diesel appreciation thread

[SeventyNine]

ive been talking in great length to our clever remapper guy in poland, and he insists diesels are 'the foootchaa'

stuff like 400lbft from a 2.0 turbo D isnt unrealistic, with 200bhp on tap. this got me interested

are there any engines that stand out? i mean, if you mentioned a good V8, rover, SBC, LBC and hemi will be on everyones tongue, but i know very little about diesel engines (apart form maybe the PD130/150 found in a few passats and so on)

i got looking at a sierra p100 - same gearbox, same back axle etc, so i don't think itd be a hard swap? but then again id be interested in somethign a little newer and more tuneable in terms of engine management and so on?

anyways, just wanted to know maybe a bit about some goodun's that could be used, and anything else of interest?

[akku]

there was quite a fad for fitting the 2.5 litre Peugeot TDi unit (I think its found in the Boxter van and the Granada TDi) into hot rods and pickups.

Powerstrokes and the like are the daddies of diesel power. v10 9 litre 800 lbs ft torque or whatever madness they come from the factory with.

See plenty of vids of F350s and the like running 11s with those lumps in them.

The Merc 2.5 TDi as used in the Ssangyong, Mercedes and Jeep is supposed to be pretty robust but i know nothing about their tunability.

[dubbedup]

In all honesty, I don't think that you would get much better than a VAG TDI. The 1.9 and 2.0 sooo economical and the ability to run on chip fat as well

I have a 100 bhp in my touran and spend £400 on a remap and that goes upto 150bhp, and it's reliable as well.

They are the footcha as your friend says, as the oil runs out more and more will look at diesels and the ability to run on pure bio-diesel and or straight veg oil.

There are stand alone engine management systems available for Dervs, but I don't know that much about them..

[arthurbrown]

Diseasels are the bestest

I've heard that the PSA HDi unit is a good 'un for tuning up... 200bhp is 'easy'. However my personal expience of the HDi was not very happy (the engine itself, fine, the crud citroen they put it in PANTS!)

I must say I'm very happy with the 1.8TD in our SprogDiesel Wagon. OK, so not mega fast but tree-felling torque and acceptable acceleration with devastatingly good economy.

[BenzBoy]

I'm a big fan of the Ford TDCi units... especially the Mongdeo ST diesel! I was amazed at the speed and the amount of torque from it, and a 6-speed gearbox too. It does sound like a bag of spanners when you put your foot down however... but who cares!
I think diseasels are definitely the future

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Modern diesels are a marvel aren't they. I fookin love em, great power delivery and 45-50 mpg in almost every case, rag all emissions either. they're GREAT, the BMW 320d is my favourite out of the few that I have tested.

[dubbedup]

e661301 said:

Modern diesels are a marvel aren't they. I fookin love em, great power delivery and 45-50 mpg in almost every case, rag all emissions either. they're GREAT, the BMW 320d is my favourite out of the few that I have tested.

Had a mate I play 5's with , and he had a 330D...

What a performer, mega mega torquey and was just linear.. best nit was it's a Beemer, so it made faff all noise..

only problem plumbing one of these into a retro shell is that the accelerator is not cable operated, but uses potentiometers and loads of electronicarry (Is that even a word?) that TBH is just baffling.

[CR500Dom]

2.2 Puma Diesel as fitted to Mondeo and x-type....

370 Nm torque and 145hp ;D

The 2.4 verion in the Transit is something like 440nm !!

The 1.9 DCi in my Trafic van is 240Nm and 100hp and chippable up to 300Nm and 130hp for about £200

The Daddy though is the V6 from the Jag S-type / LR Freelander/ Citroen C6, that is severly torque limited by calibration as it eats gearboxes otherwise

Its big Brother the Lion V8 is even scarier...... thats up well over 700nm in 4.4l form and 650Nm in 3.6L

They have the capacity to produce much more than that but the limiting factor is the gearbox usually, which is why you tend to get a lot of big torque diesels backed by 5 or 6 speed automatics now

I will start having a play with the Trafic when I get a chance, some decent Ducting and a bigger intercooler for starters and then start tweaking it

Its boost and fuel on a Diesel, thats pretty much all you need to tweak, and often the MPG gets better afterwards as well

[akku]

Even the Vauxhall Movano TDi van I borrowed was quite surprising. I think back to the Mk2 Transits I used to drive and its a whole nother world.

[mitch]

I've got a 2001 Passat 130TDi. Absolutely brilliant, loads of power, nice and smooth and still get 50mpg. Mines standard but they're easily tuned. Great engine but the cars boring as hell!

[tigran]

As has been said - the Ford TDCi unit is awesome, as is the Honda Accord derv-o-matic. Then the Audi 2.5 V6 TDi's and BMW twin turbo TDI's. Opel are jumping on the TT bandwagon as well. The JTD engine in the new Fiat punto is reported to be a stonker as well.

Still my favourite is the PDi unit in VW's. A friend had a Golf 150 remapped and had ~190bhp and over 320lb ft of torque for about £700. Awesome acceleration and still returned 35mpg on the worst of bad days.

[BenzBoy]

Talking of diesel van units, I used to drive a Sprinter and could really get that to shift! I used to regularly waste cars from the lights if I wasn't fully loaded... loads of fun! I used to blow turbo hoses and destroy back axles quite regularly though ;D
I wonder how a Sprinter lump would perform in a car.... hmm....

To be honest I have gaps in my knowledge regarding diesel engines, as I've always had petrol engines. I think I need to swat up on them...

[tigran]

Yeah some van diesels are mad powerful. The 2.8 JTD fiat I ragged about in my short time working in Muenster was a beast in 2nd gear.

[SeventyNine]

what about RWD applications? as in, can be stolen from a donor vehicle and with the aid of a bigger tunnel will go into an escort without expensive bellhousings and engine mounts?

[tigran]

lathamescortmk2 said:

what about RWD applications? as in, can be stolen from a donor vehicle and with the aid of a bigger tunnel will go into an escort without expensive bellhousings and engine mounts?

No idea whether the MTX75's have the same pattern as type 9's/mt 75's.

Seems an awful shame to put a derv in a mk2. Sacrilege even. The engines are good but they are still rattly, smoke-belching, thin power banded things.

[rainking]

I love the PD130 in my Fabia RS... it's a cracking bit of kit....

it's bone stock and has run a best time at Santa Pod of 16.2... none to shabby!

AND I regularly see 60+mpg....

Winner

Diesels are indeed the foocha!

[CR500Dom]

benzboy said:

Talking of diesel van units, I used to drive a Sprinter and could really get that to shift! I used to regularly waste cars from the lights if I wasn't fully loaded... loads of fun! I used to blow turbo hoses and destroy back axles quite regularly though ;D
I wonder how a Sprinter lump would perform in a car.... hmm....

To be honest I have gaps in my knowledge regarding diesel engines, as I've always had petrol engines. I think I need to swat up on them...

I know someone with a Tweaked Merc Sprinter.....

Its the full monty 4metre LWB Hi top, and I have seen an indicated 135mph in that with him driving.... properly scary ;D ;D

My little 1.9 will pull a ton with the roofrack on......
The sad fact is though, its faster, quieter, more comfortable, better brakes etc than the Kadett, it returns better MPG too !!! and it can carry loads as well !!

Its my Daily driver and it drives like a car, superb across country too as a torquey motor, demon brakes and high up driving position means it will embarrass a lot of stuff on B roads..... which is quite amusing

[qwerty]

Ex's Brother has a TDI bora which he bought a "chip" for off ebay. and now it kicks out so much smoke its unbelievable! I've seen several other properly remapped and chipped vag Tdi's and none of them have kicked out so much smoke. This chip has clearly just made the wastegate stay open.

[arthurbrown]

There was a Mk3 XR3 on eBay last week which had an Endura TD out of a focus in it....

I was quite tempted as that must have been pretty rapid....

seeing as our endura-equipped Focus is faster than the XR3i Mk4 I have... and weighs about twice as much....

[SteveP]

Suprised no-ones mentioned the Volvo D5 unit, 5 cylinders, and easily chippable to 200bhp and 400nm ;D