for the 118d

My Mrs has an 08 plate. Very economical (mid to high 50's mpg - and she doesn't drive slow) and great to drive. And.....it's £30 a year to tax. Makes me shed a small tear when my tax comes round.

They are sh*t in the snow though unless you get some winter tyres.

 

i wouldn't mind the 118d, but I'm prepared to sacrifice a small amount of fuel economy for the extra 50bhp! According to Autotrader there's only a 1 mpg difference between the 118d and 120d.

 

A work colleague got an 06 plate 120d (163bhp) auto about 9 months ago. He does the same route I do to work (lives a mile from me) and he gets about 5mpg urban more than my 330d LCI auto.

He says on a run he gets 50mpg without too much difficulty.

When I had a 320d auto (177bhp) which is the slightly later engine to what you are considering ... I got an average of 42mpg running about with a high of 52mpg. On motorway runs I usually saw 48mpg with a heavy right foot The 120d is only slightly lighter than a 320d so I guess similar mpg is easily achievable.

FWIW I borrowed a 118d and the mpg was superb ... though it is slower than a 120d (in the region of 1.5 seconds to 60) ... Where I got 48mpg in the 320d the 118d did 64mpg !!

I think a 120d is a super little car.

 

Am i the only one with scant regard for those power figures especially with diesel engines ? Take my CR-V 2.2 as an example . It has only some 140 hp but in the real world it's faster than some other cars which are lighter and have + 160 hp..

 

Area under the torque curve is important, especially in a big lump like a CR-V. They do go rather surprisingly well though, if you nail it at 2K & change up around 4K.

I understand why they're so liked.

 

I knew that Nick. Just wanted to stress how relatively unimportant those power figures are.

 

Autotrader is wrong.

 

I've just got back from Nuremburg, via Brugges and the chunnel. 820ish miles, averaged 70mph for the whole journey, 44mpg. However for 90 minutes in Germany I averaged over 100mph at about 28mpg, hitting 150mph in places. Passed police cars with myself doing 120 + 130mph. Which will never EVER get old

Feels very stable up to about 130mph. Still pretty stable at 150mph but you have to concentrate. Still felt comfy after two 6 hour drives, ergonomics are excellent, I like the interior, great stereo and the climate control kept me stable temp through 28 degree weather.

Some people reckon it's a small boot, but stick the back seat down and I got my bike, biking gear, track day gear, camping gear, 2 weeks worth of clothes, and loads of lovely Belgian beer and their appropriate glasses in with ease.

My main criticisms are the diesel noise and power band are just unthrilling. And the lack of an LSD, combined with intrusive traction control and diesel torque make pulling out of tight junctions quickly quite difficult.

Handling is excellent, I have the 17" wheels, run flats, Dynamic pack (SE with M sport suspension) and it's a great drive and the run flats don't cause too much ride compromise.

I did a cheeky lap of the nurburgring earlier this week, taking it easy due to insurance issues and it's a fine well balanced car, drives very nicely, doesn't feel its weight badly, steering maybe the main weakness as it's overassisted so is a bit easy and tempting to go into understeer.

I also drove an E90 M3 on the ring and I'd almost say the handling of my 120d is 90-95% as good, and the lack of weight a real bonus in the 120d. Doesn't come with that amazing V8 soundtrack though.

I reckon the new M135i will address all of the issues I have with the car...

 

M135i is on our shopping list in a couple of years too.

Cant wait - might be the last performance car for road use for me.

 

Pretty sure this will be my next car too ... love that engine, but wanted the latest incarnation in an auto hatchback