Passat 1.5 TSI vs 1.6 TDI

Yes, I was looking at new cars. Can you blame me? If it weren’t for the fact that mine is immobile I’d have been on the phone to Sinclar VW this afternoon..

Anyway, the cheaper cars have these two engines – the TSI has 150bhp vs the TDI’s 120, but fuel economy is worse of course.

Anyone got any experience of these? What about towing? I’d be hardly ever used in town, mostly airport runs or holidays.

Flippin eck sort it out STW.

depending on the age (and your location), pre-euro6 diesels in and around london are really cheap at the moment as they expand the ulez and everyone wants rid. I’ve no idea if the 1.6 tdi meets this criteria, but its something to bare in mind.

Wife has got the 1.5TSI in her Kamiq and it’s a peach of an engine.

Performance / Economy is way, way more flexible than my 2.0tdi, in other words if you drive Throttle/brake/throttle/brake like my wife does, it’s thirsty, averages 28-30mpg admittedly she’s a Community Nurse so lots of short, urban driving.

If you’re a bit smoother with it, it’ll do 40mpg around town pretty easy and we averaged 53mpg from Cardiff to Nant y Arian. There’s some clever tech (on hers at least) it can run on 2 cylinders in light load and disengage drive completely and coast if you lift, given the cost of Petrol v Diesel I doubt there’s much in it and 120bhp in a Passat sounds painful.

A guy I liftshare with (or did until the pandemic stopped all that sort of behaviour) has a Seat Ateca with the 150bhp TSi. I’ve obviously not driven it, but it seems like a capable engine & moves the Ateca about with decent pace & is pretty refined.
If you believe the trip computer, I think it gets around 50mpg.

Another colleague has a Leon 2.0 TDi estate (150) and at some point last year bought a Leon hatchback with the 150bhp TSi. I get the impression he prefers the TSi. It’s about as fast & while it doesn’t get quite as high mpg as the diesel I think it is only a few mpg down.

No idea about towing capability. A quick look at the specs (assuming I looked at the correct engines) suggest there is very little between them. I suppose the power/torque curves would give you a better idea, although I think both produce decent torque from low down.
Would it not make more sense if you need something for towing, to go for a 2 litre diesel? Do they do the 150 diesel in the Passat? It’s got a lot more torque, which I imagine would be beneficial for towing.

Well I have the Yeti with the 150bhp TSI and like P-jay you pay for that with the fuel economy, never seen above 40mpg personally (& a lot less normally), but it is nice engine otherwise.

We have the 1.6TDI passat. Its done 110k miles now. In that time the only significant failure has been one of the injectors (from memory it was a ~£300 fix). I think it is what you expect it to be – a very average engine in terms of performance, nothing significantly good or bad. Its £20 road tax.

When you say towing I’d imagine it would be awful pulling a caravan – but not impossible. I guess that all depends on what you are going to tow and what sort of performance you want, if its doing hours of 60 on a motorway then it could do that as well as any similar car.

I had the 1.6tdi in a Skokda Karoq (115bhp IIRC). God it was slow compared to the 2.0 150 I had before. I got rid at 35k and the engine was just about running in – you have to rev it anyway, but the engine was definitely more revvy and punchy as it got older.

Trouble is with the 1.6 you have to flog it everywhere to “make progress” so economy suffers. I did mainly motorway miles and the 2.0 in an Octavia routinely got 56+ mpg. The Karoq 1.6 was 48-49; and 42 at best in town (lots of regens).

I doubt it’d be decent at towing – especially with a family onboard.

I would avoid both for regular towing. If the occasional trip with a trailer then either would be fine as long as you don’t expect high performance and economy. If definitely only for longer runs then the tdi would be fine. If you are trying to convince yourself not to drive it too much then then the tsi would be a better option. Quite a few people (my brother) have a diesel and really don’t do the miles to warrant it. It’ll cost more in the long run when you have to pay for a dpf for lose out on the depreciation.

I had the 1.6tdi in a Skokda Karoq (115bhp IIRC). God it was slow compared to the 2.0 150 I had before. I got rid at 35k and the engine was just about running in – you have to rev it anyway, but the engine was definitely more revvy and punchy as it got older.

Trouble is with the 1.6 you have to flog it everywhere to “make progress” so economy suffers. I did mainly motorway miles and the 2.0 in an Octavia routinely got 56+ mpg. The Karoq 1.6 was 48-49; and 42 at best in town (lots of regens).

I doubt it’d be decent at towing – especially with a family onboard.

Agree with that – Ours runs very well. Does around high 40’s MPG on the motorway. Will do 50’s if its lots of 50 MPH restrictions. Its the kind of engine that you could see doing 200k without much drama – it does everything without any drama.

I have the previous version – the 018 150bhp 1.4Tsi in a Superb estate. Ample power. Pulls from low down. Real world mpg of 47mpg on motorway driving at 70-75mph. 52mpg doing Glasgow – Skye on quiet roads so 55-65 mph. It will not feel underpowered.

Agree with that – Ours runs very well. Does around high 40’s MPG on the motorway. Will do 50’s if its lots of 50 MPH restrictions. Its the kind of engine that you could see doing 200k without much drama – it does everything without any drama.

That’s a bit crap TBH. I’ve a 320d 190bhp xDrive auto, averaged 47mpg over 40k so far with no attempt whatsoever to save fuel etc.

I HD the 1.5tfsi in an a3. Amazing engine. 53-55pg on a regular motorway run @ 70mph.

Average 47-48 overall and about 40mpg round town, guess passant would be lower as bigger car.

Lovely revvy engine with enough power, can’t recommend enougg

Oh, use the cruise control as often as possible as it would try to keep it on 2 cylinder mode for fuel economy, it gave better fuel figures on cc than my own foot on m’way

Skokda Karoq 1.5 tsi here for the last 50k miles

Averages low 40’s for me.

Takes extra load ok, you do feel it more than previous 2ltr diesel Volvo. Every with 2 16ft canoes on the roof (and car load of luggage) it still goes fine just you notice the weight more.

And its fun to play with the light on the dash which signals its in 2 cylinder mode. Normally the change gear now type eco warnings annoy me but for some reason trying to keep it in eco mode is a challenge I’m willing to take on.

That’s a bit crap TBH. I’ve a 320d 190bhp xDrive auto, averaged 47mpg over 40k so far with no attempt whatsoever to save fuel etc.

That is pretty much what i get – 47 mpg and i drive at ~75/80 on motorways most of the time.

There is an assumption that because its a small engine you get better MPG but you dont with this. Its smaller, its cheaper, its £20 road tax. Those are the Pros. Performance wise you will get better driving and similar MPG out of the bigger diesels in the range. Before this I had a Nissan 1.6d Qashqai, that did very similar although slightly better MPG, nothing in it really.

A friend went from the 2.0 150hp diesel in a Leon to the 1.6 in a Passat and hated it, said it just wasn’t enough engine for the car.

I have a Superb with the older 1.8 TSI engine and I have used it for towing a caravan. Looking at the bhp and torque figures for the 1.5 and 1.8 they are pretty close.
Only towed a small 2 berth caravan and it did that easily so it could cope with something a bit bigger.

I’ve got the 1.5tsi in a skoda octavia, with manual gearbox.
There has been some issues with the 1.5tsi and manual with owners reporting a kangarooing effect as slow speeds(especially in cold weather)
I’ve not experienced although sometimes the car does seem to lurch a bit driving slowly in car parks etc.
Apparently a software upgrade sorted this issue but I would check this on a test drive.
I really like the engine and I find it much more punchy than the ford ecoboost 125ps I had in my last fiesta(despite being a much heavier car).
Cant offer an opinion on the diesel.

Surely the answer to Molgrips question is an Octavia or an artisan T5 with wood burner and pizza oven 😉

IIRC molgrips tows a holiday shedcaravan and I’d therefore have thought that the 2.0TDI is almost certainly the answer if it is lugging a caravan long distances regularly. Partly for the driving characteristics and also braked/unbraked trailer weights (higher kerb weight, max weight for set inclines etc).

For me I’d prefer the petrol for driving characteristics for day to day, the diesel when towing (but I don’t tow a caravan) but for caravan towing I reckon bigger must surely be better.

For me I’d prefer the petrol for driving characteristics for day to day, the diesel when towing (but I don’t tow a caravan) but for caravan towing I reckon bigger must surely be better.

Years ago I had a Vauxhall Omega 3.0i. Borrowed a trailer to cart a load of waste concrete to the tip and after about a mile I noticed smoke coming from the trailers wheels. Best I go release the brake…

Can’t beat ‘cubes’ 🙂

The 2.0 TDI would of course be preferable, but they are more expensive. The two options mentioned above are both similarly priced.

Ideally I’d get a 4WD one but they are even more still.

The 2.0 TDI would of course be preferable, but they are more expensive. The two options mentioned above are both similarly priced.

Ideally I’d get a 4WD one but they are even more still.

We bought ours after going to see a golf estate with a nicer engine. I dont care about engine performance to any great extent and after looking at them both side by side we opted for the basic spec Passat over a nicer golf. There will always be bigger/smaller/better/older/newer cars. Just way up what you need / want and what is a good buy and go for it. My only regret is our doesn’t have cruise control – as Joni Mitchell said; ‘You don’t know what you’ve got. Till it’s gone’.

My only experience is with the 1.5 TSI in a manual Skoda Karoq. Dreadful thing to drive in a manual, maybe fine in the DSG, but stay away from the manual. The software fix didn’t work.

I’ve done 50k miles in my 2018 1.5tsi Karoq manual and never had an issue. Never had a software fix as far as I know (company vehicle) and never felt the jumping other people have reported.

Test drive is key I guess is the simple answer.

Same peak torque. The tsi will need a bit more loud pedal to get moving especially with caravan but I think will drive much better without and on paper is quicker. I might have imagined this but I think it has a vvt.

Test drive natch, but I think that will confirm, turbo petrols have come a long way in terms of lazy drivability without losing the revier top end.

Actually the 1.6 has a higher torque output in the bigger cars, so that may change things

Had the previous 1.4tsi in an Octavia with manual box, hateful engine tbh. Nothing low down then as it boosts up lack of traction in first two gears. Might have been good in a small hot hatch but not suited to the car or trying to make progress. Mind you the rest of the car was as bad too, it was cheap for a 2017 car but never again.

I’ve got the 1.5tsi in a skoda octavia, with manual gearbox.
There has been some issues with the 1.5tsi and manual with owners reporting a kangarooing effect as slow speeds(especially in cold weather)

I’ve got the same car and I definitely get this. Usually just out of my road in 2nd then fine. Haven’t bothered as it’s just a lease.

The Octavias are about the same size and have had decent deals on them recently.

I find the engine alright, it is averaging mid 40s with roof rack on and fairly regularly a bike on there too. Can get it over 50 on a run. Don’t find it that happy to rev out, it feels much happier cruising than being driven hard (last car was a Leon Cupra estate with twice the power though so was used to that). 6th gear on the Octy is very long, 2k revs at 70mph. Weirdly it doesn’t feel like it accelerates hard in 6th unless on cruise control, must not be pressing hard enough I guess. The delivery driver did 250 miles from Manchester and dropped it off at 53mpg.

Not driven that diesel but I wouldn’t look past another 1.5tsi for a diesel.

Also had the 1.5 Tsi and found it great, really great, especially with the DSG.

Wouldn’t consider a diesel instead.