TDI v Bi TDI

[Damobristol]

Hi all,

Still educating myself on the whole VW T6 subject so some advice would be very helpful.

From the little I've gleaned so far is this a fair summary? Or have I got things wrong?

BiTDI
- More power
- Less reliable (losing oil potential catastrophic)

TDI
- Less power
- More reliable

What about fuel economy? Servicing cost? Longevity?

Many thanks

 

[Shaun Witts]

Or TSI (if you can find one)
- More power
- More reliable
Actually, I don’t really know about “more reliable”, but the motor has been around for a while, and should be reliable enough (more so than a BiTDI at least).
Fuel economy? 27/28 ish mpg on a long, steady run. 21mpg around town or short trips. BUT, it can be converted to run on LPG, which is half the price!
Another plus, is that the petrol motor does not have the same emissions paraphernalia bolted to it, that seems to give so many issues.

 

[Damobristol]

Or TSI (if you can find one)
- More power
- More reliable
Actually, I don’t really know about “more reliable”, but the motor has been around for a while, and should be reliable enough (more so than a BiTDI at least).
Fuel economy? 27/28 ish mpg on a long, steady run. 21mpg around town or short trips. BUT, it can be converted to run on LPG, which is half the price!
Another plus, is that the petrol motor does not have the same emissions paraphernalia bolted to it, that seems to give so many issues.

I had a Mazda Bongo 2.5 V6 van converted to LPG. Ran like a dream and very economical. Pretty easy to find LPG with a bit of planning. I would get another - despite their age - but not compliant with ULEZ in Bristol.

 

[DaveD]

What about fuel economy?

If it's got more power it's using more fuel is a safe assumption.

 

[Crazymind]

TDI vs Bitdi both a pile off crap.
TDI 150 same mpg as Btdi.
TSI non existent on the market, the only one I drive is from Vw when my Van is in for repair I could barely average 21MPG on a mix of motorway and B roads. Can’t travel around Europe at 21mpg
On my Third Transporter and they all had their problems. I decided to go for Btdi and embraced the adventure VW provides with their crappy Van: will you make to the next place and back?

 

[Shaun Witts]

I had a Mazda Bongo 2.5 V6 van converted to LPG. Ran like a dream and very economical. Pretty easy to find LPG with a bit of planning. I would get another - despite their age - but not compliant with ULEZ in Bristol.

I usually stop at Morrisons at Cribbs Causeway for LPG when I’m down that way (I visit a company on Aztec Park occasionally).
A TSI T6 will be ULEZ complaint though, and as you are obviously familiar with LPG it’s got to be the way to go!

TSI non existent on the market, the only one I drive is from Vw when my Van is in for repair I could barely average 21MPG on a mix of motorway and B roads. Can’t travel around Europe at 21mpg

Ah, the beauty of LPG is that it gives you a 2nd tank, so I can get 300 miles from my LPG tank and 400 miles from my petrol tank! Not that I do, as I can just about get from Rotterdam to Munich with 1 LPG refill.
And LPG is more readily available in EU (at least Netherlands/Germany).

 

[Damobristol]

Ah, the beauty of LPG is that it gives you a 2nd tank, so I can get 300 miles from my LPG tank and 400 miles from my petrol tank! Not that I do, as I can just about get from Rotterdam to Munich with 1 LPG refill.
And LPG is more readily available in EU (at least Netherlands/Germany).

Where's the LPG tank located? Under the van?

 

[BuilderJay]

Bi turbo is just a gay form of TDi!
On a serious note the Bi turbo seems faster but on my last T5 I changed the injectors to a bigger nozzle one, hybrid turbo, inter cooler and a remap and went from 102bhp to 220bhp.
I ruined one gearbox then the recon one then detuned it to a safe 188bhp as put a new box in it from TPS. I made sure the remap was laggy in low gears to protect the box but it was ever so reliable and great on fuel! I’d vote Tdi all day long especially the early 1.9’s.

 

[Damobristol]

Bi turbo is just a gay form of TDi!
On a serious note the Bi turbo seems faster but on my last T5 I changed the injectors to a bigger nozzle one, hybrid turbo, inter cooler and a remap and went from 102bhp to 220bhp.
I ruined one gearbox then the recon one then detuned it to a safe 188bhp as put a new box in it from TPS. I made sure the remap was laggy in low gears to protect the box but it was ever so reliable and great on fuel! I’d vote Tdi all day long especially the early 1.9’s.

I have ULEZ to contend with so that rules out the 1.9s. Late 2016 onwards.

 

[BuilderJay]

I have ULEZ to contend with so that rules out the 1.9s. Late 2016 onwards.

You never said that

 

[Damobristol]

You never said that

No, I didn't. It's made things a lot more complicated as it'll be my only vehicle.

 

[Shaun Witts]

Where's the LPG tank located? Under the van?

My tank replaces the spare wheel. Though I do tend to take the spare when going to Europe, but not otherwise.

 

[Damobristol]

My tank replaces the spare wheel. Though I do tend to take the spare when going to Europe, but not otherwise.

Ah, same as I did for my Bongo.

 

[FerrisBFW]

TDI vs Bitdi both a pile off crap.
TDI 150 same mpg as Btdi.
TSI non existent on the market, the only one I drive is from Vw when my Van is in for repair I could barely average 21MPG on a mix of motorway and B roads. Can’t travel around Europe at 21mpg
On my Third Transporter and they all had their problems. I decided to go for Btdi and embraced the adventure VW provides with their crappy Van: will you make to the next place and back?

Me too New engine and turbo/s installed this week at Retro Resus. All suspension and brakes of my old van has been checked/replaced/upgraded. It drove like a dream before the engine was replaced. Now in theory sit back and use it.

It was a cheap, slightly battered 2014 Caravelle with 130k miles on the clock from a local business. Full VWSH, drove nice right from the start. Amazingly quiet, fully loaded all over the UK and Europe last year. Its a DSG 4 motion and was doing mid 30's with just me, and 31'ish loaded. I think its a keeper (well it is now).

I was chatting to a 6.1 Caravelle owner a couple weekends back, he said it was terrible. Breaks down all the time... wth!

 

[Crazymind]

My first Transporter was a keeper.
My second was a keeper.
My third is a keeper…
My 4th…
They are a keeper till they are not.

 

[B.different]

Mines going to be a keeper for the foreseeable as its got a new engine coming from vw next week the blasted thing. The only things that haven't been changed underneath is the steering rack and dsg box apart from that everything is brand new. And even though its cost me an arm, a leg and an eye I still love the bloody thing.

 

[Damobristol]

Mines going to be a keeper for the foreseeable as its got a new engine coming from vw next week the blasted thing. The only things that haven't been changed underneath is the steering rack and dsg box apart from that everything is brand new. And even though its cost me an arm, a leg and an eye I still love the bloody thing.

What was yours? TDI or BiTDI?

What does an arm, leg, and eye come in at these days?

 

[B.different]

Bitdi I knew the potential issues before I bought it, but with the spec and condition it was in I took a chance especially with the amount of poor examples out there. Would I have bought it if I knew? Yeah I would as I'm that kind of dipstick that changes everything anyway (not usually engines) and like I said it was the best one I could find within my budget. And the answer to your question is I don't want to think about it as its more than a tenner

 

[bluezie]

In my opinion, the older 140BHP, and current 150BHP variants of these engines are the best all rounder. Plenty of oomph for most situations without the serious issues the BiTDI's have.

 

[Farnorthsurfer]

BiTDi, do a forum search for 'EGR Delete', cough, nothing to see here