I have an 07 vrs hatch with the PD170 engine. It's never really run right. It has a high idle, is prone to stalling and has flat spots and what I'd describe as power surging across the rev range. The dpf light is also coming on with increasing regularity. What is apparent to me is I was seduced by the lower tax and higher mpg of the diesel when for our circumstances a petrol may have been better. So, I've been thinking about changing for a low capacity petrol of some sort, something like a mini. But,u problem is other than having the wrong engine my Octavia is pretty much perfect in every other way. I've also found a decent petrol engines version for sale fairly local to me.

What are the running costs for the petrol version? How is the mpg in the real world and how much road tax do you pay? I'm sorely tempted to chop the diesel for a petrol.

Road tax for my tfsi vrs is £250 a year & i get around 400 miles to a tank with mixed driving. I cover around 13-14k a year.

The symptoms you describe are the exact same issues I have on my 2007 PD170 vRS.

It is your DPF.

Remove it (£449 at Shark Performance) and benefit from a steady idle, smoother power delivery, no flat spots, a bit more power and increased MPG.

Just as the PD vRS should have left the factory!

£195 tax for my facelift 2010 model, 31mpg average via fuelly over last 2 years fill ups. I dont do much motorway mileage though.

Steve

Sounds like a good idea but I wonder if you seriously affect the resale value altering the car from factory standard?

Had the same issues - have removed the dpf, had a stage 1 remap and it's a new car. Smooth, no dpf issues, no hesitancy, no stalling, better mpg and a significant torque increase (on stage 1 vs 0 which I chose). Do mostly motorway miles tho so get 575 on a tank or 55mpg now if I'm careful/45 otherwise. Never got above 45 before, and made the jump when the light came on every other day and the regen didn't seem to be working.

Sounds like a good idea but I wonder if you seriously affect the resale value altering the car from factory standard?

I would have thought that a modification to rectify a well documented fault would be more likely to enhance the value. I would go for petrol every time, however as you have, and like the car I would suggest the dpf removal and remap would be your most cost effective option.

My TFSi gave me a long term average of about 25mpg - tax was about £280 I think.

I've just bought a petrol vRS. Tax is £250. And it will do around 400-420 miles to a 60 ltr fill up!

I never understande why people expect great MPG from a 2lt performance car

I love mine go for it!

Edited 13 August, 201213 yr by bulls20042002

If you go for the TFSI be prepared to fill with a litre of oil every two weeks as these engines are almost two stroke, I love mine but wouldnt buy another TFSI VW Seat Skoda or Audi.

Thanks for the replies. I'm not keen on doing a DPF delete as reading up on it there's talk of it being an MOT failure in the future.

Not all 2.0 TFSI engines use oil, I had mine for 4 years and it never used that much oil. It all depends on how they were run in from new.

My tfsi uses a litre bottle of oil between services (10k)

Although saying all that ... I had no problems before the injectors were done on the recall, would that have affected anything? I contacted my skoda dealer who said that it wouldn't (but they would say that) and there's no faults with the car.

The way it's driving is making me dislike what is otherwise an excellent car.

If the car drove fine before the injectors were replaced on the recall. Perhaps they have the injector timing out slightly, as that would cause flat spots and rough running. Very common if they havent been fittted correctly. Id go back and speak with the dealer MD or speak with Skoda UK and see what they suggest.

The DPF being removed will not be an MOT failure. Places like Shark just cut out the DPF and reweld the exhaust so you cant see it has been taken out. Then just either map out the DPF function on a Stage 0 map or remap Stage 1 etc. Either way its cheaper than buying a new DPF and will lead to a smoother dirve.

My TFSI used about 1ltr of oil between annual services. I drive on 60mph A roads mostly with little stop/start driving so I can get up to 42mpg on the commute. Long term average on the car is 35mpg right now.

Tax is a kick in the teeth every July at £250 no denying that. It's pretty economical really for a 200hp fat hatch. You'd be lucky to see 35mpg from a 1.8 Vectra with 120hp.

I think if you have any kind of 2.0 TFSI and it doesnt drink oil you are very fortunate, you only have to 'google' it to see it is a common complaint, with numerous threads on here. Im using atleast 1 litre to every 1000 miles.

Edited 14 August, 201213 yr by 07 vRS Taxi

My TFSI doesn't use much oil. I've had it for 1 year and covered 20,000 miles. Outside of the 10,000 services I have only had to top it up once.

Averages about 31mpg but that is around town and country lanes. 35mpg is possible on motorways even above 70mph. Plus, it is a lovely engine!

Thanks for the replies. I'm not keen on doing a DPF delete as reading up on it there's talk of it being an MOT failure in the future.

There were endless rumours about this circulating on internet throughout the past year or so, but it turned out to be nonsense. VOSA have confirmed that as far as the MOT is concerned they neither know nor care which diesels originally had DPFs, and this situation is unlikely to change for the forseeable future.

I get nearly 30mpg on my 6 mile commute to work and on long jaunts have been seeing 37-38mpg - 57 plate TFSI VRS

On the oil front, mines seems to love the black stuff, but then my EP3 Type R was exactly the same

Edited 14 August, 201213 yr by _Kenny_

Had to put about 2 litres of oil in my TFSI in around 7000 miles (6 months). Average mpg is around 35mpg, driving in as high a gear as possible really does seem to help (6th is good for a steady 40 on the level without feeling like its coasting). It's got a lot of low down torque so you get that benefit of a diesel - there's generally no need to rev the nuts of it. No idea how someone only averaged 25 unless you either only do 1-2 mile trips or cane it constantly...

Had to put about 2 litres of oil in my TFSI in around 7000 miles (6 months). Average mpg is around 35mpg, driving in as high a gear as possible really does seem to help (6th is good for a steady 40 on the level without feeling like its coasting). It's got a lot of low down torque so you get that benefit of a diesel - there's generally no need to rev the nuts of it. No idea how someone only averaged 25 unless you either only do 1-2 mile trips or cane it constantly...

On a 1000 mile round trip it got 32 - that's with the missus and my mother in the car so no hooning and a steady 80 (indicated) on motorways for the vast majority and a bi of pottering on location. Best ever was just over 40 but that was a local coast road and essentially 50 in sixth for a good 20 miles or so.

Official figures are (approximately) 26 urban, 46 extra urban and 36 combined. We all know the official figures are pretty much unachievable so in reality the expected figures are perhaps 22/40/30 for town/50/normal driving, and that's what I got for a long time.

My commute is a mile through town (no real traffic but up a big hill) then 8 miles on the dual carriageway then half a mile through a village, and that used to return between 23 and 28 depending on how late for work I was

Thanks for the replies. I'm not keen on doing a DPF delete as reading up on it there's talk of it being an MOT failure in the future.

It already is a failure, IF they spot it's missing.

Most DPF delete places will put a blank DPF pipe in for you, and your standard MOT tester at the likes of KwikFit probably doesn't have the time, or possibly the knowledge/inclination to look to see if the DPF pipe is empty.

In most cases, as long as you pass the smoke test, and it's not obvious it's missing, you'll be okay.

It already is a failure, IF they spot it's missing.

VOSA have confirmed that it isn't!

It doesn't matter if its obvious its missing or not, the DPF is still not part of the MOT test. A handful of testers have recently been incorrectly failing missing diesel cats and DPFs, but that is down to poor training. VOSA have subsequently passed the cars in question when an appeal was lodged with them over this issue, and they have recently issued a notice to testers clarifying that diesel cats & DPFs are not testable.

Can anyone recommend someone local(ish) to N.Lincs to do a DPF delete and remap?