10,000 motorway miles, diesel or petrol?

sporter1

Hello,

I am thinking about purchasing a 2013 Audi A5. I am not sure whether to buy a 1.8 TFSI or a 2.0 TDI. I do 10,000 miles per year,my commute to work takes 20 minutes each way on the motorway.Is this enough time for a diesel car to warm up to prevent future issues with the DPF?

There does not seem to be many petrol A5 cars in the second hand market.Have any of you guys had problems with the DPF doing this kind of mileage?

Thanks Steve.

colm_mcm

I'd get diesel for that.

Atlantic Dawn

I'd go diesel, while the servicing costs will be more than the petrol the mpg will be better and because of the driving on motorway there won't be DPF issues.

ThaiTanic

Defo Diesel

cnocbui

Petrol.

GustavoFring

I'd say petrol. The car will most likely take 4 or 5 miles to get the coolant temperature up but about 10 to get the oil temp up. The dpf will only start regenrating when fully warmed up. You might wind up in a situation where the regen is interrupted.

colm_mcm

Probably doing some driving on the weekends too though?

Special Circumstances

Diesel with the sound fx engine noises if possible vram vram bububub

sporter1

Thanks for your replies, has anyone experienced DPF problems with this kind of mileage?

Zatoichi

I get 60MPG doing the same kind of run with a 1.6 Focus diesel.

As for the DPF, it's a bit of a mystery. No on-board indication regen is active. Apparently the MPG is supposed to go up quite a bit during the process, but I haven't noticed it. The owners manual specifically says drive on the motorway for 20 minutes to assist a regen.

Nuw

I'd go with a petrol personally for this type of mileage. Couple of reason for this:

- You'll pay less for it and/or get nicer spec for similar money.
- The TFSI engines are a joy to drive.
- No DPF to worry about at all.
- Less money spent on maintenance.

That's just me though, it's the kind of situation that is borderline between the two... Maybe try them both, see which one you prefer yourself?

Blazer

sporter1 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, has anyone experienced DPF problems with this kind of mileage?

I'm only doing 11,000 kms to work yearly so was doing the old trip up the motorway to sort it out.
The dealer had told me my driving profile was bad so basically I started driving more aggressively ie,, sports mode instead of auto the whole time and some rapid acceleration etc..all safely of course..after a nice little trip home yesterday my dpf has regenerated ,you know by the smell of burning amongst other things so really 16k on the motorway you'll be fine. Maybe one a month fly up the motorway in a lower gear than normal and keeping the revs above 2k for about 20 miles and this will give it time to regenerate.
One thing I'd love to know is do those diagnostic tools you sometimes see people buying display the last dpf regen etc?
there's a bit of a guide from the AA on here but not sure how accurate it is since the manufacturers don't release details on it.

http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/fuels-environment/diesel-particulate-filters

With budget to buy a 2013 diesel A5 and doing 10k miles/annum I'd go petrol but a propor engined 3 or 4 series

Del2005

Blazer wrote: »

I'm only doing 11,000 kms to work yearly so was doing the old trip up the motorway to sort it out.
The dealer had told me my driving profile was bad so basically I started driving more aggressively ie,, sports mode instead of auto the whole time and some rapid acceleration etc..all safely of course..after a nice little trip home yesterday my dpf has regenerated ,you know by the smell of burning amongst other things so really 16k on the motorway you'll be fine. Maybe one a month fly up the motorway in a lower gear than normal and keeping the revs above 2k for about 20 miles and this will give it time to regenerate.
One thing I'd love to know is do those diagnostic tools you sometimes see people buying display the last dpf regen etc?
there's a bit of a guide from the AA on here but not sure how accurate it is since the manufacturers don't release details on it.

http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/fuels-environment/diesel-particulate-filters

Or you could buy a petrol and not completely change your driving to compensate for buying the wrong fuel type.

SBPhoto

Diesel all the way for that kind of driving, I do about 30k a year and the diesel works out way cheaper than petrol models. and i have driven both.

sporter1

sporter1 wrote: »

.... I do 10,000 miles per year..........

SBPhoto wrote: »

Diesel all the way for that kind of driving, I do about 30k a year and the diesel works out way cheaper than petrol models. and i have driven both.

You are doing at least double the miles or kms the OP is doing

charcosull

Had the same choice as you a few months ago. After much calculating and recalculating I decided that 15,000 + miles was the balancing point where you start saving money having a diesel. I do 18,000 miles a year but went for a petrol anyway. I prefer the feel of it to diesel.

Blazer

Del2005 wrote: »

Or you could buy a petrol and not completely change your driving to compensate for buying the wrong fuel type.

I wish I could..do you know of any 3l litre petrol 5 series in Ireland
I'm looking at the 330e next time around or maybe the 530e when it gets released.

just checked and there's not one in Ireland after 2010.
I'll either go new next or bring in from the UK..

colm_mcm

Uk is nearly as bad as well.

Carpentry

I get 39 mpg out of 2.0 A5 Coupe with TFSI petrol engine, so wouldn't bother with diesel myself. Also 340 Nm or 250 ft lbf of tourqe where the 2.0 TDI diesel is about 400 Nm / 295 ft lb, so not far.

Petrol for me.