

Why does everyone say this? And agree?

maybe when it was 10 cents dear but not with a price gap that high.

Of course it depends on the car too.

**thefargo** · 22-07-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

yes it's wrong as diesel is a byproduct just like grease.

just like petrol is a byproduct of aviation fuel

burnz · 22-07-2008, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefargo

just like petrol is a byproduct of aviation fuel

tuchaue

Rodp · 22-07-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Driving home from work tonight and you could get unleaded for $141.9 per litre and Diesel was $178.9 per litre. WTF ???? I have 2 diesel vehicles. How can there be so much difference in price ?? I'm on the Sunshine Coast in Qld.....

Geez, I don't think I'll ever holiday on the Sunshine Coast. $141.90/litre?!?

$7750 to fill my car!

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Rodp · 22-07-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

tuchaue

:

Martyvan · 22-07-2008, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

Why does everyone say this? And agree?

maybe when it was 10 cents dear but not with a price gap that high.

Of course it depends on the car too.

Also remember, that Diesel cars are much easier to get closer, or less than their quoted fuel consumption sticker number...

Petrol can go pear shaped pretty quick sitting in traffic...

and in 4wd's it would take Diesel to be almost double the price for it, to NOT be cheaper to run in the longer term......

vztrt · 22-07-2008, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Driving home from work tonight and you could get unleaded for $141.9 per litre and Diesel was $178.9 per litre. WTF ???? I have 2 diesel vehicles. How can there be so much difference in price ?? I'm on the Sunshine Coast in Qld.....

There is an extra tax of about 17c/l on diesel in Australia (wasn't removed when the GST was introduced).

Whats going to happen to diesel when this carbon trading BS comes into action. Are they going to increase the price or do what they will do with petrol?

**Falcon Coupe** · 22-07-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

Why does everyone say this? And agree?

maybe when it was 10 cents dear but not with a price gap that high.

Of course it depends on the car too.

As a rule of thumb, a diesel car in the same category as it's petrol opposition uses 30% less fuel.

DoreSlamR · 22-07-2008, 09:06 PM

*cough* biodiesel *cough*

scottmeister · 22-07-2008, 09:23 PM

Diesel engines also require more frequent servicing intervals, cost more to initially purchase, and they are just as inefficient idling in traffic...not to mention a turbo diesel can suck down the juice quite quickly when under a good load.

LPG>Petrol>Diesel, for passenger cars, imho.

T_Terror · 22-07-2008, 09:25 PM

i threw in $20 of diesel at 1.90 today in inner city melb !!!
Unbelievable!

Id go petrol everytime, every diesel car i hear is rattly, even the BMW X5s and I just personally prefer the power delivery of petrol.

With the difference in cost making the differnece in running cost marginal, i would say its worth paying a few extra dollars just to enjoy the driving experience more.

4Vman · 22-07-2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

As a rule of thumb, a diesel car in the same category as it's petrol opposition uses 30% less fuel.

And surprise surprise about 30% dearer.. the days of diesel fuel being a better option for cost savings is all but gone.....

BadMac · 22-07-2008, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

As a rule of thumb, a diesel car in the same category as it's petrol opposition uses 30% less fuel.

I just checked up on mine and on the published figures theres a 32% difference, so you are on the money.

Given the 1st post costs, the difference is only 21% so you are still better off with the diesel by about 9%.

BadMac · 22-07-2008, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

And surprise surprise about 30% dearer.. the days of diesel fuel being a better option for cost savings is all but gone.....

Diesel in passenger cars now is between $2k and $6k extra (eg its $3k on Mondeo or under 10%), so 30% is a bit of a stretch, you also make no account that the diesel retains a better resale price so the extra purchase price is returned at sale time (at least that is true in NZ but it should be very similar in Aus).

PHATXR8 · 22-07-2008, 09:37 PM

NRMA Open Road magazine this month has an article that states that Diesel vehicles are more expensive to run now than Petrols...

BadMac · 22-07-2008, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHATXR8

NRMA Open Road magazine this month has an article that states that Diesel vehicles are more expensive to run now than Petrols...

Actually if you add together my numbers in my previous posts, its probably true that Diesel has lost its advantage (fuel cost plus extra purchase cost = equivalant to petrol).

**cs123** · 22-07-2008, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefargo

just like petrol is a byproduct of aviation fuel

???? Jet fuel requires less refining than gasoline.

scottmeister · 22-07-2008, 11:36 PM

Jet Fuel, whilst kerosene based, requires just as much refining as petrol and diesel. It needs to have anti-freeze, anti-smoking, anti-static properties, as well as obligatory additives to inhibit corrosion, gumming, and aid lubricity, not unlike diesel. Note that "refining" persay is simply a process of isolating/separating and purification a substance into specific components free of contaminants, then with reference to most fuels, addition of various additives specific to the purposes. Hence, no fuel is really a by-product of the other; they are all specifically isolated and utilised from a base substance.

:

ILLaViTaR · 23-07-2008, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

As a rule of thumb, a diesel car in the same category as it's petrol opposition uses 30% less fuel.

Our Patrol would work out to that however there's more than a 30% power loss.

Laminge · 23-07-2008, 07:09 AM

I wish people who have never owned a diesel car would keep their opinions in their y fronts ffs, some crap has been posted in here just to ensure they have their avatar in this thread, nothing else is of worth

Ive gone from around $120 a week in fuel in the territory to around $75 a week for the same ks in the vw.

flappist · 23-07-2008, 08:48 AM

Diesel is a good answer but there can be a trap. Often the cost of servicing and maintenance of diesel vehicles can be frightening.
On the other hand I was looking at replacing some of my vehicles with the new VW Caddy LWB and with a 6 year/200,000km warranty, 6l/100km and only $29k it is looking pretty good.

aquahead2001 · 23-07-2008, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laminge

I wish people who have never owned a diesel car would keep their opinions in their y fronts ffs, some crap has been posted in here just to ensure they have their avatar in this thread, nothing else is of worth

Ive gone from around $120 a week in fuel in the territory to around $75 a week for the same ks in the vw.

Not having a go here but what VW model are you talking about?

I'm a recent diesel convert, Ranger 3.0L TDCI, I'm just wrapped in it's economy. Only 3,500kms and I'm now averaging 9.8L/100km. I spent a very pleasant Sunday a few weeks ago out 4 wheel driving with a few friends and family (about 180kms in 4wd, 1/2 in low 4WD) and I'm still looking at just onver 10L/100km.

Try that with a petrol engined car.

Quick Caclulation based on a Nissan Navara (Ranger doesn't have petrol so I picked something that does.)

Melbourne Fuel Prices (23/07/2008)

Diesel 181.9c/L or 1.819$/L

Petrol 156.9c/L or 1.569$/L

Off Nissan Wedsite: http://www.nissan.com.au/navaradual07/

Navara 4x4 Diesel Economy 9.8L/100km

Navara 4x4 Petrol Economy 13.6L/100km

Over 20,000kms (Ave 1 year)

Navara 4x4 Diesel 9.8/1.819/100x20000 = $3,565.24

Navara 4x4 Petrol 13.6/1.569/100x20000 = $4,267.68

Purchase Price

Navara 4x4 ST-X Petrol $43,990

Navara 4x4 ST-X Diesel $45,990

So it'd take about 3 years to recover the cost of the diesel if you took out the higher resale value of the diesel.

FYI, I have mates with these and the guy in the petrol doesn't get better than 16L/100km and the guys in the Diesels get around 11L/100km. That makes the return even quicker.

sgt_doofey · 23-07-2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmeister

Diesel engines also require more frequent servicing intervals

So, petrol engines have a servicing interval greater than the 20,000km interval on my 307? I think that was true for the older generation diesels, but the new generation common rail ones are on par, if not better, than the equivalent petrol engine in that regards.

Quote:

they are just as inefficient idling in traffic

Are you sure about that? Got anything to back that up?
I would say that a diesel is a hell of a lot more efficient at idle that a petrol engine considering how little fuel is required for ignition due to the higher compression they use.

Quote:

LPG>Petrol>Diesel, for passenger cars, imho.

I'd say it would be LPG > Diesel > Petrol.
From my records, my EL is costing roughly 8c/km in LPG whereas the 307 is up to about 11c/km due to the hike in diesel costs. I'm sure the 307 would still be cheaper than a 2.0L Petrol engine to run. I don't own a petrol car so I can't put down any real world figures unfortunately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_Terror

Id go petrol everytime, every diesel car i hear is rattly, even the BMW X5s and I just personally prefer the power delivery of petrol.

Really? Have you driven a newer generation diesel? The power delivery in the 307 is quite good, IMO. It is a flat acceleration compared to a petrol engine, but it just keeps on accelerating due to the bags or torque (320Nm) available from as little as 1750rpm.
I think the diesel acceleration would take a little getting used to like it did for me, but it is a really good means of acceleration. I can easily overtake on the highways from say 100km/h in 6th gear without having to shift back. The torque just pulls you along and your doing 140km/h before you know it.

Hunter · 23-07-2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

I'd say it would be LPG > Diesel > Petrol.
From my records, my EL is costing roughly 8c/km in LPG whereas the 307 is up to about 11c/km due to the hike in diesel costs. I'm sure the 307 would still be cheaper than a 2.0L Petrol engine to run. I don't own a petrol car so I can't put down any real world figures unfortunately.

My Mazda 3 (which is 2.0L petrol) is using 11 cents/km in petrol... I dare say it also cost a less to buy than the French oil burner

:

My petrol falcon on the other hand costs 22c/km

GK351 · 23-07-2008, 11:27 AM

I got 4.6L per 100 km in the golf last week 300+km round trip
thats driveing with a slightly heavy foot up and around the zippy mountains.
if thats not good i dont know what is.

If i was to take the AU it would of used at least 12-15L per 100km
If i took the hilux 4x4 it would probably be around the 16-19L per 100km
There's the difference.
I won't buy a petrol everyday car ever again.
LPG i dont even use that for the BBQ's so it will never be seen in my cars.