Hello

I would like to know your opinion on the AEE engine in terms of:

• reliability
• power
• fuel/oil consumption

AEE = the engine on Felicia 1.6 and Felicia Fun.

It's hard to write objective opinions to subjective parameters

I've driven few AEE felicias and it always seemed to me, that it need short gearbox from 1.3. Fun starts at around 3000RPM, until then it doesn't seem much stronger, than 1.3MPi, which has torque maximum at 2500RPM. Between 3000 and 4000RPM it certainly has more power, which corresponds with official data. 

 

Fuel consuption is very subjective, but consensus is around 6,5-7l/100km, about half a liter more, than 1.3MPi

5 hours ago, Papez said:

It's hard to write objective opinions to subjective parameters

I agree that reliability might be a subjective matter. But power? Maximum power is a fixed figure, 55 kW. That is only 5 kW more than 1.3 MPI engine. Any comments on that?

Same goes for the engine oil consumption. VW engines are notorious to burn oil by design.

You can't compare maximum power output, when that power is in RPM range that is rarely used. More important is mid range and 1.6 has around 10-15kW advantage here. But it also has long gearbox, which puts engine about 500RPM lower, which reduces this advantage... Assuming car's dynamics from paper is hard It also depends on driving style, most drivers don't even use full potential of their engine. Complete torque curve and gear ratios helps with that, i'll try to find some graphs from dyno.

 

About oil consumption, that can be very different on every engine. But it's true, that AEE likes oil. Luckily, according to information on Czech forums, most oil is consumed via valve o-rings, which can be fixed relatively easily.

 

Thank you for your opinion. One last question: do you think that the engine is underpowered and heavy by design for 1600 cm3 ?  

I'm asking about this engine because an online friend is interested in an ad for a 1.6 Skoda Felicia with low mileage (22,000 km) and AEE engine is not my cup of tea.

See here. The price is 700 Euro, not 3,000

1.6 is a very old lump, "modernised" with digital fuel injection, just so it could pass ecology tests.

There is a lot of torque down low, even for a 1600cc, but there is a weight penalty, its not all aluminium like skoda 1.3. There is no big HP at high revs, it is old and simple engine, and Felicia is old simple car, stock suspension and brakes cant take much more. It is not in any way better or worse than skoda 1.3, its a subjective thing which one will you go for. For me 1.3 cant cut it, no towing power, for someone else im sure 1.3 has sufficient power

I'm not a fan at all. I've driven pickups with all three engines (1.3, 1.6, 1.9d) and it's the worst of the bunch.

 

I it's defence, it's a little bit torquey, but it's bad on fuel (30s mpg compared to knocking on 50 from the 1.3 and more from the diesel), it's unreliable and the stem seals are crap. The 1.3 might have less power, but it revs far more freely. 

 

Despite all the jokes, skoda were great engine builders until vw got involved. 

On 6. 1. 2018 at 00:32, RicardoM said:

Thank you for your opinion. One last question: do you think that the engine is underpowered and heavy by design for 1600 cm3 ?  

 

When compared to 1.3MPi - yes it is underpowered and heavy. But that's because, despite its obsolete valvetrain, 1.3 was in my opinion one of best 8 valve engines in whole Volkswagen group. It has almost flat torque curve from 2000 to 5000RPM, unlike AEE, which has peak at 3000 and nothing much around it. BTW  Rumours even say that VW learned aluminium engine technology from Skoda

 

But comparison with production of mid 90's it was average engine. Lots of engines back then had similar power output and were as heavy.

 

From my point of view, its not that bad engine. If you drive a lot on highway, or with heavy car, it's maybe best choice. Otherwise it's just as good as 1.3.

 

One last thing - I never understood why, but AEE is way quieter than 1.3. I'm still trying to find out why it is, but maybe its weight and different style of mounting have some effect.

Edited 7 January, 20188 yr by Papez

8 hours ago, StevesTruck said:

Despite all the jokes, skoda were great engine builders until vw got involved. 

Very, very true.

Hi,

I cant add much more, but as an owner of the aee VW engine I tend to agree with the comments here. There is a definite sweet spot around 3000 rpm, where the car does feel nippy. However in the lower and upper rpm on normal driving conditions you can feel the power of the engine working its way up to speed slower, I'm guessing this is because of the weight and gearbox as people are saying here. If you give it some welly and get the gear changes right it does feel nice and average . With the stock steelys and brakes on the felly I wouldn't personally feel comfortable with too much more power anyway.

 

Its been reliable in the sense that it hasn't broken down and runs quite smoothly at 75000 miles, but the engine isn't without issues such as oil leaks. it doesn't use oil as quick as the other vw engine I've owned, with a small top up in 4000 miles, and thats with the leaks... Its been serviced yearly with oil changes so maybe this one isn't deteriorating as quickly but it does use oil, even if it is a small amount.

 

Fuel consumption isn't the best, a 200 mile round trip, of mixed town, motorway and b-roads is just under half a tank-£20 (exhaust is slightly blowing at the connecting sleeve). I cant compare it to the Skoda engine as I havnt owned one But would assume fuel consumption would be lower than this.

 

Personally I like the whole setup as a daily drive, and will keep driving it

 

9 hours ago, Fio said:

If you give it some welly and get the gear changes right it does feel nice and average

I think this is the best description of Felicia with AEE engine.