Got a re mapped vrs fabia, need a bigger car, wanting a Octavia vrs common rail. Then part of me keeps saying why not try a petrol? And it has me thinking. I know there not as good on fuel but will it make that big a difference in every day life? Anyone had the same thoughts as me and gone for the petrol? How many miles can you get from a tank and how much to fill up? Anyone got rid of there petrol vrs because of running costs?

I've pretty much always been a diesel guy too. I've had petrol hire cars, and within about 5 miles found myself missing the wallop of big torque at next to no revs, and don't find "screaming its guts out" much of a substitute.

Most likely it's your ears that wants a petrol.

In all honesty, diesels don't sound nice 99% of the time.  

Sod it Mike. You do only live once and unless you really are going

to struggle with running costs then why not I say. For the sake of  

an extra 120 odd a year in tax and don't forget petrol is cheaper than

diesel for the foreseeable future anyway. If you do more than 15k a year then

yes diesel is probably for the best but otherwise the savings aren't that great.  

Octy 2 vRS are very cheap and some have very nice spec and interiors.

Years ahead of Fabia vrS. I have (almost) the same engine (KO4 turbo) in

my car and I can pootle along getting high 30s without much effort. Yes it's

true I can get that down to about 5mpg if flogging it but then again the sound is

worth the money, Jars has been in my car when it's being pushed and I'm sure  

he'd agree that it sounds smashing on full throttle.

Not quite the same but...

Went from a 1.9TDi PD Octavia to a 1.8TSi Octavia.

Loved the silent surge of power, the refinement, the lack of stinky hands after a fill-up.  No matter how refined you think your diesel is they are not a patch on petrol.

I tolerated the more frequent visits to the fuel pumps, higher insurance and higher road tax.  The 1.9TDi averaged 51mpg vs the 1.8TSi 37mpg over the time I had them.

 

Time to change again and reduced circumstances had me back in a diesel and just loving the infrequent visits to the pumps (high 50's and improving) and not missing the power.

(I am not missing the power....    I am not missing the power... ) - OK I AM missing the power but not as much as I thought I would.  But you won't have that to factor in.

I have moved from a 140 TDI Octavia to a 1.8 TSI Superb and don't reget it. I do around 12-14k miles a year and worked out that the £3000-4000 saving in purchase price was worth it. The number of petrol DMF failures are significantly less, no DPF or EGR to worry about. 

 

The performance is still astounding and it pulls better than my 140 in every way (bar a 70MPH foot down on the motorway in top, drop to 5th and its no contest). 

 

Come winter when the derv vs petrol prices widen to 10p/litre difference I think it will work out better on price again. 

 

I think EURO6 emission Diesels have really gone down in the reliability compared to EURO3/4 compliant engines. The Mrs vRS has been a paragon of reliability compared to my old 140 BKD. 

 

The more emissions controls stuff they put on the worse it seems to be :-( 

the 1.8 tsi picks up from 1500rpm i used to drive a diesel and its very similar can change gear to have it sitting at 2k rpm and it picks up from there no problem. i cant really compare the performance wise between my last cars 1.3 with 75hp to 1.8 with 160hp

Most likely it's your ears that wants a petrol.

In all honesty, diesels don't sound nice 99% of the time.  

 VRS petrol doesn't sound anything special :(

Most likely it's your ears that wants a petrol.

In all honesty, diesels don't sound nice 99% of the time.

Sod it Mike. You do only live once and unless you really are going

to struggle with running costs then why not I say. For the sake of

an extra 120 odd a year in tax and don't forget petrol is cheaper than

diesel for the foreseeable future anyway. If you do more than 15k a year then

yes diesel is probably for the best but otherwise the savings aren't that great.

Octy 2 vRS are very cheap and some have very nice spec and interiors.

Years ahead of Fabia vrS. I have (almost) the same engine (KO4 turbo) in

my car and I can pootle along getting high 30s without much effort. Yes it's

true I can get that down to about 5mpg if flogging it but then again the sound is

worth the money, Jars has been in my car when it's being pushed and I'm sure

he'd agree that it sounds smashing on full throttle.

Oh yes I can confirm it sounds bloody awesome on full chat! And yes, it does make me want one, although not as much as my missus wants one :wonder:

I wen't from an Octavia PD 170 Vrs to a Petrol Tsi 200 BHP and it's the  best swop I've ever done.

I love the TSi. One thing I didn't factor in was the price of petrol abroad. Petrol is about 25p a litre more than diesel in France and as 2k of my annual 8k miles is done on the family holiday it works out pricey.

That being said, I would have petrol over diesel every time.

I went from a BKD (PD140) A3 to a 2.0TSi and am loving it. Not too bad of fuel - but I'm only doing about 8K now.

 

Best I've had out of mine on the Mway is 38.1 current Ave if purely local 31.1 mixed is below.

Whilst the mongrel isn't your average diesel, the noise of my stock 31 year old Porsche 924 (just a 2 litre) is better.

 

It definitely doesn't go as well though - nowhere near as well! 

Some good replies there cheers. Does remapping a petrol also improve mpg like a diesel, when driving properly that is?

To some extent yes, the same rule applies that at say 50mph the engine mapped

isn't working as hard as the unmapped engine at the same speed.

However it's also fair to say the extra power may bring out the devil in you

and subsequently mpg will suffer because of that.

So, if you can exercise some restraint then the mapped car will give better mpg.    

Its a difficult call TBH. In the case of the MK2 vRS facelift the TSi is a cracking motor and in terms of raw performance its definitely quicker than the diesel if driven out and out.

I had a 1.4 TSi Fabia vRS, engine was fabulous and in a straight line i think it was a bit quicker than my CR vRS Octavia......however the thing averaged about 15mpg less than it was meant to over the course of 11k miles, car had a small tank and so to get much more than 300 miles out of a tank each fill up was a challenge, on a short run the economy was atrocious.

The CR on the other hand....its still a 170hp car so cant accuse it of being slow, lots of torque and compared to diesels of old its way more refined and most definitely not a tractor. Once you have the nack of driving one (i.e keeping revs above 1.5k to avoid chronic lag and not revving out much past 4k rpm) swift progress can be made. On a long journey it averages way over 40mpg all day long no matter how its driven, 50+ if uaed half sensibly; only something a TSi owner can dream of in reality.

Its up to you though.....personally if i had my time again id probably buy the petrol as i don't pay for my fuel(just the tax on it) so the higher fuel costs don't bother me so much; that said you could do alot worse than a CR vRS as a half quick cheap to run family car.

Assuming your looking to buy used as you've posted in the mkII section (NSS!) then the petrol option is more attractive than a new one because someone else has taken the biggest kick in the nuts on depreciation already and you'd get a newer lower milage car for your wad of cash. It'll obviously cost you more to run and will ultimately be worth less when you come to change next time too, though by how much I've no idea....just depends what floats your boat. Have a test drive of both and go from there

I've pretty much always been a diesel guy too. I've had petrol hire cars, and within about 5 miles found myself missing the wallop of big torque at next to no revs, and don't find "screaming its guts out" much of a substitute.

 

All petrol engines aren't created equal.

First, let me say I know exactly what you mean. I like the big wallop of torque as well and I don't think you shold have to rev the nuts off of your daily driver just to make it go. 

 

It sounds like you need to look at a TSI. Like a diesel, they make usable torque from slightly over 1000 rpm, but unlike a diesel, they aren't dead as a doorknob before they hit boost. You can also wind another 1000-1500rpm out of them before it's time to change gear, unlike a diesel which starts to gasp for air at 3500rpm or so. 

 

When I first purchased my Octavia last year, the dealer put me in a 1.2 TSI demonstrator. After that, I had a go in a pre-FL PD140 TDI. And sorry, I just couldn't do it. After spending 24 hours with the smooth and quiet TSI, the otherwise nice PD140 DSG felt like it was powered by a jackhammer. I realize the CR TDI's are way better, but still. 

 

I ended up with a 1.4 and it's easily the best engine I've ever had in a daily driver. It moves the Octavia Estate around with zero effort and there's no reason to go above 2000rpm if you aren't in a hurry. 

 

When it was at the painters getting some minor accident damage sorted out last winter, I had a 1.6 liter Toyota Auris as a loaner. 3hp more on paper compared to my 1.4 TSI but it felt like it was powered by a blender motor. It's probably a competent daily driver, but I was more than glad to get back into my Skoda. 

Mileage is the biggest factor IMO, any less than 10-12K you really should buy a petrol, over that well then your starting to justify a diesel, but only you know whether you dont mind sacrificing the pennies at the pump for the petrol......

My 1.8TSI's heater starts delivering warmth wirhin a few hundred yards in winter unlike my wife's Fabia vRS which takes some miles for the heater to start working.

My 1.8TSI's heater starts delivering warmth wirhin a few hundred yards in winter unlike my wife's Fabia vRS which takes some miles for the heater to start working.

 

Huh? Serioulsy? As I said, I have a 1.4 TSI. It takes forever to warm up in anything but warm summer weather and the heater is useless even when it's supposed to be warm. I fixed this issue by installing a 5 kW fuel powered heater. I know have what has to be the warmest Skoda Octavia in the country.  

 

Can the 1.8 really be that much better? 

No one seems to have asked the question yet...

 

What's your annual mileage?

 

I'd have a petrol over a diesel but my annual mileage forces my hand.

I wen't from an Octavia PD 170 Vrs to a Petrol Tsi 200 BHP and it's the  best swop I've ever done.

Likewise PD130 Fabia vRS to Octavia vRS, very smoooooth transition. Still miss the Fabia though, it was a hoot to blast around in, very solid build.

 

No pain, no gain, though and the Octy certainly pains the pocket a good bit more. That said its not so much I can't grin & bear it!!

Huh? Serioulsy? As I said, I have a 1.4 TSI. It takes forever to warm up in anything but warm summer weather and the heater is useless even when it's supposed to be warm. I fixed this issue by installing a 5 kW fuel powered heater. I know have what has to be the warmest Skoda Octavia in the country.

 

Can the 1.8 really be that much better? 

less than a mile and mine is warm aswell

To answer some of your questions.

Filling the tank costs ¢70-75 and from that I get between 300-320 miles. That works out at about 30mpg (see fuelly in my sig).

I bought a petrol because I wanted one. Turns out I've done enough miles to justify the diesel. I often think I should buy a diesel and then I drive the vRS again. Hard to say no to the petrol!

Oh hey, look, mine is for sale too...

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No smelly hands, turbine smooth up to 6k and 40+ mpg easily sealed petrol for me. Plus remapping the tsi is more hilarious for when the warranty expires.

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