MK1 1.4 70 TDI vs MK2 1.4 80 GREENLINE

[KeithCheetham]

Having run a 06 MK 1 Fabia 1.4 TDI 70hp since Nov 10, I picked up a 08 MK 2 Fabia 1.4 TDI 80hp Greenline for the girlfriend earlier this week. Considering they are "basically" the same motor, they are like chalk and cheese. The MK 1 has averaged 55mpg over the last 21K miles, but driving from Essex to Manchester the MK 2 managed 67mpg while spending most of the trip in the outside lane.

I cannot believe the Greenline gearing, at 2250rpm the Mk 1 is sitting at around 60mph, the MK 2 is nearer 80mph at the same revs. Most of the drivability with the MK2 higher gearing must be due to the higher torque - 144 vs 114lb/ft.

The only dissapointment so far is having to buy the more expensive longlife 507 oil due to the exhaust DPF when I come to service it.

[GeneralPurpose]

Hi Keith, yes they are good aren't they. I have the standard Fabia Mk2 Estate with the 1422cc PD 80hp engine with 195nm of torque at 2200rpm. It rocks!! I can get really good mpg's, but once I go over 70mph the mpg falls off more sharply than in a Greenline. My best mpg on summer diesel was 76mpg on a 150 mile cross country run on A & B roads keeping up with all the traffic (mostly 45-50mph as that was the traffic speed but with 70-75mph bursts when safe). Mostly in fourth gear too and rarely 5th. I find the engine seems to like to spin a bit faster at lower speeds and gives better fuel economy. I think it's the same with the Greenline, let the revs go up a bit before changing up and keep her spinning lightly. Better than labouring at lower revs, and it's rewards like virtually no other car. Glad you like it and keep posting to let us all know how you are getting on. Merry Xmas!

[KeithCheetham]

1st tankfull in the Greenline, using trip mileage of 387 miles and 35.43 litres to brim the tank has resulted in 49.6mpg. I think that I need to look how she is driving it (last car was a Daewoo Matiz 1.0 which needed thrashing everywhere and averaged 36mpg - little car with little petrol engine does not equal good economy). She is doing a mixture of short local drives and 40 mile motorway drives.

[GeneralPurpose]

Yes...it's a whole new driving experience with these modern diesels, especially the Greenline models. It requires a different driving technique to the older type diesel engines for lots of reasons. I found it best to ignore any gearchange indicator lights on the dash as these encourage going up to the next gear too early, labouring the engine and wasting fuel. In fact, the opposite of what they are supposed to do! Mostly I found that fourth gear is hardly ever needed in urban area's and town driving as it just revs too low and was labouring the engine. Once I got used to staying in 3rd gear for longer periods (something the car is designed to do) and even driving for some way in urban areas in 3rd then fuel economy improved expotentially. In the Greenline we had from the garage for a short period when mine went in for body repairs, the engine wasn't happy until 40+mph in fourth and even then only on flat ground. 5th gear was only of any use once you were doing 60+mph but wasn't really happy until 65mph or above.

One other thing, you may know about this. We all run winter diesel at the moment and this knocks off around 5-6mpg's at least on the 1422cc diesels and possibly more on the Greenline. The calorific value of diesel drops slightly and other additives cause it to burn slightly differently all affecting economy. Plus of course all the usual stuff with electrics and the engine taking longer to warm up and it really knocks the fuel economy.

[raisbeck]

I have the GL1. Done over 60,000 in it. Summer averages around 70 mpg and in winter around 65. Thats driving normally. I tried driving like a tree hugging hippy a few times just to see what it could manage on my 55 mile trip to work, best was 84mpg. I dont bother with that anymore and just blat it up the fast lane with the reps. Still manages mid sixties at 'motorway' speeds.

Saved me a fortune in fuel this car has and from what I read here it knocks spots off the new CR engines for economy. Yes its a bit vibraty and unrefined but I quite like it.

Never bother with 5th gear under about 55, it prefers to run around 1800-2200 rpm. Summer I get 550-600 miles to reserve.

Mine has the skinnier wheels than a standard Fabia. 165's I think. Best tyres after trying a few was the Michelin Energy. TBH no tyres are expensive as they are narrow.

Mine regens reliably every 120 or so miles, doesnt matter how you drive it. Obvious to me when it does it, you lose a bit of power and the engine exhaust note sounds a bit more 'diesely' for 10 mins.

Only had one fault in 3 yrs. The differential pressure sensor on the DPF failed. No warning lights but i recognised the regens went a bit random. VaGCom showed a logged sensor fault so easy change and good as new.

[KeithCheetham]

Economy update:-

2nd tankfull using trip mileage of 439 miles and 36.50 litres to brim the tank has resulted in 54.6mpg.

3rd tankfull using trip mileage of 434 miles and 34.23 litres to brim the tank has resulted in 57.6mpg.

Economy is obviously going the right way, so she must be getting more used to the way to drive it, and the worry over DPF spec oil costs has not arisen, I found Unelite LL 5w/30 with the required VW507 spec from Smith and Allan at £22.99 delivered for 5 litres on E##y (bought 10 litres as it is cheaper than the Quantum Platinum that I put in my Mk1 - with a better spec).

I have also replaced the diesel and air filters, 40K mile interval for a fuel filter is frightening after coming from previous diesels with 18K mile change intervals - and 6K miles in my Perkins powered Range Rover. The filter removed must have been the original, based on the 2008 date stamp.