Large Engine Size in Ireland

RobAMerc

Does anyone know what the average car engine size is in Ireland ?
I suspect it's 1.4 or something pathetic like that.

Funnily enough the smaller engine variants of cars always seem to hold their value better here (compared to uk).

I just think its funny people always ask what the engine size of me car is and wow when I say 2.2 ? Is this really considered a big engine here now particularly when you think a Fiesta is around 1.4 now isn't it ?

On a recent trip to the states I was recommended a larger car for a 100mile trip because a 2.0 Focus was "a city car "!

smash

I'd say 1.4 or 1.6 would be the norm... I have a 3ltr now and people's jaws drop

Anan1

I would have said 2.0 is about average.

NiSmO

This post has been deleted.

smash

what's he got? a big tree killing, environment murdering SUV?

lol

Gerry

2.0 engines power a lot of SUV's now, but theres plenty of smaller cars dragging down the average. In a medium sized car, a 2 litre engine is considered pretty big these days.

galwaytt

it is 1.4, and that's no accident. VRT is specifically designed to hammer anyone over 1.4, and it's no secret.

rowanh

Just took a look on carzone, doing a search for

2002 petrol cars in dublin

engine sizes
0,0 - 1.4 773 cars
1.6 - 1.9 506 cars
2.0 - 2.6 399 cars
3.0 - + 97 cars

that might vaguely point to the average size being 1.6 to 1.8 roughly, though i suppose deisels would bring it up more as their average would be higher than petrol.


Obviously most people would not want a big eninge due to tax, insurance and petrol costs. Id like to get an NSX in a few years, id say it would be the first 3ltr car i would have any interest in getting and aside from that id say it would only be super cars i would want with an engine that size.

Stephen

2 main reasons I think...

1. When you hit 2 litres the VRT rate goes up by 5%
2. Our retarded cubic capacity based annual motor tax system

Also for younger drivers insurance rates tend to be punitive on anything above 100 or so bhp.

prospect

I wouldn't compare our average to the USA. European cars tend to squeeze more BHP per cc than the Americans.

bazz26

prospect wrote:

I wouldn't compare our average to the USA. European cars tend to squeeze more BHP per cc than the Americans.

Yes, there are huge differences in running costs between Ireland and the US.

Also US roads are longer, wider than ours. It is not uncommon to drive from one coast to the other over there. I would presume a larger engined car will eat those miles with less stress than smaller engined motors over here.

Enygma

Isn't US fuel also a lower octane?

galwaytt

Enygma wrote:

Isn't US fuel also a lower octane?

.... a lot of the time, yes. At certain parts of the year, in certain states I believe it's blended with.........ethanol??

And US gallons are smaller..........which actually makes quoted US mpg figures even WORSE than you first think............

daedalus2097

Stephen wrote:

2 main reasons I think...

1. When you hit 2 litres the VRT rate goes up by 5%
2. Our retarded cubic capacity based annual motor tax system

Also for younger drivers insurance rates tend to be punitive on anything above 100 or so bhp.

I'd say number 2 is the big one alright, especially in the second hand market... People tend to think about how much it costs to tax the car a year. God, I remember a few years back telling my uncle that the Fiesta cost €272 a year. He asked me how I sleep at night giving away that much money to the government, and why didn't I drive an 800cc Matiz like him. Enough said about that

It does become a serious consideration when you look at things like a 3 litre engine costing somewhere around a grand a year on road tax - that kinda thing would put the majority off buying one...

Anan1

galwaytt wrote:

And US gallons are smaller..........which actually makes quoted US mpg figures even WORSE than you first think............

I think you may have that backwards there.;)

Eoin

Maybe there are a lot of people who don't want a big engined car - not just for tax purposes, but because a 1.4 car is more than adequate for the driving they have to do.
I'd say a lot of posters here will drive the fastest / biggest engined car they can afford to drive, because they are into their driving experience - but that doesn't hold true for everyone out there.

Anan1

eoin_s wrote:

Maybe there are a lot of people who don't want a big engined car - not just for tax purposes, but because a 1.4 car is more than adequate for the driving they have to do.
I'd say a lot of posters here will drive the fastest / biggest engined car they can afford to drive, because they are into their driving experience - but that doesn't hold true for everyone out there.

Quite true. For most people, their car is probably quite a long way down their list of priorities.

unkel

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I have a 7.6. I'm expecting a christmas card from OPEC.

LOL

What car is that? Thinking of recent (last 30 or so years) European saloon cars and the 6.75l RR and the MB 450 SEL 6.9 are about the biggest engined cars that immediately spring to mind

Blitzkrieger

Gerry wrote:

In a medium sized car, a 2 litre engine is considered pretty big these days.

I dunno about that - the focus ST is 2.5 these days. iirc the scooby WRX has gone to 2.5 as well. Most cars that would have topped out at 2.0 before seem to have a 2.2 or 2.3 in their range now. Modern cars are getting heavier and manufacturers need bigger engines to get the same power while meeting emissions regulations.

I have a 7.6. I'm expecting a christmas card from OPEC.

Marcus.Aurelius

Missus has 1.8i, I have a 4.0 V8. Would think the average is around 1.4/1.6 these days!

galwaytt

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Modern cars are getting heavier and manufacturers need bigger engines to get the same power while meeting emissions regulations.

....exactly, which just goes to show what a bunch of tripe the whole VRT and car tax thing is. To achieve new low emissions as dicatated by the EU, engines have had to get bigger.

Look at VAG - all the 1.9D are now 2.0. The 1.8t petrol couldn't compete on emissions, so was replaced with a cleaner.........2.0t. But here, for doing your bit for the environment, we get charged EXTRA to buy, and EXTRA to run (tax/insurance). No wonder no-one has any respect for laws/taxes like that............

galwaytt

Anan1 wrote:

I think you may have that backwards there.;)

....oooerrr....:o

Stephen

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I have a 7.6. I'm expecting a christmas card from OPEC.

What are you driving?

Wishbone Ash

unkel wrote:

LOL

What car is that? Thinking of recent (last 30 or so years) European saloon cars and the 6.75l RR and the MB 450 SEL 6.9 are about the biggest engined cars that immediately spring to mind

Dodge Viper - aren't they 8 litres?

Andrewf20

Enygma wrote:

Isn't US fuel also a lower octane?

U bet. The regular gas is 85 or 87 octane.

maidhc

daedalus2097 wrote:

It does become a serious consideration when you look at things like a 3 litre engine costing somewhere around a grand a year on road tax - that kinda thing would put the majority off buying one...

I would think a grand a year is alright for a 3L+ car. Running costs are hardly going to be low anyway so the Government may as well get in on the action.

prospect

prospect wrote:

I wouldn't compare our average to the USA. European cars tend to squeeze more BHP per cc than the Americans.

You said it. They must design their cars to purposly waste fuel.

The last generation Camero had a N/A 5.7 L V8
They managed to squeeze a wopping 325hp out of that lump.

To put it in perspective the same era BMW M3 with a N/A 3.2 L I6 gets 340bhp

They are getting better but their motto for more power used to be "more cubes!!"

Andrewf20

Andrewf20 wrote:

U bet. The regular gas is 85 or 87 octane.

They measure octane differently too to add to the confusion. That is equivilent to approx 89 to 92 in our octanes.

bazz26

The American moto: "There is no replacement for displacement."

JHMEG

bazz26 wrote:

The American moto: "There is no replacement for displacement."

Tis true. No matter how bad the engine design is, with rising cc comes rising torque.

According to the CSO (if I remember rightly) the average car in Ireland now is between 1.6 and 1.7 litres. This is up 200cc from the previous such survey which was 4 years ago (again, from memory).

Rovi

daedalus2097 wrote:

It does become a serious consideration when you look at things like a 3 litre engine costing somewhere around a grand a year on road tax - that kinda thing would put the majority off buying one...

€1343/annum.
If you're going to hit the 3000cc mark, you might as well go well beyond it.
4.2 litres here

peasant

Rovi wrote:

€1343/annum.

or
€ 111.92 / month
€ 25.83 / week
€ 3.68 / day

...straight to the taxman


That DOES put people off (me for example)

RobAMerc

peasant wrote:

or
€ 111.92 / month
€ 25.83 / week
€ 3.68 / day

...straight to the taxman

But think of the fabulous infrastructure we have ! :rolleyes:

Seriously though between - over pricing of everything (particularly motoring costs), rubbish drivers, serious congestion, and the feckin weather I am seriously thinking about boarding up the gaf and fookin off out of this place.

Gatster

Originally Posted by peasant
or
€ 111.92 / month
€ 25.83 / week
€ 3.68 / day

...straight to the taxman

Exactly why, against all my principles, I've shied away from big CC's. It just breaks my heart. I have no problem with the associated fuel bills as I don't really notice that, but lump sums of VRT, then road tax is soul destroying, when as RobAMerc wote, I think of our fabulous infrastructure. Subsequently I've been forced to forced induction and lesser capacity :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by RobAMerc
over pricing of everything (particularly motoring costs)...boarding up the gaf and fookin off out of this place.

Seriously, despite everything I love about Ireland if I often think that if I could convince the missus, I'd be in the same line for the boat. Slightly OT but:

Bottle of Evian in Tescos petrol station in Cheshire = 49p
Bottle of Evian in Tescos petrol station in Clare hall = €1.thirtysomething.

Come again?

richie_rvf

The tax and VRT are just nuts!

My wife drives a 2.5 and I drive a 5.0 so we pay around €2,500 in road tax every year!

Last year my wife clocked up a huge 4,000 miles and I did 8,000, based on that I would be happy to see the road tax being put onto the cost of fuel.

My other worry is if they decide to charge road tax based on emissions, surely the annual mileage should be taken into account?

If the car is not driving it is not polluting!

Richie.

nialler

American Cars, don't bleedin talk about them, I've been driving one for the past 2 weeks (Chrysler Town and Country basically a voyager 3.3L) the max I could squeeze out of it on a 270 mile journey yesterday (all motorway) was 18.8mpg, I get that round town in my 3.2L S, I've gotten 33mpg on the motorway with a full car (kids n cases) it's an absolute disgrace.

Stark

Was looking at the new and used Corollas on the Toyota Ireland website. You can only get the new ones in 1.4L and the used 1.6Ls are few and far between. Mentioned it to a Kiwi friend of mine and he was surprised that you could get one in less than 1.6L.

RobAMerc

richie_rvf wrote:

if they decide to charge road tax based on emissions, surely the annual mileage should be taken into account?

If the car is not driving it is not polluting!

Richie.

This = common sense - Now you know that ain't gonna happen ! :rolleyes:

mike65

I think we are getting closer to abolishion of annual motor tax another energy report yesterday suggesting thats the way to go.

Mike.

hi5

ronoc wrote:

You said it. They must design their cars to purposly waste fuel.

The last generation Camero had a N/A 5.7 L V8
They managed to squeeze a wopping 325hp out of that lump.

To put it in perspective the same era BMW M3 with a N/A 3.2 L I6 gets 340bhp

They are getting better but their motto for more power used to be "more cubes!!"

Very true,but i think you'll find the servicing charges on the american engines are much less due to being less complex,and many many americans still like to DIY.
large displacement means large torque which means you seldom need to go beyond 2000 RPM,which in turn gives reliability and longivity.

The 6.1 HEMI fitted to the srt8 has 425bhp has no turbo or supercharger and still has pushrods!

Gatster

The 6.1 HEMI fitted to the srt8 has 425bhp has no turbo or supercharger and still has pushrods!

But if I won the lotto I'd buy one for 'research' purposes to do the shopping.

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

mike65 wrote:

I think we are getting closer to abolishion of annual motor tax another energy report yesterday suggesting thats the way to go.

Mike.

Sounds good, but I don't really see it happening, we'll just get taxed another way, and probably end up paying more!!!

How long have we been waiting for VRT to get the boot, so much for a temporary tax:rolleyes:

unkel

mike65 wrote:

I think we are getting closer to abolishion of annual motor tax another energy report yesterday suggesting thats the way to go.

Any linky, Mike?

maidhc wrote:

I would think a grand a year is alright for a 3L+ car. Running costs are hardly going to be low anyway so the Government may as well get in on the action.

Taxation shouldn't be based on capacity, just on actual usage (the pollutor pays)

A 1.0 1 tonne Micra travelling 50k miles per year should pay way more excise / tax than a 6.75 3 tonne Rolls Royce travelling 1k miles per year

Having said that, I pay €1343 per year in road tax myself on my big barge and I actually don't mind paying it. If it was to go, old cars with big engines would probably shoot up in value...

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Dodge Viper - aren't they 8 litres?

Ah I know about the American big blocks, but anything European?

mike65

unkel this

At the same time, fuel taxation in Ireland is comparatively low, reducing the incentive for the purchase of more energy-efficient vehicles. Mandil added: “The government needs to give full attention to the implementation of key transport projects planned in the Dublin area and elsewhere in Ireland, but should also consider whether the price signal for fuel is the right one.”

from here

Mike.

Jesus.

Someone put up a chart a while back which showed the average car engine size of every Country in the EU and Ireland was around two thirds the way up the chart, IE the cars we drive are a bit above the average (cc). We were around 1.7L and the average was around the 1.6L mark if I remember correctly.

Why is that the case considering we've such a punitive motor tax system, probably the worst in Europe? Why are cars in the UK no bigger (cc) than the ones we drive despite you being able to tax a 5 liter V8 over there for just a few hundred quid?

Does it all come down to overall income and overall taxes etc or is it more to do with the fact that second hand cars here are cheaper and so the motor tax is offset against that?

punisher5112

Jebus why bring up 8 year old thread.

That must have taken some time to find.

mossy50

under the old tax system the average size engine was 1.4/1.6
under new system the avarage is probably 1.9/2.0
look at how many audi a4 /vw/ skodas are on the road now only paying 200euros or so to tax compared to 750 euros under old system