Was thinking last night about my new car and got to pondering........ would I be better off with my annual mileage (10-11000 miles a year) going for the Si4 rather than the SD4? I've already opted for what I suspect may be a residuals busting colour with Zanzibar with the Tan Plus pack interior (I suspect it won't be everybody's cup of tea until they see one in the flesh) so why not go the whole hog and go for the petrol too? The only difference I can see for me would be increased consumption of cheaper petrol would mean another fuel stop on a long trip to the south, but that isn't a big problem as I tend to drive for 2-2.5hours and then take a break on long trips anyway and I already use off the motorway filling stations to fuel up on long trips (Lancaster and Gaydon on trips to London and Southampton as there are filling stations within a mile of the m'way sliproad). I think I might miss the torque of the Diesel but I won't miss that small delay as it thinks "ah he wants to pull away from stopped now I'd better wake up"
So what are folks views - especially those of Si4 owners in the UK but all views will be read!
I was asking myself the same thing the other day even though petrol is more expensive here.
But we use the car a lot, trips to Spain etc.
Maybe next time!
I suppose if I extrapolated my "annual" mileage up from the 6 months a year that I am home to drive it then I'm a high mileage driver.................
Is there anyone here who has already taken delivery of a 2014MY Si4?
There is a way around the "ah he wants to pull away from stopped now I'd better wake up" issue
The torque of the petrol is still pretty good and it comes in quite early on as well, at least on paper.
Low annual mileage is the reason we are switching back from a petrol. After 4 years In a diesel. I also see simple things like a quieter cabin and more refined sound outside the vehicle good benefits as well.
Come on Tim, join team Si4
I think its time to switch back to petrol.
Doesn't the petrol have that initial delay from stop as well? I seem to remember test driving them both back to back, and remember the petrol had the delay.
Personally, i'd take the superior torque of the diesel every time,as thats the effortless push in back you can feel every time you take off, which in the real world, is something we can still enjoy, without necessarily breaking the speed limits.
Based on 11k p.a. fuel cost will be be about £650.00 a year. Your new car is specified to a very high level and so, from that, I guess money isn't much of an issue for you so if petrol takes your fancy go for it. Personally I can't see any advantage in the petrol over diesel in this type of vehicle so a lowly specced diesel which hopefully keeps costs as reasonable as possible is my choice.
A quick in calculation from my fuel spreadsheet so based on my real world stats
16000 miles of fuel in the SD4 has cost me Exactly £2843.
I achieved 36mpg, if we assume the Si4 gets 29mpg average, that's 1.25 * the fuel so that's £3553
But Petrol is 5% cheaper, so that costs £3383 to buy.
so in 16000 miles the petrol will cost £540 of extra fuel.
Is the servicing of the petrol cheaper, as you can then knock that off the £540.
And no risk of DPF failure costing £1000's
Starting to think I should have got a petrol, since I kept my previous car the mileage I expected hasn't accrued!
Had both myself, first one was Si4 in which I did a tad over 30k miles before switching to the SD4 in which I've now done just over 11k miles. MPG and cost aside, I actually find the SD4 a nicer car to drive all round. Sure it's not quite as nippy as the Si4, but just a more relaxed ride, in heavy traffic and motorway cruising I enjoy it more - surprised me a little but if I had to choose now I'd go SD4 again.