I'm considering buying a second hand Superb 280 or 272. A couple of questions for those in the know:

 

1. Does the 272 come with a 7 speed gearbox rather than 6 speed and which is the better/stronger?

2. I am allergic to standard cars...what initial stages of engine/gearbox tuning have other members tried? The Revo stage 1 seems very well priced.

 

TIA

 

Alan

Both gearbox should be good although the old one is a proven unit that dates back more than a decade. Newer 7speeder in 272 gives a lower cruising rpm. 

 

Both will give good outputs at stage 1 tune. Petrol particulate filter don't seem to affect the final output much for the 272.  

 

If you are paranoid about carbon build up, the 280 has port injection. 

Don't forget, there have been 280, 272 and recently 280 again. It depends on the MY and also your budget...  

To be fair a 280/272 is more than enough for day to day use but, a 280 with a Stage 1 Revo (other makes are available) it is a hoot. The extra 80hp & torque really makes itself felt, especially in sport mode where IMO the acceleration via the 6 speed DSG is bordering on savage! 4 x 4 definitely needed to tame all that power & avoids wheel spin. God knows what stage 2 / 3 must feel like. 

Other experiences with my 280 - 

1. Fuel recirculation canister replacement @ 40k. Unlike some other Superb / Passat  owners I had no physical fuel leak but a strong smell of fuel outside at the rear of the car. Just out of warranty as well doh! Got it done at the same as the Revo stg 1.
2. Fuel consumption. Best I've got is circa 36mpg on motorway trips. Current with short local journeys is around 23-25mpg. Using 99RON. 
3. Not done a DSG re-map. Not sure if the benefits are that great, unless it gets rids of the inherent DSG jerky-ness at low speed. 
4. Keep an eye on the tyre wear. I goy my car with 25k on the clock so not sure whether it had original tyres on it but at 35k the tread on my rears looked fine from the side of the car but when it went up on the ramp for a service the inside tyre tread was down to the canvass & one tyre had a slow puncture! This is a known problem on many VAG models using the same chassis - rear wheel / tyre camber. I had a 4 wheel alignment done to try & overcome this adverse tyre wear but since then I've done no mileage to see if its made any difference. 
5. 280 has active exhaust flaps. As far as I know the 272 does not. Exhaust note is relatively quiet which suits the Superb 280/272 "Sleeper" image.

 280 or 272 they are both really quick & practical - especially in estate form. If you see one you'll have to be quick because they don't hang around. Sportline's seem to be more common than L&K models.  

 

Up to MY18:
280 = 6-speed DQ250 (the older one)
272 = 7-speed DQ381 (the newest)

From MY2021 onwards, power is yet again up to 280 and will come with the DQ381.

It's true that the DQ250 is a solid box as it has been proven over the years but the DQ381 is based on the stronger DQ500 from the TT-RS/RS3 so it is expected to be just as good if not better in terms of reliability and handling more torque then OEM. By now, the DQ381 is found on many VAG cars so the pticture starts getting clearer, apart from very few exceptions (only 2 that I know of) there have been no cases of issues, failures.

I drove the DQ250 before, switched to a DQ381 car in 2019. No issues with any of them (both tuned to 370+) The DQ381 is a better 'box (athough don't think night and day difference) in terms of performance: smoother changes in the Auto modes (Both Drive & Sport), shorter ratios in the lower gears that help the car sprint more easily, and a lovely long 7th gear that makes cruising a real pleasure (the short-ish 6th gear of the DSG6 was my main gripe with it, otherwise no problems at all). It does benefit from a DSG remap though especially when running more power, even more so than the DQ250. In the present day, I wouldn't consider a DQ250 over a DQ381 despite the (inevitable) longer track record of the former as there does not seem to be any justifiable concern with the newer 'box, and you can get stuff like virtual cockpit which were not an option on the 280 cars.

In terms of upgrades both cars (pre-GPF 280 and GPF 272) will see around 360 with just a remap, which could go a bit higher with some intake mods. Pre-GPF 280 has ready solutions for stage 2 downpipes that should get one closer to 400bhp while on the GPF 272 there is a stage 2 from REVO that does not modify neither the downpipe or the GPFs (meaning not MOT issues) but still manages 400bhp and equal, pre-GPF stage 2 performance as I can testify, without essentially the extra cost and hassle of upgrading the downpipe.
 

Sorry to bump up an old thread...

 

Can anyone give info on when the engine changes occurred, such as original 280 from X date - X date and 272 from X date - X date etc

 

Also can someone define which do an do not have the dual port injection and GPF

 

Thanks in advance