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Petrol Vs diesel

Blippi

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Location
Manchester
Car
Honda Accord GT ES
For those that don't know I currently have a 2.2 diesel 8th gen. I live in Manchester where the powers that be are bringing in an Ultra low emissions zone or new tax as I see it. Not here for a discussion on that but will mean a daily charge if I keep the accord.
Just lately I've been looking at other options and realized I still really like the accord. So what I would like to know is if I was to get another accord in petrol variety would it be a disappointment anyone had experience of both? Ideally I would be looking for the 2.4vtec. Is this a similar engine as fitted to the 7th gen?
 
The 2.4 is a lovely choice but quite rare. They are quite thirsty though..
 
On paper the 8th Gen 2.4 at 201 hp is only 11 hp more than the 7th Gen but that's only a small part of the story. It's a far punchier and responsive engine, and combined with earlier VTEC engagement, a shorter ratio gearbox box, wider tyres, much better brakes and improved handling generally, it's a vastly better driving experience in my opinion. Downsides are the estate is a lot less roomy and practical, and the engine drinks a little bit more as Fahad says, so you get maybe 3 mpg less I've found.
 
I had a 7th gen manual diesel (stage 1 remap) and a couple of 8th gen 2.4i , one manual and one automatic. Although I enjoyed the diesel torque a lot, I cannot fault the 2.4 petrol engine. Performance is very satisfactory and I do enjoy the VTEC a lot... The auto gearbox gives less mpg than the manual in city driving, but on long motorway journeys the longer gears benefit the automatic. If I remember correctly, the manual in 6th gear and 70 mph cruising will keep the revs closer to 3k rpm, while the auto in 5th at the same speed will sit at 2.4k rpm.
The one thing not to my liking is how happy the auto is to shift own a gear just to accelerate a little... given it has a powerful engine under the bonnet, going down a gear to accelerate from 60 to 70 is not quite reasonable... the only reason I can see for it is the longer gears... but this could be avoided if you drive it in manual mode, just be careful not to forget you are in manual mode when you are accelerating and expecting a quick response...

One additional thing to mention, on both my petrol Accords I have put LPG, which makes the whole fuel consumption dispute obsolete, as it almost halves my expenditures. My last run to Scotland and back got me up to 300 miles per tank of 50 litres (about £30-£35 to fill up, depending on LPG prices).

The entire round trip of 860 miles costed me about £110. Do this in a diesel if you can...
 
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