both 1.4 petrol and diesels have the pos and cons
I've had both and enjoyed them both but for different reasons
The petrol
nice and light on the front end, turns in well and is great town car, heats up quickly in the winter and is fairly reliable, watch out of oil in the spark plug holes, rattle top end and misfires
Should pull reasonable well with one or two people in the car, but get 4 or 5 in and it does fell less than fast, it needs to be revved to perform, but fells a little less than happy beyond 4500rpm Road tax is also around the £150 mark, fuel will be between 40 to 48 mpg depending on driving style and road conditions, sits on the motorway at 75 very happily, gear change is nice and light and very positive
The Diesel
feels heavier on the front end and does not turn in as nicely as the lighter petrol, much better on slightly wider tyres, gearbox is not as sweet as the petrol and it takes a lot longer to warm up
Easily remapped to 105bhp, overtaking ability is far superior to the petrol, will return 60 to 70mpg all day and every day, sits on the motorway at any speed you like. Feels a lot quicker than the petrol especially once it is rolling, yes there is a little turbo lag below 1800rpm, but once the turbo kicks in you are moving. As been know to turn a few heads of the drivers of much faster (on paper) cars which always bring a smile to my face. Road tax of around £30, bit slightly dearer to insure than the petrol (+£20), seems to go forever on £32 worth of diesel (400+ miles). is the most reliable of the A2 engines by some way (keep the timing belt and water pump changed every 60K miles/5 years and oil and filter every 12000 miles / 1 year and all is well in the engine room
All A2's have a harsh ride, the larger the wheels the worse it gets, but with 17" and 205/40 series tyres it handles like a go kart
I have recently done 400 miles in my Focus CC 2.0 petrol over Xmas and thought all the roads had been resurfaced
, however getting back into the A2 TDI it just feels sooooo much faster without revving the arse of it, the Focus Duratec engine not great below 4000rpm where as the 3 pot TDI engine is happiest between 1800 and 3500 rpm, no need to rev it any harder its all about the torque as against the petrol being all about revs
only worries on the TDI front is the government constantly changing their minds, personally I dont think there is a lot that they can do other than increase road tax every year more so than the petrol, but there is a such a massive offset to start with it will take them years to bring them into line, and the congestion charges that are appearing. So if you need to drive into London or any where else that is going to impose such things then the petrol is a likely a better bet, if not then it would a TDI every time for myself
I have 2 TDI's ATM, one at 153K miles and one at 288K miles, neither as had any engine work other than belts and water pumps, the 288K mile A2 many times over its trip to the moon and part way back
Cheers,
Paul
