Hello to all

I currently drive a 140 BHP PD Octavia which will be 3 years old next May. Ordinarily I would be keeping it at least until then, but with the 15% discount and 0% finance offer at the moment, it may make more sense to change it early.

The 15% offer expires at the end of this month, so I will need to decide fairly quickly if I'm going to change the car. I had intended waiting until the new 2.0 CR diesel was available (143 BHP?) as the PD unit is a bit noisy, but I'm now wondering whether to go for the 1.8 TSI petrol. By all accounts it is very refined but has good performance. I'm struggling to find a dealer with one as a demo, so would really appreciate comments from those Octavia 1.8 TSI owners (manual gearbox). In particular, the following would be helpful:

1. How quiet is the car with this engine?

2. What is the typical range from a tank of fuel or average MPG?

I would especially welcome comments from any owners who have changed from a 140 BHP PD Octavia who are able to make a direct comparison of noise/vibration/performance.

Thanks guys and girls

Glen

Edited 14 October, 200916 yr by Glen Mansbridge

1.8TSI is a lovely smooth engine, very torquey and easy to drive. Very quiet indeed, coming from a PD140 you would definitely not be disappointed. Expect mid 30's mpg, 40mpg on a run.

Progress Skoda in Bedford might still have their demo.

It is the quietest & smoothest engine I've ever driven.

I'm getting an average of 35 MPG.

I was driving a PD140 Scout for a day 2 weeks ago and was very pleased, when I got my 1.8TSI back. I would never change it for a diesel engine, no matter the MPG figure.

Diesel used to be the preserve of the high mileage business driver, partially due to the tax breaks and also the cost differential required considerable mileage to hit break even before they made sense. This is no longer the case and diesel technology is very much the future of motoring due to the fact that efficiency is so much higher than an equivalent petrol engine while it is much easier to reduce emissions - this is something that is going to be critical in years to come as governments clamp down further and further with "green" tax.

In addition, refinement has improved to the point where is is getting increasingly difficult to actually identify a diesel! A friend of mine is a dyed in the wool petrolhead with an almost pathalogical hatred of anything that burns the black stuff yet he was absolutely astonished at the refinement of my 170CR and I think it may even have "turned" him! oh er!

Anyway, I digress - small diesels are becoming increasingly common - my father has a Fiat Panda Sporting which uses the 1.3 multijet engine co developed with GM and used in the Corsa. This is a fantastic engine 74BHP (his is remapped to 95) and shows that derv can be as much if not more fun than the equivalent petrol. Oh he also gets 60mpg on a run, is exempt from the Congestion Charge and he pays......£30 a year tax!! Diesels are no longer that much more expensive than petrol - some have even reached parity, servicing is now similar cost..................

If I were you I'd consider waiting for the 140CR or bite the bullet and go for a VRS :-)

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE petrol engines - I love the free revving nature, the even spread of torque, the noise etc but a good diesel is a LOT of fun and one hell of a lot cheaper to run!

Edited 16 October, 200916 yr by wardth

Hi Wardth

Thanks for your reply - I've been a diesel convert since buying a BMW 320D in 2004 but there are a couple of aspects which are swaying me towards the petrol Octavia:

1. I used to own 1 car and cover about 25K miles a year - financially a diesel made a lot of sense. I am now lucky to own 2 cars (the other is a Mondeo ST220) so the amount of miles being driven in the Octavia is now "only" about 16K a year. I've knocked up a spreadsheet where I can specify the MPG of a diesel and petrol variant and the cost per litre for each type of fuel and it shows how many miles need to be covered before the additional cost of purchasing the diesel is recovered. At last check, based on petrol and DERV being the same price, it will take 60K miles before buying the diesel makes sense and as I replace my car about every 3 years, I might as well buy the petrol and save some money!

2. I find the PD diesel a bit noisy on long journeys and also if I belt along at motorway speeds, MPG drops to about 44MPG. If I drive like a grandad i get great fuel economy!

3. I like diesels because of their torque, which I believe is also the nature of the 1.8 TSI engine, only a lot smoother and quieter.

4. If I wait until the CR diesel is available, I lose out on the current financial deals.

I think I would miss the toys the Elegance has if I went for a VRS......

All the best

Glen

The primary reason that I chose the Elegance over the vRS is fuel economy, the vRS is a gas guzzler by comparison to the Elegance's 1,8.

But there's also there's the increased insurance due to the higher performance & when scroats see a performance car it makes it a thieve & vandal magnet too.

I also then thought about the performance of it and I asked myself; Where am I going to be able to use the performance of the vRS without plod, a gatso/SPECs camera or one of the village vigilantes/tree huggers causing me grief?

And TBH there's nowhere apart from a race track where I can use it.

The Elegance has enough power for my needs, mine will spend most of its time doing short commutes to/from work so the performance of the vRS would really have been wasted & at the end of the day when my Elegance comes it will come better equipped on a practical level than the vRS, I loaded my new one up with toys & it still came out £900 cheaper!

Hi Wardth

Thanks for your reply - I've been a diesel convert since buying a BMW 320D in 2004 but there are a couple of aspects which are swaying me towards the petrol Octavia:

1. I used to own 1 car and cover about 25K miles a year - financially a diesel made a lot of sense. I am now lucky to own 2 cars (the other is a Mondeo ST220) so the amount of miles being driven in the Octavia is now "only" about 16K a year. I've knocked up a spreadsheet where I can specify the MPG of a diesel and petrol variant and the cost per litre for each type of fuel and it shows how many miles need to be covered before the additional cost of purchasing the diesel is recovered. At last check, based on petrol and DERV being the same price, it will take 60K miles before buying the diesel makes sense and as I replace my car about every 3 years, I might as well buy the petrol and save some money!

Wow - I didn't realise there was that much of a price differential still. That pretty much seals it for you then - buy the petrol! Although one has to ask why buy anything if you've already got an ST220?!!!

2. I find the PD diesel a bit noisy on long journeys and also if I belt along at motorway speeds, MPG drops to about 44MPG. If I drive like a grandad i get great fuel economy!

The CR is SOOOOOO much more refined than the PD its untrue and is certainly not noisy!! I drove a PD back to back with the CR and I have to say I liked the "growl" of the PD but the power delivery was very "old school" turbo diesel....nothing nothing nothing WHOOOOSH rev limiter! The CR is much more refined - quieter and more even torque spread

3. I like diesels because of their torque, which I believe is also the nature of the 1.8 TSI engine, only a lot smoother and quieter.

The TSI is a cracking petrol engine

4. If I wait until the CR diesel is available, I lose out on the current financial deals.

Like I said, the choice is already made I think and financials are important - I bought a pre FL VRS for £15k because I simply couldn't stretch to the FL no matter what.

I think I would miss the toys the Elegance has if I went for a VRS......

Toys are toys and you soon get over them. I'm more interested in how a car goes, turns and stops that electric seats or dimming door mirrors. Thats said the MFD3 is cracking!! :-)

All the best

Glen

Good luck and enjoy the chosen car!

I have just ordered a FL Octavia 1.8 tsi LandK,taking advantage of the no VAT offer.Present car is a VRS Fabia,owned for 4 years from new- lovely car,no probs,and average of 47 mpg. I was thinking of getting a FL Octavia VRS petrol,but the spec of the LandK swayed it for me.Getting old now! Will let you know my thoughts when I have taken delivery and run it a while.

I'm holding onto my Elegance until the mk3 arrives in 2010/11.

Very pleased with the 57 plate 1.8 L&K I've had for 3 months. Averaging 37mpg over 2k miles with a mix of short city drives and a few longer trips. Careful driving can achieve 33+ on a short 3 mile city trip and 47+ on a long trip. My driving style now maximises mpg on short trips, but sacrifices mpg for reduced driving time and increased pleasure on longer trips. 1.8TSI is very quiet, smooth and has plenty of torque from 1500 up to the red line. This gives a relaxing, easy drive with power when required.

I’ve moved up from a 1.8 Honda Accord hatch. This had great reliability but poor fuel consumption. Rejected newer Accord (saloon only), Avensis T180 (poor, unrefined drive and sudden power surge), Mazda 6 (uncomftable short seats and lack of better electric seat models), Mazda 3, Golf, etc. (too small). Initially looking for diesel, but reports or turbo unreliability and noisy, unrefined engines put me off. Also, annual mileage is only 10k so fuel savings not large.

Don't like new car depreciation and used 1.8 L&K's are rare, but well worth searching out. Best features, for me, are:

1. The 1.8TSI engine;

2. Electric seats - far more adjustment to facilitate optimum comfort;

3. Xenon headlights - fantastic night vision;

4. 17" Sputnik alloys - vastly improved looks;

5. ESP and curtain airbags - safety and confidence, but hope I never need them!

6. Maxi-dot computer -great trip info and adjustment of features;

7. Did I mention the 1.8TSI engine?

8. Cruise control, multi CD/MP3, climate control, etc. taken for granted.

I would like to thank all the posters of useful information on this site, specifically headlight adjustment from UK to continental - works a treat.

Only problem with the car has been the fixed tow bar giving false rear parking sensor warnings. I don't tow, but did use a tow ball mounted cycle carrier and had the dealer refit the tow bar that the previous owner had fitted. False warnings cured by replacing the tow ball with a screw on carry-cycle bracket that is designed to fit between the bracket and tow ball casting; plus the fabrication of a special electrical socket bracket that mounts at 90 degrees close to the bumper.

I’m now a proud Skoda owner and will remain so if the reliability approaches Honda.