While our 2001 Fabia 1.9tdi was in for some minor repairs we rented a "courtesy" car from the dealer.

This turned out to be a 1.4tdi "Young", with around 1000km on the clock.

What a nasty growly lump of 3 cylinder nastiness powers this. What a shame!

SWMBO commented that if this had been a test drive with a possible purchase in mind she would not have bought one.

The engine noise was so intrusive and harsh that a journey of any length would have been torture.

What a relief to get our own car back, which despite being over 7 years old is still pretty refined for a diesel - and of course a lot quicker and with much more torque.

What is the opinion of other people on the VW group three pot engines?

I love mine.

It's obviously a diesel when stopped in traffic but once you start cruising it's fine.

Mine is a 3 but I did a test drive of a 2 which was noisier. I wonder if they put extra padding in the 3 to reduce the noise?

If you've got a 1.9TDi Fabia maybe you should try a MkII Fabia 1.9TDi 105BHP and see what you think of that engine.

James is correct ,I have a 1.9 tdi fabia 3 done 9000 miles and with a few miles under her belt she is quieter and smoother, great mid range and brilliant engine on motorways . I test drove a fabia 1.4 and the first impression was it very noisy compared to other diesels I have had, Renault and Nissan .

Edited 19 September, 200817 yr by mellyboy

I would agree that the 3 pot is a bit noisy during acceleration but I think that the growl is a pleasant sound and isn't excessive at steady speeds.

Nearly 30k covered in a 1.4TDi 2 and no complaints from me. It isn't silent but then I wasn't expecting it to be. Can easily have conversation on the m/way with passengers and without needing to raise voice. Yes, you can tell it is a diesel but the positives outweigh the negatives.

Landsker...they are not the quietest of engines, I would agree, but there would be something wrong if you had a very quiet 1.4TDI unit. I bought mine because of that high pressure diesel sound it makes! It is however built to be very strong, powerful and efficient, but by slightly deaf design engineers!! It lasts and lasts, is massively reliable, and rewards with huge mpg especially if driven with economy in mind. On an economy run even the 1.9 cannot touch it for mpg.

However, my new estate 1.4TDI PD 80 is getting noticeably quieter as the miles go on (she's done 1500miles). If the car you drove only had about 600 miles (1000k) on the clock, it will be a bit noisier than when it has a few more thousands of mile showing. They do become less harsh, quieter, and more powerful as the miles go on.

But here's a thing...if as I did, you read the road tests and reviews online and in the mags, the testers all have different opinions on which motor is quieter...1.9 or 1.4 TDI? Read one test and the reviewer is saying what a dreadful engine the 1.9 is, being noisey and unrefined, while another is saying it's nice and quiet and refined. Same with the 1.4TDI too. Although, I must say all seem to agree the 70BHP 1.4TDI is somewhat thrashier and noisier than the 80bhp 1.4TDI. As an ex motor technician I have driven many diesels and can tell you that even two cars with the same engine and miles on the clock can sound completely different. One noisier than the other. I won't go into all the reasons for that but often it is to do with the way the engine has been treated in the first 1000 miles of it's life. You pays yer money and takes yer choice!

After owning a Fabia MK 1 for three years I moved to a new Fabia 1.4 TDI PD expecting a noiser ride which of-course I do have. But I have to say it must be what you get used to. Stationary ticking over of-course its a diesel for sure but at speed it is really not a distraction. The growl together with the turbo kick comes in when you call for power but as others have commented its sounds and feels most reassuring. With figures regulary into the low seventies on mpg on my 22 mile motorway journey with just a moderate readjustment of driving style I'm certainly not complianing.

Full marks for my three pot diesel -what a great little car!

in praising the 1.9 I should concede 1.4 noisier or not £35 a year road tax ,no congestion charge I am led to understand, if you wish to drive in London it must be the best choice

Had a 1.9 TDI 3 as a courtesy car when mine was in for a service, was really looking forward to it.

Positives are that it is definatley more economical than my 1.4 TDI, 57 mpg vs 52 on my 40 mile commute to work.

Negative is that it seems to roll an awful lot more and feels heavier through the bends.

The next week my wifes car was in for a service and I had a 1.9 TDI Golf as a courtesy car, the engine suited that car fine (same mpg as the Fabia). I think the 1.9 is just a bit too big for the Fabia.

Black, interesting comment about the fuel economy difference. You don't say what BHP your 1.4TDI is but if it is the 80bhp I would think you should be getting much more to the gallon on your commute. The 1.4 is usually more economical than the 1.9...except if driving very very fast.

Mine easily does 59mpg at 65-70mph on my trip to work which is shorter than yours and involves some town work too and messing about in traffic. So two things if I may ask...have you reset your trip/fuel mileage calculator before you do your trip to work recently? Secondly, it may indicate your 1.4TDI needs a treatment of diesel injector cleaner....such as Millers or some other proprietary brand. It really does make a difference and all diesels should be treated at least once a year. Hope you don't mind me asking/suggesting that...you may already know/have done that.

I have used fuel injector cleaner about 5,000 miles ago and started to go on an economy drive, no more than 65 on the motorways. Under those circumstances was getting an easy 62 mpg.

My commute does involve a reasonable climb on a country road but I do not drive that fast. My last car was a 185 bhp D5 volvo and I would get about 44 mpg on the same commute and that was definately driving faster.

I think the gearing on the 80 bhp Fabia is not ideal. The engine has enough torque low down to cope with something a bit longer and perhaps that is the drifference, the 1.9 has longer gearing in 5th.

Bought the Fabia to release less carbon rather than to save cash. I think it is a great car as well made as the Volvo and far superior build to any VW I have owned but next time (18 months from now) I will probably move back to a bigger car. Present thought is a diesel BMW 3 series which seems to at least match the mpg of the Fabia.

Black...very interesting, especially the bit about the Volvo doing all those miles per gallon. At the end of the day fuel economy seems to be a very individual thing affected by many factors, driving style/speed, the roads/journey you have to do, and the car of course.

I also pilot a GSX1400 motorcycle everyday (1402cc 4 cyl engine). Performance is off the scale if needed (0-62 in 2.57secs!)...but the best I get out of it fuel wise is 42mpg average but 36mpg around town. Not brilliant for a bike but on par with most other superbikes. I'm about to change it for one of these super cruiser maxi scooters, a Suzuki Burgman 650. These are still very fast indeed and with Tiptronic and fully auto tranny still manage around 65mpg average. My Fabia beats that by some if driven at the same speeds as I will be riding the bike at. Just shows how good car engines are these days eh!

I had an indentical 1.4tdi 80 when mine was in for service.

This one only had a few thousand miles on the clock and it was surprising how the engine was more noticeable, and the mpg was significantly lower. Reinforcing the generally held position that these engines need at least 5 or 6k under the belt before settling in.

I just had a 1.4TDi courtesy car too. Nice light blue with white roof colour scheme (though I still wouldn't pay £350 for a white roof).

Took me a while to work out which engine it was (had to look at the tag on the key in the end). Thought it was a bit noisier and gruffer than my 1.9TDi at idle and low revs but does become very smooth as the revs increase. It revs very easily and surprised me how quick it was once you get the turbo going!

Only used it round town so didn't get chance to try it at motorway speeds.

I did notice that the engine was very flat compared to mine though before the turbo kicks in. In the 1.9TDi, I can pull away easily and quickly from 1000rpm. The 1.4TDi seemed to struggle and bog down at anything under 1500rpm. Wasn't even that keen to pull from 30mph in 4th (mine pulls happily from 20 in 4th!)

Personally, I feel I made the right choice. For town driving, the noise and inflexibility low down would put me off the 1.4 and I imagine it wouldn't be quite as good as the 1.9 at higher speeds either.

I guess it's cheaper on tax and in the right circumstances, marginally more economical but not enough difference to persuade me.