1.4 tsi manual - real world mpg

[metis]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a 1.4 manual tsi but would love to hear from any owners of this model regards the average mpg.

From looking at the figures and the honest john website real mpg listed I think I'm looking at 43mpg with mixed motorway/b roads.

If I can get 43mpg then factoring in fuel cost, tax and servicing I will be saving £700 per year over my current car (1.6 petrol Sportage) plus getting more kit, more space and more power!

Don't want to go the Diesel route as I've been stung by higher service costs and dpf issues in the past. Looking to run this car long term and don't want to worry about DPF, DMF, EGR, Injectors etc that modern diesels suffer from when reaching 70,000 plus miles.

[littleade]

Welcome to the forum. I had a 1.4 mk2 which returned 44 mpg over the 12 months I had it but I drove it with economy in mind. As a sugestion why don't you compare what figures you get now as a percentage of the official Kia figures then apply that to the official figures for the 1.4? That may sound a bit daft but mpg is so dependant on how you drive and your journeys and 2 drivers can get very different results over the same journey.. the mk3 has more power and torque while being lighter than the mk2 so more than 44 mpg should be achievable, but whether you will achieve that is anybodys guess.

[metis]

Cheers, I get 33mpg from my current car which is bang on what the honest john site lists as the real world mpg so hoping I will at least get their quoted 43 for the Octi.

Mpg on my current car is very poor against manufacturer figures, their ave is mid 40's, lots of people on the Kia forums are on low 30's like me. The new mk3 Octi has realy tempted me with the added space, kit and mpg, doing the maths i'll be saving a fair bit of money a year too.

[hawkster]

I have the 1.4TSI manual - which I run in normal (not eco mode) and I would say on my average commute (9 miles mostly 30mph urban - with one short 40mph section, just avoiding rush hour) - I getting an indicated 40+mpg - best around 45 usually around 40. 

 

Visited my folks recently so on a longer trip - 25 miles a mix of urban and rural (40 or 50mph limits) on a quiet day over xmas I got indicated 51mpg - and this was with fairly average driving. And this is without really using the stop/start or other fuel saving tricks.So more care could have returned closer to 55 I would think but pushing the engine does cause the mpg to drop noticably if the turbo is working hard.

 

I am very happy with both the performance and the economy of the 1.4 engine - most of the time it performs quietly and smoothly but there is always that reserve of performance available if needed.

[7oaksoda]

I've got a mk 2 1.4 TSI manual - since September, been getting a real world calculated 44mpg, in the 12 months prior to that I was getting around 45mpg.  Mk 3 is lighter, torquier and more powerful with stop/start so I'd assume at the very least the same mpg if not more.  Definitely considering another 1.4 TSI when I come to change, not sure whether to go DSG this time though as I've seen a lot on the forum saying it suits the TSI better than the CR diesels.

[Matt Pez]

I went for the 150CR which is currently averaging 54mpg, my commute is approx 75 miles per day with 60% motorway, 20% rural and the rest is busy urban but Stokey, the 1st Octy III Briskodian, got his 1.4 TSI a few weeks before me and last I heard he was averaging about 51mpg. Based on Stokey's figures, I have calculated I need about 15 years to break even taking running costs and additional purchase price into account, and that assumes no dpf problems! If I had realised the TSI was going to be so much nearer to the official figures than the diesel, I would have opted for petrol as it makes the car more refined, SWMBO's 1.8 TSI Mk II is a peach of an engine and the new 1.4 is not much slower but probably 30% more economical, go for it would be my advice.

[Dempsek]

One rule of thumb used to be take 75% of official MPG and you will not be far off. My 1.6 TDI Fabia averaged for all journey types 78% of the combined MPG. My DSG TSI has only done just over 1100 miles of town driving and is at 34.9 MPG.

[Matt Pez]

One rule of thumb used to be take 75% of official MPG and you will not be far off. My 1.6 TDI Fabia averaged for all journey types 78% of the combined MPG. My DSG TSI has only done just over 1100 miles of town driving and is at 34.9 MPG.

With my Superb 170 CR, I used to regularly average over 50mpg, against an official of 48.7mpg so I was expecting the Octy III to be closer to 60mpg on my commute. Never expected to get near the official 68.9mpg but low to mid 50s is disappointing bearing in mind the Superb was a much heavier car. It seems that the petrols get much closer to the official figures and I can't believe how much the new TDI figures exaggerate compared to the previous pre stop/start generation. Edited 3 January, 2014 by Matt Pez

[jonnybgood]

I think I asked a similar question a month or so ago, and the responses were quite varied. I think one poster suggested the 1.4 tsi was getting around 55mpg on a combined cycle, i was a tadge skeptical as that compared very favourably with the 2.0 tdi which I have and at present I'm getting 45 to 50mpg on a combined cycle, taking into account cold weather and car only six weeks old. I did read on another thread that an owner of a 1.2 tsi was getting around 40mpg on a combined cycle which should be doing better mpg than a 1.4 tsi. Difficult to really tell as all driving styles and journeys are different.

 

I would be very surprised if in similar conditions the 2.0tdi wasn't doing at least 5-10mpg better than the 1.4tsi.

[Matt Pez]

I would be very surprised if in similar conditions the 2.0tdi wasn't doing at least 5-10mpg better than the 1.4tsi.

I think with the latest generation of engines, the petrols have closed the gap. If the 140TSI does 50mpg, and the 150CR did 55-60mpg to quote your suggestion, that would be 10-20% more efficient. Comparing SWMBOs 1.8TSI with my old 170CR Superb, each having similar performance to the two Octy IIIs we are comparing, I can get 40 mpg on my commute using the 1.8 TSI and typically 52mpg with the Superb which was therefore 30% more efficient. To get the 150CR to 30%, it would need to be averaging 65mpg, not much chance of that! Edited 3 January, 2014 by Matt Pez

[jonnybgood]

I think with the latest generation of engines, the petrols have closed the gap. If the 140TSI does 50mpg, and the 150CR did 55-60mpg to quote your suggestion, that would be 10-20% more efficient. Comparing SWMBOs 1.8TSI with my old 170CR Superb, each having similar performance to the two Octy IIIs we are comparing, I can get 40 mpg on my commute using the 1.8 TSI and typically 52mpg with the Superb which was therefore 30% more efficient. To get the 150CR to 30%, it would need to be averaging 65mpg, not much chance of that!

The Skoda brochure figures suggest the 1.4 tsi does 53.3 on a combined cycle and the 2.0 tdi does 68.9 (hatch) and 67.3 (estate) on a combined cycle. We all know that these figures are not to be taken as real world figures but they do stress they are comparative, and therefore in real world conditions you would think the diesel is at least 10mpg better than the petrol if you extrapolate using the 75% rule of thumb someone suggested further up this thread. 

Edited 3 January, 2014 by jonnybgood

[littleade]

Based on your comparison with honest johns results I'd suggest you will easily achieve what you want with the 1.4 mk3 as I was getting that long term in my mk2 which was heavier and had less power and torque.

The extra power and torque will aid fuel consumption if you drive the car sympathetically because you will with suitable throttle control reach your desired speed more quickly and the accelleration phase is when the car is least efficient. That explains why the 105 ps 1.2 is less fuel efficient in the real world- its a common theme that runs through all the very small eco engines that they have the widest difference between official and actual real world consumption due in part because they take longer to accellerate up to speed so waste more fuel doing so. if you order 1 I'd suggest you get the spare wheel as a FF option.

Take one for a test drive- I'm sure you'll be hooked

[Matt Pez]

The Skoda brochure figures suggest the 1.4 tsi does 53.3 on a combined cycle and the 2.0 tdi does 68.9 (hatch) and 67.3 (estate) on a combined cycle. We all know that these figures are not to be taken as real world figures but they do stress they are comparative, and therefore in real world conditions you would think the diesel is at least 10mpg better than the petrol if you extrapolate using the 75% rule of thumb someone suggested further up this thread.

I would tend to agree, which underlines my point that at best you will get maximum of 20% more efficiency with the diesel, but with the previous generation, it was easier to achieve 30% more efficiency with a diesel. In reality, it obviously depends on your routine, driving conditions and whether your driving style is eco or sport biased, but based on my typical driving style and commute, I suspect my real world efficiency over the comparable petrol is nearer to 10% than 20%. I average about 24k miles per year and with hindsight, I would be seriously considering the petrol if I could wind back the clock 9 months.

[Dempsek]

I have to agree take one for a test drive and you will be surprised at how good the 1.4 is. 

 

Presuming the Sportage can do in trip MPG, take a note of the mpg of the test drive and then run your car around the same trip and compare.

[jonnybgood]

I would tend to agree, which underlines my point that at best you will get maximum of 20% more efficiency with the diesel, but with the previous generation, it was easier to achieve 30% more efficiency with a diesel. In reality, it obviously depends on your routine, driving conditions and whether your driving style is eco or sport biased, but based on my typical driving style and commute, I suspect my real world efficiency over the comparable petrol is nearer to 10% than 20%. I average about 24k miles per year and with hindsight, I would be seriously considering the petrol if I could wind back the clock 9 months.

The 1.4 tsi looks like a great car in most aspects and pretty much everyone on this forum who has one is chuffed to bits.

It was in my top two when I went into Skoda but I wanted the car in 3 weeks and there were so few around on the skoda stocklist. It wasn't a case of the salesman steering me towards the diesel which I understand benefits his commission because I sat down with the finance man and we went through the whole list. Plenty of 2.0 tdi's on there but only a couple of 1.4 tsi's and they were loaded with extras making them around a 100 pound per month more than the 2.0 tdi I eventually settled on. I'm not overly worried about the dpf as I had one on my last car and after 42 months the car will be going back to Skoda.

[metis]

Thanks all, looks like the 1.4tsi is for me, just need to test drive one and convince the wife!

I've only had the Sportage a month and am not liking it at all. I should have had a longer test drive and needed something in a hurry at the time. The Octi has only just come on my radar, I wish I had known about the mk3 sooner as I would have gone for that instead. Even taking into account my losses selling and getting the Octi I would recoup it after 3 years, just a PITA swapping cars. I intend this being a long term car.

[Dempsek]

Metis, estate or saloon?

 

It's worse buying a car that you realise you do not like than getting one that you do and keeps breaking down,

[themanwithnoaim]

Metis, I test drove the 1.4 TSI at Colburns in Guildford (could be near you), they've got a DSG version, I know you may think you want a manual but, that DSG box will save you £75 a year in road tax put towards the slight increase in fuel used and it so smooth to drive.  I swear if there had been an old fashioned tick/tock clock, its all I would have heard, I didn't order through them though, City Skoda at Basingstoke were more than very keen with their pricing.

 

The finacial gap between Car Tax Band C and D ain't gonna get any smaller, only larger if you ask me, why make it such big gap if they didn't have a point to make, 120 the border anything any worst they ain't gonna be kind to, kinda reckon this Gov. will be after a few more coppers to get the deposit down before the next election too.

 

Test drive them but, at least try a DSG or you may not know what you're missing.

 

Regards

T

Edited 4 January, 2014 by themanwithnoaim

[Mac1961]

I changed from a 2.0lt DSG diesel to a 1.4lt DSG Elegance Hatch in November and run it in Eco mode, but still plenty of punch and speed. Over a 40 mile trip at speeds of 55 - 60mph I regularly get between 50 and 55 mpg, so no need for a diesel with all the problems that can arise. The 1.4 is very smooth and whisper quiet and overall I'm very pleased with it.

 

Mac

[originalart]

I am getting around 44mpg in a Mk3 1.2 TSI mixed driving some urban some motorway, but mainly a 7 or 8 miles each way commute from the country into a city. A friend bought a 1.4 TSI at about the same time as me and he is getting a couple of MPG better consumption than I am - so I think you would easily do better than 43mph. On a Sunday when my drive to work involves next to no stop starting I nudge 50mpg - its the others on the road that screw it up!

[Dempsek]

 

Test drive them but, at least try a DSG or you may not know what you're missing.

 

Regards

T

Have to agree, test drive a DSG if you can.

 

I never thought I would be driving a petrol automatic, but the Octavia is easily the best and easiest car I have driven so far.

[metis]

Metis, I test drove the 1.4 TSI at Colburns in Guildford (could be near you), they've got a DSG version,

T

Small world, I went to Colburns yesterday for a quick look around the cars, unfortunately didn't have time for a test drive so will have to go back another day.

As I want this as a long term car (past warranty) I want the most reliable option, I know it's extremely unlikely to ever have a problem with a manual box, whereas with the DSG there have been issues in the past and it's more likely to have an issue with that than the manual box.

[themanwithnoaim]

If your really concerned about the dsg box which, personally having been out about ten years so, I think VW/Audi have got fully sorted and the fact that the new 7 speed petrols are dry (no 40k miles oil change required) take a drive in either of the diesels.  Not as smooth or refined but, for long term use/fuel savings could be the one for you, the 1.6 greenline is Car Tax free and very good on fuel.

 

Metis, I'd take a few more test drives if I were you, back to back if you can, I phoned Colburns in advance and told them which cars I wanted to try and setup an appointment to ensure I got just want I wanted, Colburns weren't to pushy after the test drives either and they had very good coffee.  Finally brought elsewhere but, I'll PM you on how I got £1,730 discount on a £22k when you're ready.

 

Regards

T

[PekoSI]

After only 2 fuel-ups and 800 miles I'm still nowhere near these figures you guys are reporting. I managed 34 mpg with the last fuel-up with around 50% of urban roads and very grandpa style driving. So far not much better than my old Mk1 with 1.6 petrol engine. Hopefully it will improve with mileage...

[jonnybgood]

After only 2 fuel-ups and 800 miles I'm still nowhere near these figures you guys are reporting. I managed 34 mpg with the last fuel-up with around 50% of urban roads and very grandpa style driving. So far not much better than my old Mk1 with 1.6 petrol engine. Hopefully it will improve with mileage...

I'm sure it will improve a bit with time, but I'm not overly surprised by your mpg return. My journey types are similar to yours and I'm at around 1k miles and i'm getting around 45mpg in my 2.0tdi.

From the posts I've seen around this forum the mpg returns on a combined cycle for the 1.4 tsi seem to vary anywhere between 35 and 55mpg which is quite a discrepancy.