Sunday, July 8

Peugeot

I have taken delivery of a new car. My intention was to find one which is environmentally friendly and frugal within a reasonable price range. I am delighted with the 307 HDI Peugeot Touring powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine, mated to a 6-speed auto.

It’s easy to drive yet bristling with technology, such as rain sensitive wipers, light sensitive lights and an electronic stability control system to take over should you swerve violently to miss say a Kangaroo and temporarily loose control. The diesel engine is neither loud nor smoky by virtue of a carbon filter and starts instantly on cold mornings. The carbon filter traps the carbon particles generated from the burning of the diesel fuel. Engine response are excellent with strong pulling power generated at low engine revs which boosts economy. On a trip your likely to only use 4.9 litres to 5.5 litres of diesel per 100 km. At highway cruising speeds of 110Km per hour (68 mph) the engine is barely ticking over at below 2,000 engine revs.

For those interested in more technical details the 2.0-litre diesel engine is a 4-cylinder inline with 4-valves per cylinder fitted with an air-to-air intercooler and turbo to improve torque output. It develops 320Nm of torque @ 2,000 rpm and when accelerating an automatic 'over boost' function is activated between 1750 and 3200rpm, increasing torque to 340Nm. The engine emits up to 30% less CO 2 than its petrol equivalent.

In Australia 97% of vehicles use petrol but I predict within 20 years there will be a huge swing towards the more efficient economical diesel engine types which are now more prominent in Europe.
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13 comments:

Val said...

Congratulations on your new car, Lindsay. I hope it will reliably take you lovely places in your retirement.

Granny said...

Lovely vehicle.

I don't know if the old American t.v. show, Columbo, ever made it across the ocean. I'm still watching it in reruns.

Anyhow homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) sprang to mind when I read the word Peugeot.

From Wikipedia

"Columbo's battered car is a 1959 Peugeot 403 convertible, which Falk selected personally from the studio's inventory. When Columbo boasts that it's a rare automobile, he isn't lying: only about 500 of them were built as two-door convertibles instead of four-door hardtops, and the car is one of only two of this model in the US. (In "Identity Crisis", Columbo tells the murderer that his is one of only three in the country.)"

lindsaylobe said...

Hi Val ~I am sure it will !

Granny ~ He was my favourite detective! Thank for the info on that car!! I often wondered ! One of the best series ever !!
Best wishes

grannyfiddler said...

nice wheels! our local agriculture extension dept is promoting biodiesel, as canola is a main crop here. i know a young fellow who's running his VW diesel on french fry grease... his exhaust smells like... you guessed it! french fries!

one of my youngest boys, who is studying engineering, is designing an electric car. want to bet his mama is driving one soon?

Lee said...

Your new car looks great, Lindsay. The new Peugots have been getting very good write-ups...I hope it continues to perform and make you happy. :)

Lee said...

"Peugeot", even...sorry..typo!

Jo said...

Very nice. My favorite color too. You know, people find this very weird, but I have never owned a car. I don't even know how to drive one. I have never had the need for a car. But if I did, that would be the car I would pick. Very stylish too.

Josie

Anonymous said...

Hello, Lindsay.
A very sporty car there, as well as practical.
And thank you for addressing the issue of cold weather starts. I suspected there was some form of a fix for this, considering the popularity of the diesel engine in Europe.

Wondering about the battery though, and I haven't been able to find any information on this. Apparently, it is not a matter of interest to most, but I certainly am curious.

Now, in the States, there has recently been some sort of order that would prohibit the sale of high-sulfur diesel fuel. And so, there was, for a time, a lot of work among the refineries to produce low-sulfur fuel. This was a response to several states enacting state-wide restictions. The move here is really toward uniformity (still a lot of variant regulations concerning the additives in gasoline).

I question the advantage of bio-diesel. I drive a lot, and I've noticed that the 15% ethanol fuel (gasoline) reduces fuel efficiency by around 10% (I always save receipts; tax purposes). I've never seen anything really definitive that would indicate that the excess of consumption in the process and decreased fuel efficiency would still effect an overall decrease in emissions.

bohemiantroubadour said...

I am entitled to be a great scientist. I am building a 350 hp car made entirely of potatos.

Nazli Hardy said...

Congratulations!

Bravo Lindsay on your Malawi blog (I could not comment on it)!

Nice to come across your blog! Here's to you for yoour humanity and voice.

Look forward to having you on my fearless blog roll!

Cheers and good cheer,
Nazli

Gary said...

Nice car! Good description too. I'm going to be looking for a new (used) vehicle this summer. I need all wheel drive for the place I've moved to (in the winter that is).

Lots to consider.

Best to you.

lindsaylobe said...

Hi Granny f
That’s very interesting. What a pleasant surprise to think of exhaust fumes smelling like French fries !!. don’t forget to keep us informed on the electric car!!
Lee~ its delight to drive,
Josie~ Cheers to you not needing a car.
PT
Battery~ I am not aware of any material differences although I understand they are slightly larger to accommodate the additional cranking power from the much higher compression ratio applicable to the diesel engine. There used to be problems encountered say 10-15 years ago, with glow plugs but modern day injection type technology presents no problems. Sulphur~ Output is minimal at 50 parts per million. Compare that with 5000 parts per million that applied few years ago prior to the more strict Euro 5 standards that now apply.
Bio Diesel the Peugeot can run on a blend of bio diesel. The economy is so dam good at only litres per 100 km I wouldn’t be too concerned over higher consumption if that turns out to be the case over the standard diesel.

BT -Ha Ha –food for thought!!

Dr Nazli ~Cheers and good cheer to you. Malawi is currently exporting maize to embattled Zimbabwe.

Gary
Good to hear from you! Subaru? or genuine 4 wheels drive?


Best wishes

grannyfiddler said...

just learned from the budding engineer that the electric car has been put on hold... he's having far too much fun designing and building a blimp... kind of a miniature Hindenburg.