Petrol versus Desiel Kontiki

Hi,
If you compare like with like then the petrol will have considerably more go then its equivalent diesel of the same vintage, fuel consumption wil be slightly higher but is approximately 10 p. per litre cheaper. You don't need to worry about the LEZ if thats a concern. Later turbo diesels probably caught up with and then passed the petrol but of course it depends on how much you are spending and what year the van is. My Symbol is a 2001 and returns about 23mpg without trying to drive econimically, spares are no problem, you will still have the same horrible sevel gearbox on the later ones but mine is still original after eight years, let us know what year the Swift is and I'm sure that owners will be along to let you know what to look out for,
Regards,
Chris.

Buy the petrol one and we can syphon it out to make petrol bombs when we blockage the towns and villages who don't like Motor homers

Loddy

Driving that beast of yours I bet you wouldn't miss the odd couple of gallons :roll: you could always let go with the black wasrte as a finale :lol:
Chris

ade2027 said:

Hi can anyone help us to make the right decision on buying a MH.
We are looking at a Kontiki / petrol 2ltr.
Has anyone got any comments on the petrol against the desiel bearing in mind the current fuel prices.
We will be carrying a 250 MX bike on a rack just not sure if the engine will be enough??

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Any petrol engined motorhome is worth considerably less that its diesel counterpart due to much less desirability by the general public. It may appear good value when you're buying as long as you remember this when selling. A petrol engined version is also unlikely to have power steering, as are most non-turbo diesel versions.

My Swift Kontiki has a diesel engine and I certainly would not change for a petrol. It is the 2.5 Turbo model but at 15 years old and over 100,000 on the clock I still expect it to run for many years to come.
Ian

Hi again,
It looks like it comes down to how much and how old. Make sure you go for a test drive and judge how it wil be when loaded up, its not going to be fast but you don't want to be embarrassed going up hills. If it were diesel there are various ways of tuning it for better performance but you need to bear in mind the vehicle age, best of luck,
Chris

Married to a sheik?

Petrol Kontiie must be on the old Talbot chassis with the rice pudding gearbox.

Watch out for rust in the bonnet and wings and check for damp in the habitation area.

How much is it?

Peter

Before worrying about engine power check that the Motorbike on the back will not put you over your permitted rear axle weight.

On an older MH I would expect it to put you WAY over !!

please check FIRST !!!

My only direct comparison would be when i had a caravan (Don't laugh)

Had a 2 litre petrol espace wich was totally useless
swapped it for a 2.9 diesel kia sedona and you didn,t know the caravan was there

You have not said which Kontiki but you must take into account the extra weight you are considering hanging off the back
It is dead easy to go overweight
150kg will = over 200kg on the rear axle when you take into account the leverage effect the bike hanging off the back will have

Alan H

Fatalhud said:

My only direct comparison would be when i had a caravan (Don't laugh)

Had a 2 litre petrol espace wich was totally useless
swapped it for a 2.9 diesel kia sedona and you didn,t know the caravan was there

You have not said which Kontiki but you must take into account the extra weight you are considering hanging off the back
It is dead easy to go overweight
150kg will = over 200kg on the rear axle when you take into account the leverage effect the bike hanging off the back will have

Alan H

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Whilst agreeing with you about it being 'dead easy to go overweight', Alan, I really don't 'get' this 'leverage effect' business. I understand perfectly the physics of levers and pulleys etc but what I can't get my head around is .... how a bike can weigh more when it's hung on the back of a van than it does when it's weighed on its own? Fundamentally a lever works by swapping distance for force - the greater the distance, the greater the force. But when being weighed a motorhome + bike is static - so where does the 'leverage effect' come in? Put a motorhome + bike on a weigh bridge and surely it weighs just the same as the weight of the motorhome plus the weight of the bike when weighed individually? Put it another way - on its own a lever isn't a lever - it's just a lump of iron!

Mrplodd said:

Before worrying about engine power check that the Motorbike on the back will not put you over your permitted rear axle weight.

On an older MH I would expect it to put you WAY over !!

please check FIRST !!!

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Now THIS advice I DO understand ! It's a simple, straightforward weighing exercise - and very valid for older motorhomes, as Mrplodd rightly says

JohnsCrossMotorHomes said:

Petrol Kontiie must be on the old Talbot chassis with the rice pudding gearbox.

Watch out for rust in the bonnet and wings and check for damp in the habitation area.

How much is it?

Peter

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Hi Peter thanks for that he wants 5999 but will probably drop, think we will give it a miss, no power stearing and a bit tatty insde might be more trouble that its worth but thanks anyway
Ade

A wise decision!

Peter

because it extends beyond the rear axle it pushes down on the rear axle and lifts the front axle. the rear axle is the fulcrum point.

Ian