Can’t help noticing most manufacturers are going for these  1.0 and 3 cylinder engines and I just find it very difficult to understand the strain on these small engines  and longevity of pulling a load  in some fair sized vehicles.i understand it reduces pollution and emissions and are economic to run but just find Hard to take it that these little engines can work so hard and last.

Citigo works well, I know it’s a smaller car...  but stick a turbo on a bigger car and it’ll be off! Honda did that with their new civic and it gets good reviews. 

I have the 1.0mpi in my Fabia, thought it would be putting a strain on the engine hauling a estate body, but it’s not as bad as I thought, you do have to work it hard to get up to motorway speeds but for pootling around town it’s perfect.

 

Not sure on how a 1.0 is in a Mondeo through.

 

Davy

Sad55,

best go try some 1.0 Turbo cars, just wonderful with an Autobox or DSG IMO. Especially in a medium sized car if you are not filling the cars seats with people and the boot with luggage.

If just leasing one and handing back then how the longevity of them is only matters not the next keeper.

If they are not what you need then it is nice that plenty manufacturers are offering 1.5 Turbos in 3 or 4 cylinders.

I quite agree but it might just be in my mind but a little 1.0 with 3 cylinders just doesn’t seem right or any size engine with 3 cylinders,probably why I went for a  4 cylinder 1.6L turbo with dsg and I almost went for a test drive in a 1.0L kia but my head got turned.

Edited 19 July, 20187 yr by Sad555

Cruising of a motorway doesn’t take much more than 10-15 kws I seem to recall.

Sophisticated metallurgy, machining and modern ashless oils have turned the ‘cubes’ argument upside down.

They have their place.

I had a 1litre ecoboost in a rented focus last year. I really wasnt sure when i saw it on the spec sheet at collection, but it was pretty decent.

I do wonder about it in a mondeo though, heavy car for the engine imo. 

It is a question longevity though really. Yeah, in a furby or citigo etc a tiny engine is all they need really. But, if youre going to be doing bigger miles in a bigger car... i would like to read some stats on engine condition after say 5 and 8yrs of "normal" driving on them in a mondeo or similar.

I might be wrong here but I did have a citigo as a loan car a couple of years ago when the yeti was being serviced and not sure what engine it had in it and I don't want to upset any owners intentionally but for the 20 or so miles I drove it was one of the worst cars ive ever driven.really noisy little engine and gutt less and the seat belt was located so far back it was a job for me to reach (3 door model) and IF it was the 1.0L  engine,oh dear not for me,sorry  any citigo owners.BUT somebody has just posted on the karrot forum comparing the 1.0L to to driving a 4 cylinder 2.0L so there you go.

Edited 19 July, 20187 yr by Sad555

I've driven the modern VAG 1.0 as a non turbo 75PS and a turbo 110.

 

The little one whizzes around town  but is painful on main roads - it 's pokey at low revs but has nothing up high at all..

 

The turbo behaves very old school - absolutely nothing below 2000 rpm then whammo! It's torque band is so narrow you're always changing down to get some revs on and it guzzles the juice as a result.

 

I don't like either, even though I own the higher power one.

 

On SeatCupra, the new Ibiza is being reported as more economical with the 1.5  / 150PS turbo engine than any of these crummy 1.0 variants.

 

I seem to recall that the 1.4 in the rapid was less thirsty than the 1.2 as well.  Small displacement turbos suck in the real world - whatever the EU mpg numbers might suggest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 19 July, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

The SEAT Arona 1.0 TSI DSG fair wizzes along the heavier Ateca or Karoq's do 60 or 70 mph even with people and luggage carried.

Seemingly the VW UP GTI does and soon the Mk3 Fabia Face Lift 1.0 TSI's with GPF will be available to see how they wizz and they will have WLTP figures for those to make comparisons on Fuel use and emissions with others with WLTP figures.

 

They can be compared against the figures that the 1.0TSI's now on sale have.

Last week I drove my brother’s Ford Focus Zetec 1.0 with 125bhp.

it was quiet, refined, torquey and had good performance.

Unbelievable really. Took me completely by surprise.

A shame really that VW Group just go to 115ps with the 1.0TSI's,  but once they get the Light Hybrid sorted and add that then AWD and a bit more ooomph will be on offer.

1 hour ago, kevberlin said:

Last week I drove my brother’s Ford Focus Zetec 1.0 with 125bhp.

it was quiet, refined, torquey and had good performance.

Unbelievable really. Took me completely by surprise.

The VAG 1.0 could be equally impressive on a test drive - I'm sure I quite liked it at that point, it's only when you fill up that you realise using the performance like that gets mpg returns in the 30's. If you want to get 50+mpg ( not unreasonable expectation for a 1.0) you have to drive like a nun.

12 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

The VAG 1.0 could be equally impressive on a test drive - I'm sure I quite liked it at that point, it's only when you fill up that you realise using the performance like that gets mpg returns in the 30's. If you want to get 50+mpg ( not unreasonable expectation for a 1.0) you have to drive like a nun.

My brother claims mpg at around 42mpg on a motorway run at 70mph.

46 minutes ago, kevberlin said:

My brother claims mpg at around 42mpg on a motorway run at 70mph.

 

Yeah mine does reasonable steady speed figures too. I say reasonable because it won't average within 10 of the EU (mythical) combined figure - but in daily driving using the gears and lots of junctions it's more disappointing. It seems like the 1.0 has too much work to do accelerating from a stop all the time. A poster on SEATCupra was getting only high 20's to low 30's around town.

 

Motorway mpgs are not bad - however there and back differ wildly if its a windy day. 200 mile round trip last week 53mpg out 45mpg back same route same speed. Gradients and headwinds really kill it.

 

The worst thing is the fact that it is clearly a retrograde step. The 1.2/105 TSi 4 cylinder had far better driveability, more refinement and the same mpg without having to try quite so hard for it.

 

 

Edited 19 July, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

I've driven a few of these smaller turbo engines now. I really dislike the character of them.

 

If you ever come off the turbo they have nothing and can be very scary, also they run out of puff very suddenly.

 

I don't doubt that in the right car they will be great it's just my experience has not been good.

 

We had a 1.2T Qashqui 90% of the time it was fine but that 10% was not nice.

Also the mpg was nothing special. I'm sure these engine exist only to cheat the lab tests.

120hp 1.2 petrol 40-42mpg normal driving (paper figure was in the 50s).

My beemer 313hp diesel , 42-47mpg on the same roads.

Edited 20 July, 20187 yr by Aspman

Was it really almost 25 years ago I once drove my sons daihatsu gtti with a 1 litre 3 cylinder turbo engine with a 100bhp I had almost forgot ,sweet little engine and not as rattley as today’s ?

I think a lot depends on the set up...   I have Suzuki's 1.0 Boosterjet Hybrid Swift and it fair zips along with lots of torque from very low revs - in fact it's almost like a big no-lag TDi which I guess is because of the electric ISG...  I'm not sure I'd want it in something the size of an Octavia or Mondeo (or even in something Focus sized) but in a small, light car like the Swift it's great...   and is still returning about 52mgp around town regardless of what I do to it!

Edited 20 July, 20187 yr by skomaz

3 decades back i loved the 3 cylinder Subaru Justy with ECTV & AWD.

It has taken a long time but the like will be common on the roads again soon with a bit more power, more weight and safety features but not that more fuel economy or practicality.

 

The last Suzuki Swift 1.2 AWD was a real bargain that not many seemed to pick up on.

Just now, Offski said:

The last Suzuki Swift 1.2 AWD was a real bargain that not many seemed to pick up on.

 

Yeah - they still do the 1.2 AWD in the new shell and I did consider it - but drove a 1.2 and wasn't keen as it's not a patch on the 1.0 Boosterjet...   but if they could do the latter with AWD...

I think comparing a 1.0  hybrid with a 1.0TSi is a bit apples and pears if I'm honest. I'd expect the second power source to mask torque deficiencies - just like in F1 - and improve the fuel efficiency.

 

Re Daihatsu, I really liked the first gen Charade triple and agree completely - I cant believe how tinny and cheap many of the modern ones seem in comparison. Suzuki Alto, Citroen c1 and Hyundai i10 all have engines that are barely more refined than Kawasakis 70's air cooled 2-stroke triples IMO.

 

 

Edited 20 July, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

Thats just how it is with VW Group, their money and effort was into Diesels & Diesel Hybrids and not really small capacity petrols or EV's and now they are stuck with what they currently have, now they have to fit Gasoline Particulate Filters get the low emissions and economy and have to be producing enough go to get cars that really are too heavy for these power sources selling.

 

Others are ahead of them as usual.

I'm now at the end of the second week with a new Octavia 1.0 SE Estate with DSG.  If I trust the computer, it's done 47.5 mpg over 550 miles.

 

The engine feels quite tight but performance is OK and subjectively feels no worse than the 1.2 Yeti DSG it replaced. 

 

Despite what another poster has said, I don't have any problems getting up to 70 on the motorway at which speed it's doing around 2200 rpm.

 

So far, so good then.

3 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

I think comparing a 1.0  hybrid with a 1.0TSi is a bit apples and pears if I'm honest. I'd expect the second power source to mask torque deficiencies - just like in F1 - and improve the fuel efficiency.

 

 

True and I did acknowledge that but they do the same engine without the hybrid element and it's still bloody good...

37 minutes ago, skomaz said:

True and I did acknowledge that but they do the same engine without the hybrid element and it's still bloody good...

With the different type of cars that you are running your opinions must count for something because they are quite a mix.