Oh , the things we do for our children:O

I am still on the trail for an Octavia diesel for son. He now wants to know if there is much difference in the driving experience of the 1.9 tdi as opposed to the newer (?) 2.0 tdi. Does the different engine in an ambiente/elegance make much difference and what difference , if any , does it have on road tax ?

Which would you go for , as I know nowt about either !

Many thanks...again.

Brian

The 2.0 should be a good bit faster, it has an extra 35bhp and a LOT more torque.

You want a MK1 or 2 Octy? If its a MK1 then forget the 2.0TDI as it was never fitted. It had different power versions of the 1.9.

Having gone from a 1.9 PD130 in the Fabia to a 2.0 PD140 in the Leon, the 2.0 is a little quieter, a little smoother, feels slower but isn't- the torque doesn't come in such a big lump, and it revs more easily.

Having looked at MkII Octavias in the £4000 price bracket, what I can tell you is that you wouldn't want one as they seem to me high mileage rough examples. From the ones that I saw it also appears that the MkII interior doesn't wear as well as the MkI either.

Thank you, more to ponder.:confused:

Brian

Beware that some of the TDi 140's are very thirsty. I had a MKII estate with the DSG box and always struggled to get better than 42-43 mpg where as my MKI TDi 110 easily gives me 10mpg more under the same conditions of town + motorways. The 140 was even worse in gentle driving, around the country lanes on holiday in Jersey (max speed 30 mph !) I could not even get 40 mpg where as the 110 gave me 60mpg on a similar holiday around the lanes of Cornwall. However the torque of the 140 was more fun and all the cars behind disappeared in the smoke when I put my foot down . I assume that this shows the poor factory setup of some of the PD engines.

Maybe there was something wrong with yours then as my 2.0 never goes below 50mpg. Its been 100% reliable and runs very smoothly.

I was recently facing this decision and after a lot of time searching for information about long term reliability plumped for the 1.9 engine.

The strong impression I gained was that, compared to a 1.9 TDi PD130, the 2.0 TDi PD140 wasn't much more powerful, tended to be noticeably thirstier, and there was some doubt that it would be as reliable over the long term.

Those combined opinions, especially the long term reliability, swung it for me.

I think the 1.9PD 130BHP state of tune was probably, all points considered, one of the best car diesel engines - but then I'm biased.

Not many PD130's about though in the MK1. I'd spend the extra for a Mk2 Octy - much more car for your money than the Mk1. That design is over 10 years old now and feels it IMHO.

Just to clarify a few points:

I am assuming you are referring to the Mk2 Octavia? If so this is in the wrong section hence the confusion.

The Mk2 has the 1.9TDI which is an 8 valve unit with 105BHP, the 2.0TDI is a 16 valve unit so better at higher revs and produces 140BHP, it is also fitted with a 6 speed box.

The 1.9 is a tried and tested power plant but there is a considerable difference between the 2 units in terms of power, torque and driving comfort thanks to the extra gear on the 2 litre.

The latter can be a thirsty engine though and reliability can be an issue, Dual mass flywheels and turbochargers being the more common problem - common on this forum at least as people are more inclined to come here to moan about a fault on their car which skews things a little.

My 2.0TDI Octavia has been in pieces for almost 2 weeks while they try and nail a cold starting problem :thumbdwn:

If consumption and reliability are the big factors I would opt for the 1.9.

If driving comfort and a little more poke are important then the 2.0 is the way to go. OTOH you can remap the 1.9 so it delivers similar power output to the 2.0 unit.

There's plenty of 130's about if you keep your eye open. You might have to wait a few days but hey - it's worth it. The newer design requirements in terms of emission etc. are exactly why, being an older design, it IS better in 4 out of 5 respects, and lets face it, if a very very minor loss of refinement is going to bug you, you wouldn't be looking at a diesel engine in a modest car anyway!

How about this one?

TDI 130 Elegance, seems cheap and low mileage too..

2003 SKODA OCTAVIA ELEGANCE TDI GREY on eBay (end time 14-Nov-09 17:30:11 GMT)

Just to throw my 2p in.

if the OP is talking about MkII Octavias (as I assume they are, as the 2.0 wasn't available in the MkI) then I spent the back end of 2005/early 2006 swapping between a series of 2.0 and 1.9 diesel elegance estates as company cars, as the place I worked for fell out with the lease company and I had to make do with a series of weekly and monthly lets.

The two cars are entirely different animals. The 2.0 is a proper motorway cruiser with bags of torque for easy lane changing overtaking, and is a joy to drive on twisty, uphill roads (I did a lot of driving in the Yorkshire dales), being eager and responsive. It compared very favourably to the 2.0FSi Audi A3 I was also occasionally driving at that time (and subsequently kept for 3 years) in both handling and acceleration. In fact I would say that the 2.0 TDi with the six speed box was a better drive on motorways because of the vast amounts of torque on offer.

However, the fuel consumption was quite high for a diesel, probably because it was sooo easy to drive it a little harder than normal.

the 1.9 on the other hand felt like a run of the mill motor (despite it being the exact same spec level) as on twisty stuff and motorway overtakes it was really fussy about being in the right gear as there was far less torque. However, round town the difference was less noticeable. The big plus though was the fuel consumption, and the insurance will be a lot cheaper as well (I don't know how much as I was on company insurance at the time). Just check out how many taxis are 1.9's against the 2.0. They chose them because they are economical.

You can probably tell that I always wanted the 2.0 if possible when the cars got regularly swapped, and in fact on one occasion I got so fed up with crawling up the side of a mountain in the dales to see a client that I pretended to have a breakdown as I knew that i was promised a 2.0 next.

The OP hasn't said how much they want to spend, so I don't know if the £4k mark is right, maybe they have more to play with.

TBH though I would be either tomorrow, but if I wanted to spoil myself the 2.0 would win hands down.

HTH

if the OP is talking about MkII Octavias (as I assume they are, as the 2.0 wasn't available in the MkI) then I spent the back end of 2005/early 2006 swapping between a series of 2.0 and 1.9 diesel elegance estates as company cars, as the place I worked for fell out with the lease company and I had to make do with a series of weekly and monthly lets.

While you make good points if the OP is only considering a MkII as, I think, the choice is between a 1.9 TDi PD 105PS engine with a 5 speed gearbox and a 2.0 TDi PD 140PS engine with a 6 speed gearbox, and the extra torque of the more powerful engine allows for closer gear ratios often making driving more pleasurable.

However that the OP posted in the MkI forum implies they are also interested in older cars. In that case the 1.9 TDi engines came in a range of configurations and power outputs. I think that only the PD 130PS version came with a 6 speed gearbox, so if that is important then the choice is more resticted. But there is also a very common non-PD 110PS engine mated to a 5-speed gearbox which is much more easily found within the OP's budget.

When I went for a test drive in a Mk1 Octavia with the 110PS engine, I found the gap between 1st and 2nd to be a bit unpleasent, but once the car was moving I was quite surprised at how good it felt. Notwithstanding that I ended up searching for a 130PS engined model because I wanted a car that I found more fun to drive, but I was also willing to pay a bit more than the OP's budget.

For a Mk1 diesel i think the 110 was the best all rounder made and great MPG too