Hi Folks,

I just wondered if anyone could advise as to which engine variant is considered the best in terms of performance / economy combination.

I may look at betting a cheap mark one octy but it will have to be a non vrs and I want to make sure that I don't end up with something that is either completely lacking in grunt or drinks too much fuel etc.

1.9 TDI it is then lol

Stay away from 1.6 as it does both, drinks fuel and doesn't have huge amounts of power. The SDI has no power but doesn't drink diesel (it likes eating gearboxes though)

You don't say whether or not it has to be petrol or diesel? If petrol, the 1.8 20v (non turbo) is good, enough power and should do about 30mpg. Or has been said above the TDI is a good compromise if diesel!

Got my brother a 130bhp TDI L&K!!

Goes well, great economy and every extra!!!

Bargain buy if you ask me.

Cheers

Go for the 1.8 turbo it does easily around 30mpg when buzzing around and about 40mpg on a run. They can be remapped easily to give 190bhp+ and many owners say they get better mpg once a remap has been done. If its all out economy then go for a diesel 130 L+K which gives good performance and economy.

Thanks all...

I've had two fabia vrss so I'm well accustomed to the 1.9tdi engine. I've no preference between petrol or diesel, although I did expect the diesel variants to hold their value a little more and this may make the cost of purchase prohibitive. I've seen a decent 2.0l petrol ambiente ... what's this engine like? is it a bit thirsty?

Thanks all...

I've had two fabia vrss so I'm well accustomed to the 1.9tdi engine. I've no preference between petrol or diesel, although I did expect the diesel variants to hold their value a little more and this may make the cost of purchase prohibitive. I've seen a decent 2.0l petrol ambiente ... what's this engine like? is it a bit thirsty?

Yep Diesel Octavia's do seem to hold their values well.

And on the 2.0ltr, it'll probably do around 25-28mpg, probably could do a little better if you drive with gently or do alot of long runs. How many miles do you do a year?

One thing I will say is the 2.0ltr petrol will be harder to sell when it comes to it, plus they never sold in that many numbers anyway.

Yep Diesel Octavia's do seem to hold their values well.

And on the 2.0ltr, it'll probably do around 25-28mpg, probably could do a little better if you drive with gently or do alot of long runs. How many miles do you do a year?

One thing I will say is the 2.0ltr petrol will be harder to sell when it comes to it, plus they never sold in that many numbers anyway.

Ok Cheers. I'll only be doing about 4-5k per year. That's one of the reasons why I'm looking at swapping my fabia vrs se for a mark one octy. i want something cheap, reliable and able to swallow a couple of bikes plus camping equipment with relative ease. It will primarily be a weekend car tbh.

1.9TDi definatly, ive got the 110bhp octavia and that geos pretty well and get around 45 on little journeys and upto 65mpg on long runs,

Ok Cheers. I'll only be doing about 4-5k per year. That's one of the reasons why I'm looking at swapping my fabia vrs se for a mark one octy. i want something cheap, reliable and able to swallow a couple of bikes plus camping equipment with relative ease. It will primarily be a weekend car tbh.

With such a low mileage then I'd rule out a diesel, cos the extra cost of the car and diesel will out way the savings in fuel economy. However a Diesel Octavia will be easier to sell.

I reckon you should go for a 100BHP 1.6 (don't go near the 75bhp version, its the one I have and it only does 26-33mpg around town and 44mpg on long runs) or go for the 1.8 20v, that'll do about 30-35mpg!

With such a low mileage then I'd rule out a diesel, cos the extra cost of the car and diesel will out way the savings in fuel economy. However a Diesel Octavia will be easier to sell.

I reckon you should go for a 100BHP 1.6 (don't go near the 75bhp version, its the one I have and it only does 26-33mpg around town and 44mpg on long runs) or go for the 1.8 20v, that'll do about 30-35mpg!

Yes, that's what I thought re the diesel. I may be attempting the impossible but I really don't want to spend more than £4k if I can help it and I don't really want a 'high mileage' example. There's bits and pieces about for that money but the best I've seen so far was a 2litre ambient as mentioned.

2nd hand though you don't pay quite as much of a premium as if you were buying new.

And even on low mileage of you are doing 5000 miles a year at 50 to 55 to the gallon alot better than a petrol struggling to do 35mpg!!

I'd still say go for the diesel.

Cheers

I'd agree, on the reasoning that you'll get some or all of any "diesel premium" price back when you sell it. As for other running costs, an inspection service on a TDi is under £100 (Henry's, Glasgow N. price).

As for fuel costs, the diesel will burn maybe £662 of fuel at £1 per litre in 8000 miles; the petrol will burn 55/35 of that or £1040! :eek: So, even if you apply a 10% loading to the diesel price, you still save about £300.

Ken, Can I ask how you worked the figures out as they seem awfully low/high.

I do about 6,000 miles a year in my Octavia, and I worked it out that I spend about £700 on petrol?

I worked out how much fuel I burn in 8_000 miles, then applied a stated assumed price to it to arrive at a fuel cost for the diesel, then applied the stated (drawn from earlier posts) ratio to that to reach the cost for the petrol car.

plenty of useful advice cheers

Do you want saloon or estate? sounds like you are going to have a lot of stuff and I hear that they hold thier value better.

Hi Folks,

I just wondered if anyone could advise as to which engine variant is considered the best in terms of performance / economy combination.

I may look at betting a cheap mark one octy but it will have to be a non vrs and I want to make sure that I don't end up with something that is either completely lacking in grunt or drinks too much fuel etc.

Why non vRS? They do 28mpg round town and 40mpg on a run. There are loads around for the 4k your looking to spend and would be one of the easiest to re-sell. I can only see 2 options diesel or vRS. Economy over petrol.

Darren

Was there a reason you'd discounted the vRS? I think it would be useful to give an idea of budget too as most of the PD130 Octy's will still be quite expensive or have astro-miles on them as they were introduced late in the Mk1's life.

Things to consider are that anything after March 2001 will be on CO2 tax banding so diesel wins out here and that even though diesel round here is currently 9p more than petrol 6k miles of driving works out about 300 quid more in a petrol. However, the 1.8T is a pretty robust engine and any coil pack issues should be fixed. The 110 TDI is more economical and more plentiful than the PD130 as it was introduced near the beginning of the car's life but lacks the punch and performance of the 1.8T or the PD130. Avoid the 1.9 TDI 90bhp. The 100bhp 1.6 is deceptively quick, but also fairly thirsty. No experience of the 1.8-20v or the 2.0l lumps though.

I'd probably ignore budget for the time being and track down examples of Octavias with each engines and give them a good drive to see what you think. Once you've decided, you can then narrow down the search for the right car in budget.

Chris

Things to consider are that anything after March 2001 will be on CO2 tax banding so diesel wins out here and that even though diesel round here is currently 9p more than petrol 6k miles of driving works out about 300 quid more in a petrol. However, the 1.8T is a pretty robust engine and any coil pack issues should be fixed. The 110 TDI is more economical and more plentiful than the PD130 as it was introduced near the beginning of the car's life but lacks the punch and performance of the 1.8T or the PD130. Avoid the 1.9 TDI 90bhp. The 100bhp 1.6 is deceptively quick, but also fairly thirsty. No experience of the 1.8-20v or the 2.0l lumps though.

Hmmm, I kinda agree with what you said but, when I was buying my Octavia I had the choice between a 1.6LXi (the one I bought in the end) and a 1.9 TDI 110bhp, the LXi was £1490 and the TDi was £1995. Both had the same mileage, both were T Reg and same conditions and virtually the same spec.

Now the difference of £500 offset the economy of the diesel for me, and tax didn't count either with both being £180 per year. So in my opinion you've got to look into it more if you ask me!

Personally though, on driving both I found the petrol to be smoother, quieter and revved more freely.

As Chris and I have both demonstrated, you'd have had the £500 back, and then some, over 2 years.

I would have gone for 1.8T 4x4 as a non vRS option, not sure how they are on go go juice though.

130 octavias are like rocking horse **** very difficult to find and so will be a bit more expensive......110 bhp ones on the other hand can be found in good condition and cheaper .....just a small remap and they will make 140bhp and give nearly 60 mpg as well.......and as for the VRS will do 40 mpg :P I had one, around town they will do about 18 to 23 mpg and on a long run if you drive at 60mph like a granny you can get 44mpg but god it's boring and no fun when someone in a diesel octy goes past you like a bat out of hell and still getting 50 mpg

and as for the VRS will do 40 mpg :P I had one, around town they will do about 18 to 23 mpg and on a long run if you drive at 60mph like a granny you can get 44mpg but god it's boring and no fun when someone in a diesel octy goes past you like a bat out of hell and still getting 50 mpg

When did I pass you then?

worth finding a decent 130 octavia, tuning potential is great and you'll still get decent fuel consumption