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From: DavidR on 16 Jul 2010 18:25
"AstraVanMann" <peter(a)swerveweb.com> wrote
> "DavidR" <curedham(a)4bidden.org.uk> wrote:
>>> Indeed, and the economy of most modern diesels versus the lack of
>>> driveability and the utter shite powerbands *really* makes me wonder
>>> what
>>> the point is.
>>
>> What's this "shite powerband" and "lack of driveability" are you
>> referring
>> to?
>
> It's my recent [temporary] acquisition - a 2007 Transit 350 Jumbo 2.4TDCI
> 140PS. Utterly gutless below 1500rpm, going over 3000rpm doesn't achieve
> much extra. It's an uber-precision thing to keep it in the powerband.
> Can occasionally be satisfying on a straight bit of road where you hold
> 3rd gear and boot it to make the lights before they change (I'm thinking
> Bath Road in Slough coming in from J7), but on the whole it's crying out
> for a good autobox, which is a shame as Ford don't do such a thing.

Being a van the ecu is likely to have different mapping to a car engine. For
a 2.4 producing 140PS, peaking at 3000rpm seems about right. For the lower
end it might be better off with a variable geometry blower.

On my car, the power starts to plateau from 3300rpm (ie, the torque begins
to fall) but the performance quoted in magazines uses 4200rpm. In practice,
3rd gear can cover 20-70mph which is broader than 2nd in my previous car. At
the same time, despite little difference in p/w ratio, acceleration over the
middle of this band is also noticeably stronger.

> Well indeed. Dunno where the petrol reference comes in though.

I assumed that if you were slagging off diesels it meant you were suggesting
petrol engines had a better character.

> BXs are great, and light as anything too. Most modern stuff is too heavy.
> I'd need really careful consideration to buy anything vaguely modern.

The other problem is that final drives have reduced the revs (for the CO2
tax) which gives a double whammy. The car after my BX was up 30% in weight
and down 10% in revs. In theory, stirring the box should make up the
difference if the p/w ratio is the same but it isn't a satisfying solution.
Restoring that gap by having engine with a blower is far more satisfying.



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