CLIVE’S
VW VENTO DIESEL PAGE
The above picture is pretty
close to my Vento, except that I have 61/2”x14 BBS alloys fitted (the house
and front lawn are not like mine either).
The car was sold as a 1994 base model, non-turbo diesel (1900cc, 64
bhp). It was purchased new by
an uncle and sold ! to me at 6 years/64000 miles old.
Don’t know why I chose a diesel, I had never owned one before, must be
the novelty aspect. Suffice it to
say, for everyday running about, I am a convert.
The guys running VW TDIs must be having loads of fun with all that
performance and economy.
The car is used on the 40mile
round trip to work each day, accumulating what my boss (another VW owner)
refers to as starship mileage. So
far, it has proved utterly reliable, averaging no less than 40mpg on the
cheapest diesel I can find and the occasional dose of 2 stroke oil which I feel
does make a slight improvement by keeping the injectors clean and, more likely,
lubing the injector pump. I
attribute the poor ! mileage to being stuck in traffic most evenings between
junction 6 and 10 on the M6, the worst spot in Europe !!
My driving style is real boring, I shift up at just over 2000 rpm when I
am in the sweet part of the engines torque curve and stay in lower gears to suit
the prevailing speed limits, i.e. 30mph in 3rd, 40mph in 4th
etc only using 5th for motorways where I creep up to 3000 rpm where
possible.
All I have done with regards
maintenance is change the oil and filter and airfilter for stock ones when I got
it and adjusted the rear brakes manually as the handbrake was having no effect
on holding the car on slight inclines (my driveway) at 2 clicks up (my
preferred spot for handbrakes). I
have to change the front brake pads soon as the MOT is due and the brakes seem
to have slightly too much travel before stopping !
The alternator drive belt is starting to split so that ‘s due for a
change and I’m sure there’s a dodgy brake pipe on the rear, but the MOT will
confirm that.
The heater blower also seemed
ineffective on purchase with no air seeming to move through the cabin.
I changed the pollen filter on the advice of fellow VW owners and now,
sitting in the cabin with the blower on full will part your hair, good call guys
!
I recently tried to outsmart
VW by replacing the air filter assembly with a clamp on K&N airfilter, part
number RA-0600, from Kinnor services at http://www.knfilters.com/ and fitted directly to the inlet manifold.
Well, the noise got my attention real fast, much louder than any of my
previous K&N filters used on petrol engines. The
performance dropped off somewhat as well (or was it just that the increase in
noise was making me gun-shy). I
refitted the original flexible tube to the manifold and refitted the K&N to
the end. Big improvement,
performance was at least as good if not slightly better although the noise was
well reduced, it was still to loud for my liking.
Currently, the stock system is back on (I know, I’m to old for loud
noises) guess VW know best. I think a compromise is to build a replica of
the stock air box and fit the filter into it, thus keeping the noise down.
Watch this space.
* I am also intrigued by the use/manufacture of bio-diesel and am currently researching this.
* I
also believe that diesel engines will run on paraffin in emergencies, this I
must try, if only in the interests of science !
* I
also fancy trying water/methanol vapour injection to help keep the carbon down
and the injectors clean. If the
Methanol helps the power, so much the better.
* Also
in the melting pot is using LPG with diesels.
I have read that this results in an increase in power of the order of 33%
on non-turbo and 66% on turbo diesels. 33%
would, I feel, give that additional bit of performance when cruising in top or
accelerating into busy junctions without affecting mileage.
Anybody reading this who has
any information on these aspects of diesel engines would be more than welcome to
contact me.
Update September 10th, 2002
The Vento is no more, it gave up it's life doing what it did best, protecting me. I hit a telegraph pole head on, totally destroying the car (and nearly myself) but managed to walk away from it. New car is arriving soon, a Chrysler Neon, this link will take you there but be warned, the page is most definately under construction.