I am looking to purchase a superb sportline estate but I can’t decide which engine would be my best choice

 

I’m a private buyer so there’s no tax incentives on a company car

 

I commute to work twice a week which is an 80 mile round trip. Including motorway and then traffic and goes into the London ULEZ

 

My other journeys are mainly local with some 200 mile round trips to family

 

My engine thoughts 

 

2.0 TSI 190 - cheapest to buy but what sort of economy would I get. My current car gives about 48mpg

 

2.0 TDI 200 - would give good economy and my runs should prevent DPF issues but is going diesel now a bad plan and could the London ULEZ start charging for any diesel to enter 

 

iV - most expensive to buy. Local journeys on electric is attractive but what will my economy be on my longer commute plus it’s the most expensive option to buy 

It’s a choice you’ll have to decide yourself.

 

I personally went for diesel purely because when I do a long trip in my car it’s a long one, mostly it’s short journeys but never ever had the dpf light come on, had a few regens though, if I notice I’ll go a little further until it stops (back fired EU eh?)

 

I much preferred the grunt the diesel produces and felt the petrol seemed a bit tinnie if that makes sense.

 

If I were you, I’d focus on what options and colour you want then see what’s available in your budget, I honestly can’t see you going wrong with either to be honest.

 

Might be worth checking the VED aswell as I’m sure petrols are or can be a lot higher

Thanks and that’s good to know that even with a lot of short journeys you’ve not had any issues with the DPF

If you really want to crunch numbers on the relative economies of each, have a look at spritmonitor dot de.  You'll be able to search by model type and engine size and see what people are getting over distances.

 the 150 tdi is much better value than the 200 tdi [ around £2500  difference] and it will probably keep you in the lower road tax as more  likely to be under £40 list price

the torque  on the 150 engine was upped to 360nm from 340nm a while back but the 190 engine which is now a 200 tdi the torque stayed the same at 400nm, 

so there is less of a difference than before, i've got a 150 tdi and it is no slouch, you can even remap to around the same as the 200 engine but to be honest, it does'nt need it

 

As for the dpf and regens, get the dpf app and use your phone to monitor the regens, if you allow the regens to finish, you wont have any problems

The diesel won’t give very good mileage for the short journeys (they only become efficient when warmed through) and the tsi will not be that bad on a long journey (giving high 40mpg on steady run)

 

I think someone said the IV orders are suspended.

 

You also need to factor in where fuel prices might go, diesel is already about 10% more per litre, and if we get serious about Russian sanctions diesel prices could jump (currently about 20% of UK diesel comes from Russia).  So buying a diesel car is supporting Russian fuel exports (if you want to look at it from a moral perspective).

 

In practical terms your choice might be limited to what stock is available (unless you don’t want the car until Spring 2023), the link which is updated regularly suggests a Superb Sportline estate is 12 months (or nearer 13 months allowing ship delivery to UK).

 

https://www.marnet-mobility.de/aktuelle-lieferzeiten.html

 

 

Tax on all would be the same if list price under £40k unless you are looking at older (pre 2018?) Vehicles.

Increase in diesel fuel cost Vs better mileage makes the price difference smaller. If your driving routine works for the diesel then see if you can take them both for a test drive. If you can get an iV then have a look but I would suggest it's not suitable for your journeys. Too long and motorway is not right for it. They are nice though and if you can get one in budget that you like don't rule it out completely.

 

My money would be aiming for the 190tsi though.

Looks like fairly low annual mileage. The 190 tsi or iV will be better. iV will get better fuel economy on motorways ICE only vs the 190 tsi. However, you lose boot space with the iV and it is more expensive. Also not sure if you can charge at home but beware of the rate. At 30p/kWh, it's awfully close to a good efficient petrol car at 1.6/L petrol... You have to do your calcs

10 hours ago, KeteCantek said:

At 30p/kWh, 

 

Do you have peak and off-peak or do you just pay 30p on every kwh?

Running cost of electric for a BEV can be lower than an ICE / Hybrid if you have low price electric or free charging, but public charging might well not be.

People who have Off Peak electric deals already are pretty lucky, but those not already with as company prepared to give them a good Offpeak tariff are kind of stuck now price cap tariffs at 28 pence a kWh or more.

 

50 kWh @ 30 pence £15.00.

3.5 miles per kWh 175 miles.

 

Out and about Rapid 50kW-150 / 350 kW is not getting more like 23 -50 pence a kWh and as much as 69 pence. 

 

@50 pence a kWh for a charge of 50 kWh you are at £25.  If you get 3 miles per kWh then that is only 150 miles for £25.

3.5 miles x 50 kWh 175 miles.

4 miles per kWh gives 200 miles.

 

Fuel at £7.50 a gallon and getting 45 mpg 150 miles for £25.

 

Plug in Hybrids from the VW Groups days might be numbered as they are going to need to concentrate on using their resources of materials and batteries to get full electrics out an registered on roads. 

Governments might not put up with lots of the Hybrid kidology on emissions. 

Edited 21 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

4 hours ago, Legion said:

 

Do you have peak and off-peak or do you just pay 30p on every kwh?

Depends on tariff but standard is about 30p per kWh. 

30p would be 52.5 c in AUD per kwh.

 

We pay about 22.74c per kwh and there is often a pretty good business case for solar on the roof at our prices. And your double what we pay.

 

If there is a case for solar and your going all in with a battery you might as well use it and look at ...... ugh and electric vehicle. 

 

 

What car/engine do you currently have to get your current 48mpg, which seems pretty good to me.

 

If economy is important to you then maybe consider a 1.5tsi engine. The overall lighter weight of the vehicle means overall consumption and performance is not far removed from the 150bhp diesel and probably get better consumption on short journeys without having to worry about DPFs.

Current car is a Nissan X-Trail diesel