Thinking of buying a new Audi Q3, but cant decide between petrol or diesel. Milage wise, we tend to use the car more in winter than in summer due to skiing.

Thoughts anyone?

My thoughts are you will have to decide yourself, and it's a waste of time giving you my views. www.sbb,ch and www.mobility.ch

If you subscribe to the religion of Clarkson-ism, diesel or petrol makes no difference - you're still a ....



(Note: non-British-top-gear-watching readers might need to do some background reading before groaning)

Depends on you engine choices as well as the millage...

Last time I recommended not getting a car I was bombed with groans. So I'd say go for the greenest of them.

That Clarkson comment applies only to fast cars like rs4. Q3 is exempt.
Diesel is a vile fuel. Buy petrol as you will only spend a tiny bit more on fuel
Actually, i am looking at q3 myself. How long do you have to wait for delivery?

In fact over here you can spend more on diesel than petrol depending on your millage break even....

For me always diesel, quieter, more economical and torque.
Surely a test drive of each fuel flavor will help you choose ?

For something like a Q3, diesel everytime.

But why the Q3?

I still don't get why if you want 4WD people they don't get an estate or normal saloon rather than the puffed up Tonka-Toy cars, like the Audi Qs and BMW Xs or Land Rovers.

We had a Disco, but only because we wanted 7 seats. If I wanted 5 and carrying capacity, I would have gone for an 4WD estate.

Currious why you write this. Equivalent powered engines will always be more economical if diesel (discounting any mixed/hybrid options), it's not like people buy a Q3 for it's sporty handling around corners. Oder?

__________________
Never let right or wrong get in the way of a good opinion

The choice is usually made based on your driving habits. If you do a lot of short hops, then get a petrol model. If you do a lot of long Autobahn drives, consider the diesel. -- Reason: The diesel particle filter will clog up if you don't do a long ride very often - it needs to run at highway speeds for more than 30 minutes in order to burn off the residues.

Another point to consider is if you are going to use the vehicle for towing or not. A diesel motor generates a lot more torque than a petrol engine, so it's better suited to pulling a trailer. (Another reason why lorries are all diesels...)

Finally, it depends on where you live. Diesel is more expensive in Switzerland, but less expensive in most other countries around here. I try to fill up my Audi in Germany or France, where diesel is about 15 Rappen per liter cheaper at the moment.

Diesel quieter than petrol? In which universe

JamesAG, said everything! Be VERY careful of the DPF (diesel particle filter). If you will use the car mainly for short city hopping, chances are the filter will clog up and you will have to replace it (I guess waaaay north of 3000 CHF for an Audi) and keep in mind that it is NOT covered by ANY warranity (because you can easily have it 'stuffed' every month if you are not careful, especially during the winter). I think it's only the French right now that do chemical regeneration of the DPF (Peugeot, Citroen), so you use the car however you want, wihtout worrying about the particles.

However, keep in mind that in some Cantons (at least it DOES apply for Vaud) if you have a DPF, you get a 50% tax discount(!).

Consider carefully your driving habits and choose accordigly!!! Good luck!

Diesel option will cost more, require more frequent servicing and though more economical, the fuel is more.

I looked at buying the diesel version of my current car (VW Polo) and it only became worthwhile if I did more than 25,000km per year, which I don't...

This is one of those really frustrating things, the cost for a main dealer DPF is as you say ludicrous and swayed in mystic sucking air through the teeth and the "well, there's ya problem" syndrome. Truth is you can tell the ECU to blow out the DPF instantaneously, but main dealers like to replace it....

makes sense - its easier to just look at the fuel saving when considering diesel....look at other non explicit points like
-servicing cost
-repair cost
-drive experience

if you add these up Petrol should outweigh Diesel - but check it out for yourself

Delivery time is around 5 months

The filter thing is to consider. Personally I do prefer petrol. Had a look around consumption and does not look like consumption for diesel is much better.

The engine on the Q3 are similar to the A4, and the Q3 is not much heavier.

The more research I do, the more confused I am getting.

Personally speaking the only way the diesel outplays a similar sized petrol motor is the range and I know what I am talking about I have an S6 4.2L V8 quattro that if I am very careful will do just under 400km on a full tank, a similar sized diesel would do about 700km.

I understand your question Carlos. I personally find the A4 a bit too big, whereas the Q3 seems to be easier to handle - I may be wronng. Plus I also like the looks of it.

I know exactly what you mean! I bought a mid size SUV, slightly bigger than q3, 6 months later the car looks like crap. It has more parking damage on it than i got in previous 20 years combined. I thought about downsizing and those sedans are not small at all. A6 station wagon is enormous, even a4 is quite large. Q3 looks big but the width and length are manageable. The other option is a3 sportback quattro.

Very hard to choose when you can't afford 2 cars but need one decent car ( in case a potential client sees it). I would be happy with a yaris probably but not as a sole car