As a friend of mine works for Audi, he delivers them, and other cars (pxs etc) all over the country for customers. Sometimes i go with him.

Recently we took a newish Leon 2.0 TDI FR to Doncaster. Is this rated at 200 bhp?

What a horrible car. Now I know due to the chemical composition of diesel, its properties, and the way it burns, it is more efficient and delivers its torque over a wider range etc, but as I understand it, modern turbodiesels are made in such a way that the peak torque range is very narrow, hence the reason for 6 gears, with 6th gear generally not being taller than 5th gear on a 5 speed.

This makes for a horrible drive, a horrible 1 second "blurgh" of acceleration, then a gear change. Yes, it throws you back in your seat but it's awful. Despite the fuel consumption, a Mig is infinitely more verstaile and comfortable and a much better ride. This IMO goes for loads of modern turbo diesels, Audis, VWs, they're horrible!

Oh what the ignorant masses are missing out on! Omegas - Vauxhalls best kept secret.

And to top the lot we came back in a stupid bloody Fiat 500 thing

A lad at work has got a 330d, not being interested in them myself but I think that is the 3 litre td? Unimpressed by it. I had some loony in a 2.5td something or other try to race the mig at the lights! Haha! I though they were meant to be fast!

There is no right answer to this one.

I have a Citroen C5 Hdi and SWMBO has a Focus Tdci as everyday cars. If you use the gearbox properly then you can get most satisfactory performance - with the Focus's engine delivering more torque than the 3.0 V6 Omega - yes, honestly.

I enjoy driving the Omega immensely and have driven them since launch in 1994.

The one area that the Omega gets truly thrashed on is fuel consumption. If fuel was free then it would be Omega all the way - but it isn't though, that's the problem.

I'm not disagreeing with you - just saying that it isn't a simple black & white issue.

Cheers - Rob

Thomas-Elite wrote on 25. Mar 2011 at 15:13:


If it's the brand new 2.0 TDCi then I'm afraid it has bags more torque than the Omega..

Omega 3.2:
Power Output      207 bhp
Torque      270 Nm    199 lb-ft

Focus 2.0 TDCi:
Power Output      138 bhp
Torque      320 Nm    236 lb-ft


Modern TDs have miles more torque than an old V6 - and if chipped they have more torque than most people know what to do with .. just over a very narrow rev range compared to a petrol car.

The Omega isn't really all that powerful, anyway - 207bhp in a car weighing 1700Kg is quite anaemic!

Also higher geared so more torque at lower engine speeds is less power than less torque at higher speeds.

Indeed - I was also suprised.

If you chose your Mondeo Tdci engine well and get it chipped then it will produce 477 Nm!

Don't get me wrong, the Focus is noisy and uncomfortable over any distance, which is why the Omega gets used at the weekends 

Lincs Robert wrote on 25. Mar 2011 at 14:15:


I think this is the reason I bought a DTi (well two), I love driving my 3.2 Elite and i'll not be selling it (spent too much money on it to sell it) but I cannot justify the fuel cost for my daily commute so I had to look at something else.
As it happened Mrs VXL V6 was looking to get rid of her 4WD as £450 tax and something around 22Mpg was no good. I spotted an opportunity to purchase a DTi estate with average mileage and from someone I trust on here and since then never looked back until Mrs VXL V6 took over running it and I had to face the thought of running the 3.2 again (tank of fuel a week), within a week i'd found another DTi this time in Saloon Elite form and I now run that.

The maths is simple, forget the few pence difference between petrol and diesel and think more one tank of petrol does about 310 miles in my 3.2 on the daily stop start commute, one tank of diesel does about 590 miles on the same commute. The other thing to think about is yes the BHP is about half of the 3.2 but the torque figures are practically the same. When we tow the tin snail down to Cornwall we use no more fuel (stuck at the 60 limit!) than if we go without it (Stuck at ?? over the 70 limit!).

LPG'ing the V6 is a good option but then there isn't much incentive when you can just jump in the Diesel and still have all the Omega comfort.