I've currently got a mk 2 1.4 TSI. Thinking of buying a mk 3 and I'm interested what people think of the 1.2? Driven one before with DSG in a Roomster but is it underpowered for an Octavia estate?

It is certainly not underpowered in my Seat Leon at times it does need revved a bit.... a cracking engine and as its less weight up front it's a lot less understeery than my last car was (1.6 Diesel Kia Cee'd)  I haven't driven a DSG though

We have a 1.2 TSi and love it - the performance is similar to a 2.0TDCI Mondeo although fuel consumption is not as good. The equipment if good enough for us - DAB radio, alloys (which I prefer to the alloys on the SE) we added cruise control and reversing sensors and FF extras. It is a hatchback, so I don't know if the estate has extra weight which might make a difference. We were concerned before we bought it so took a demo car on a 150 miles test drive down the M6 and were quite happy with the performance so went for it and saved a couple of grand over the 1.4.

It'll punt around an O3 no problem, bear in mind the 1.2 manual hatch only weighs 1155kg which is nothing.

I dont think in the UK at least you can get the 1.2 with DSG, not shown in the brochure anyway

It'll punt around an O3 no problem, bear in mind the 1.2 manual hatch only weighs 1155kg which is nothing.

I dont think in the UK at least you can get the 1.2 with DSG, not shown in the brochure anyway.

We have a 1.2 TSi and love it - the performance is similar to a 2.0TDCI Mondeo although fuel consumption is not as good. The equipment if good enough for us - DAB radio, alloys (which I prefer to the alloys on the SE) we added cruise control and reversing sensors and FF extras. It is a hatchback, so I don't know if the estate has extra weight which might make a difference. We were concerned before we bought it so took a demo car on a 150 miles test drive down the M6 and were quite happy with the performance so went for it and saved a couple of grand over the 1.4.

I'm sorry, a 1.2 with 103hp and 129lb/ft is similar to a 2.0TDCI Mondeo with 130hp and 236lb/ft?   Even considering the extra weight the Mondeo is lugging around that is a serious mismatch.  100lb/ft worth of mismatch.

 

Go try a 1.2 DSG then try a 1.4 DSG.

 

Buy what you like the best once you've considered the performance, economy, price, running costs and residual value.

A few short years ago you never would have thought a 1.2 engine could pull around something of the size of an Octavia, let alone an automatic version.

 

Even if it is a little underpowered it is simlpy amazing what can be extracted out of such a small engine these days

RE the 2.0 TDCi 130 argument, ive looked around and most Mondeos running that engine (MK3 I believe) weigh in around 1500kgs or more depending on variant.

Even though the Octy has 103hp it srill will likely have a better power to weight and consequently perform as well if not better, being a small petrol turbo with alot less torque however you'd really have to rev it to see it.

Bizarrely the O3 is lighter in some variants than a Fabia!

Edited 8 February, 201412 yr by pipsyp

I would go for the 1.4, it's going to have that little extra grunt which is useful for those quick overtakes and the steeper hills you may encounter on holiday and with passengers + luggage, where a 1.2 might struggle a bit with a full load on.

 

I think it's better to have a bit more power than you need rather than too little and find yourself wanting later.

I've currently got a mk 2 1.4 TSI. Thinking of buying a mk 3 and I'm interested what people think of the 1.2? Driven one before with DSG in a Roomster but is it underpowered for an Octavia estate?

How do you get on with your mk2 1.4? As different people have different needs the only way you'll know for sure is to get an extended test drive in both. Make sure you load the test drive up with the same passengers you would normally and drive on similar roads too so you get a good idea how both will perform for you. Good luck.

Drove close on 1000 miles in a MKII 1.2TSI DSG last summer and had no problem with its performance, even climbing the hills round here. Only thing I didn't get on with was the DSG wanting to select too low a gear descending hills, had to go manual to overcome it.

 

Worth remembering the 1.2 and 1.4 petrol motors in the Octy III are a new generation of engine and not the same as those in the other Skoda models.

 

 

TP

It's not underpowered. Of course it depends how responsive you want your engine to be. If you expect a vrs like drive, then you'll be disappointed. I have a manual 1.2 TSI. It drives better then 1.6 TDI.

Just checked the specs for a 2007 Mondeo 2.0tdci 130  - Fords figures 0 -60mph - 10.2sec, top speed 122mph

 

Octavia 1.2 s - Skodas figures  0 - 62 9.9 secs, top speed 122mph

 

The Skoda feels a lot lighter but the performance feels very similar - now I usually drive the car with just me  or with my partner and not heavily laden, but it is comparable in normal use

I have a 1.2 TSI DSG Elegance estate, and it drives very well. It's just 1202 kg, and compared to my mk5 golf estate 1.4 TSI DSG, 122 hp, it does not feel considerably weaker. Mind you, the golf is 1350 kg.

I think it's better to have a bit more power than you need rather than too little and find yourself wanting later.

 

Spot on.  

 

While I think the 1.2 is a great engine, the Octavia is a family car which means bodies, luggage, car seats etc etc.  All that extra weight would mean the engine would struggle.

 

The 1.4 140bhp(?) sounds the sweet spot (minimum output) for me.

Drove close on 1000 miles in a MKII 1.2TSI DSG last summer and had no problem with its performance, even climbing the hills round here. Only thing I didn't get on with was the DSG wanting to select too low a gear descending hills, had to go manual to overcome it.

 

Worth remembering the 1.2 and 1.4 petrol motors in the Octy III are a new generation of engine and not the same as those in the other Skoda models.

 

 

TP

Interesting comment regarding the DSG (7-speed dry clutch?) selecting too low a gear going downhill.  When driving with my DSG (6-speed wet-clutch) I often select Sport mode on downhill stretches to force a change to a lower gear than that selected by the DSG.  I prefer to use engine braking rather than ride the brakes.  This does NOT use more fuel as the engine management will shut off the fuel if your foot is not on the accelerator and the engine revs are above a certain level.

 

I had a 15 minute drive in a manual Octavia 1.2 and although the performance seemed adequate I would prefer the 1.4 (particularly with DSG) if I had to make the choice.

I owned a 12regd Fabia elegance dsg 1.2 tsi. 105bhp. Is the mk3octavia 1.2 engine different as suggested.? If it's the same it's OK until you fully load it up 4 passengers full luggage. It's then still ok but hardly fun to drive,1.4 is probably the pick as suggested.

Just changed from an O2 1.6 tdi to an O3 1.2tsi. Now, it's a lot easier to drive, didn't stall the engine (kept on doing that for 4 years with the tdi and over 80.000 km!) up to now. It pulls (not as heavily as the 1.6 tdi) and keeps on pulling (for much longer than the tdi). It's a lot quieter.

The O3 performs on a higher level than the O2 does (it  simply is a better car) on any level. Just have to get used to the lower mpg, that's all! (from 50.44 mpg with the diesel after 80.000 km  to 41 mpg with the tsi after 1.000 km)

Worth noting the new Mondeo will come with a turbocharged 1.0 litre 3 cylinder engine option..125PS from memory?  Given the Mondeo is a class size above the Octavia (irrespective of how much bigger it actually is/isn't), it's bhp/ton (or rather torque/ton) that really matters.

 

120bhp in a light supermini is a lot.  120bhp in a large heavy car isn't.  The O3 is a large, light car.  My Fabia weighs more than the 1.2TSi Octavia..I think the Fabia 1.2 TSi Monte Carlo weighs about the same as the 1.2 TSi O3?

Worth noting the new Mondeo will come with a turbocharged 1.0 litre 3 cylinder engine option..125PS from memory? Given the Mondeo is a class size above the Octavia (irrespective of how much bigger it actually is/isn't), it's bhp/ton (or rather torque/ton) that really matters.

120bhp in a light supermini is a lot. 120bhp in a large heavy car isn't. The O3 is a large, light car. My Fabia weighs more than the 1.2TSi Octavia..I think the Fabia 1.2 TSi Monte Carlo weighs about the same as the 1.2 TSi O3?

Agreed. My new 2.0 TDi 150 weighs alot less than the MK2 vRS TDi it replaced and has a v similar power to weight ratio. The new engine is leagues ahead in terms of power delivery so is every bit as quick.

Like you say a 1.2 TSi Fabia goes really well, the Octy equivalent goes probably just as well if not better.

Slight correction - the current Fabia 1.2 TSI 105PS is about 80kg lighter than the equivalent Octavia (Hatch/Estate/Manual/DSG); that equates to a single EU-sized passenger..

Slight correction - the current Fabia 1.2 TSI 105PS is about 80kg lighter than the equivalent Octavia (Hatch/Estate/Manual/DSG); that equates to a single EU-sized passenger..

Really how much does the Fabia weigh then? Know the vRS is quite portly for a small car thought the 1.2 TSi would be similar?

Fabia vRS Estate is 1238kg.

1.2 TSi Estate is 1075kg (Manual) or 1109kg (Estate) according to the brochure.  May change according to trim level.

 

All Skoda listed Kerb weights.

 

vRS has bigger (read heavier) wheels and a supercharger to help with creation of its own gravitational force, plus a bigger exhaust, maybe beefier suspension - it all adds up.

 

One little item I thought worth noting - the Fabia vRS 180PS engine, the 1.4 TSi 140PS in the O3 and the 1.6 TDI 105PS (in both) all have the same peak torque figure (250Nm)..albeit at slightly different areas of the rpm range.

I've currently got a mk 2 1.4 TSI. Thinking of buying a mk 3 and I'm interested what people think of the 1.2? Driven one before with DSG in a Roomster but is it underpowered for an Octavia estate?

 

The Octavia 1.2 TSI and the Roomster 1.2 TSI have exactly the same weight, so I don't see how the size of the octavia would be a disadvantage. If anything, the performance figures for the octavia are better, probably because of better aerodymanics and the fact that it uses a  newer generation of the TSI engine.

So if the Roomster's performance was ok for you, the octavia would be at least as good.

 

Personally I find the perfomance of the 1.2 TSI more than enough for my needs, although I haven't had the time to fully test it yet. The 1.4 engine is probably a better choice, but if the price premium and slightly worse mpg are an issue (they were in my case), 1.2 does the job quite well.