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We bought a 61 plate 1.4 petrol Polo about a year ago and it's totally gutless. I didn't expect it to be a sports car but it's really sluggish and the power comes in a very narrow band.
Does anyone know if:
It was one of the affected models?
The emissions fix is to blame for the odd performance?
Is there anything that can be done?
Obviously we were a bit naive in not checking this out or asking the seller at the time.
Ta.
Errrm your car is petrol. The "fix" is for Diesels only
One man's gutless is another man's normal. We can't tell from here. But yes the emissions fix was only diesels so your car has not had it.
Not quite right - they also released (very quietly) that they had found irregularities on petrol too.
Not the 1.4 polo though, so your good. It's not what id call a slow car though, so it may well have a fault. Test drive another for sale to compare?
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I've a 1.2 Polo and that is uber gutless. Once you get used to where the powerband is it's still possible to scare yourself though. I had a Tdi before and the transition was a disappointment of epic proportions even though peak power was the same. It's conceivable you are in limp mode but without the EM light showing or plugging in a code reader it's difficult to say.
Will it rev to the red line? If not then there's a problem. Probably, I am not a mechanic.
When did it last have a service that changed air filter/fluids/plugs?.
Not quite right - they also released (very quietly) that they had found irregularities on petrol too.
Thanks. Every day is a school day !
When did it last have a service that changed air filter/fluids/plugs?.
Will check that out.
Thanks for all the info, I'd forgotten that it was mainly diesels!
Will it rev to the red line?
Yes it will.
Euro 6 petrol engines are gutless, especially if they're normally aspirated.
Had 1.2 polo, 1.8 insignias, and some 1.4 or 1.6 astras as rental cars and they've all been the same. Insignia had to change down 2 gears and rag the tits off it to go up hills in the lakes/scotland (3rd gear properly struggling, 2nd gear floor it to make any progress, but the shift light telling me to change up to 4th!). Polo had to drop one gear on every A-road every time it went up an incline. Astra not much better, although the one I had last week was better than previous ones, so maybe they've changed the tune? VW golfs have been "acceptable" though (but clearly not as responsive as my 13 year old 1.8t Leon).
I wouldn't get a non-turbo Euro6 engine.
Thanks Andy. Just sounds like it's a POS.
Is it 1.4 16v or 1.4 TSi?
TSi should be a good engine, lots of oomph.
16v is revvy, and ok in the polo (or Ibiza as we have), but best around town.