VW's new 1.4TSi engine v their old 1.4 petrol

NIMAN

I own a 1.4 petrol Golf, and its engine is meant to be a real stinker (despite never giving me much bother).

I was wondering how their 1.4 TSi engine is rated?

gooner99

NIMAN wrote: »

I own a 1.4 petrol Golf, and its engine is meant to be a real stinker (despite never giving me much bother).

I was wondering how their 1.4 TSi engine is rated?

Hi, I have the old 1.4 75bhp engine in a 2004 mk5 from new with 133k miles on the clock. Despite lots on here saying it's a soft engine it's never given me a days bother. Now I had the same engine in a 1998 mk4 from new and the water pump failed around the 5th year, but other than that no other bother,kept it 6 years.I think lots depend on how it's looked after.I service it every 10k miles, use fully synthetic 5w/30 and timing kit done at 60k and 120k miles.

To be honest I don't see where the soft engine thing comes from, probably on cars that have not been looked after or indeed have much more miles on the clock than are shown.

Seems to me that lots of modern diesels are pretty troublesome.

NIMAN

My 01 has 140k on the clock, and as I said, no real trouble, just the odd part every now and then but I'd expect that with the age/mileage.

I also looked after it, it got every part it ever needed and serviced every 10k miles. I guess that probably helped.

gooner99

NIMAN wrote: »

My 01 has 140k on the clock, and as I said, no real trouble, just the odd part every now and then but I'd expect that with the age/mileage.

I also looked after it, it got every part it ever needed and serviced every 10k miles. I guess that probably helped.

Yes reckon servicing to schedule is the key.I also replaced parts, but not engine parts. Shocks, springs, brake parts, exhaust.Usual wear and tear things.Just got new pads all round and two new disks. Also changed the pollen filter, it was filthy and my windscreen wasn't clearing so well. be interesting to see if this makes a difference. Anyway so far so good as far as the engine is concerned. I think I'll hang on to it, as I have it from new and know it's full history and it's not too sore on juice.Actually just starting to check this using Road Trip app.

2011abc

The 1.2TSI is WAAAAAAAY better than the 'old' 1.4 let alone comparing the same sized engines .Had 1.4 Altea XL now 1.2 Octavia ...85bhpvs103bhp?37-41mpg Vs 45-55mpg? 0-60 in 14 secs vs 10/11 secs ...my estimated figures ...Far superior engines...

NIMAN

The engine in question is the 1.4TSi that VW have in a Touran I was looking at, which is not the same 1.4 engine I have in my 2001 Golf (afaik).

I was wondering if this new engine has the same awful reputation, or have they improved it (a la the 1.2 TSi engines)?

gooner99

gooner99 wrote: »

Yes reckon servicing to schedule is the key.I also replaced parts, but not engine parts. Shocks, springs, brake parts, exhaust.Usual wear and tear things.Just got new pads all round and two new disks. Also changed the pollen filter, it was filthy and my windscreen wasn't clearing so well. be interesting to see if this makes a difference. Anyway so far so good as far as the engine is concerned. I think I'll hang on to it, as I have it from new and know it's full history and it's not too sore on juice.Actually just starting to check this using Road Trip app.

Forgot to say that mine burns a bit of oil between service, but no problem once you keep and eye on it. my mk4 with the same engine did the same. How is your on oil?

gooner99

I think I read of quite a few problems with the 1.4tsi, but not 100% sure what they were and if they were serious.maybe some of t he guys on here with that engine can confirm their reliability.

Is the 1.2tsi a reliable engine?

gooner99

2011abc wrote: »

The 1.2TSI is WAAAAAAAY better than the 'old' 1.4 let alone comparing the same sized engines .Had 1.4 Altea XL now 1.2 Octavia ...85bhpvs103bhp?37-41mpg Vs 45-55mpg? 0-60 in 14 secs vs 10/11 secs ...my estimated figures ...Far superior engines...

Are you saying the 1.2tsi is good for 45-55 mpg, that's pretty damn good for a car the size of an octavia?

mad muffin

I had a '99 Bora with the 1.4 kept it for 8 years and 180,000 miles never gave me any trouble. Kept it serviced regularly.

The engine was underpowered for such a heavy car and overtaking was forget about it. Going up a hill means going down gears especially if its a full car.

I now have a SEAT Altea XL with the 1.4 tsi 125 or so bhp and its a different beast altogether.

It's got 80% of its torque from 1200 or so rpm and 100% from 1400 to 4500 which means real world driving is much more relaxed.

No worries overtaking and it will happily go up a hill in 6th with a full car.

Fuel economy is much better too.

The reliability issues only plagued the more powerful turbo+supercharger variant.

The Altea had around 55,000 km on the clock and so far no problems with the engine at all.

gooner99

mad muffin wrote: »

I had a '99 Bora with the 1.4 kept it for 8 years and 180,000 miles never gave me any trouble. Kept it serviced regularly.

The engine was underpowered for such a heavy car and overtaking was forget about it. Going up a hill means going down gears especially if its a full car.

I now have a SEAT Altea XL with the 1.4 tsi 125 or so bhp and its a different beast altogether.

It's got 80% of its torque from 1200 or so rpm and 100% from 1400 to 4500 which means real world driving is much more relaxed.

No worries overtaking and it will happily go up a hill in 6th with a full car.

Fuel economy is much better too.

The reliability issues only plagued the more powerful turbo+supercharger variant.

The Altea had around 55,000 km on the clock and so far no problems with the engine at all.

Must have been the turbo+supercharger one I heard the bad reports about. Sounds like the standard 1.2 + 1.4 tsi engines are pretty sweet and reliable. Do they have timing chains?

mad muffin

gooner99 wrote: »

Must have been the turbo+supercharger one I heard the bad reports about. Sounds like the standard 1.2 + 1.4 tsi engines are pretty sweet and reliable. Do they have timing chains?

Not sure about the 1.2 but the 125bhp 1.4 has a timing chain.