Diesel 6 or Turbo Nutter

[Gotcha2]

So I am likely to be in the car market again Feb / March time. I currently run an A4 2.5TDI it is relatively quick in a smooth unhurried creamy kinda way, this car is a new departure for me in that most of my cars have been hot hatches or rice rockets (often both),CTR EP3,200SX, RX8 to name some of the last few motors. The new departure is due to the fact I now have a young child to consider. The car was always a stop gap and is getting to the point where I need to spend some more dosh and keep it for a few years or chop it in (170k and the cambelt needs doing, small amount of suspension work that sort of thing)

I do circa 20k a year mixed biz and personal mileage and want a car that is practical enough to cart about a young family but can be fun, the A4 feels a little slow but in the real world is still quicker than most things you come across (or at least it is driven more quickly anyrate !). With a budget of circa £7-10k, there is a good selection of kit and my heart is having trouble with my head........... Head says 330D, chipped up close to 50 Mpg, plenty of go RWD, Good residuals etc.... I can get into one with approx 80k or so with reasonable spec for that sort of dosh - For circa £7k I can easily get into a newer Focus ST which is far more my sort of car with circa 50k on the clock, chipped up again and I know they can be really quite special !!

So my questions really are does any one have any experience of running either cars, will a 330D keep the petrol head in me subdued (the A4 is not !), why is the focus so cheap and am I being stupid by even considering a petrol turbo with todays fuel prices, that sort of thing.............

Please help a fellow petrolhead bring this to a close as the diesels seem to offer it all but surely it can't be all good !

I am happy to consider different cars but these are the two that stood out whilst looking around