Hi folks,

Looking at replacing my other half's 1000cc Micra. Seeing as I've got a Fabia and it's pretty solid *touches wood* she's also looking at getting one, though she doesn't need the amount of poke my 1.9 Tdi has.

Is it worth looking at 1.9 Sdi if the deal's good enough? I mean are the Sdi's okay?

Cheers,

GM

Well they are economical but dreadfully slow. No turbo to go bang though Good strong engine as well.

Probably worth taking a test drive in one, see what you think Coming from a 1 litre micra I doubt theres much difference performance wise, just rattle wise

The fabia is heavier than the micra i think, so it is dreadfully slow. definitely take it for a good test, pulling away from junctions into traffic is going to be the main problem.

I had an octavia sdi for many years, wouldn't say " dreadfully" slow you just had to drive it differently to a tdi, i'd recommend one any day of the week, less to go wrong, better on fuel etc.. wish i still had one

I guess it really does depend on what the car is going to be used for... I have the TDI myself and couldn't begin to imagine having anything that doesn't move when you need it to but living in North Yorkshire, a lot of the back roads are terribly hilly and I need a car that can get up them no issue with a car full of equipment.

Have to say when ever I've read any post on the forum relating to buying an SDI, the owner always seems content

sdi for ultimate bargain basement motoring

It will run forever. A friend of mine bought a 9N Polo SDi not so long ago. I thought it was broken initially as you get no turbo surge, obviously

Epic fuel economy and will trundle along till the cows come home. But ultimately, for a diesel powered runabout from the VAG stable, I'd look for something with the 1.4TDi in it - probably a Polo...

Steve

Drove a MK1 Octy SDi and seemed to have plenty of poke.Was quite suprised

They go OK. SWMBO has a SDI and I have 1.4TDI. She wouldn't swop.I recently borrowed it to go from Flintshire down to London, up to Cambridge and home. No worries and comfortable cruising at 65 mph. No turbo is a nuisance overtaking, junctions not so much a problem with lots of low end torque and virtually unstallable.

I came from a felicia SDi to a Fabia TDi and the power difference was amazing

But it is what you get used to

As has been said , bargains out there , will last just about forever too

Mind my Fabia is now on 175k miles

So hopefully will still carry on for a while yet

But SDi , give it a try

Sarah

I have a TDI and would swap it for an SDi tomorrow

I have a TDI and would swap it for an SDi tomorrow

How come? just out of interest

As simple reliable transport, the Sdi engined fabias make perfect sense. They keep up with traffic ok, yes overtaking takes more thought than something with twice the power but ive never struggled in any of the ones ive driven.

Seem to be very very reliable as well:thumbup:

imo i would have a tdi, would not buy an sdi due to being too slow plus can get as good economy or even better economy out of a tdi

I get 60-61mpg mixed driving out of my SDI and 68-70mpg if i really nurse it. If you don't want to beat everyone away from roundabouts then the SDI is perfect.

Speaking to taxi drivers (like you do), they prefer the TDIs for reliability, SDI Octavias eat gearboxes apparently - not sure if this is the case with the Fabia though.

Fabia SDI engine is amazing. Would take one again if I couldn't afford the vrs.

SDI Octavias eat gearboxes apparently .

Quite true on early ones.You get about 150,000 out of a gearbox.

I seem to remember figures of half that being mentionned for the Octy SDI! :eek:

Me and Mrs Grr have both. I have a VRS, she has an SDI.

Neither would permanently swap but we both enjoy having the odd go in

each others. I love the way the SDI soaks up the bumps compared to the VRS.

And I'm not bothered by the lack of a turbo either when I drive it. It is what it is...

It reminds me of driving a van engine-wise, God knows, I've driven dozens of

vans over the years so I should know.. Economy is amazing. Mrs Grr has a hundred mile round trip to work, she does 4 days a week so thats 400 miles. She can usually manage that on a single tank full each week The factory stereo sounds loads better too even though it seems identical to the one in my VRS before my stealth shelf went in....

She always says I rev the nuts off of it though.....

:D:D

On that economy though, I'd expect way more out of the SDI to be honest. I'd quite easily get 400 miles out of the Fabia vRS, and that was running a hybrid

What sort of driving is she doing for those 400 miles?

Steve

She has a lot of traffic each day. the dartford tunnel is on her route.

She queues up every single day both ways. often for over 3 whole junctions.

When the road opens up so does she and its not unusual for her to cruise

at 80-90 mph. As previously said acceleration is poor but builds up to a good pace.

Also she does little bits of running about to the gym and shops etc too and I wasn't counting that in the 400 miles. Also her brakes are LOADS better than mine. She always complains that the VRS is too hard to stop in a hurry. I think its fine but the first time I brake

in hers when I use it I nearly launch myself out of my seat. :eek:

If she is sitting in the dartford tunnel, get an SDI as there is then no VNT turbo to get sticky and need replacing.

You misunderstand Mr Cheesemonkhai. We have already bought a pair of fabias.

I was just offering the OP my tuppence worth on this topic....

Great name by the way... Chuckle everytime I see it