Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi – powerful enough?

I know the weapon of choice is the 2.0 [140bhp] estate, but I’m looking at the 1.9 [105bhp] – Is that enough bhp’s or will I become a laughing stock. I’ve got a 115bhp Focus. Will I notice the difference. The Skoda dealer said “it’s not about horse power, it’s the torque that matters”. The torque is the same as the Focus.
Has anyone got the 1.9? Is it up to the job of general lugging stuff about.

Related question. I sometimes transport a canoe on the roof. With the focus I screw in the towing eye in the front bumper and tie the front of the canoe to that. Is there a suitable point on the Octavia to lash the front of a canoe without running around and under the bumper?

Ta

You could always remap the 1.9?? 😆
http://www.custom-code.co.uk/index.php

Carl

The 1.9 should be fine – we had a 105bhp 1.9 TDI Golf, and it was perfectly acceptable. Not as good as the 2.0, but certainly good enough. Can you not take it for a drive first?

Can’t help with the canoe stuff, though – sorry!

Took a brand new [delivery miles] one for a short test drive and it was ‘ok’, but no bikes on the back or camping gear in the boot, so was just wondering about real life experiences.

Had a focus with 90bhp…was ok in an economical, and diesely way. Not going to set the tires on fire though.

torque=acceleration
bhp=top speed

the dealer is right, if you want a car that feels fast buy on torque, if you wan’t to brag in the pub buy on bhp.

sorry if’m teaching you to suck eggs.

I have driven both the hatch 1.9 105 & the estate 1.9 105bhp – both are fine,plenty powerful even when loaded up with kit.Found the engine in the Skoda to be much better than in equivalent VW’s & Audis.Do you a good deal on one if you want to contract hire one for cheapness !!!! 😀

Found the engine in the Skoda to be much better than in equivalent VW’s & Audis

That’s funny, they all use the same engine.

There are offers on the 08 model year [no vat] at the moment, but no 2.0’s left.

Referencing another thread on here, the salesmen at 2 different dealers said they had seen record sales in December – I was hoping the credit crunch would mean they were giving them away. And surprise, suprise, they said the 2nd hand market is at rock bottom, so couldn’t give me a generous trade-in!!

I have got the seat toledo 1.9 tdi 110bhp.
Its pretty much exactly the same car as the octavia (an extended golf floorplan) and that fully loaded with people and bikes can still accelerate up steep hills enough to overtake people when there is space.
The torque from the engine is great, top speed not so good, but then how often do you need to top 110mph

not sure on the newer Octavias, but on mine if you remove one of the black plastic grills at the bottom of the grill there is a towing eye.

@ anotherhonkie – I know,that was the point i was trying to make.

That’s funny, they all use the same engine.

yeah but they map em different. just compare say the gti with the vrs and go figure.

Filling them with loads of gear seems to make no difference to the drive. Sticking a bike rack on the back screws the mpg but thats the same with all cars I guess. Mine stay in the back if i can help it.
Shinslints is right about the Audi, the wife’s A4 is no where as good as the Skoda for drive or comfort, would have another one of them.

got a golf 100 pd estate. and yeah the skoda i had was a much, much better car.

105 pd is adequate (but not what you’d call sporty).

Thanks for all the replies. It seems that people won’t stop in the street, point a my car and laugh. So 1.9 it is then.

Its not just the peak torque you want to look at its the torque spread and delivery. The variable pitch turbo on the vag units is far superior to ford in my experience its also the fuel economy on the vag that stuffs all other makes into the ground.
Horsepower is what people talk about in the pub its torque that pulls you along and only horsepower that keeps you there once you are going hence the fact that most good diesels have more torque than an F1 car but there so heavy and they dont rev hence F1 cars rely on hp not torque if that makes sense !

by the time fuel doubles again we will all be asking for best mpg me thinks

I did 600 miles in a rented 2.0 tdi octavia and gave it a thoroughly good thrashing. I would not want any less torque in a car. If you’re a driving enthusiast who doesnt like to sit behind caravans and lorries etc then seriously go for the 2.0 it does make a difference. Any small loss in mpgs will be negated by the (albeit small) amount of extra revs you’l have to give the weaker motor to do the same job.

I’ve just bought the Octavia 5 door hatch – not only is it absolutely massive inside with a huge boot, the ride is fantastic.

Certainly puts the Golf GTTdi and the Audi A3 SE to shame in terms of comfort and handling.

I’ve bought a petrol one though, so can’t comment on the diesel engine.

TJJ, I’m no expert however I have driven a 1.9TDI (owned one) and driven a couple of 2.0TDI. To be honest if you remapped the 1.9TDI (£350) you’d have a stunning engine. Its got alot of history, reliable etc.

What is the price difference? from a 1.9 to the 2.0TDI? Do you have reservations about remaps?

I think (not sure) that the 105bhp remap takes it to 130bhp max- more than enough IMO. On the 105bhp TDI they use different sized clutch plates etc so you cant go too high on bhp/torque gains? (not sure on specifics but someone will be along soon more in the know) 🙂

105 should be able to remap to about 150bhp, the turbos are smaller and not quite as tough as on the 130bhp model. Think the 130bhp also has a stronger 6 speed box as standard. The pd engine is a strong engine but the 130 is a bit peaky with the best bit between about 2200 and 2600rpm.

After taking a 130 pd engine to 180 bhp and a matching torque increase, 120k miles later the engine was as sweet as ever. Also the engine may not have a dpf filter in the exhaust which does seem to be causing some problems, depending how the car is driven.

I really rate the Octavia, a great solid car, well built with proven mechanicals that last. Taxi drivers know what gives value and I am sure that there are quite a few of these as taxi’s where you are for just that reason. Look on any of the castings or major metal engine parts and they will most likely have Audi rings stamped on them.

The latest A4 is a great car too but size for size I reckon the Octavia gets the nod unless your looking for the premium badge.

having owned a PD130 1.9 and a 140 2.0 i’d say there is more then a difference in power. the torque on the 2.0 engine is much more evenly spread across the rev range whereas in th 130 it comes in one big lump. much less changing down for overtaking etc and better fuel economy as a result. the 2.0 is also a quieter and more refined beasty

Depends how you drive?
do you drive like your driving a diesel or do you drive like your driving a petrol?
I run out of power and move onto being powered by small underweight faries at around 3k revs, but if i short change to third asap from standing, i dont accelerate, i just pull the rest of the world towards me.
Its ALL about the grunt

also, more importantly, do you think the people who ARE going to outpull you at the lights really care?
do you really care?
if it gets you there on time, in comfort with as little unwanted “excitement” as possible…..?

I’ve got a 1.9 Tdi and had it around 3 years, 55 mpg on the motorway, up to 70 mpg when driving along the A470 across Wales. Power seems OK, but its never going to be fast, car drives fine with 3 people 3 bikes and camping stuff. Brilliant car for biking/camping and would definitely buy another one.

Personally I would buy it and use it as the workhorse its supposed to be, yes you could remap the engine but its never going to be fast, so its seems almost like changing the badges to VRs and putting racing stripes on it, to me.

The Engine/Gearbox/Suspension is definitely Audi/VW. I bought mine as an insurance write off (light tap on the o/s, scrapes on the n/s) and replaced the rear axle and a few panels and when you strip the car down half the parts have the Audi or VW castings on them.

Mine is on 170,000 miles and I have had a few problems; namely clutch (to be expected at the mileage) which almost killed the gearbox (its now a little noisy in 1st and 2nd), The Airflow regulator (it’s needed 2 in 70,000 miles, apparently VW have fixed this now) which causes a weird fault insofar as the car acts perfectly normally but won’t go over 70 regardless of what you do (common fault to Audi/VW’s and when you mention it in a garage, they have got the part before you finish the sentence), and also the brake light switch under the pedal which used to break and stop the brake lights working (also now fixed by VW apparently).

Only really shit thing I can think of with them is the warning lights when something is wrong are very vague, and you have to look them up on the internet to have any clue as to why some light is flashing at you.

Certainly puts the Golf GTTdi and the Audi A3 SE to shame in terms of comfort and handling.

Again, is it not all VAG sourced parts anyway? It’s certainly the same chassis. I couldn’t tell the difference between the handling/comfort of an A3 and a golf, they felt like the same car to me.

Just have a look at how many 1.9 TDis there are about. Loads. So how would it be ridiculous?

Time to stop watching Top Gear I think, and think about what you actually want instead of what you think other people will think.

I run out of power and move onto being powered by small underweight faries at around 3k revs, but if i short change to third asap from standing, i dont accelerate, i just pull the rest of the world towards me.
Its ALL about the grunt

That can be changed with the engine map, if you really want. My non-electronic mechanical pump Passat TD can be made to pull like a train all the way through to 6krpm with a mod to the governor, apparently. Haven’t tried it mind 🙂

Bought a 50,ooo mile carina e and it had a claimed 100hp ish. Left it behind with a friend and 190,000 miles showing when i left the country. That was just a petrol. Less power and lots less torque but the main thing is it was fast enough and a comfortable enought place to be while taking longer to go places.

Now have a diesel (non turbo) toyota troop carrier. 4.2 diesel with about 140hp. But 2.2 tonnes. 0-60 – yes if you’re going downhill. But like any car you just get used to it.

Who really needs loads of power when all most people on here do is drive to a car park on a business park and then go and sit in the basement with Moss and Jen?

Amusing tripe being spouted on this thread about torque and power.
Some people could do with some remedial physics lessons I think.

glenh, I agree there is a huge amount of uninformed opinion here. You need power and torque in appropriate amounts depending on the type of driving you do. Car weight and drivetrain efficiency are also important.

There are also some basic points being missed. Unless you do a lot of city driving or more than 15-20K miles per year it is usually cheaper to go petrol rather than diesel.

Also a point about Audi vs VW vs Skoda. Any new engine or modification, or any new chassis platform goes to those brands in turn. A Skoda could be 3 years later than an Audi to get a new platform

Does anyone have (or have driven) a DSG-equipped one? Any good?

An Octavia estate is pretty tempting for me anyway (25k miles a year on car allowance with MTB and scuba diving as hobbies), if I can have an auto that makes lighter work of London traffic and the M25 without being horrible to drive or killing fuel economy that would be ace.

Power is torque x speed. The difference between diesels and petrols is that you get more power per bang with a diesel, which is why you get more torque at lower revs; with a petrol you get less power per bang but you can put in many more bangs per second – hence higher power for the same amount of torque. They make diesels with much more torque to compensate for the lower engine speed, which is why they FEEL really quick.

My Seat had a 1.9 TDi 105bph engine and it had the same 0-60 time and bhp as my dad’s Fiesta with a 1.4 petrol engine. However the diesel pulled really hard the instant you hit the accelerator which made it fell much faster. With the petrol you had to red line it to get the same power which psychologically has a different effect. When you are changing down a couple of gears and redlining it, you feel like you’re thrashing some poor underpowered thing, but with a diesel when you just ease down on the pedal and get a strong shove in the back it feels like you are driving a beast.

Only when you pulled out to overtake something or applied max acceleration for a longer time (ie motorway sliproads) did you realise that both cars were actually the same power.

Still, give me diesel every time, I love the feeling of power without having to work hard, even if it is psychological. Oh and the diesel gave 60mpg vs 45 for the petrol. No brainer!

Oh and DSG is meant to be superb – everyone I’ve spoken to who has it says it’s ace.

molgrips, yes but look at what you are saying – the 1.9 diesel had the same performance as a 1.4 petrol. It’s horses for courses – some prefer the feel of diesel, others petrol. Always petrol for me.

The DSG is brilliant. Have not driven it long term but had it in 3 demo cars. It’s a clutchless manual, so as good as an automatic but no slurrey gearchanges or increase in fuel consumption. However on a VW Golf for instance it is about a £1400 option, so not cheap

Have a 55 reg 1.9TDi with the DSG autobox – best car we’ve ever owned (some of the rest were French, mind…)

Even with the autobox, can easily get mid 50s mpg on long loaded motorway runs or cruise comfortably in excess of the speed limit. The Sports mode in the autobox is great fun, but makes it a little thrashy to drive like that for any length of time unless you really are in a hurry.

mostlyharmless, spot on. You adapt your driving style. Learn when to down/upshift. At first its tiring but then you ..’click’. I bought a non-turbo petrol car as I have had ‘moments’ before in fast petrol cars that I wont post on a public forum.

The 105bhp will be fine, its ‘surge’ of torque will ensure you will be happy. I drove a 1.9TDI 105bhp Altea from Germany, holland, Belgium then onto Calais on a Sunday morning and didnt drop below 100mph. I got back into Manchester at 6pm and still felt fresh.

I have an Octavia estate, 150bhp petrol. but I also have a VW Caddy van with the 104bhp 1.9tdi engine. I do more miles it the Caddy than the Octy.

TBH I’d be more than happy with the 1.9tdi in the Octy, esp if it was run in correctly. The 1.9tdi has more than enough torque for the critical every day moments (i.e. over taking slow vehicles, 40-60mph in one gear). True, the petrol just keeps pulling and pulling and is great to have an engine that keeps spitting out power as the revs rise. But for you average driver, in average situations…. I’d rather have the 1.9tdi. Plus the 1.9tdi will do 50mpg. Not sure about the figures for the 2.0 tdi.

I have a 51 plate 1.9Tdi Octy, and I love it. It’s a 110bhp engine, and it pulls like a train. On longish A-road runs I get nearly 60 to the gallon, and my tax is £110pa. Compare with the 1.7 Puma I had before which I was lucky to get 30 to the gallon from, was no quicker in real terms with 129bhp, cost £175pa tax, and I had to carry the bike on the roof, which dropped the fuel milage to around 25per. The Skoda is really comfortable, and given the money I would have a VRs Estate instantly, without hesitation.