JeffS

I haven't seen many references to 1.4 tsi engine problems, but my 2010 36k Octavia (owned by me from new and dealer serviced to schedule) has just been diagnosed with camshaft adjuster problems. I thought it was a timing chain rattle for a second or two when starting from cold, but apparently the noises are very similar. Repair is costing £1035 and Skoda are covering the diagnostics and labour leaving me £496 to pay. Not too happy and I guess it will be Japanese or Korean engineering for me in the future. Never had a single problem of any kind (other than new batteries) from my previous two petrol engined Nissans which I drove for over 250k .......

Having now covered 15,500 miles from new I am now finding that fuel consumption from my 1.4 TSI estate is getting much better. Generally I get similar figures to the previous post, although on longer runs I am now regularly seeing around 48 mpg and when driving 110 miles to Leeds via M6/M62 a couple of weeks ago I manged 52.3 mpg (as heavy-ish traffic meant long distances at 60 to 65 mph). The ESSENTIAL factor is getting good fuel consumption from this engine is not to exceed 70 mph - cruising at 75 sees consumption drop to around 38 mpg and at 80 mph it is only 35 mpg (when my old BMW 528 is more economical). Similarly driving enthusiastically with no thought for economy (i.e. enjoying myself) drops consumption to 35-ish. At least you have the choice and getting 48+ isn't difficult in the right conditions.

I was initialy a little disappointed with the mpg I was getting. But after the first 8,000 miles things improved considerably (I have now done just over 10,000 from new) and I am regularly getting 42 to 43 mpg on local runs and managed 49.7 mpg on a 200 mile round trip to North Wales recently. Auto Express calculated last week that you have to do more than 30,000 miles a year to even break even if you buy an Octavia diesel and of course the TSI engine is just so much more refined. A no-brainer - although the salesman at the Skoda dealers said that peopl bought the diesels without doing their arithmetic ....

My experience of a 1.4 TSI is that fuel consumption starts to get much better after about 8k from new. Before then the best I could get was about 43 mpg st a constant 70, but a recent motorway trip of 300 miles (again mainly at 70) saw 49.6 mpg. In day to day urban running it has improved from 36 to 39 mpg. It is an amazing engine - smooth and with 200 Nm torque from 1500 to 4500 rpm it is so relaxing to drive. No point in going much over 4500 rpm though as suddenly it starts to feel like a 1.4 engine instead of a 2.5! It gets noisier above 4000 rpm as well.

I have had a 1.4 TSI from new (15 months ago) and the mileage is now just under 10k. Fuel consumption initially was disappointing - generally in the mid to late 30's with about 43 the best I could ever do on a long motorway journey sticking to 70 mph. However in the last couple of thousand miles things have started to improve a lot - a recent 300 mile motorway trip mainly at 70 resulted in 49.6 mpg. Day to day running is now giving around 39 and 45 is easily possible on local runs. The TSI engine produces plenty of torque all the way from 1500 to 4500 rpm and is so smooth and refined and in comparison I thought the 1.6 diesel was abysmal (and that is being kind) when i test drove it - but of course many people have got used to diesels and don't appreciate how good a modern petrol engine is. The only thing that I don't like is that cruising above 75 sees dramatic increases in fuel consumption - cruising at 80 means 35 mpg. My old BMW 528 (E39) is much more economical at high speed ......

The best product (i.e. much more expensive - but probably worth it) is the bumper protector from RGM Mouldings. I bought one last month for about £47 including VAT and postage. It fits perfectly and looks as though it's orginal equipment - very good quality. Very easy to fit too with self-adhesive tape, which seems to be very strong. JeffS

And I would rather have a vRS as well! But for the money the 1.4 TSI is very good - but there is no doubt that 200 bhp would be even better.

And the really impressive thing is how easily it copes with such high gearing. Before I had a test drive I really couldn't believe that a 1.4 engine would pull so well from such low engine speeds and wondered whether motorway inclines would mean changing down. No bother whatsoever. Having spent the last 10 years being frustrated at the lack of torque from 16 valve petrol engines, whilst not liking the narrow power band from many diesels, then the TSI engine is a revelation. Beautifully smooth, yet pulls well from 1200 rpm onwards. It is so much more relaxing to drive than my previous Nissan 2.0 Primera - I used to have to use 2nd gear out of roundabouts to out accelerate 130 bhp diesels ...... Fuel consumption is about 38 on my 8 mile journey to work (with lots of hills). Easy to get 43 + on a slightly longer run - and this from an engine that has done less than 1000 miles. I suspect that the change up points indicated are too low though - I think that they require you to put your foot down harder, whereas holding on to lower gear a bit longer means a lighter foot on the accelerator. I will be experimenting further over the coming months - but I have always been able to better the official fuel consumption figures on every car I have ever owned and I don't hang about either! quote name='ramonford' date='26 May 2010 - 14:10' timestamp='1274879420' post='1997190'] Thanks Jeff I just knew someone would have the info. I must say that I am quite pleased to hear the result. Even 30mph/1000 is very relaxing for motorways 34 (!!!) is even better. I will reply to this in due course when I get my car some time after 23rd June next.

I have a manual 1.4 TSI - so no direct knowlege, but I believe that the DSG box gives 34 mph per 1000 rpm. This compares with the manual box - 30 mph per 1000 rpm. JeffS

I have been driving my 1.4 TSI Elegance Estate since 30th April. It is on Bridgestone Turanza ER300 tyres and in my opinion the level of road noise is extremely low and the whole car is just sooo refined. A couple of weeks ago Autocar referred to their long term test car (a 1.4 TSI hatchback) as 'being more akin to a Mercedes than a Ford or a Mazda' - which certainly doesn't suggest that the Octavia is at all bad when compared with all the other cars that Autocar get their hands on. I wonder how much difference the variable boot floor makes - but it seems odd that opinions vary so much.

I have a Pure Move - bigger than a Pure PocketDAB at 15 x 8.5 x 2.5cm , but with 40 hours life from the rechargeable battery. I chose it over the Pure Highway because of the extended battery life and the fact that I want to be able to use it when out and about and not have to find that the battery is always about to expire. The Highway can be used away from the car, but only lasts about 15 hours. The sound quality via the Bolero is very good (so don't be put off if you hear the output from the built in speaker) and I find that reception is fine 99% of the time on the journeys I do. It is a good solution for when I am alone in the car, but I don't think that you can link it to an external aerial, so having to use the telescopic one on the radio isn't neat enough or convenient when you have passengers. I think that if you are thinking primarily of DAB in the car then the Highway is best. I should also say that all the Pure DAB radios I have tried are really impressive - much better than the Sony DAB I use at home.

It took 10 weeks, but it was an existing dealer order. Had to take what colour they had - satin grey - which looks ok[ quote name=dilly' date='28 April 2010 - 17:27' timestamp='1272472063' post='1968729] Jeffs How long did it take to get your 1.4 Elegance? I ordered mine earlier this month but there's still no build date. Skoda GB says there probably won't be until June, there's a delay on the Octavia and the works go on holiday for three weeks in the Summer...... I asked (semi-jokingly) if I'd get it by Christmas. Oh yes they said. You should do...

Was the Bodyguard product easy to fit? It is hard to get much of an impression from the web site and 'universal' kits are sometimes another of describing something that needs a lot of luck to get right! JeffS

I think that you will be surprised by the 1.4 TSI - I was, so much so that I will be collecting my new Elegance Estate on Friday. It feels like a MUCH bigger engine, thanks to 200nm torque between 1500 and 4500 rpm - the torque curve literally is flat all the way according to a spec I found somewhere on YouTube. By way of comparison the old 1.9 TDI engine produces 250nm at 1900 rpm - but in a much narrower band. At the moment I am driving a NIssan Primera 2.0 petrol - with max torque at 4500 rpm and about 15% less than the 1.4 TSI. In theory the Primera is a bit quicker, but in practice it is soooo easy to use the torque from the 1.4 TSI, so it felt quite a bit nippier than I am used to. I life in a part of the country where the roads are fairly quiet and I always exceed the 'Combined' mpg figures without really trying - I can get 43 mpg from the Primera on a reasonable run, so I am hopeful of 45+ from the new car. I didn't drive the 1.6 diesel - but I read plenty of reports saying that it is very sluggish at low revs and generally it is damned by faint praise even on this forum. What's more the diesel is considerably more expensive than the petrol engine - £1900 or so and no 4 cylinder diesel can come near a petrol engine for refinement (the 6 cylinder diesel in the Jaguar XF is amazing though). So unless you are driving mega-miles it has to be a 1.4 TSI. Whar Car say that the 1.4 TSI is the one to go for - "We love this little engine" as do most of the magazines - Autocar, AutoExpress etc. I rest my case.

Thankfully I heard yesterday that my car has reached the dealer and I pick it up on Friday - Yippee!! I feel that the dealers are having to struggle with an inadequate information system and I told them that in an age when I can routinely track the progress of inexpensive items bought online it isn't acceptable to spend £1000's on a car and then have to put up with such uncertaintly about delivery dates. I am assured that Skoda UK are well aware of the problem and my comments will be passed on to the regional manager. Glad to have all this nonsense out of the way and I am looking forward to actually driving it. I haven't read too many reports on here about the 1.4 TSI engine - although I was hugely impressed with it on the test drive and it is always the one recommended by the motoring magazines - What Car say "we love this little engine". It certainly felt livelier than my 2.0 Nissan Primera and I am hoping that it gives the best of both worlds with 200nm torque between 1500 and 4500 rpm but with petrol refinement. I had set out with the intention of buying a diesel - but the 1.4 TSI was a revelation and frankly the sums just don't add up unless you do a higher mileage than I do (about 12000 a year). Interesting though that according to the dealer many people who only do about 5000 miles a year go for diesels - and on the basis of costs - diesel brainwashing perhaps. Anyway I will post my impressions of the 1.4 TSI in a week or two.

It was an existing dealer order - otherwise I guess it would be a few weeks more yet. I think that the quality of the information provided about delivery is poor. I have bought plenty of new cars by factory order in the past and I have never known such uncertainty.

I must be getting too impatient waiting for delivery of my 1.4TSI Elegance Estate (ordered 20th February, built on 8th April). Having been told that it had arrived at Grimsby on 12th April I was becoming alarmed at how long it seemed to be in transit to the dealer - had it been damaged? - had it 'disappeared'? I was told yesterday that the information I had ben given was wrong - the car had arrived at Emden on 21st April and was on a ship that had left for Grimsby on the 22nd (yesterday). I remembered seeing a posting from about being able to track the shipping movements and the names of two of the ships - SCHELDE HIGHWAY and ISCAR HIGHWAY. Googling 'SCHELDE HIGHWAY' took me to the MarineTraffix.com website. Selecting 'Ports' and 'Emden' showed that a K-Line vehicle transporter called the MAIN HIGHWAY had just left bound for Grimsby. Selecting 'MAIN HIGHWAY' brought up a map showing the ships position, course and speed - oddly fascinating. Looking again I know that MAIN HIGHWAY docked in Grimsby at 12.14 today - so hopefully my car is now in the country at least. No doubt it will take forever to get from Grimsby to the dealers. Am I being realistic in hoping that it will reach them (in the Midlands) by the middle of next week and be ready for collection on 1st May?