Decision time... ?

[JoeGTI]

Why are people even considering never mind buying the diesel when doing such tiny mileage? For me, the GTD is always the compromise buy for those that do big miles. Otherwise, petrol all the way.

So if I were you I'd keep what you have or trade up to an R. The GTI would be nice but I think it wouldn't feel different enough to justify the outlay.

[monkeyhanger]

Why are people even considering never mind buying the diesel when doing such tiny mileage? For me, the GTD is always the compromise buy for those that do big miles. Otherwise, petrol all the way.

The residuals are a consideration too - although they've shrunk all round recently, when I priced up a GTD vs a GTI, all things considered (residuals, lower RRP, higher mpg, lower car tax) on average mileage (10k PA), the GTD was going to be £110 a month cheaper. Not such a concern now with petrol and diesel currently about 17p/L cheaper than it was back in Sept 2013 and the residual differences are not as great as they were.

[Sootchucker]

It's a fair point Joe. At the time I purchased the GTD my mileage was looking to be around the 15-20k mark per year, but my circumstances changed and now I'm only doing about 8-9k per year. If I'd have know this back then, then I would have almost certainly have purchased a petrol GTI, but I am where I am now.

[mcmaddy]

I've only done 13k miles in my September 13gtd and haven't given the lowish mileage a second thought or wished I'd bought petrol. I think people need to get over this low miles = diesel car only. Remember the gtd was cheaper to buy than the gti so all the usual figures don't really apply to it. The dpf won't be an issue either and a remapped gtd is way quicker than a gti and more fuel efficient too. The only way I'll buy a gti is when vw put the cylinder deactivation on the 2ltr petrol.

[JoeGTI]

The GTD is actually more expensive than the GTI here in Ireland, oddly enough. All the more reason to stick with the petrol here unless mileage dictates otherwise. Having said that, this country is diesel obsessed (lower road tax, perceived economy, etc), so the GTD residuals are probably a bit better. 

For me though, I had a MK6 GTD and I really hated the clatter and noise on tickover, especially on cold starts. A change back to petrol to rid yourself of that is worth far more than the MIB 2 IMO!!

[mcmaddy]

Can't say I've noticed any diesel clatter on the gtd mk7.

[monkeyhanger]

The diesel bashers always like to bring up the clatter, but always neglect to mention that once rolling the diesel is quieter than it's petrol counterpart due to the engine running at around 30% lower revs in any given speed than its petrol equivalent due to higher gearing. I personally don't hear the engine ticking over very often as i'm moving 99% of the time and stop-start switches the engine off for 1/2 of my idling now.

Petrol cars that run on RON98 are closer to diesel tech than many would like to admit - direct injection and higher compression prior to ignition.

As diesels go, the current VAG 2.0TDI unit is the quietest i've come across around that size - BMWs at work (the favoured company car in 320 M Sport guise) are noticeably rattlier at idles, very much more so when cold.

Got no issues at all with the engine itself if i'm chasing better mpg.

Will we see cylinder deactivation across the range anytime soon? Unless they can get a TDI to run smoothly enough on 2 cylinders then I suspect not. If you end up with TSIs all within 15% of the mpg of the closest TDI then it's probably game over for the TDI.  I doubt VW will allow that to happen unless EU emissions targets make it increasingly difficult to achieve required CO2 output without it.

Just goes to show that VW prices don't always seem to be a fair representation of cost + a uniform % of profit, they make what they can, where they can - whatever that market will bear. Joe has just said that in Ireland the GTD costs more than the GTI and last time I looked, that was the case in Germany and the Netherlands, but France, Spain, Italy get cheaper GTDs.

[Sootchucker]

I also think the later VW TDI units are much more refined than the earlier units. My PD unit on the Golf 5 for instance, whilst pretty much bullet proof, sounding like an old black cab on idle, although much quieter on the move.

Funnily enough, I think the 140PS CR unit in my previous Scirocco was quieter than my MK7 GTD at idle - I was very surprised at how quiet the Scirocco was. However, once on the move, the added refinement of the MK7 show though with much less cabin and road noise than before.

I think I read somewhere a few years ago that the issue with Cylinder deactivation on Diesel engines was a) the much higher compression they run at and b) the temperatures of cylinders 2 & 3 would rapidly cool on a diesel engine leading to other technical issues (or something like that).

[DougL]

I too would join the diesel haters. I love the engine on my GTI - it has so much torque it behaves like one - you can have it in sixth from just above idle and it still pulls well. I'm no stranger to current VW diesels either; the other car was until recently a 2.0 TDi Leon (newest model) and I hated that engine. It was noisy at idle and had horrible vibrations at various places in the rev range. Ditto for a 1.6 TDi Octavia I tested. The petrol unit is so smooth and sweet apart from that stupid soundaktor... That reminds me, I must turn that down to zero with VCDS.

[JoeGTI]

The diesel bashers always like to bring up the clatter, but always neglect to mention that once rolling the diesel is quieter than it's petrol counterpart...

I wouldn't class myself as a diesel "basher", I've owned a couple myself, including a MK6 GTD and I drive various other diesels on a regular basis. So in my relatively informed opinion, diesel still has a very long way to go to match the petrol for refinement and power delivery across the rev band. No diesel (including my old GTD and my mate's MK7 GTD) had that nimble excitement you get in the GTI when you put the foot down from a standing start. The tickover noise on the MK7 GTD is pretty harsh too IMO, but I guess it comes down to whatever you are used to. Each to their own!