Talking about diesels and not mention Mercedes is almost criminal, even more being in the 1990s! I know at this time the W124 was already old but the 300D Turbo was still a nice performer
@@stianhenriksen7141 Mercs we’re bombproof back then and we’re stupidly well made before Daimler deliberately made them badly from the late 90s as not enough people were buying new cars German cars aren’t as well made as people think.
@@shackleton274 they got a lot worse to drive I had to get an auto because it was to easy to stall otherwise. Can't even roll on in 2nd gear even in a bmw 530d with the engine stalling
Diesels have really gone far within the last 30 years both my Grandads 120d and now his 435d ( it can do nearly 60 mpg on a motorway) are much more refined than any of the diesels featured here, the only problem with modern diesels is when they go wrong they go wrong and be very costly to repair.
Those who bought 110hp AFN GOlf 3s Passats and B5 A4's have made an excellent choices back then. Those cars were relevant until start of the 2010's pretty much. VGT turbos, remap possibilities, indestructable and brutally economical
Still drive an 05 1.9tdi, and even now its still very relevant funnily enough compared to the multitude of 3cyl that still don't get the same real world economy.. emphasis here on 'real world' haha
Volkswagen really brought out the best in their 1.9 TDIs when they updated them to PD injection. I drive an 04 Passat, the facelifted version of the one in this clip. I still see a lot of PDs about and tuning is alive and well.
1.9 pd engines are really Good. My 03 golf was running 220bhp with a hybrid turbo and easily did 650 miles on a tank on the motorway. Probably around 60mpg and easily one the most reliable engines around with oil changes at 5-8k. I've now got a 435d and has effortless power everywhere
The HDI engine in the 406 proved to be absolutely bulletproof. Many taxi firms taking them to 250K miles and beyond. You can still see them fairly frequently on the roads in Europe.
One of the best modern diesels ever. The m57 is trong, efficient, and lasts pretty much forever. The older TDS is also not bad, though they werent exactly happy when they were abused. Those were still a bit fragile in a few ways
Good car with wonderful sound - As Jon said, the nicest sound of any diesel car. Not very fast though. Same 0-60 as a 306 D-Turbo 1.9 330d that came next was the first true "performance" diesel car.
I recall not being able to shake a Skoda Fabia vRS off my arse when I was driving my Honda Integra Type R in 2004. "I can't beat a Skoda Fabia!?" I mused. After researching it and discovering that the Skoda Diesel could in fact be remapped to more bhp than what my Integra had was a real eye opener. I eventually sold the Teg due to being sick at filling it up every other day and so bought a 1.4 TDI VW Lupo which I remapped and had loads of fun in it. Ever since then I've owned nothing but quick remapped diesels which never fail to put a smile on my face with monstrous torque levels. Ended up owning 2 modified vRS Fabias one after the other a few years ago. Magnificent engines.
For tuneability those old TDi PDs are great. Pretty reliable too. But for handling fun and driving sharpness I can't imagine a Skoda Fabia would feel like anything other than a brick compared to a Type R? We had a VW Bora TDi PD 130 (same engine as the vRS?) for a few years and it pulled like train but was a bit of a boat to drive. Civic 2.2 CTDi we had after was like a sports car by comparison. Hard ride, but just so much sharper in every response. Smoother power delivery too.
I had the creme de la creme of TD's Perkins powered Maestro. Sounded like a tractor but on the motorway got rarely less than 70mpg. I paid £2600 for it at 3 years old and 60k. Budget motoring at it's finest!
The first car I drove after my test was my dads 2.0 montego with that engine straight out of a Massey Ferguson 165. Like he mentions in the video - direct injection was the big selling point as I remember. It was a great going old thing and completely bullet proof. Not like my current vw diesel that has broken down 3 times before 40000 miles. The Technology needed to meet the emissions regulations have totally destroyed modern Diesel engines reliability.
Mondeo passed its last MOT on 22 October 2007 with 142,842 miles, Citroen XM failed its MOT on 9 February 2009 with 168,250 miles, Peugeot 406 passed it last MOT without advisories on 11 April 2007 with 135,915 miles, ROVER 220 passed MOT without advisories on 20 April 2006 with 164,753 miles, Golf passed it last MOT on 6 November 2007 with 102,991 miles, AUDI A4 passed MOT on 19 September 2015 with 168,510 miles, couldn't find info for BMW.. So Audi stayed on the road longest ;)
In 98 I got taken for a spin in a new pug Dturbo S. it was nothing like ever before. I’ve never owned a petrol since, that was 1998. The trouble is now there’s too many sensors, filters and “brains” in diesels which obviously fail EGR, DPF, SRT…. The list goes on. I miss the years of shortening the turbo actuator rods and winding the fuel pump up 💨💨💨💨💨
I've owned plenty of petrol turbos that would spank the the daylights out of the equivalent diesel. That said, my sister rented a new 306 turbo D in 1998 and I took it for a spin... it was incredible! Ridiculous acceleration and superb handling!
Ah yes the old screw mod. "no smoke no poke". I was considering one when I was still a new driver they had a very cheap insurance group compared to most other cars which had much worse performance. I remember the test drive, so laggy and then the car would catapult you down the road it seemed like warp speed
I have had 3 VW diesels - all Golfs. They've gotten progressively better over the years. My mk1 made 52hp while my mk7 makes 150hp and 71 ft-lbs vs 236 ft-lbs. What a difference 35 years makes!
I’ve own a Transporter van which was 150hp from factory, with 250 ft lbs. Good old VW and their 2L turbo diesels. It happily leaves all the traffic behind at the lights, and is great fun to drive. Granted, it doesn’t quite have the greatest sound when being floored, but I can live with that...
Personally i think the 1.9 is the best. Modern diesels will never be able to surpass the potential and the longevity they had, i've tried to kill mine and it just refuses to give up
@@mrcaboosevg6089 Yeah, I sold my mk4 1.9L with just shy of 400K miles. I used to call it Chuck Norris as it refused to die. The thing looked and drove amazing, and I wound up selling it to someone who flew down from Michigan and drove it home. While I really like my mk7, I miss the mk4 quite a bit.
Fiat introduced the common rail diesel in 1997 on the Alfa 156. Which transformed Diesel engines refinement and power. Pre CDI diesels are very agricultural.
I've had quite a few diesels, both NA and turbo, even a 2 stroke Detroit Diesel. As long as you don't mind the slow acceleration, absolutely nothing can match the reliability of the old mechanical injection diesels. I drive over 70,000 miles per year, sometimes close to 100,000. No gas engine can come close. My favorites are the Mercedes OM617, the Nissan RD28 NA and LD28, the Isuzu 1.8 from the Chevette, and the Oldsmobile 4.3 V6 (the V8 can also be fine if it has head studs). I don't mind timing belts, particularly if it's a rear wheel drive car. Changing it out every 60,000 miles is pretty cheap and easy if you do it yourself compared to a timing chain on an OHC engine, when it inevitably decides to stretch or wear the guides. RD28 timing belt only takes about 1-2 hours to change. I am not a fan of VW diesels however. They seem to have more than their share of problems, both the old IDI's and the TDI's. I'd rather have a Chevette with the Isuzu 1.8 than a Rabbit with the VW 1.6. Much more reliable engine, rear wheel drive, and a pleasant to shift 5 speed. Also the timing belt is not jammed up against the wheelwell. As for truck engines, nothing beats the 2 stroke Detroit. 53 series is a fairly straightforward swap into a pickup, and then it's smooth sailing for many hundreds of thousands of miles. When it comes time to rebuild, just pull the head and the oil pan, and pull out the removable cylinder liners, pistons, and rods, and put in new ones, pre machined to work. All set for another million miles. The newer diesels can be fine too, but the emissions systems are too fussy for my taste. I prefer reliability over speed. I did have a BMW 335D, and while the engine and transmission were reliable, just about everything else in that car broke, particularly emissions and electrical. Sometimes I would go outside and the car had rolled all it's windows and the sunroof down by itself. Other times the stupid little shutdown throttle valve would get stuck and the engine wouldn't start until it cooled down. What a nightmare. Give me any old mechanical diesel over that thing. While I have never driven one, I think the original BMW 524td would be wonderful. Mechanical turbodiesel and no emissions systems.
Go the old RD28 engines! I’ve had two of them and they are actually what got me into diesels, so smooth and pleasant to drive especially the automatic one. I am now into more modern Hyundai crdi diesels. Yes they all have issues but I can pick them up cheap drive for awhile and get ultra cheap motoring and quite abit more power than the old diesels
And it's the last of the mk3 shape paid £450 for it only problem Ive had with it was the spring snapping but it was the original and got new one supplied and fitted for less then £50. But that is general maintenance I've had a few autos too but the tax is really expensive on them in the UK
German diesels are hands down (in my opinion) are legendary, especially in the late 90's. VW and their 1.9 PDI BMW and their M57 straight six and also I know Mercedes had something good around that era which unfortunately I hadn't experienced. I mean even Fiats 1.9 JTD was bloody awesome until it broke....
In Europe, sure. The kings of diesels are the Japanese actually, because in Africa and Asia when you're stuck in the rainforest with 2 tons of wood or fruit in your bed it's never gonna be a German diesel that'll keep running with no maintenance for 50 years.
@@DavidVoxDem No engine will run for 50 years without maintenance unless of course you simply don't drive it, here in the real world however where people actually drive cars Germans do it best. The French are a close second
Could I get some more Info mate? What engine code and in what car and transmission? How many miles have you had the remap on? I have an E46 myself 330D Six Speed Manual @@aron_e46
My old diesel frontera from '92 (100hp for almost 2tonnes) keeps up with the "modern traffic" perfectly well... As people keep their distance seeing the immense smoke and noise it produces 😂😂😂
Little did Jon know how legendary VWs 1.9 would become. One of the best engines petrol or diesel ever made or likely ever will be made. 60mpg with easily 200bhp and they last forever and a day
I sometimes drove a Peugeot 306 turbo diesel L plated pool car in 1995/96. Got to be honest it was pretty quick for a diesel at the time and a pleasure to drive.
@@skylined5534 Yeah, I embrace that story too, I use it as lubrication while I get financially raped. It helps, eh? Put your facemask on, and stay "safe" 🤡
I have a mondeo mrk1 1.8diesel i love it that thing keeps going and its not slow i have tuned my diesel pump and its now at 100hp its not much compared to new cars but its fun to drive
I had a mk2 Mondeo diesel estate and it wasn't too bad once I'd had a fiddle with the pump and the wastegate. Have you done the maximum fuel adjustment inside the pump? If you search TH-cam for Ford Mondeo 1.8TD Estate 0-90 MPH that's mine back in the day.
Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI - legendary OM648 diesel engine, 3.2L straight 6, turbocharged, intercooled, no DEF, no DPF, rolls for half-million miles on routine oil changes, gets 42 MPG on a highway, and still can burn rubber if you tell it to. What's not to love?
Only managed 45mpg from an A4? My mk3 golf shares the same engine and I rarely see less than 60mpg combined and 70mpg on a run. I know the a4 is heavier but that shouldn’t make for such a decrease in mpg
My Dad raced and had some quickish road cars but for some unknown reason, he had an early Mercedes W123 200D for a while. It was so slow it was ridiculous. I believe it had 60bhp.
Had they tried the Alfa Romeo 156 2.4 JTD they would have found a superb car with a superb engine that could deliver 50mpg and excellent cross country performance. I still miss mine. And it was the first production car with a common rail diesel, invented by Fiat/Alfa.
If this article was published in Belgium it would be something like: The BMW is great, because it's a diesel... Or the VW is nice too because it's a diesel... Oh and hey, you're retired and looking for a reliable classy car? Look no further, here is a Mercedes diesel... 🤣
I grew up in Minnesota, and diesels were out for a simple reason: Cold Weather Starting, or rather, the lack of it. That's probably also why they smoked so much in cold weather -- unburned fuel going out of the tailpipe. I never knew a happy diesel owner in the 1980s and 1990s.
Yeah I drove a couple of those. Including the older E34 525td without intercooler. But either version, when driven hard, it nearly consumed more than a 520i ha. Clearly, being economical wasn't on their top priority when they designed it.
I remember going on holiday to England in '93 when I was 14 and a dashing young executive who is a friend of the family picked us up from Heathrow in his Citroën diesel. I couldn't believe it was diesel when he told us as it looked and sounded like a normal car. I was quite naive back then!
I had a Peugeot 205 1.8 diesel. It was excellent for mpg. I would get 70mpg easily. It was cheap to buy diesel then too. Now I drive a Mercedes E350 cdi sport. Its 3.0 om642 engine is incredible - particularly as it's been remapped.
Todays Diesels are really fun to drive. Especially V6s are really fast and still incredibly fuel efficient. Even the engine sound got better (when flooring the gas pedal). Too bad Diesels still have nasty noises when idling or driving slow. Somehow Diesels have this strong contrast between being ultra modern and efficient and sounding like one of the first engines from the early 1890s, while idling... I wish there was a technical solution, besides using embarrassing sound generators!
To each their own, but small low displacement 4 cylinder Diesel engines really dont sound nice while idling and in most situations. You really need at least 5 cylinders!
I drive a Class A180d for my driving lessons and when i hear my old mechanic teacher telling me that he was driving 205 diesel i'm thinking that even in just 30 years we went from so far with 60 hp diesel engine to 120 hp diesel Before reaching 90 jp with a diesel you would saber the champagne now it's the norm it's insane
I can imagine bad diesels. How the world has changed. My 2l 16v tdci cmax, 185hp, 0-60 very fast indeed, would do a 150 and gave me 55 to the gallon. And it never broke.
i have -96 escort 1.8td estate, with 200 000 km, just changed the timing belt and oils, and it runs perfectly fine :), soon to be had so many more cheap kilometers
@@matthewwalker5317 the cdx was a good one with the 1.7td some real luxury for the time period. Never before was diesel so high spec. Ford didn't go above GL spec until the turbo diesels
they have said that about basically every fairly good diesel that ever came out, mercedes 3.0L 5 cylinder Turbodiesel, BMW's 2.4 6 cylinder diesel, citroens 2.5 4 cylinder diesel, PSA's XUD series of engines, the Fiat Croma's direct injection diesel, Audi's 2.5L 5 cylinder TDI, the PSA HDI engines, the VW TDI's and so on and so forth...
I own a indirect injection 1.9 turbodiesel. With some tweeks it goes good! I blocked off the wastegate, added some fuel, by turning the screw at the bosch ve pump. added a big front mount intercooler, and my zero to 60 times is 6,9 seconds in a great run without missing a gear and 7,3 seconds when it's heat soked. in a indirect injection diesel! i knocked 9 seconds off between factory and tuned. If you leave it stock, ofcourse it takes 16 seconds to go to 60mph
@@secretsquirrel6124 xud9 but I remember when the first hdi come in the work shop when I worked at what used to be called castles Peugeot abbey lane in Leicester. That hdi was different to say the least a lot more refine but with power as well but for me the xud9 was still the king
The Citroen ZX Volcane was probably the best early fun diesel you could get. It had only 90 horsepower but it only weighed 1100kg which is less than a Fiesta today. It was set up for enthusiastic driving. After that BMW made the best 'fun' diesels and still do today. The E36 325tds was ok, but the E46 330d was the boss. They did a 180bhp version in 1999 and it was more than a match for the most common petrol motorway barges of that era in performance. Economy was excellent and refinement was good.
Talking about diesels and not mention Mercedes is almost criminal, even more being in the 1990s! I know at this time the W124 was already old but the 300D Turbo was still a nice performer
One of the best diesels ever they’ll do a million miles
Or Volvo
Om606 grate engine
@@stianhenriksen7141 Mercs we’re bombproof back then and we’re stupidly well made before Daimler deliberately made them badly from the late 90s as not enough people were buying new cars German cars aren’t as well made as people think.
Volvo inline D5244T too
Diesel will never catch on. Just like that computer internet thing. I’ll stick to my fax machine.
Better stock up on toner
Diesel better than gasoline
Is that why manufacturers are ditching diesels now?.....in every way they are the crappest to drive so i never buy them....
@@shackleton274 they got a lot worse to drive I had to get an auto because it was to easy to stall otherwise. Can't even roll on in 2nd gear even in a bmw 530d with the engine stalling
@@chrishart8548 That's cause you can't drive
My wife had a Rover 220SDi, I used to love borrowing it. All that torque in a little car is so much fun and it never got less than 50 MPG.
Diesels have really gone far within the last 30 years both my Grandads 120d and now his 435d ( it can do nearly 60 mpg on a motorway) are much more refined than any of the diesels featured here, the only problem with modern diesels is when they go wrong they go wrong and be very costly to repair.
The only problem that diesel cars have, is indeed euro norms. Thats why they break down.
@@rvrffdd6416 exactly things such as DPFs and adblue make them more complex
All the added performance and efficiency comes via complexity, and complexity isn't cheap....At least not once the warranty expires!
@@soundseeker63 my Grandad had to replace the turbo on his 120d after the actuator failed and that wasn’t cheap
I loved my F30 335d, so much torque, could cruise at 200km/h and so good on fuel..
I have a 1994 Citroen Xantia 1.9 TD, even today it’s still able to keep up with modern traffic admirably. Great old engines!
Remember driving a new one in 1994, it was a great drive
Runs on chip shop oil too
Not a bad car. Not many around now at all.
But diesels are being looked down upon in the last couple of years
@@jeff4362 they will be around for years yet
Those who bought 110hp AFN GOlf 3s Passats and B5 A4's have made an excellent choices back then. Those cars were relevant until start of the 2010's pretty much. VGT turbos, remap possibilities, indestructable and brutally economical
Still drive an 05 1.9tdi, and even now its still very relevant funnily enough compared to the multitude of 3cyl that still don't get the same real world economy.. emphasis here on 'real world' haha
Volkswagen really brought out the best in their 1.9 TDIs when they updated them to PD injection. I drive an 04 Passat, the facelifted version of the one in this clip. I still see a lot of PDs about and tuning is alive and well.
@@v6tex with some care they last forever
@@zkljaja i've had my 05 a4 pd for about 50000km, only thing i needed changed engine wise was the glowplugs and a thermostat +services ofc
The AFN was the best diesel ever, the later 115 pd not so much.
1.9 pd engines are really Good. My 03 golf was running 220bhp with a hybrid turbo and easily did 650 miles on a tank on the motorway. Probably around 60mpg and easily one the most reliable engines around with oil changes at 5-8k. I've now got a 435d and has effortless power everywhere
Toyota hybrid is even better
@@dragospahontu thats not diesel
@@leon-hx8oz it is more efficient
None of the cars here have a PD though, the golf will be an AHU 1Z or AFN and the Passat and Audis will also have VE family mechanical Diesel engines
@@euanroy4673 yeah the ve is a robust engine. I'm just saying I had a pd haha and had no troubles. Shame the 2.0tdi after was a pile in comparison.
The HDI engine in the 406 proved to be absolutely bulletproof. Many taxi firms taking them to 250K miles and beyond. You can still see them fairly frequently on the roads in Europe.
250k is nothing for a taxi. That's a bad example. They become unreliable really fast as taxis. Both mechanically and in interiors.
406 is probably the most reliable late 90s Taxi in Europe. @@mikemx55
Shame about the other parts of a Peugeot
@@mikemx55 A million miles for a Picasso with same diesel engine.
1:21 he really pushes the revs to the limit:D
Nothing is dying, my e39 diesel still going strong with excellent millage.
One of the best modern diesels ever. The m57 is trong, efficient, and lasts pretty much forever. The older TDS is also not bad, though they werent exactly happy when they were abused. Those were still a bit fragile in a few ways
Right car, wrong engine
330d. brilliant engine/car e90 range
1.5 tdi nova was my first turbo diesel and I couldn’t believe how quick it was !!!hooray for turbo diesel
yea my stepdad had on from new and the vauxhall nova 1.5TDI was very Quick
The BMW 325 diesel was amazing when it first came out.
Still fun to drive it
@@BavarianM yes...its still a great car 25 years on
...👍
Good car with wonderful sound - As Jon said, the nicest sound of any diesel car. Not very fast though. Same 0-60 as a 306 D-Turbo 1.9
330d that came next was the first true "performance" diesel car.
I recall not being able to shake a Skoda Fabia vRS off my arse when I was driving my Honda Integra Type R in 2004. "I can't beat a Skoda Fabia!?" I mused. After researching it and discovering that the Skoda Diesel could in fact be remapped to more bhp than what my Integra had was a real eye opener. I eventually sold the Teg due to being sick at filling it up every other day and so bought a 1.4 TDI VW Lupo which I remapped and had loads of fun in it. Ever since then I've owned nothing but quick remapped diesels which never fail to put a smile on my face with monstrous torque levels. Ended up owning 2 modified vRS Fabias one after the other a few years ago. Magnificent engines.
For tuneability those old TDi PDs are great. Pretty reliable too. But for handling fun and driving sharpness I can't imagine a Skoda Fabia would feel like anything other than a brick compared to a Type R?
We had a VW Bora TDi PD 130 (same engine as the vRS?) for a few years and it pulled like train but was a bit of a boat to drive. Civic 2.2 CTDi we had after was like a sports car by comparison. Hard ride, but just so much sharper in every response. Smoother power delivery too.
I had the creme de la creme of TD's Perkins powered Maestro. Sounded like a tractor but on the motorway got rarely less than 70mpg.
I paid £2600 for it at 3 years old and 60k. Budget motoring at it's finest!
The first car I drove after my test was my dads 2.0 montego with that engine straight out of a Massey Ferguson 165.
Like he mentions in the video - direct injection was the big selling point as I remember.
It was a great going old thing and completely bullet proof.
Not like my current vw diesel that has broken down 3 times before 40000 miles.
The Technology needed to meet the emissions regulations have totally destroyed modern Diesel engines reliability.
Mondeo passed its last MOT on 22 October 2007 with 142,842 miles, Citroen XM failed its MOT on 9 February 2009 with 168,250 miles, Peugeot 406 passed it last MOT without advisories on 11 April 2007 with 135,915 miles, ROVER 220 passed MOT without advisories on 20 April 2006 with 164,753 miles, Golf passed it last MOT on 6 November 2007 with 102,991 miles, AUDI A4 passed MOT on 19 September 2015 with 168,510 miles, couldn't find info for BMW.. So Audi stayed on the road longest ;)
In 98 I got taken for a spin in a new pug Dturbo S. it was nothing like ever before.
I’ve never owned a petrol since, that was 1998.
The trouble is now there’s too many sensors, filters and “brains” in diesels which obviously fail
EGR, DPF, SRT…. The list goes on.
I miss the years of shortening the turbo actuator rods and winding the fuel pump up 💨💨💨💨💨
I've owned plenty of petrol turbos that would spank the the daylights out of the equivalent diesel. That said, my sister rented a new 306 turbo D in 1998 and I took it for a spin... it was incredible! Ridiculous acceleration and superb handling!
Oh yes the 306 D turbo was a great car.
Ah yes the old screw mod. "no smoke no poke". I was considering one when I was still a new driver they had a very cheap insurance group compared to most other cars which had much worse performance. I remember the test drive, so laggy and then the car would catapult you down the road it seemed like warp speed
@@energymc22 Yeah definitely and they were only 90 Hp I think.
Bosch fuel pumps really easy to turn up lol
@@Dan23_7 when most beginner's cars were 55 or 60hp naturally aspirated the surge of those turbo 90hp was on another level 😂. How things move on
I have had 3 VW diesels - all Golfs. They've gotten progressively better over the years. My mk1 made 52hp while my mk7 makes 150hp and 71 ft-lbs vs 236 ft-lbs. What a difference 35 years makes!
I’ve own a Transporter van which was 150hp from factory, with 250 ft lbs. Good old VW and their 2L turbo diesels. It happily leaves all the traffic behind at the lights, and is great fun to drive.
Granted, it doesn’t quite have the greatest sound when being floored, but I can live with that...
Personally i think the 1.9 is the best. Modern diesels will never be able to surpass the potential and the longevity they had, i've tried to kill mine and it just refuses to give up
@@mrcaboosevg6089 Yeah, I sold my mk4 1.9L with just shy of 400K miles. I used to call it Chuck Norris as it refused to die. The thing looked and drove amazing, and I wound up selling it to someone who flew down from Michigan and drove it home. While I really like my mk7, I miss the mk4 quite a bit.
Turbo diesels are my favorites.
The song is Deep Blue Day by Brian Eno
Fiat introduced the common rail diesel in 1997 on the Alfa 156. Which transformed Diesel engines refinement and power. Pre CDI diesels are very agricultural.
Ford and chrysler too oh and PSA
Hi Greta, i didn't know you were a diesel motor aficionado! :)
Common rail is so underpowered and gets very bad mpg
@@Nationalistic incorrect
@@Nationalistic what are you talking about? Almost all high power diesels are common rail now
They didn't even mention the E class Merc with the legendary 3.0TD engine :D
they weren't that economical, and they weren't really cheap (compared with this other cars), they were great bc they were buletproof, and could tow
I've had quite a few diesels, both NA and turbo, even a 2 stroke Detroit Diesel. As long as you don't mind the slow acceleration, absolutely nothing can match the reliability of the old mechanical injection diesels. I drive over 70,000 miles per year, sometimes close to 100,000. No gas engine can come close. My favorites are the Mercedes OM617, the Nissan RD28 NA and LD28, the Isuzu 1.8 from the Chevette, and the Oldsmobile 4.3 V6 (the V8 can also be fine if it has head studs). I don't mind timing belts, particularly if it's a rear wheel drive car. Changing it out every 60,000 miles is pretty cheap and easy if you do it yourself compared to a timing chain on an OHC engine, when it inevitably decides to stretch or wear the guides. RD28 timing belt only takes about 1-2 hours to change. I am not a fan of VW diesels however. They seem to have more than their share of problems, both the old IDI's and the TDI's. I'd rather have a Chevette with the Isuzu 1.8 than a Rabbit with the VW 1.6. Much more reliable engine, rear wheel drive, and a pleasant to shift 5 speed. Also the timing belt is not jammed up against the wheelwell. As for truck engines, nothing beats the 2 stroke Detroit. 53 series is a fairly straightforward swap into a pickup, and then it's smooth sailing for many hundreds of thousands of miles. When it comes time to rebuild, just pull the head and the oil pan, and pull out the removable cylinder liners, pistons, and rods, and put in new ones, pre machined to work. All set for another million miles. The newer diesels can be fine too, but the emissions systems are too fussy for my taste. I prefer reliability over speed. I did have a BMW 335D, and while the engine and transmission were reliable, just about everything else in that car broke, particularly emissions and electrical. Sometimes I would go outside and the car had rolled all it's windows and the sunroof down by itself. Other times the stupid little shutdown throttle valve would get stuck and the engine wouldn't start until it cooled down. What a nightmare. Give me any old mechanical diesel over that thing. While I have never driven one, I think the original BMW 524td would be wonderful. Mechanical turbodiesel and no emissions systems.
Go the old RD28 engines! I’ve had two of them and they are actually what got me into diesels, so smooth and pleasant to drive especially the automatic one. I am now into more modern Hyundai crdi diesels. Yes they all have issues but I can pick them up cheap drive for awhile and get ultra cheap motoring and quite abit more power than the old diesels
Nothing but problems in the rd28 patrol I had
The MK3 Mondeo TDCI was when Ford diesels came into their own, I had the 130 hp as a taxi and it was incredible compared to the old Sierra diesels.
I've got a top spec 2007 model it's mint to drive electric heated and cooled seats 104k pulls well enough too pretty sure mines been mapped lol
And it's the last of the mk3 shape paid £450 for it only problem Ive had with it was the spring snapping but it was the original and got new one supplied and fitted for less then £50. But that is general maintenance I've had a few autos too but the tax is really expensive on them in the UK
German diesels are hands down (in my opinion) are legendary, especially in the late 90's.
VW and their 1.9 PDI
BMW and their M57 straight six
and also I know Mercedes had something good around that era which unfortunately I hadn't experienced.
I mean even Fiats 1.9 JTD was bloody awesome until it broke....
In Europe, sure. The kings of diesels are the Japanese actually, because in Africa and Asia when you're stuck in the rainforest with 2 tons of wood or fruit in your bed it's never gonna be a German diesel that'll keep running with no maintenance for 50 years.
Toyota Land Cruiser run forever
@@DavidVoxDem No engine will run for 50 years without maintenance unless of course you simply don't drive it, here in the real world however where people actually drive cars Germans do it best. The French are a close second
ive got a tuned m57. that engine is awesome, currently pushing 600nm/440ft lbs of torque and around 300hp
Could I get some more Info mate?
What engine code and in what car and transmission? How many miles have you had the remap on?
I have an E46 myself 330D Six Speed Manual
@@aron_e46
My old diesel frontera from '92 (100hp for almost 2tonnes) keeps up with the "modern traffic" perfectly well... As people keep their distance seeing the immense smoke and noise it produces 😂😂😂
Little did Jon know how legendary VWs 1.9 would become. One of the best engines petrol or diesel ever made or likely ever will be made. 60mpg with easily 200bhp and they last forever and a day
Yep. AP Engine is awesome
90s peugeot diesels are now worth a lot of money, especially the 306 d turbo 1.9
I had a golf 1.9 TD as my first car. It was my parents old car and had all the get up and go of a slug.
Not the pd130
@@Slothdeman pre pd ve injection
@@thepurdychannel8866 well I mean they are still very good engines despite being of the older gen.
I sometimes drove a Peugeot 306 turbo diesel L plated pool car in 1995/96. Got to be honest it was pretty quick for a diesel at the time and a pleasure to drive.
In this country where petrol and diesel cost the same had me laughing 😅
1996 - "In this country, where petrol and diesel cost the same". 2022 - Petrol £1.65/L, Diesel £1.79/L 😒
Gas, petrol, and diesel may have increased by 50%, but you're saving Ukrainian babies. 🤥
@OnePalProductions
And hopefully we're working towards the eradication of a stupid little dictator man-child.
@@skylined5534 Yeah, I embrace that story too, I use it as lubrication while I get financially raped. It helps, eh? Put your facemask on, and stay "safe" 🤡
@@onepalproductions Yes, our politicians and the tabloids would love us all to believe that crap!
@@skylined5534 Ukraine also has a dictator.
Old (old) Top Gear remains underrated.
I have a mondeo mrk1 1.8diesel i love it that thing keeps going and its not slow i have tuned my diesel pump and its now at 100hp its not much compared to new cars but its fun to drive
I had a mk2 Mondeo diesel estate and it wasn't too bad once I'd had a fiddle with the pump and the wastegate. Have you done the maximum fuel adjustment inside the pump? If you search TH-cam for Ford Mondeo 1.8TD Estate 0-90 MPH that's mine back in the day.
I’d be almost certain some of the Diesel engine noise had been dubbed in and sounded notably rougher than the actual car sound?
To be honest, most diesel cars in late 90's sounded like sledge hammers and were performance dogs.
I would choose the XM straight out. But the not the estate and definitely the V6
I owned a similar Audi A4 diesel with 110 hp and was the most reliable and economical car I had, nice to drive...perfect car for its era.
Why does this video have the same background music of when Renton dived into a toilet to collect his suppositories.
Just one year later Alfa Romeo introduced the first common rail in 156 2.4 JTD.
Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI - legendary OM648 diesel engine, 3.2L straight 6, turbocharged, intercooled, no DEF, no DPF, rolls for half-million miles on routine oil changes, gets 42 MPG on a highway, and still can burn rubber if you tell it to. What's not to love?
Only managed 45mpg from an A4? My mk3 golf shares the same engine and I rarely see less than 60mpg combined and 70mpg on a run. I know the a4 is heavier but that shouldn’t make for such a decrease in mpg
Back when Top Gear was fun :)
Nice take off at the end
I love the trainspotting soundtrack they used in this
My Dad raced and had some quickish road cars but for some unknown reason, he had an early Mercedes W123 200D for a while. It was so slow it was ridiculous. I believe it had 60bhp.
We got a 1991 mercedes sdl 350 in my driveway rn an its probably one of the best cars ive ever driven or even rode passenger in
Had they tried the Alfa Romeo 156 2.4 JTD they would have found a superb car with a superb engine that could deliver 50mpg and excellent cross country performance. I still miss mine. And it was the first production car with a common rail diesel, invented by Fiat/Alfa.
The Alfa Romeo 156 was not out then in 1995. It would be another couple of years before it was out.
If this article was published in Belgium it would be something like:
The BMW is great, because it's a diesel...
Or the VW is nice too because it's a diesel...
Oh and hey, you're retired and looking for a reliable classy car? Look no further, here is a Mercedes diesel... 🤣
I grew up in Minnesota, and diesels were out for a simple reason: Cold Weather Starting, or rather, the lack of it. That's probably also why they smoked so much in cold weather -- unburned fuel going out of the tailpipe. I never knew a happy diesel owner in the 1980s and 1990s.
You just didn't have proper arctic diesel in the pumps and some of the US built diesels didn't even have glow plugs or fuel pre-heaters...
Nice use of "Deep Blue Day" by Brian Eno
525 TDS might be an old engine
But I really enjoy how it drives and sounds
m51d25
Yeah I drove a couple of those. Including the older E34 525td without intercooler. But either version, when driven hard, it nearly consumed more than a 520i ha. Clearly, being economical wasn't on their top priority when they designed it.
I remember going on holiday to England in '93 when I was 14 and a dashing young executive who is a friend of the family picked us up from Heathrow in his Citroën diesel. I couldn't believe it was diesel when he told us as it looked and sounded like a normal car. I was quite naive back then!
Wow I wasn’t expecting Deep Blue Day in this lol
And to say that until today those 1.9 tdi motors deliever excellent performance and are heavily tuned to 400-600 Nm :)
The songs in the background are used in trainspotting.
What a great gadget
The 406 was a very good car
Had the producer for this, just bought the Trainspotting soundtrack or something 😂
I had a Peugeot 205 1.8 diesel. It was excellent for mpg. I would get 70mpg easily. It was cheap to buy diesel then too.
Now I drive a Mercedes E350 cdi sport. Its 3.0 om642 engine is incredible - particularly as it's been remapped.
I hope my first car would be a skoda octavia 1.9tdi 👍🏻
This aged well lol
Todays Diesels are really fun to drive. Especially V6s are really fast and still incredibly fuel efficient. Even the engine sound got better (when flooring the gas pedal). Too bad Diesels still have nasty noises when idling or driving slow. Somehow Diesels have this strong contrast between being ultra modern and efficient and sounding like one of the first engines from the early 1890s, while idling... I wish there was a technical solution, besides using embarrassing sound generators!
nasty noises? The clatter is half the reason to own one! My 1.6L vw diesel sounds like a school bus and I love it
I really like the sound of Diesels. Especially 5-, 6-, and 8-cylinders. They just emit a soothing yet powerful sound at idling and low engine speeds.
The clattering sound actually adds to the sound especially with 6 & 8 cylinders the Ford based 4.4 V8 Range Rovers can sound really meaty for a diesel
Bro I love how they sound like clunkers
To each their own, but small low displacement 4 cylinder Diesel engines really dont sound nice while idling and in most situations. You really need at least 5 cylinders!
That's a rude syrup, Andy.
Diesels are so great
Imagine spending your own money on that Citroën! 😂😂😂
😭🤣🤣🤣
I drive a Class A180d for my driving lessons and when i hear my old mechanic teacher telling me that he was driving 205 diesel i'm thinking that even in just 30 years we went from so far with 60 hp diesel engine to 120 hp diesel
Before reaching 90 jp with a diesel you would saber the champagne now it's the norm it's insane
An interesting historical document, this was before the 00s deluge of TDIs being the standard and then subsequent collapse following emissions gate
Funny to see diesel cars being shunned back then in the same way Dave down the pub shuns electric cars now.
ROVER 200
I can imagine bad diesels.
How the world has changed.
My 2l 16v tdci cmax, 185hp, 0-60 very fast indeed, would do a 150 and gave me 55 to the gallon.
And it never broke.
Very happy with my diesel DS3. Averages 61mpg on my 30 mile commute. Just wish diesel wasn’t £1.78 at the moment 😂
I love mine too, although with some slightly flamboyant driving I’ve been averaging 52mpg
You missed on the OM606 came one year later
I had a 1993 Mondeo 1.8td from new. One clutch, three pairs of wishbones and an airbag clock spring was all it needed in 250,000 miles.
Yeah but when the car was that new they would not be able to tell if the car was very good for reliability.
@@terrificspokesman7416 250,000 miles
i have -96 escort 1.8td estate, with 200 000 km, just changed the timing belt and oils, and it runs perfectly fine :), soon to be had so many more cheap kilometers
@@teuksu5183 i have a mk1 mondeo td and its now also at 200.000km the only thing i ever changed since i owned it is the oil once
I have a mk1 td from 96 i never gonna sell it its a good car
Did they just use the train spotting soundtrack for everything back in 1996
Vauxhall cavalier 1.7 td (isuzu) fabulous engine.
Usually an Envoy spec
@@chrishart8548 mine was a GLS
@@matthewwalker5317 the cdx was a good one with the 1.7td some real luxury for the time period. Never before was diesel so high spec. Ford didn't go above GL spec until the turbo diesels
I have an Isuzu 3.0 direct injection diesel 4 banger the only thing that could possibly be the death of it is the German Bosch VP44 fuel pump
Had 2 B5.5 VW Passats 1.8T and 1.9TDI and i loved the diesel more than the petrol
Someone likes the Trainspotting soundtrack I think.
1:19 watch the REVcounter :D
Oh my! That went up quickly!
@@DangermuffinVideos poor Mondeo engine :)
I have a Mercedes 190D 2.0 and it‘s the most reliable car that I ever owned
@3:30 Brian eno: blue sky, off of apollo
Anyone know what the song is from 4:05?
I had a 2008 kia ceed 2.0 crdi and it was gutless under 2000rpm I now have a 2012 Ford focus 1.0 ecoboost and it would tear it apart
Anyone know the song at the 4:35 mark.
Are they using the Trainspotting OST for a reason?
The best diesel from the 90s : vw1.9TDI and Mercedes 300TD the 177hp version.
The 300td pushed 500hp easily with an upgraded pump and turbo :)
I remember it was BMW who came up with the Diesel game changer in the early 90's with its 2.5 engine.
they have said that about basically every fairly good diesel that ever came out, mercedes 3.0L 5 cylinder Turbodiesel, BMW's 2.4 6 cylinder diesel, citroens 2.5 4 cylinder diesel, PSA's XUD series of engines, the Fiat Croma's direct injection diesel, Audi's 2.5L 5 cylinder TDI, the PSA HDI engines, the VW TDI's and so on and so forth...
People are pulling these old cars out of the weeds.
Anyone know the songs they played in the background? I know perfect day, but not the others
Deep blue day- Brian Eno
Anyone know the one from 4:05?
@@victorymansionsCan't find this one anywhere.cant find the whole episode as well.
I own a indirect injection 1.9 turbodiesel. With some tweeks it goes good! I blocked off the wastegate, added some fuel, by turning the screw at the bosch ve pump. added a big front mount intercooler, and my zero to 60 times is 6,9 seconds in a great run without missing a gear and 7,3 seconds when it's heat soked. in a indirect injection diesel! i knocked 9 seconds off between factory and tuned.
If you leave it stock, ofcourse it takes 16 seconds to go to 60mph
My 99' w202 c220 cdi is doing 6.5l/100km so...
This Bentley guy.... Swiss Toni much?
Anyone knows the song at 0:25 ?
Ya found it yet?
Who'd have thought the Rover would be more expensive than a Golf!
What's the song at 0:30?
Ya found it yet?
I remember Peugeot’s 1.9tdi Engine fast as fuck and strong as a donkey
Sorry it was called the d turbo not a tdi
In the 306 it was crazy fast. The torque could break engine mounts
Xud9 or the hdi
@@secretsquirrel6124 xud9 but I remember when the first hdi come in the work shop when I worked at what used to be called castles Peugeot abbey lane in Leicester. That hdi was different to say the least a lot more refine but with power as well but for me the xud9 was still the king
The Citroen ZX Volcane was probably the best early fun diesel you could get. It had only 90 horsepower but it only weighed 1100kg which is less than a Fiesta today. It was set up for enthusiastic driving. After that BMW made the best 'fun' diesels and still do today. The E36 325tds was ok, but the E46 330d was the boss. They did a 180bhp version in 1999 and it was more than a match for the most common petrol motorway barges of that era in performance. Economy was excellent and refinement was good.
Rover used BMW diesel engines during that time.
1:30 - Normally aspirated wig?
hes wrong