JTD v TS - Someone help me out here

Going to see two cars this Friday --

A 2001 2.4 JTD Veloce 88k Silver

A 2003 2.0 TS Veloce also 88k Deep Blue

both look good and have cambelts changed etc.....


The diesel also has the temptation of being tuned...

Given the whole petrol / diesel thing.......which should I go for??

are you winding us up? please not another petrol vs diesel thread!!!


oh well whilst we're here ...


Diesel is cheaper to run FACT
Diesel can be remapped and will be faster in a straight line
Petrol is lighter and will be more fun to drive (in the bendy bits)

Depends on what you want from the car, my needs are different from yours. A bit more info would be good.

For me a real choice would be between the 2.4JTD and the 2.5 V6 ... but then I do very few miles.

Forget that ... Deep Blue yuck!!! go for the silver!!!

Sorry Chris

Not a problem (probably was the beer talking)

Info -- well don't commute to work, as freelancer. When I'm on contract I usually get a car for the job. However, running costs are an issue.....

How many miles a year do you do?

I did this spreadsheet a little while back ... might be worth a look for you ...

Cheers Chris - one question - you have .2199 litres to gallon, whereas my convertor put it at 4.54 litres to gallon??

0.2199 = 1/4.54 (approx anyway) ... so instead of dividing by 4.54 I multiply by 0.2199 ... basically 0.2199 Gallons = 1 Litre ..

Its Simple. The diesel is far less likely to distribute its innards than the TS. I wouldn't touch a TS 16 valve engine. Too many go wrong for comfort. Failures of the 2.4 diesel, whilst not unknown, are very very rare by comparison. Its the best of the last generation of Alfa engines for reliability.

Thats why I bought a 2.4JTD. And you can get up to 50mpg.

It can be expensive if the turbo goes of course, and you have to be mindful of the sump on low objects, but the 2.4JTD imparts great character on the car, surprisingly perhaps. That turbine like 'pull' never fails to make me smile.

AlfaLincs

Originally Posted by AlfaLincs

Its Simple. The diesel is far less likely to distribute its innards than the TS. I wouldn't touch a TS 16 valve engine. Too many go wrong for comfort. Failures of the 2.4 diesel, whilst not unknown, are very very rare by comparison. Its the best of the last generation of Alfa engines for reliability.

Thats why I bought a 2.4JTD. And you can get up to 50mpg.

It can be expensive if the turbo goes of course, and you have to be mindful of the sump on low objects, but the 2.4JTD imparts great character on the car, surprisingly perhaps. That turbine like 'pull' never fails to make me smile.

AlfaLincs

... but then again, if it's a fun car for the weekends (that's what I've read into his first post) something light(ish) to throw about would be more fun ... don't get me wrong I love my JTD and I get exactly the same smile as you (apart from just after I'd had it remapped, when I could only do just enough to hold onto the steering wheel it was going that fast), but I personally find the JTD alot heavier to drive (i.e. round corners and stopping) than my old twinny ...


(here we go again the same old diesel vs petrol arguments)

Love it - keep 'em coming

We've been here before. Much though I like the grunt and sound and up to 47 mpg, I chose my Alfaowner name because of my 2.4 jtd 140 bhp. Earlier this year I had to spend the thick end of £2k on it through a very good and reasonably priced Independent, due to a failed fuel pump, failed alternator and failed secondary drive belt tensioners. The car has yet to complete £70k miles. I bought mine from a main agent as a one owner 30k mile car and it has been one of the most unreliable I have ever owned; my petrol Alfas over the last 13 years have not been without the usual problems, but never as bad as this. I'd not put you off the JTD but if it does not run absolutely smoothly which mine didn't when I bought it, then walk away.

I had a 1.8 TS Lusso before which was much, much smoother but the ride/handling was if anything worse than my jtd. I couldn't go back to the lack of low end torque. Belts and tensioners are, of course, much more critical with the TS and the variators are prone to premature failure.

Basically you'll be paying your money and taking your choice. Good luck.

JTD any day. Massive fun tuned, if thats your thing - I know its not all POWER!!! for everyone.

Reliable - yes, I have had 2 JTD's, I don't hve an issue spending cash on preventative maintenance, so belts & clutches and arms & bushes just get done.
That said, there are a 101 cars which are loads cheaper to run, I could name a few, but then I have owned a lot of cars and I am now down to just 8, (CL500, 4.2 quattro, XJR etc) but the alfa JTD tuned is a quick motor.

I am known for screaming poor economy and big power from an old 140 alfa, its just a toy and not all agree that a diesel should do as little as 30mpg, but it is one of the most rewarding cars to own (see the others I have above) and whilst the JTD would be left for dead above 120mph, it gets there really quick and overtaking whole lines of cars (rather than just a few) is not an issue when these things are tuned.

Hpoe I have not put you off, my take is power, others (which I respect) is economy.

Just worked out an equivalent mpg figure for my last week's 500km round trip, which included lots of stop/start, high speed dashes and some point-and-squirt country lane stuff with three passengers: 38.94mpg.
And on a long run (2,200 rpm in 6th at the legal Autoroute limit of 130kph) the figure is way higher. Diesel economy is about much more than the price per litre at the pump...