Club 80-90 Forums

If you could choose between a 1.9 petrol or a 1.6 TD T25, which engine would you go for?

Diesel is getting a lot of bad press. From an environmental point of view I prefer my petrol DG engne and run it 90% of the time on LPG. I get the impression the government want older diesel vehicles off the road but fine for agricultural, shipping and haulage industries.

Petrol
80s diesels are tractor engines.

I've got both and the TD is a dump of a thing to drive compared to a freshly rebuilt dg (courtesy of Itchy).

Yes, but...
30+ mpg for a TD is not to be sniffed at compared with 20+ mpg for a 1.9?
So economy wise the TD wins unless you add LPG to the petrol mix.
And comparing a rebuilt 1.9 DG with a tired JX is hardly fair. In good condition both will shift a T3 along at a decent speed.
This is why we went for a TD when we bought our Westfalia and at the time it seemed there was a bit of a price premium on them.
Maybe all the negative press and potential future penalties shift the balance from diesel to petrol? But the UK economy would go bust overnight if the government took too severe action on diesels.
Actually both have issues and arguably neither are the best engines in a T3.
The fuel injected 2.1 DJ is the surely the best original petrol engine but 1.9 tdi and 2.0 gti conversions are popular for a reason adding improved power, reliability and economy to the T3 mix.

I've had both (kind of, my second one was 1.6 non-turbo originally, stupidly slow) - I bought the diesel in the mistaken belief that it would be economical and long lasting, then two engine changes later (1.9 na, then 1.9 tdi), I dread to think what my real cost per mile was!

My 1.9 petrol drove really well while it lasted - the wisdom back then was that they only last for 100k miles or so before needing a rebuild and I bought mine with 90K on the clock, and that came true for me.

If I bought another T25 it would be petrol - the 2.0 gti conversion sounds good.

discipleofsketch wrote:If I bought another T25 it would be petrol - the 2.0 gti conversion sounds good.

Oh, I should justify this hypothetical decision - I ended up with a tdi conversion, which was always a bit of an ongoing project - the gearbox wasn't suitable, it was really loud (custom exhaust and unenclosed cone air filter) and a few other niggles (leaking intercooler) related to the extra complexity. Insurance was always a pain with the non-standard engine. So thinking about it, maybe not a gti conversion, but a good, rebuilt, standard T25 petrol engine would have likely worked out more economical, hassle free and nicer to drive in the long run.

^^^ Wise Words. Always nice to have factory petrol engines as VW intended...or even consider a 2.5 WBX if money was no object.

My answer would be a 2.1DJ running on LPG through the standard Pierburg carb.

Most of us who've had these for a long time do it this way.

Ian

Easy

1.9 tdi from a golf or Passat

Loads of power, bullet proof, plentiful, economical

This argument will run and run, will be brought up time and again, and people will never agree.

Can I suggest the best engine is either (1) the one you’ve got already, (2) the one you have easiest access to when the one you’ve got goes pop (“easiest” being a term with no fixed definition), or (3) the one fitted to the van you want to buy, bearing in mind 1 and 2.

Anyone disagree?

Fuel cost is my governing factor.
So I did what Ian Hulley did.
Got me a 112 bhp 2.1 and plonked a pierburg on it...then ran it on Gas.
40+ mpg equivilant.

Some clever chap increased the bhp to 121 using this set up.

Pretty happy with my 1.9d AEF engine. Good fuel economy, not much to go wrong and it'll move you along at a good speed if you fit bigger wheels...

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A good JX is a nice engine within the 80s power range, but can be easily ruined in the rush of these days.
Never experienced how the petrol engines perform but maybe they are more reliable as they can hold higher rpms

I had a worn out JX. After the second major fault, putting in a TDi was more economical than a full rebuilt.

RogerT wrote: Anyone disagree?

me
80s diesels are horrible and sluggish, need to thrash them to get the same acceleration and power as petrol.
Noisy, smokey, dirty why woulld you choose that?

Anybody who's fuel costs are that important should think twice about a T25 becasuse you won't afford the maintenance.

If you ever drove a 2.1 DJ you would not buy anything else
70mph up hill is no problem, power, acceleration for overtaking, smooth, quiet.

perfect