I have a mate who is looking for a £5k diesel automatic and i keep seeing superb 1 2.5 diesels coming up , the guy has a 140mile per day commute so economy is important but these seem like a lot of car for the money but i know nothing about the 2.5 diesel engine

Worth thinking about of keep eyes open for a 1.9??

I have a mate who is looking for a £5k diesel automatic and i keep seeing superb 1 2.5 diesels coming up , the guy has a 140mile per day commute so economy is important but these seem like a lot of car for the money but i know nothing about the 2.5 diesel engine

Worth thinking about of keep eyes open for a 1.9??

I think the car is absolutely "Superb" - excuse the pun.

I know it is old technology but it is a fantastic car if you look after it.

Smooooooth and quietly efficient in my opinion - although many on this site swear by the 4 pot 1.9 rattle box for both economy and reliability.

I would NOT swap mine.

What kind of economy do you get out of it

What kind of economy do you get out of it

Around the town between 28 - 36 but on a run top 40's or even 50 plus if you are sensible with the throttle.

On cruise control - this is best economy on a motorway.

The 1.9 TDi is certainly the pick of the crop for sure. However, I own a 55 plate 2.5TDi Elegance Mk1 owned from new which I presently use to do a weekly commute to/from Surrey of around 200 miles each way. In between, I do about 30 miles each way on the M25 to/from work/accomodation. I have recently taken to turning the air conditioning off when I don't need it as this improves the fuel consumption noticeably. I have also slowed down my driving from ~70 - 80 to ~60 - 70. I now acheive over 50 mpg every week as opposed to about 45 to 46 mpg before I slowed down and took to turning the air con off when not required. The car has now done just over 80k miles and apart from routine servicing, cam belt, battery, glow plugs and brake pads has been without serious fault. The faults I presently have are intermittant reversing sensors caused by water ingress when it rains and no cabin courtesy lights in the front. I live with the faults, I haven't tried to fix them, they're just minor niggles really. I have never had the dreaded water ingress that all these cars suffer from but the pollen filter housing has been resealed and I regularly check the water drainage channel around the pollen filter housing is clear of debris, this is a 15 minute very easy job. Whilst I agree that the 1.9 is the pick of the Mk1's my experience of the 2.5 has been excellent and I would not seek to put you off getting one. I would recommend a well looked after 2.5, mine is in excellent condition and when I get rid of it the person who buys it will get a real bargain luxury motor for peanuts.

The problem with the 2.5 is that it's an old technology rotary pump diesel with a rather flaky electronically controlled fuel pump which is expensive to repair. Putting electronics actually on the engine is a very bad idea - the PD does not do this. Engine belt replacement is also expensive on this engine as there is a high labour content and a fair probability that it will be done incorrectly - setting the pump basic timing is not straightforward. The PD belt is easy to change - and cheaper.

So the engine is at a huge efficiency disadvantage compared with the PD which operates at more than twice the fuel pressure at the nozzles. This is made worse by VAG's cheapskate approach of using the same overall gearing in the Superb for the 2.5 as they do for the 1.9. The bigger engine should pull a higher top gear if its advantages are to be fully utilised. BMW know this.

The Superb has poor handling - with half a yard of engine stuck out ahead of the front axle. The heavier 6 cyl unit makes this even worse.

Compare the performance figures of the 1.9/130 with the 2.5 (especially the 2.5 auto) then compare the CO2 emissions figures. This gives a true picture as to just how dated this engine is.

You pay for this in road tax.

rotodiesel.

I have a mate who is looking for a £5k diesel automatic and i keep seeing superb 1 2.5 diesels coming up , the guy has a 140mile per day commute so economy is important but these seem like a lot of car for the money but i know nothing about the 2.5 diesel engine

Worth thinking about of keep eyes open for a 1.9??

hi there

im new to the superb , but well experienced .

i would nt touch the 2.5 because road tax is higher, (and higher still for autos i believe) and fuel economy is lower , no matter how careful the driving :'(

also the 2.5 has its own engine gremlins

get a well sorted 1.9 tdi , go for 130tdi, and if its not powerful enough then there's always re maps and chips

they are the business

i as many others, have been won over

I can only send my warmest recommendations to buy a 1.9 TDI AWX Superb. I've had mine remapped for 150+K miles with the same original clutch and no problems what so ever. The car has NEVER failed on the engine and it still drives like it's new. My figures are 165bhp and 390nm.

I'm a bit confused as to why people always write, that the 2.5 6 cylinder is not as noisy and sounds better. In my opinion the noise is about the same and my 1.9 TDI certainly sounds very nice. Service costs are low and taxes are almost non existent.

I totally agree on the things rotodiesel wrote.

Hi Cown,

Just a question on you're re-map, how does the car perform with it done (basically does it suit the car) and secondly how's the MPG?

Cheers,

Rob

It suits the car very well, the remap (OBD chip) was done by a professional danish company (Landberg.dk). It smokes 50% less, the acceleration fits the front wheel drive perfectly IE limited wheel spin. There's no clutch rattle or any other indication that it "had too much".

Over the past 28125 miles my average mpg has been 43,9. I primarily drive freeway at about 70 mph.

I must admit after the remap the car has come alive a lot more. It's the best upgrade i've ever done to a car in my life.

That sounds very good, apart from the MPG. Over the last 10,000 miles in my AWX 1.9 130, I've averaged over 45MPG. I know it's not much of a difference but I'd usually be driving between 80 and 90mph.At 70 mph I'd average 47-50 mpg. Has the re-map caused lower consumption?

Cheers,

Rob

Might have but then again it's a pleasure having the extra power when over taking and accelerating. Please bear in mind that my average is not calculated from the Superbs own computer, but with the receipts i have from putting on diesel. So it's 100% correct.

I know it's not much of a difference but I'd usually be driving between 80 and 90mph.

Is the speed limit different over the water then?

The topic has been discussed before, here is my opinion

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/194088-superb-25v6-tdi-buying-advice/page__p__2311085#entry2311085

Post-2004 2.5TDI engines do not have earlier engine problems anymore and are a safe bet, here is another post

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/196211-ripped-off-yet-again/page__view__findpost__p__2332915

Bottom line is 2.5 is better for motorway, and beats 1.9 hands down on comfort and performance when it comes to long commutes or trans-European trips. You pay for it in higher running costs, but overall only 10% - 15% higher over 1.9TDI for far better comfort, performance, and fuel tolerance. You have to drive differently to 4-cyl to get best fuel consumption, low rpms are very welcome with this engine, I routinely cruise around town at 1000-1500rpm in 4th, feels like an automatic.

Even on a short 8 mile commute 1/2 motorway 1/2 traffic jams, I get 40mpg. Most if not all my UK motorway trips easily go over 50mpg, and in Europe I do not save fuel (it's 20% cheaper there anyway), but instead drive 140mph+ for hours on autobahn at nighttime, with a big grin on my face . Even at these speeds and with gearing admittedly on short side, 2.5TDI still returns 24mpg+

Is the speed limit different over the water then?

What speed limit??

Just kidding, but most of my motorway driving is during the wee hours when the road is you're own. Saves a lot of time..!!

Cheers,

Rob

Well we couldnt find a decent auto 1.9 so he ended up with a Passat instead

The topic has been discussed before, here is my opinion

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/194088-superb-25v6-tdi-buying-advice/page__p__2311085#entry2311085

Post-2004 2.5TDI engines do not have earlier engine problems anymore and are a safe bet, here is another post

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/196211-ripped-off-yet-again/page__view__findpost__p__2332915

Bottom line is 2.5 is better for motorway, and beats 1.9 hands down on comfort and performance when it comes to long commutes or trans-European trips. You pay for it in higher running costs, but overall only 10% - 15% higher over 1.9TDI for far better comfort, performance, and fuel tolerance. You have to drive differently to 4-cyl to get best fuel consumption, low rpms are very welcome with this engine, I routinely cruise around town at 1000-1500rpm in 4th, feels like an automatic.

Even on a short 8 mile commute 1/2 motorway 1/2 traffic jams, I get 40mpg. Most if not all my UK motorway trips easily go over 50mpg, and in Europe I do not save fuel (it's 20% cheaper there anyway), but instead drive 140mph+ for hours on autobahn at nighttime, with a big grin on my face . Even at these speeds and with gearing admittedly on short side, 2.5TDI still returns 24mpg+

Yep.

I agree.

Mile muncher. Only the Phaeton beats it in the VAG group.

Trouble with 140mph is when you hit a 100 km/h limit zone between the hours of 22h and 6h. Slowing down takes a while, and coppers regularly wait for a victim there.

For that reason I settle for a very comfy 90-100mph and still get 40+ mpg. On my last trip to Germany/Austria/Hungary last month grand averaged 43 mpg.

My next car will be another Superb, a manual 163 PS 2.5tdi once my auto 155PS has done a few more miles.

I have a mate who is looking for a £5k diesel automatic and i keep seeing superb 1 2.5 diesels coming up , the guy has a 140mile per day commute so economy is important but these seem like a lot of car for the money but i know nothing about the 2.5 diesel engine

Worth thinking about of keep eyes open for a 1.9??

I'm surprised that 2.5 diesels keep coming up as there are not many around, as per numbers shown here