Turboed petrols

V8 Interceptor · 28-02-2019 2:45pm #1

Its been a few years now since turbocharged petrols became the mainstream with manufacturers but I've actually yet to drive one. All I've ever owned were NA petrols and turboed diesels.

Is there much of a difference driving a turbo petrol vs an NA? Is it less free revving? I'm guessing the powerband is somewhat different.

How about lag?

I know there's huge variations between cars and engines so I'm just asking in general because my next car is gonna be a petrol and it might have a turbo

Stallingrad · 28-02-2019 2:50pm

Most modern turbo petrols are brilliant. Generally smooth, free reving with torque available from low down, no noticeable lag.

You will love them!

fancy pigeon · 28-02-2019 3:02pm

I occasionally drive a twin turbo 300ZX. A nice economical, mainstream, practical everyday car*

*15-18mpg, a bastard to drive on anything remotely damp, turbos come in with a bang at 4k rpm and shoot flames under the right circumstances when changing gear, can seat 2 comfortably and not much else, will try to kill you every chance it gets. And I absolutely love it!

jimgoose · 28-02-2019 3:07pm

Drove a 181 1l Ecoboost Focus belonging to Woman's auntie a couple of months back. I didn't have time to get properly cosy with the thing, but I did note that it pulled remarkably like the 131 1.6 diesel Focus that Woman has. I liked it.

Marcusm · 28-02-2019 3:09pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

Its been a few years now since turbocharged petrols became the mainstream with manufacturers but I've actually yet to drive one. All I've ever owned were NA petrols and turboed diesels.

Is there much of a difference driving a turbo petrol vs an NA? Is it less free revving? I'm guessing the powerband is somewhat different.

How about lag?

I know there's huge variations between cars and engines so I'm just asking in general because my next car is gonna be a petrol and it might have a turbo

I had a twin scroll twin turbo v8, little noticeable lag because the twin turbos came in at different points. It did seem to continue increasing power forever (in a good way).

Currently have a turbo i4 and a supercharged v8. Noticeably different power delivery.

zilog_jones · 28-02-2019 3:10pm

Lag generally isn't an issue with low-performance turbos. I haven't driven one of these myself, but I know a few people with them and they seem happy enough (either moving from diesels, or previous NA petrols).

Cee-Jay-Cee · 28-02-2019 3:10pm

I had an FSI polo rental on holidays last year and was very impressed with the low down power/torque, lower gear acceleration was very impressive for such a small engine and it was able to hold its own on the motorway up to around 140kmph with power to pass other cars if needed (at that speed)

V8 Interceptor · 28-02-2019 3:15pm

Marcusm wrote: »

I had a twin scroll twin turbo v8...Currently have a turbo i4 and a supercharged v8. Noticeably different power delivery.

I just remembered my username...………..What an OP

zilog_jones · 28-02-2019 3:54pm

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

I had an FSI polo rental on holidays last year and was very impressed with the low down power/torque, lower gear acceleration was very impressive for such a small engine and it was able to hold its own on the motorway up to around 140kmph with power to pass other cars if needed (at that speed)

Do you mean TSI? FSI is just direct injection and would have to be a pretty old model at this stage.

CJhaughey · 28-02-2019 4:00pm

I had a 1l Focus Ecoboost as a rental and while it was OK low down with a single occupant it never felt great when I had 3 passengers inside plus myself.
It was fine for just tipping about in but the economy wasn't great.

jimgoose · 28-02-2019 4:02pm

CJhaughey wrote: »

I had a 1l Focus Ecoboost as a rental and while it was OK low down with a single occupant it never felt great when I had 3 passengers inside plus myself.
It was fine for just tipping about in but the economy wasn't great.

Mmm, wouldn't surprise me - like I said, I had only a very limited drive in one.

Andrewf20 · 28-02-2019 4:52pm

I tend to go for na myself mainly for their free revving nature and better reliability (generally) due to less complex engines. I therefore have less guilt revving out a na vs a turbo. I always notice the turbo lag in different turbos and do miss the more free revving nature of the na.

CoBo55 · 28-02-2019 5:24pm

My last two cars were petrol Octavia's, a 09 1.4 TSI (122 bhp) followed by a 172 1.0 (115 bhp), both were dsg. The 09 was by far the nicer drive and more economical overall than the 1 litre. The 1 litre had amazing economy on long journeys 5.0L/100 being achieved on quite a few journeys but town driving was abysmal often as low as 10L/100km for a full tank. The 1.4 recorded a best of 47 mpg on a long journey but never fell below 41. These are all full tank to empty figures every time. I've gone back to diesel and the difference is amazing, I can't see myself going petrol for a long time. Sorry about the mixed units I've only recently trained myself in the modern units.

ShadowHearth · 28-02-2019 7:07pm

Stallingrad wrote: »

Most modern turbo petrols are brilliant. Generally smooth, free reving with torque available from low down, no noticeable lag.

You will love them!

Definitely agree, at least from my own experience with my own car. 1.8tsi engine and if you did not know it was turbo, you couldn't really say it was. No turbo lag that I felt with it.
1.8 is still a bit bigger engine for this day and age ( I know, sad times we live in ), so it helps to be more linier, but I am not sure about these tiny turbo charged engines, never drove one.

dastardly00 · 28-02-2019 8:36pm

jimgoose wrote: »

Drove a 181 1l Ecoboost Focus belonging to Woman's auntie a couple of months back. I didn't have time to get properly cosy with the thing, but I did note that it pulled remarkably like the 131 1.6 diesel Focus that Woman has. I liked it.

Woman?

V8 Interceptor · 28-02-2019 8:37pm

Andrewf20 wrote: »

I tend to go for na myself mainly for their free revving nature ….do miss the more free revving nature of the na.

So there is a difference in that regard?

mr_edge_to_you · 28-02-2019 10:18pm

We have a 171 1.0 (115bhp) Skoda Octavia. It's a cracking car to drive. We absolutely love it. We find it very economical - our shortest journey is 7km.

V8 Interceptor · 28-02-2019 10:39pm

CoBo55 wrote: »

My last two cars were petrol Octavia's, a 09 1.4 TSI (122 bhp) followed by a 172 1.0 (115 bhp), both were dsg. The 09 was by far the nicer drive and more economical overall than the 1 litre. The 1 litre had amazing economy on long journeys 5.0L/100 being achieved on quite a few journeys but town driving was abysmal often as low as 10L/100km for a full tank. The 1.4 recorded a best of 47 mpg on a long journey but never fell below 41.

I'm surprised at that. I'd have thought it'd be the other way around.

Mr Magnolia · 28-02-2019 11:18pm

One of the madest drives i ever had was a Lancia Delta Integrale. I've driven a db9 but the Lancia was just.... mad.

I'd a mate 20yrs ago who drove nothing else but petrol turbos. His tag line:

"Happiest when; engine screaming, tyres screaming, passengers screaming"

Henry Ford III · 01-03-2019 8:44am

Had 2 x Fiesta ST's. Great engines. Plenty of power, loads off torque, and no issue revving. Driven gently they were very economical too - 40mpg+

Stallingrad · 01-03-2019 10:38am

We liked the 1.4tsi 150bhp Act in the Superb so much we bought two.

CoBo55 · 01-03-2019 1:39pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

I'm surprised at that. I'd have thought it'd be the other way around.

It broke my heart, there was definitely something wrong with it. Some days it sounded like a bag of nails and you actually see the fuel gauge dropping. Other days it was as smooth as silk, tipping along in the high gears not a bother on it, never as glad to see the back of it tbh.

Lord Nikon · 01-03-2019 1:43pm

Turbo all the things.

CrankyHaus · 01-03-2019 2:10pm

Stallingrad wrote: »

We liked the 1.4tsi 150bhp Act in the Superb so much we bought two.

Lovely engine in the Golf too. Very smooth and responsive. Never noticed any lag.

CoBo55 · 01-03-2019 2:15pm

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Lovely engine in the Golf too. Very smooth and responsive. Never noticed any lag.

Sorry I didn't get that engine in the Octavia, 1.5 as it is now.

jimgoose · 01-03-2019 2:45pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Woman?

My good lady.

V8 Interceptor · 01-03-2019 2:55pm

All the responses bar one have been positive. So when you hear people - esp Motoring journalists - mourning the death of the NA, what exactly are they missing?

Midnight_EG · 01-03-2019 4:25pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

All the responses bar one have been positive. So when you hear people - esp Motoring journalists - mourning the death of the NA, what exactly are they missing?

Yeah but you're talking to people who like turbo petrols...wait until the diesel brigade comes :cool:

10fathoms · 01-03-2019 4:44pm

Last 2 cars and current cars all turbo petrol.

Went from a 2000 Subaru Forester GT, to an 2005 Octavia VRS 1.8T (the best and most reliable cars I've ever owned despite absolutely dogging it daily) to a 2017 Focus RS.

Turbo petrol really is the best powerplant if you aren't too worried about economy and want something that's fun to drive. And even better if you're into tuning etc.

sunnysoutheast · 01-03-2019 7:43pm

I loved the Passat 09 1.8T I had way back.

Was very impressed with a hired 1.0T Golf DSG last year.

We will have the dreaded L/N plates at the end of this year going up so will have to get something suitable, probably a Focus 1.0 Auto. Slight complication in that they don't sell them in Ireland and not sure how imports will work after Brexit!

MTBD · 01-03-2019 10:08pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

All the responses bar one have been positive. So when you hear people - esp Motoring journalists - mourning the death of the NA, what exactly are they missing?

I had a Fiesta ST for a year. Great car and the engine was mighty impressive. But it's not exciting. Very quiet, died off towards the end of the rev range and a bit characterless. I find all modern turbo petrols like this. Very impressive as everyday cars but they take away from the excitement factor of a highly strung na car. Ive had a rake of of N/A sports cars and they just give you goose bumps when revved out.

Compare the excitement of the engine in an e92 m3 vs a 335i. Both can be had with similar outputs with a little remap but the 335 just is nowhere near as exciting.

Turboed petrols

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