Would cost me quite a bit to switch but is it worth it? What would you do ?

I get such great mpg in my TDI – 60+ regularly on my 90 mile daily commute – but falling out of love with the diesel (particulates, noise, etc.)

Would cost me about £6–7k to change up to 2.0 TSI VRS, then more in fuel costs on a daily basis, higher insurance, higher Tax.

Would be going from 2013 car to 2016 (ish) VRS?

You'll probably pay about 30% extra fuel costs if you.re getting 60 mpg. You will easily get 40+ mpg cruising at 60-70 mph in the TSI in the summer and a few miles less in the winter I expect. If you can stomach the extra fuel cost I would go for it. If you map it even to stage 1, you'll be more than pleasantly surprised. 

I'd stick with the diesel. My new commute has me doing around 80 to 100 miles a day, 4 days a week. I'm currently achieving around 55mpg and I'm made up (does vary a little bit if the motorway gets rammed). If I had a petrol, I don't think I'd be able to justify the additional fuel cost. I'd be filling up every 4 days or so, whereas it's every 6 days or thereabouts as it stands.

 

I know the diesel sounds rough accelerating, but certainly once I'm on the motorway plodding along, I don't notice it. I've 8 years of driving agricultural tranny vans and a canton sound system to assist in blanking it out for me.

Driven nicely I can get my 245 Tsi into the low 40's on a run. 

2 hours ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

Driven nicely I can get my 245 Tsi into the low 40's on a run. 

But the autobahn 140kph consumption is what is matters?

Course it would be nice to have both, TDI for daily commute, TSI for weekend fun 

12 hours ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

Driven nicely I can get my 245 Tsi into the low 40's on a run. 

I don't

For a daily commute of that length, diesel is really your best option for maximum fuel economy. I was getting 60 plus mpg when I had my Octavia 1.6 TD, current car with the 1.5 petrol engine will actually easily return better than 50 mpg on longer drives if you're not too fast a driver. The bigger 2 litre petrol engine isn't going to be as economical no matter how you drive it, although I'm sure that it's a lot of fun driving it!

Before relocating, I was doing the same daily distance in a similar car, remapped 184 TDI Leon FR.  I was getting 55-60 mpg on a daily basis.  When I first started doing that job/commute I had a mk2 vRS TFSI;  even with careful driving it was a 35mpg at best and filling up every 4-5 days become an expensive job (even 13 years ago, Optimax wasn't cheap!).  It didn't take long before the cost outweighed the fun factor and it was px'd for an Octavia 140 PD TDI Elegance.  Yes I missed the vRS but with a young family and just getting on the property ladder I was actually relieved to stop visiting the pumps as much.  I stuck with various VW TDI's for another 10 years and whilst I didn't like derv engines/characteristics I just had to remind myself that running a petrol wasn't viable. 

 

I've since stopped commuting and have swapped from diesel to a 280 Superb.  Yes it's so much nicer in terms of refinement, smoothness, performance etc etc and whilst the Octavia vRS TSI will/should achieve a better mpg Vs the 280,  I'd say you'll still be filling it up before the week is out and those engines like 99 RON (min 98); so not cheap to fill up.  I no longer commute so I can live with 15-20 mpg around town and possibly 35-40 mpg on long run BUT I simply wouldn't have been in a position to get the car unless I stopped the daily commute, more than halving my annual mileage.  

 

If you can afford the cost to change and running costs then go for it. I really do think the EA888 engine in any tune is truly excellent, even better with DSG.  If you're really not sure about the affordability then I would stick with the TDI.  If you have an itch you really want to scratch then go and spend a few K on an older hot hatch, MX5, MR2 or similar and use it on a weekend and drive to work when the sun is shining.  It will likely work out cheaper for you in the long run as if you go with a TSI and find out it's too expensive to run then you'll have an additional cost of change to get back into a TDI.  

 

On the plus side my 280 is cheaper to insure than the 150TDI Superb Sportline which it replaced so there's one possible saving for you already 

 

In Columbo fashion...just one more thing...are you disciplined enough to drive a TSI in greenpeace mode for 5 days a week?  As soon you deviate from driving Miss Daisy, good luck with achieving 30 mpg. 

 

 

Edited 21 June, 20197 yr by penguin17

18 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

In Columbo fashion...just one more thing...are you disciplined enough to drive a TSI in greenpeace mode for 5 days a week?  As soon you deviate from driving Miss Daisy, good luck with achieving 30 mpg. 

 

 

There lies the issue. You may be able to get a 'decent' mpg from a petrol car in your day to day driving, but it's a headache and a half to constantly drive on economy runs all the time.

 

Slightly different application, but the outline is the same; my motorbike is a 1000cc sports tourer. It's fast enough to give you a smile on the weekends and it certainly does on the TT mountain course. You are able to eat the miles up on the motorway as well, Jack of all trades. BUT...............when I'm on a touring trip, I find myself keeping an eye on the average fuel and the fuel level gauges a bit more than usual, even though we would have scheduled pit stops well before any of us would need fuel. A normal ride tank lasts around 175 miles, with an eco ride can bring around 200 miles plus. 

I've just come back to the Skoda fold from quite a few years away (mk2 pd140 last Skoda I had). I have a 60mile round trip commute, A/B roads - Motorway - City driving at rush hour times, along with my taxi duties for my boys & I'm seeing 38.9mpg average. I admit I've only been running this car for a couple of weeks but I'm very impressed with the engine and dsg & still getting used to it.

 

At the minute I wouldn't consider going back to a diesel, even if my commute was longer & more costly. I ran a Toyota Auris 1.6 petrol prior to this Octavia and it averaged 42mpg over 3years.  

 

Go and try one, then you can make your mind up about the costs involved.  My maths still shows its cheaper for me to buy & run a petrol than it is to buy and run the same aged & spec'd diesel for 3 years.

 

 

note... mpg figures calculated on fuelly.

Edited 21 June, 20197 yr by DarkPeakCycles

Does the TSI have to run on super unleaded then? That means it's the same cost as regular diesel - if not more?

Basically would costs me £66 per week in TSI or £44 per week if I stay in the TDI.

Might have to reconsider ... hmmmmm.

Edited 21 June, 20197 yr by vRSWitter

It doesn’t have to, no. Some just choose to use it though, myself included. 

36 minutes ago, vRSWitter said:

Does the TSI have to run on super unleaded then? That means it's the same cost as regular diesel - if not more?

Basically would costs me £66 per week in TSI or £44 per week if I stay in the TDI.

Might have to reconsider ... hmmmmm.

On three out of four fill ups at the pump, I stick in 95 ron. Every forth fill the better stuff, to help give the engine a clean with it's extra additives. There does not seem to be a big difference in performance between 95 ron and 99 ron anyway. In my job I drive 20k miles a year, but because I like petrol engines so much better than diesels, I suffer the extra cost. On a cross country run I can easily get over 40mpg. On a run the other day and I was not always driving eco, I had on the computer 45mpg. If I really drive economically, I recon I could get 50mpg. The car is always set in VRS mode as well. I did get 48.7 mpg once in my last car, a 2011 MK2 VRS Octavia on an A road cross country drive. Never want to drive like that again!! That's all on the computer of course, not always dead accurate!

3 hours ago, vRSWitter said:

Does the TSI have to run on super unleaded then? That means it's the same cost as regular diesel - if not more?

Basically would costs me £66 per week in TSI or £44 per week if I stay in the TDI.

Might have to reconsider ... hmmmmm.

No, they don't have to be run on high octane.

 

I will run this car the same as my Auris, Payday tank will be Super Unleaded, the rest of the month will be standard (always use Shell where possible).

 

Another cost to factor in, the TDI is a cambelt where the petrol is a timing chain so there is more money you can put to fuel instead of servicing 👍

5 minutes ago, DarkPeakCycles said:

No, they don't have to be run on high octane.

 

I will run this car the same as my Auris, Payday tank will be Super Unleaded, the rest of the month will be standard (always use Shell where possible).

 

Another cost to factor in, the TDI is a cambelt where the petrol is a timing chain so there is more money you can put to fuel instead of servicing 👍

 

Does the timing chain last for the lifetime of the car then ? No servicing required ?

1 minute ago, vRSWitter said:

 

Does the timing chain last for the lifetime of the car then ? No servicing required ?

Correct 

4 minutes ago, DarkPeakCycles said:

Correct 

 

plus also in another 50k miles (2 years for me) my DPF will be full 😫

I do approx 20k per year & wouldn't consider a diesel. 

1 hour ago, vRSWitter said:

 

plus also in another 50k miles (2 years for me) my DPF will be full 😫

 

I assume you've checked the level of it? What level is it and how many miles does your car have?

16 minutes ago, tunedude said:

 

I assume you've checked the level of it? What level is it and how many miles does your car have?

 

yeah, got the VAG DPF app when I got the car - tbh it should last well into the 140,000 range - but its just another thing worry about with Diesel.

Well I decided it wasn't worth it, cost to change + extra fuel + extra tax + extra insurance costs.

Maybe a remap on mine at some point in the future ...

1 hour ago, vRSWitter said:

Well I decided it wasn't worth it, cost to change + extra fuel + extra tax + extra insurance costs.

Maybe a remap on mine at some point in the future ...

makes sense to keep, most people are only changing to petrol because they've been brainwashed by government who would have you believe that diesel is the work of the devil  😩

the mid range acceleration on even a standard 184 diesel is better than a 245 petrol and you dont have to rev the guts out it either.

remap makes it even better 

Edited 24 June, 20196 yr by 310golfr

7 minutes ago, 310golfr said:

makes sense to keep, most people are only changing to petrol because they've been brainwashed by government who would have you believe that diesel is the work of the devil  😩

 

 

That's exactly what I was starting to believe, that I was giving children asthma by driving a diesel ... talk about propaganda 😮

On 21/06/2019 at 15:53, DarkPeakCycles said:

Correct 

Yep, you hear stories of slipping cogs or failed tensioners but every chained car I have owned the chain has never been replaced. I scrapped our 18-year-old Corsa last month and that was the original factory-fitted chain. My current chain driven 1.2tsi I hope will have the same longevity. In the 1980s I ran a duplex-chained Dolomite and no problems with that either.