Gone are my boy racer days, not that I was ever one for mods and tanking it around but I must concede to having a bit of a childish moment yesterday on my way home. 

 

Clearly, the 1.4 TSI is a pleb in performance terms at the side of a VRS ir equivalents from other brands and would be demolished by any of the key german big name cars outside of entry level engines. But when compared to sporty offerings such as Focus ST-Line with around 125ps or typical diesel rep cars, the 1.4 TSI is a bit of a sleeper considering it has no sporting pretensions.

 

Anyway, I approached some traffic lights in the inside lane yesterday and spotted an Insignia tanking it behind and he zoomed past me into the overtaking lane at the red lights. It was a CDTi and I presumed manual. 

 

As we waited for green, he was revving and creeping over the line. I left mine in D and decided not to floor it but to accelerate briskly. Green light came and after initially level pegging, I blasted ahead with ease which is in part thanks to the DSG gearbox. It was a 60 zone so I backed off within the speed limit and took the next turn off.

 

Even without the presence of another car, I am surprised by the relaxed, smooth and quiet way it delivers brisk acceleration. Back to sensible driving now. 

*or 

It is a relatively lightweight car with 250Nm available from low revs so it makes the most of what its got and happily revs out to the redline although the urge falls off over 4k.

 

 

They are quite good engines...cough..cough...I apparently annoy a few bigger cars...🤣