I'm looking at trying to get a (used) diesel vrs in the next few days and have a few last minute questions hopefully people can help with? Can anyone tell me the real world difference in the economy of the PD and CR?

I seem to remember people in the past saying the power delivery on the CR was smoother too?

When did the CR engine get released and is there an easy way to tell which is which for an amateur?

Finally on to prices....

Any suggestions on how much should I be paying for something up to around 3 years old with up to 70k on the clock?

I've seen a PD vrs with just under 100k and one owner, just over 3 years old for 7950 - fair price? Seems a bit high to me?

Thanks in advance!

PS, if you have something that I might be interested in send me a PM pronto - I'm off work tomorrow and on a mission to find something suitable asap!

Edited 28 February, 201115 yr by DangerMouse

Me thinks around 2008.

CR is quieter and power delivery is linear.

PD power delivery is all or nothing. I didn't like it personally, but I know many people did. Makes the car feel faster, even if it isn't.....

Mike

Me thinks around 2008.

CR is quieter and power delivery is linear.

PD power delivery is all or nothing. I didn't like it personally, but I know many people did. Makes the car feel faster, even if it isn't.....

Agreed!

I used to have a Passat PD140 and it really was all or nothing. My new CR VRS is so much smoother. Many people still prefer the PD though. If you can, take a new VRS for a test drive from a dealer and then try a PD. you will see a huge difference

Edited 28 February, 201115 yr by gwyn

You will tell the difference straight away. The CR sounds almost petrol like. It redlines at 5k whereas the PD is 4.5k

I had a 150PD Leon Cupra and it genuinely felt like a kick in the backside when the turbo kicked in. I've only started driving a vrs 170CR in the last few weeks and the CR could not be further from the PD. It sounds like a petrol and power delivery is far more linear. It isn't as exciting as the PD but it is quicker overall.

The PD would give up way too early on delivery. But 2nd gear ~1900rpm was immense.

As for economy, I can't really say as they're quite different cars. The 170CR is a tad less economical than my 150PD from the figures I've calculated so far but only by around 5-10mpg.

Edited 28 February, 201115 yr by Elliptical

I had a PD170 and agree it was all or nothing. Very frustrating around town as 1st was useless and 2nd shredded tires very quickly as the lump of torque came in one go and span the front tires. Quick getaways were very difficult. 3rd gear upwards was great so on the motorway it was lovely. Economy was poor as well, no better than 42 mpg average compared to the CR which is much better.

Edited 28 February, 201115 yr by ima

The PD's fuel consumption is worse by 10-15mpg as well.

The PD's fuel consumption is worse by 10-15mpg as well.

Okay its knock the the PD now that they have brought out the CR. I remember when everyone was saying the PD was the bees knees when they came out!!!

I have tried both for towing a caravan and for me the PD has more grunt lower down. I found you had to wind the CR up-smoother but pretty gutless. I dont like the CR's quietness-I like to hear the engine running!. As far as fuel consumption I wouldnt put too much emphasis on the 10-15% difference. Its all a matter of how the car is driven.

I'm looking at trying to get a (used) diesel vrs in the next few days and have a few last minute questions hopefully people can help with? Can anyone tell me the real world difference in the economy of the PD and CR?

I seem to remember people in the past saying the power delivery on the CR was smoother too?

When did the CR engine get released and is there an easy way to tell which is which for an amateur?

Finally on to prices....

Any suggestions on how much should I be paying for something up to around 3 years old with up to 70k on the clock?

I've seen a PD vrs with just under 100k and one owner, just over 3 years old for 7950 - fair price? Seems a bit high to me?

Thanks in advance!

PS, if you have something that I might be interested in send me a PM pronto - I'm off work tomorrow and on a mission to find something suitable asap!

Edited 1 March, 201115 yr by morganic

You will tell the difference straight away. The CR sounds almost petrol like. It redlines at 5k whereas the PD is 4.5k

Does it my PD Redlines about 5k

The CR is definitely petrol like in how it sounds and very linear in its power delivery. Look at this thread as to why it is quieter:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/166706-cr-vs-pd-engine/page__view__findpost__p__2265368

I have a PD130 Octavia Est and a TDI VRS (CR170). The CR170 is like a petrol, you need to rev it. The PD is classically diesel, I never needed to go above 3k revs as there was so much torque from v low revs. Economy is 5-10mpg better with the PD which is rather handy just now. Overall, I prefer the way the PD puts down the power/torque.

Fuel ecomony is the same. Gone from a 130PD to a 170CR and no noticable difference in fuel comnsumption. May be lower if you are doing lots of short journies as the CR takes longer to warm up, but then you should be questioning why you are buying a diesel in the first place!

Edited 13 March, 201115 yr by jrw

Having gone from a pre F/L PD vRS to a F/L CR vRS in my view the CR is noticeably smoother and power delivery is spread wider, therefore it doesn't have quite the apparant kick that the PD had, but performance is the same.

As for fuel economy, I reckon my CR is about a 1 to 2 mpg improvement over the PD (average of 41/42 in PD, 43/44 in CR). It is also in a lower car tax band too (£125).

My PD also had the full compliment of DPF issues resulting in at least 4 or 5 stays at the garage whilst they diagnosed the latest cause of the "illuminating dashboard".

So far, touch wood, my 8.5K mile CR has been reliable.

In conclusion then, get a CR if you can find one in your budget, but you'll still enjoy a PD if you can't.

Me thinks around 2008.

CR is quieter and power delivery is linear.

PD power delivery is all or nothing. I didn't like it personally, but I know many people did. Makes the car feel faster, even if it isn't.....

Mike

I would make sure if you go for a cr engine that it is a cr,my 170 rs was registered in July 2008 on a 08 plate and has the PD engine..Never really had any problems as far as wheel spinning only when i first had the car and spun the wheels in 3rd gear a few times,but that was just getting the feel of things being a new car,obviously i could wheel spin all the time if i wanted but if you are a good driver you should know how much pressure you need to accelerate..As far as the pd engine it does give a bit of a kick and will hold you back in the seat if you give it some gas.

Edited 13 March, 201115 yr by Dolla

The PD's fuel consumption is worse by 10-15mpg as well.

The difference on paper is just 2mpg which seems to largely agree with the figures people are submitting to mpg calculation sites and certainly nothing remotely like 10-15mpg worse off for the PD engine.

To those comparing the older 1.9TDI engine to the CR 170 engine I'd note that the 1.9 and 2.0 TDI PD engines are fairly different, I had the 1.9 PD150 engine and have gone to the 2.0 TDI 170 engine and I find the two engines quite different particularly in fuel economy as the 2.0 engine is worse off than its predecessor which I assume is largely down to the DPF.

John

I have gone from the PD170 to the CR170. I would agree with the comments on the power delivery both have their good points for different reasons. The PD was a bit more fun due to the huge shove of power at around 1800rpm but there was nothing much below this which made it hard to drive smoothly. The CR is much smoother but does lose a little of the fun of the older PD. On fuel ecomony the CR is better especially on a longer run. On my 10 mile run to work each day I get about 2 to 3 miles per gallon better ecomony but on a long run the difference is more like 5 or 6 mpg so not a huge difference but it all helps.

If you are looking at 3 year old cars then you will not get a CR anyway so not much of an issue. Last summer I traded my 56 plate PD VRS with 33k miles for £9.5k so the price you have found on the one above does not sound too bad.

The difference on paper is just 2mpg which seems to largely agree with the figures people are submitting to mpg calculation sites and certainly nothing remotely like 10-15mpg worse off for the PD engine.

John

I used to give my A3 some welly everywhere, it used to get 33/36mpg, on taking it easy I averaged 41. I take it easy nearly all the time in the Octy and get 50/55mpg.

I know some 170pd's were better than others, take a read of the A4 forum on VWAUDIFORUM to see, some people were getting 36 when taking it easy.

I know my 3 year 80k ownership and 1 year 36k ownership over different road conditions routes isn't exactly a controlled scientific study. For me with my two cars it's a pretty good comparison though. For other people's experiences maybe not so.

Was your A3 four wheel drive though as they took a serious hit on the fuel economy compared to other mk V based cars with the same engine.

You're right though, your ownership is not a scientific study nor does the data seem even remotely typical, I'd say average figures from a collection of cars is a lot more accurate which show a much smaller difference in mpg.

John

We have both the pd 170 in a VRS octy and the CR170 in superb 2

I've dyno'ed them both on the same dyno and I'd agree with 2mpg difference since the CR is marginally better on fuel on average probably more so on a long trip but never 10-15mpg different

Since a picture speaks a thousand words the 198hp is the pd and the 200hp is the CR

To sum is up the CR is more petrol-like, quiet and refined a much better cruiser, the pd is punchier and more fun for hooning dare I say it more suited to the VRS

I bought an 07 56 plate vrs pd 170 last year and driven sensibly am managing 40mpg on my stop start journeys that we're told will be bad for the dpf. The only issues I had were a main dealer that sold me a car in march with a fsh and needed front discs and pads in the june only months later. Been a great car and only had dpf light on twice. Quick 40 mph high rev drive sorted it in about 5 mins. Would recommend also winter tyres as was a dog in the snow before I put them on!

My previous car was a Golf GT PD140, my current Octavia CR170 is so smooth and refined in comparison. My Golf sounded like a tractor & I owned it from new and ran it in gently and looked after it. I never had any problems with the PD over 3 and a half years and it would average 50-55mpg on a tank, calculated by brimming the tank not displayed on the trip computer. It was a very efficient engine.

I am currently only averaging 45mpg with the CR although it still has less than 1500 on the clock, the PD's mpg improved in leaps and bounds all the way up to 10K.

I wellied the CR yesterday to pull out in traffic at a roundabout and couldn't believe how quiet it is up at the high end of the rev range, the PD gets really thrashy at high revs.

I understand why some might prefer the PD but I would never go back, loving the CR.