Please help me decide on 1.6 or 2.0 diesel

[pipsyp]

Yeah the vRS has multilink and is a similar weight to a GTD.

Power to weight between the two isnt vast.....118ish v 131ish Octava 2.0 manual estate v GTD 5 door manual. The Golf is quicker but not by vast margins...holds the road a million times better though.

I have a 2.0 Elegance estate on standard suspension also and its a bit of a barge....its also not v stable in poor weather particularly cross winds.

[GoneToBeemer]

Interesting to know - not driven mine in any particular adverse weather conditions, so will watch out for that.

 

Very happy with the car though I must say - the only reason I got it was because of all of the toys, and I managed to get an amazing PCH deal on it. Had I been able to get a GTD in budget I probably would have...really great car to drive!

Edited 6 October, 2015 by vtec to vrs!

[pipsyp]

Yeah I ran our 2.0 Elegance as my car allowance vehicle (so technically my company motor) for a bit over a year....great car and has not put a foot wrong and only gone in the garage for regular servicing.

I had to stop using it for work as a change in circumstances meant I went from doing mybe 11-12k/ year to upwards of 30k and after a few months I was just ploughing through my PCP mileage allowance.

More annoyingly its worth far less than what is owing on it due to the O3's current poor residuals so I couldnt justify selling it.....the wife runs it now putting only a few hundred miles on it per month....however the loss of allowance, tax on the company car and still having to find the monthly payment on it is not an ideal situation....really its got to go as soon as the right oportunity presents itself.

The Golf is fantastic....couple of v minor build issues with it that are due to be sorted tomorrow but it is a lovely car and great fun to drive.....its not rip your face off fast of course but in Sport mode with the sharper throttle, soundaktor and loads of torque it is impressively fast point to point when hustled...very easy to drive too. Just compared to the Octavia nothing like as practical but given its just me in it most of the time who cares.

Got off quite lightly too as my company have just changed the car scheme (for austerity purposes) making the GTD an upgrade car rather than at my band which would have cost me a few grand in contributions over 4 years!!....

[GoneToBeemer]

Yeah I ran our 2.0 Elegance as my car allowance vehicle (so technically my company motor) for a bit over a year....great car and has not put a foot wrong and only gone in the garage for regular servicing.

I had to stop using it for work as a change in circumstances meant I went from doing mybe 11-12k/ year to upwards of 30k and after a few months I was just ploughing through my PCP mileage allowance.

More annoyingly its worth far less than what is owing on it due to the O3's current poor residuals so I couldnt justify selling it.....the wife runs it now putting only a few hundred miles on it per month....however the loss of allowance, tax on the company car and still having to find the monthly payment on it is not an ideal situation....really its got to go as soon as the right oportunity presents itself.

The Golf is fantastic....couple of v minor build issues with it that are due to be sorted tomorrow but it is a lovely car and great fun to drive.....its not rip your face off fast of course but in Sport mode with the sharper throttle, soundaktor and loads of torque it is impressively fast point to point when hustled...very easy to drive too. Just compared to the Octavia nothing like as practical but given its just me in it most of the time who cares.

Got off quite lightly too as my company have just changed the car scheme (for austerity purposes) making the GTD an upgrade car rather than at my band which would have cost me a few grand in contributions over 4 years!!....

 

That's exactly my situation - hence I took it out on PCH, so I only pay a number I'm happy with and that I know is in my budget, without having to worry about what it's worth at the end. Got it for 3 years, then it will simply go back. Hopefully mine will prove as reliable at 20,000 miles a year as yours has!

 

Really happy with the car - the ACC and Lane Assist is great after a hard day and then a 100 mile trek back down the M40. Can't fault it at all apart from at idle / town speeds its a bit gruff sounding, but I know it was never going to be quite up to the Golf standard!

 

You've got 2 good cars there though...enjoy!

[c77dk]

Have been doing about 52mpg in my 2.0 TDI for the first fills - but as it's the 4x4 estate with 100kmh average I think it's quite ok :-) My old Seat with 1.6 would do about 46 on the same run, without 4x4

[bigjohn]

I currently run a 2013 Octavia 1.6 DSG SE and at some point in the near future I need to change it.

 

I've been offered a 2.0 DSG Elegance with a silly-low mileage (2k after 10 months) for a decent price and I'm seriously tempted.

 

I do about 30,000 miles a year, so smallish differences in mpg make a sizeable cash difference.

 

Do you think I'll see a significant drop in mpg going to the 2.0 diesel? I'd like the extra power, and I remember years ago when I had a Jag as a company car, the salesman explained that although the 2.5V6 was technically capable of better mpg, most people actually got better mpg from the 3.0V6 - you had to drive very sedately to get better mpg from the smaller engine.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

Phil

 

As yours comes out of warranty consider a replacement of the EGR valve that can fail on 1.6CR at lowish mileage (60k) and is difficult to change (remove DPF, driveshaft...) and as such expensive

Edited 6 October, 2015 by bigjohn

[philthejuggler]

Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond!

 

 

Have been doing about 52mpg in my 2.0 TDI for the first fills - but as it's the 4x4 estate with 100kmh average I think it's quite ok :-) My old Seat with 1.6 would do about 46 on the same run, without 4x4

 

That doesn't sound too bad, but nowhere near the official figures!

 

The 2.0 is quite a quick car.

Because its a VAG economy vehicle, it does without the multilink rear axle....this does to some degree affect its roadholding but it makes the car significantly lighter as a result.

Going by the book figures even the estate manual weighs less than 1300kgs which is well impressive....my Mk7 GTD weighs just over 1400kgs.

So its not a rocketship....but 150hp (and a nice usable power spread) pulling around very little weight makes for something thats quicker than youd think it would be.

Pushed you have a car that can do 60 in low 8's and could probably top 140mph given a long enough stretch of road. Mine certainly seems quicker than the 170 CR Mk2 it replaced.

Not bad for a plain old family hatch/estate.

Id still only switch if the deal on the table was too good to be true....nice as a 2.0 Elegance is, its not worth a big financial outlay compared to a 1.6 SE to change in my book.

 

Trouble is I'm currently on a PCP @ 20k miles p/a and doing 30l as my job requirements changed. I need to spend more per month realistically - the deal is pretty good.

 

As yours comes out of warranty consider a replacement of the EGR valve that can fail

on 1.6CR at lowish mileage (60k) and is difficult to change (remove DPF, driveshaft...) and as such expensive

 

Thanks for the tip, but it'll be gone by next week!

[philthejuggler]

After much indecision and probably driving the dealer round the twist, I've decided to go with the 2.0 Elegance DSG.

 

I reckon I'm going to be about £20-£30 a month worse of due to fuel / insurance, but the car was very well priced given the extremely low mileage and it helps me sort out the 'negative equity' on my current PCP. In a few years time I'll be able to go to a brand new vehicle and keep my payments the same hopefully. As someone who often spends 6 hours or more in the car on a given day I think the extra comfort (especially the cruise control) and the betting pulling power is worth it. If I'm wrong I'll have to swap it back for a 1.6!

 

Thanks again for all the help!

 

Phil

[Defenderben]

Looking at the news think I would avoid an oil burner of any size, until they decide how much they are going to persecute them

29,000 deaths due to diesels....not looking good.