1.5 petrol Octavia III

[OctaviaFirstEdit]

After significant problems with my Octavia mkiV, I am thinking about rejecting the car and replacing it with a mark III later model with the 1.5 petrol engine. My MK IV has the kangerooing issue. If people have the 1.5 petrol, is it okay, are there any issues I need to be aware of.

 

Thank you in advance

[Gerrycan]

Is your mk4 a manual and has it had the software updates?

[OctaviaFirstEdit]

yes, manual and has the software updates

[Gerrycan]

I think you will find the mk3 1.5tsi had the same issues. Lots of threads in all models that used it but most seemed reasonably happy with the update (although some did say they got worse consumption after).

[OctaviaFirstEdit]

Ohdear, that doesn't sound great!

[AllanDJ]

I've got a mark 3 car with the 1.5 engine, personally I wish that I had virtually any other engine in the range other than that one! If you are thinking of going back to a Mark 3 car, maybe worth looking at the diesel engines which are pretty good all in all or even the one litre engine.

[OctaviaFirstEdit]

4 minutes ago, AllanDJ said:

I've got a mark 3 car with the 1.5 engine, personally I wish that I had virtually any other engine in the range other than that one! If you are thinking of going back to a Mark 3 car, maybe worth looking at the diesel engines which are pretty good all in all or even the one litre engine.

Are the problems as described in terms of kanerooing? Any other issues?

[AllanDJ]

I've mentioned it a few times on here before, when the car was new it was definitely difficult to pull away smoothly in first gear but car itself felt good, plenty of power in the engine and decent fuel economy. Garage offered the so called fix or software update, which was a bit of a botch to be honest. Car was definitely smoother pulling away but car felt different, just not quite as powerful somehow and fuel economy dropped by 10% instantly and has stayed that way. Asked garage about it and they said its fuel consumption is within normal factory  specification end of story. Car was also inclined occasionally to take a nap, maybe stopped at a roundabout or junction, go to pull away and absolutely nothing would happen; car hadn't stalled either. This still happens very occasionally, not sure if its some glitch with the stop/start system.

 

All in all the 1.5 engine isn't as good as it should be, the earlier 1.4 engine seems to have been much more reliable and I wish that my car had that particular engine in it instead of the 1.5, or maybe one of the diesel engines would have been better.

Edited 23 April, 2021 by AllanDJ

[OctaviaFirstEdit]

Thank for answering - really helpful to know.

[MarkyG82]

We have the engine in a Seat Arona.  Had the fix applied quite soon after picking it up at 18 months old.  It's MrsG's car so I did drive it much before the fix but can confirm it's not as lively.  Not sure on the peak power as I rarely get to give it that much but I almost wish we had got the 1.0 110ps.  Drove the 90ps version in a vw up recently and it was great fun.

[Liteboy]

I was loaned a 1.5tsi Scala when my Vrs was in for service. It was pretty awful, lumpy and not a pleasant drive. The 1.0 Tsi Kamiq they loaned me before was much nicer. 

[gm73]

I've just stuck a deposit down on a 1.5 TSi, mainly because of the 150bhp. I'll be sure to make sure it has had the software update. Do all of them do the "kangarooing" thing? I've bought it mainly on the strength of my pal's Audi A3 that has the same engine.

[Gerrycan]

7 hours ago, gm73 said:

I've just stuck a deposit down on a 1.5 TSi, mainly because of the 150bhp. I'll be sure to make sure it has had the software update. Do all of them do the "kangarooing" thing? I've bought it mainly on the strength of my pal's Audi A3 that has the same engine.

The 'kangarooing' complaints came from manual owners, DSG users did not experience the same problems.

[GUM213K]

I've got a 2018 1.5 SEL manual estate. It was  first registered in March 2018. It has never had the often reported  kangarooing issue but initially it used to over rev on applying the accelerator pedal on moving away from idle revs . Bristol Street Motors Chesterfield applied a software fix and the over revving went away. I still find it difficult to match the sweet spot when going from idle to moving off . It tends to hesitate slightly. My other car an ancient  2006 VW Eos 2.0 litre turbo petrol is so easy  to control in comparison moving from idle to part throttle but swallows petrol like there's no tomorrow. The Octavia can be almost incredibly fuel efficient on a long run and it is reasonably fast for a biggish car. The 1.4 litre Octavia Estate I borrowed to sample the vehicle type before  I made the purchase  I believe was faster and the engine more willing to rev  and  maybe slightly smoother but not as economical . I bought the 1.5 hoping the reliability from the engine updates  applied to the 1.5  over the 1.4 would lead to greater longevity. I wonder which engine will be better in the long term 1.4 or 1.5?

So far so good with mine!

 

[FrankNicklin]

On 23/04/2021 at 21:04, gm73 said:

I've just stuck a deposit down on a 1.5 TSi, mainly because of the 150bhp. I'll be sure to make sure it has had the software update. Do all of them do the "kangarooing" thing? I've bought it mainly on the strength of my pal's Audi A3 that has the same engine.

1.4 TSI is also 150bhp. To be honest I expected the 1.5TSI to have more power. The Civic 1.5 is 180bhp, but they stuck a crappy CVT box on it. Hardly any difference in the 1.4 and 1.5 in terms of real world economy and performance perhaps worse economy if you have the software upgrade to supposedly fix the kangarooing. 

Edited 27 April, 2021 by FrankNicklin

[gm73]

Well it’s here on Saturday. Took it for a long test drive. Due to covid you go out yourself so I put it through its paces. It’s quiet, refined and pretty quick and I was impressed . But then again I’m coming from a 1.6 diesel and haven’t driven a petrol for some years. 

[SkodaAmbo]

My daughter has the 1.5 in her Audi Q2, its a DSG.

 

Not had any problems so far and she has had the car for 6 months and covered nearly 6000 miles.