Hello all,

 

My 2015 Octavia 1.4 TSI 140hp Elegance Manual is finishing the warranty period (150 000 km) so I thought that I may share some thoughts which may be useful to someone. First of all, it was a really nice car which put a smile on my face so many times despite of some drawbacks. The engine, driving experience, space and reliability was amazing. My personal experience:

 

Engine: Amazing engine, lots of torque, not so great from zero, but very good pull once you are driving ~2000 rpm. Never had a problem overtaking, great performance up to 160 km/h. However, this engine is still a mystery to me once some times identical push of the throttle, gear selection and even rpm results in way different pull... Some minor problems: big appetite for engine oil: sometimes I have to refill it after 10 000 km; the sound of the engine. The dealer have tried different types of oils, but it still happens. Finally, fuel consumption: 140 000km on the clock right now and it is ~8L/100km in mixed conditions. It was ~6L once the car was younger, but I believe that this is due to way heavier leg  9/10

Gearbox: I was saving money and chose manual - big mistake, very sensitive clutch on first gear, not very smooth changing gears. However, the test driven DSG in test driven Superb in Karoq was really great so I can only blame myself for my choice. One more note: I do not understand why it has 6 gears once there is almost no difference between 5th and 6th. 6/10

Suspension: Amazing reliability, every part is still from the factory. However, the drive is not very comfortable, quite hard and not so good on road imperfections. The car is not very stable once you are driving high speed or doing fast maneuvers on bumpy road. 7/10

Brakes: very good brakes, fast, great distance and reliable. However, I got used to them and they do not look so impressive once it was in the beginning  9/10

Space and practicability: no complaints here, 5 people inside the cabin, German shepherd in the boot and you still have some space for luggage. Once you fold the rear seats, you may even use this car as a small van. 10/10

Equipment: style equipment was good enough, however standard halogen headlights are awful, once they are dirty, there is practically no light at all. One more drawback: once the outside temperature is ~3-5C, the touch screen (Bolero 5,8'') freezes or starts changing radio stations itself. What else may have been as a standard: heated steering wheel, blind spot detect, everything else was enough for me. I have also put Canton as an extra, but was disappointed - higher sound results the speakers rattling with more bass. 8/10

Material quality: quite good plastics, nice to touch. The original leather steering wheel and gear change knob had awful leather - had to change it after 90 000 km at dealer's. Medium at it's best sound insulation, lots of engine sound, heavy wind sound at high speeds. 7/10

 

Overall, good car 8/10. I understand why there are so many of them in the business companies. Reliable car and good price/quality ratio. I believe that facelift is even more better with DSG and LED headlights  

 

Good to hear a report from someone who has covered a fair distance in a 1.4tsi manual.

Mine is four and half years old now and only covered 50k km but unless our circumstances/needs change, or it becomes temperamental, we are likely to retain it for a few more years.

I think your assessment of the ride is fair, the rear suspension is not very sophisticated and while excellent (imo) on good surfaces it definitely does not handle rougher surfaces (or dirt roads) as well as the multi-link rear in the old mk2 Octavia.

Most reports from Eastern European drivers indicate they drive their vehicles a lot harder than someone  in the UK (or in my case Australia) would generally attempt because our roads are loaded with speed cameras and police for our relatively low ~110kph speed limits.

 

What maintenance schedule do you follow, the fixed 15000 km or longer between servicing?

Has the oil consumption always been heavy or has it got worse as the distance covered increased? 

Your fuel consumption seems pretty poor to me but I do not drive anywhere near as hard as you must do and consumption at 160kph would be around 10L/100 by official 1.4tsi figures.

 

I believe that you think that I am a crazy driver always pushing pedal to the metal  However, I am rarely exceeding 3500rpm, but I am doing quite a lot of km in the city and I like strong pull, but I am not speeding a lot. 160km/h in a highway is only a few times during a year, the majority of time outside the city is ~100km/h. I am always doing 15 000km service intervals and the oil consumption problem is pretty much the same as it was in the beginning. 

Good review, and after 50,000 miles / 80,000 km in my 1.4 TSI I'd pretty much agree.  The only major points of difference would be:

 

1. My engine has never needed topping up with oil between services (done every ~10,000 miles /1 year)
2. Never had an issue with the touchscreen going haywire in the cold
3. Mines still averaging about 48 mpg (UK) (roughly 6 l/100km)
4. Steering wheel and gearknob still fine at 80,000 km / nearly 5 years.

But yes - the rear suspension and headlights are the car's two worst features.  I carry a rag around in winter to clean the lights off before every journey, as the headlight washers are not enough to guarantee being able see where I'm going...

On 12/12/2018 at 14:46, Codename47 said:

Hello all,

 

My 2015 Octavia 1.4 TSI 140hp Elegance Manual is finishing the warranty period (150 000 km) so I thought that I may share some thoughts which may be useful to someone. First of all, it was a really nice car which put a smile on my face so many times despite of some drawbacks. The engine, driving experience, space and reliability was amazing. My personal experience:

 

Engine: Amazing engine, lots of torque, not so great from zero, but very good pull once you are driving ~2000 rpm. Never had a problem overtaking, great performance up to 160 km/h. However, this engine is still a mystery to me once some times identical push of the throttle, gear selection and even rpm results in way different pull... Some minor problems: big appetite for engine oil: sometimes I have to refill it after 10 000 km; the sound of the engine. The dealer have tried different types of oils, but it still happens. Finally, fuel consumption: 140 000km on the clock right now and it is ~8L/100km in mixed conditions. It was ~6L once the car was younger, but I believe that this is due to way heavier leg  9/10

Gearbox: I was saving money and chose manual - big mistake, very sensitive clutch on first gear, not very smooth changing gears. However, the test driven DSG in test driven Superb in Karoq was really great so I can only blame myself for my choice. One more note: I do not understand why it has 6 gears once there is almost no difference between 5th and 6th. 6/10

Suspension: Amazing reliability, every part is still from the factory. However, the drive is not very comfortable, quite hard and not so good on road imperfections. The car is not very stable once you are driving high speed or doing fast maneuvers on bumpy road. 7/10

Brakes: very good brakes, fast, great distance and reliable. However, I got used to them and they do not look so impressive once it was in the beginning  9/10

Space and practicability: no complaints here, 5 people inside the cabin, German shepherd in the boot and you still have some space for luggage. Once you fold the rear seats, you may even use this car as a small van. 10/10

Equipment: style equipment was good enough, however standard halogen headlights are awful, once they are dirty, there is practically no light at all. One more drawback: once the outside temperature is ~3-5C, the touch screen (Bolero 5,8'') freezes or starts changing radio stations itself. What else may have been as a standard: heated steering wheel, blind spot detect, everything else was enough for me. I have also put Canton as an extra, but was disappointed - higher sound results the speakers rattling with more bass. 8/10

Material quality: quite good plastics, nice to touch. The original leather steering wheel and gear change knob had awful leather - had to change it after 90 000 km at dealer's. Medium at it's best sound insulation, lots of engine sound, heavy wind sound at high speeds. 7/10

 

Overall, good car 8/10. I understand why there are so many of them in the business companies. Reliable car and good price/quality ratio. I believe that facelift is even more better with DSG and LED headlights  

 

Hi there. Thanks for detail review. Did you had any problems with carbon build up? Only thing that worries me is that about VAG engines.

 

Regards

 

In attempting to answer your oft repeated question this will sound more like psychoanalysis than anything

 

Your 'fear of carbon build up on VAG engines' is likely due to use, or misuse, of the internet. Yes there are many references to this problem on the internet but if you actually look in more detail most originate from the US and most are pretty old.

Well prior to the 1.4tsi's existence VW sold a direct injection engine in the US which had a very bad reputation for carbon build up. Strangely, similar engines sold in Europe had a much more expensive DI and multi-point injection which allowed the inlet valves to be 'washed' by the petrol from the multi-point injection system so was not regarded as an issue.

 

Coming back to the 1.4tsi, you are probably frustrated by the lack of response to your question but this engine has been a workhorse for the group for a few years now and put in a number of vehicles and no one has responded because it is not a reported issue, certainly not in Briskoda. Trust me if it were a problem then it would be here.

 

I'm not saying there is not build up, I am sure there is some but apparently no worse than any other vehicle on the road.  

 

The 1.4tsi is excellent in my experience (90k km, 8 years) and you could expand your search to include the 1.0tsi 3 cylinder engine which is also a very nice unit and seems to be remarkably reliable, frugal and offers reasonable performance despite the small capacity.

 

Other options are to go with dual injection systems such as those found on the 2.0tsi gti's or more left field the recent  Ford Focus 1.5Litre 3 cylinder which also had dual direct and multi injection.

Edited 14 January, 20233 yr by Gerrycan

On 12/01/2023 at 22:26, wolverine5pl said:

Hi there. Thanks for detail review. Did you had any problems with carbon build up? Only thing that worries me is that about VAG engines.

 

Regards

 

What do you mean carbon build up? This was a gasoline engine, so no problems with that at all. My colleague is still driving this car daily for 4 more years.

7 minutes ago, Codename47 said:

What do you mean carbon build up? This was a gasoline engine, so no problems with that at all.

Some, especially early designs of direct injection gasoline engines, had problems with carbon build up in the inlet manifold due to the lack of the 'washing' effect that you get from indirect injection gasoline systems. This has been greatly reduced or eliminated by better design especially with changes to valve timing to reduce the likelihood of burnt gasses being sucked back into the inlet manifold. Some engines, like the 2.0L used in the Octavia III also have a combination of direct and indirect injection to also provide some inlet 'washing' effect.

 

The 4.2L V8 direct injection engine in my previous RS4 was supposed to suffer badly from carbon build up in the inlet manifold but many owners, including myself, saw no significant issues even after over 80,000 miles so in my experience the problem is exaggerated.

Edited 18 January, 20233 yr by PetrolDave