Hi guys,

 

Looking at an Octavia for the good lady and was wondering if the 1.0 3 cylinder engine was up to the task and would it last in the long term.  I see it says it’s a 115 PS were as the 1.4 is 150 PS.

 

Run to work every day of around 3 miles there and 3 miles back with the usual family shopping trips.  So the petrol will be more favorable than any diesel version.

 

I know technology has moved on and it’s the 1.0 turbo charged engine that is flooding the used market 67/18/68/19 market.

 

Thanks in advance.

What's she driving at the moment, and what's its fuel economy like on those short trips? 

 

I had an Octavia Mk 3 with the earlier 1.4, 140 bhp, and never got less than 34 mpg from a tank, usually well over 40 mpg, and on VERY long runs with 4 up and a full boot sometimes very high 50s.  Your later 1.4, 150 bhp is not to be confused with the new 1.5, 150 bhp, which is a newer and different animal and both are available in VAG motors.

The smaller 999cc triple engine is used across the VAG empire and seems to be well received, the main disadvantage is the lower torque, but reviews say it's a very good motorway cruiser and indeed allrounder. This engine is the same as in my wife's VW Up, except turbocharged, when it's then found in the Up GTI.  You'll find it highly economical given the fewer internal friction surfaces and ability to warm up sooner. 

 

Fuel economy comparisons for the short trips will be very difficult without extended testing, but since you're only looking at short distances anyway it won't be huge cost differnce anyway.  Personally I'd have no worries about either engine, she's best taking each for a decent test drive to see which she prefers.

8 minutes ago, FlyingGecko said:

What's she driving at the moment, and what's its fuel economy like on those short trips? 

 

I had an Octavia Mk 3 with the earlier 1.4, 140 bhp, and never got less than 34 mpg from a tank, usually well over 40 mpg, and on VERY long runs with 4 up and a full boot sometimes very high 50s.  Your later 1.4, 150 bhp is not to be confused with the new 1.5, 150 bhp, which is a newer and different animal and both are available in VAG motors.

The smaller 999cc triple engine is used across the VAG empire and seems to be well received, the main disadvantage is the lower torque, but reviews say it's a very good motorway cruiser and indeed allrounder. This engine is the same as in my wife's VW Up, except turbocharged, when it's then found in the Up GTI.  You'll find it highly economical given the fewer internal friction surfaces and ability to warm up sooner. 

 

Fuel economy comparisons for the short trips will be very difficult without extended testing, but since you're only looking at short distances anyway it won't be huge cost differnce anyway.  Personally I'd have no worries about either engine, she's best taking each for a decent test drive to see which she prefers.

Thanks very much for your detailed review.

 

She is currently driving a 1.4 100 PS Hyundai i20 from 2009 so technology on engines has moved on.

 

Is the 1.0 good enough for that size of car?

 

I don’t want to get the 1.5 engine as I gave read lots of bad things with that one.

 

It probably is best to have a drive of both 1.0 and 1.4 engines.

 

 

I have a Octavia 1.4TSI DSG which is great and easy to drive around town and is also my first auto. Mine was in for some work and I was loaned a 1.0 Kamiq DSG and I have to say the performance was amazing. My only gripe was the stop/start seemed to kick in early when the engine was cold and vibrated badly on restart probably due to the 3 cylinders. My Octavia 1.4 is hardly noticeable on stop/start. I would say the 1.0 will probably be perfect but also try the DSG it’s a great auto box. 
 

I believe the 1.5 coupled with the DSG is less problematic than the manual version, but probably more than you need by the sounds of it.

Edited 27 April, 20215 yr by FrankNicklin

MrDeeJay, ignore the scare stories about the 1.5.  But I'd stick with the two you're considering and drive them.  As long as she's happy with the much larger size of the Octavia it'll be a good choice.  The Fabia is roughly comparable in size but the engine choices are a nightmare to sort out - have a look at Parker's Guide website.

 

 I also agree with the suggestion by FrankNicklin about the DSG box (ignore stories about them too). They work Superbly and you won't see any fuel consumption penalty - my Octavia above was DSG. They're not like traditional auto boxes.

We've owned our 1.4tsi manual for 7 years and it still amazes me with its performance and economy.

I had a loan Fabia 1.0tsi, the lower power 5 speed manual version, and @FlyingGecko 's comments are pretty spot on.

The 1.0tsi is brilliant for its capacity, it produces 200Nm of torque which is the equivalent of a 2 litre NA engine so by all users accounts it goes really well, even on the highway.

The 1.0 tsi would be marginally more economical but by every other measure the 1.4tsi is better being more powerful and smoother.

 

Don't expect any petrol engine to be economical doing short runs from cold in an urban environment. It is just not possible but I'd put money on the fact that no other petrol engine could do much better for  consumption than the 1.0tsi I drove.

 

My mum has got a 6sp 110ps engine in her Scala. Albeit the Scala is slightly smaller, loaded with 4 people it's got enough power to get going.

 

I've had a go of it and give it a bit of right foot and it's quick enough. 

 

Only thing to bear in mind, the 1.4 has more torque (as well as HP) so if you're carrying a lot of stuff often, it may be beneficial. 

I have had a 1.0 litre Octavia for coming up to 2 years now.  Plenty quick enough for me and will cruise at 70mpg all day long.  Round town MPG is around 42mpg real world.

I'm on my second 1.0. Economy is in my sig. 

On 28/04/2021 at 14:24, nbramwel said:

I have had a 1.0 litre Octavia for coming up to 2 years now.  Plenty quick enough for me and will cruise at 70mpg all day long.  Round town MPG is around 42mpg real world.

Blimey, I don't think I've ever had ours up at 70 - you must have a right foot like a feather!

 

We've had the 1.0 litre for three years, and it's a brilliant engine (we upgraded from a 85hp 1.4l Roomster, and the difference is astonishing). We average 45mpg, but on a long motorway run can normally get an easy 55mpg indicated (53mpg actual)

Edited 29 April, 20215 yr by Mr Statto

Looking earlier today, if I cruise at 50mph, around 4l/100 is eminently possible, so 70mpg. Over 120km/h and we're talking 6.3 or closer to 45mpg. 

 

I've just remembered the incident with the air thingy. Back in the depths of winter, my car decided to start with a fault - "no Start / Stop", yellow check engine light. Ok, I drive it home, check it. Some air intake temperature sensor - so I bring it to the dealer. They give me a 1.4 TSI Octavia combi courtesy car (Halogens, Nordman tyres, DSG). I drove it to the office and back, refilled at my usual station the next morning as "your car is ready, sir" came via text. 5.something litres per hundred, not bad. A little more than the 1.0, but not much. 

Turns out the error wasn't fixed, so my car went back in the next day and I got another 1.4TSI (again poverty spec, halogens, a/c, not even a block heater, but Michelins). I drove this for a couple of days, got very similar numbers to my own car. Worse - no block heater does make a difference - but not massively so. Consider it still under 6l/100, where 5.5 or so is my winter norm.

 

I don't think the engine size itself is going to make much difference to your consumption numbers. It's your route, the speeds, the stop / start and whether you cruise at 80, 100 or 120km/h. For me this makes a massive difference; 4.2 vs 5.5 vs 6.5l. So from nearly 70 mpg down to 45 as the speed increases (and the tyres don't make as much difference as I thought). I also didn't experience much difference in terms of acceleration or "niceness" from having four cylinders vs three; no real road noise changes. Yes, this was winter, but still.

 

I would drive both and see. I find the 1.0 will sing nicely past 5500 if you let it, and third is all you need for most overtakes, which is really nice. Drop from 6 to 5 to 3, plant it, thanks, we're done. If I were driving fully loaded more often, especially in hot areas, I would want more. But since I'm mostly one-up and empty, patrolling the motorway to the office and airport (at least, once upon a time I did....) then a 2.0 TSI seems overkill. 

My other half got rid of her 59 plate i20 auto last year which I believe was a 1.4, replacing it with a 1.0 suzuki swift auto. Both the Suzuki and my Octavia 1.0 DSG are much quicker to get up to speed and return better fuel economy than the i20 did, so as was said above, engine technology has moved on.

Depends how she drives & if she likes to carry loads of stuff in the car...

 

I have the 140PS 1.4lt...in the Mk7 Golf estate with Multilink rear suspension....basically its a hoot...I added loads of underbody aero & see a calibrated 44mpg easy..& sometimes 52mpg on a long trip...mind you I have a heavy-ish right foot & the car is stage "1-B" revo tuned...

 

I've driven a 1lt Mk7 Golf & thought the power, or lack of for the size of the car wasn't right...like I said its a personal choice...

On 27/04/2021 at 19:32, MrDeeJay said:

Hi guys,

 

Looking at an Octavia for the good lady and was wondering if the 1.0 3 cylinder engine was up to the task and would it last in the long term.  I see it says it’s a 115 PS were as the 1.4 is 150 PS.

 

Run to work every day of around 3 miles there and 3 miles back with the usual family shopping trips.  So the petrol will be more favorable than any diesel version.

 

I know technology has moved on and it’s the 1.0 turbo charged engine that is flooding the used market 67/18/68/19 market.

 

Thanks in advance.

The 1.0 seems to be an excellent engine, but it is likely to be working pretty hard to be lugging an Octavia around, especially if carrying passengers and luggage.

Long term, I would suspect the engines are going to be pretty tired by the time they reach 100k miles, but as you're only doing short daily trips, you might not be running the car to a high mileage.

Personally I'd be inclined to go for a more powerful car that is working less hard to return the same driving experience, but the 1.0 seems like a good fit for you if you are happy with the way it drives.

Have the 1.4 dsg octy. Smooth and quick enough, whilst averaging 52 mpg mixed driving. Had the 2.0 tdi dsg previously and there is little between them overall.  

With the expected usage described by @MrDeeJay of 3 mile run to work, and some shopping trips,  then based on my experience in my manual 1.4tsi with  a typical 20 deg C starting temperature ,through a fairly free flowing urban environment, at an average of 31 kph, and no real attempt at economy driving, then the OP should get better than 40 mpg. Of course consumption could be better or worse for the OP depending on how many stops, traffic flow and the start temperature, his journey experiences.

 

A good idea getting an older car without a PPF because the PPF will not get up to operating temperature with that short a run.

Similarly the 1.0tsi is better for shorter trips because there is less engine mass to warm up and lets face it a 3 mile journey or shopping trips do not need anything with real performance. If you do give the 1.0tsi some welly then it is capable of getting to 100kph in under 11 seconds anyway.

Heat will be coming out the vents far earlier in a trip (1 mile?) in winter with either petrol engine compared to a diesel.

 

I suspect in winter the exhaust will fill up with water from condensation from a sequence of short trips. Last winter (ours are a bit more mild than the UK) my wife, who uses our Octavia for an 8 mile commute complained that the car was gurgling when she started it in the garage and she was right. I think the main problem is the low revs she generally uses.