QUESTION
Any comments on the petrol engine sizes for Octavia or the Superb hatchbacks/estates? The cars seem to get good reviews.

BACKGROUND
I have been offered a recent but used Skoda Octavia hatchback with a 1 litre petrol engine.

Just visually from seeing them on the street (not test driven or viewed one yet) it looks a large car for that engine size. I would be doing both city and motorway driving and want a car with good luggage capacity.

I am tempted to look around for a bigger engine or but not sure if I am being over pessimistic about the engine size/modern engine development. There are plenty of diesel options about, but I am concerned the government is going to make driving diesels a bit of a nightmare before long, so have decided against that option.

Thanks.

1.0L Petrol is fine in an Octavia estate, even fully loaded.

It’s got a great turbo that actually sounds quite rorty when gunning it.

Absolutely fine on the motorway, plenty relaxed when cruising at 70.

Really rate the engine and the car.

Only watch out is future running costs. If you’ll be keeping it much after the warranty runs out (3 years from new), then maybe a bigger engine will have been less stressed and has a lower risk of going wrong. But I’ve no data for that, just supposition.

But as long as it’s covered by warranty it’s a excellent combo.

The superb never came with the 1.0 TSI engine, smallest was the 1.4 TSI.

The superb is a fair bit bigger car though, which makes sense.

Highly recommend getting the DSG version, they are superb (pun not intended!). TBH I would not be fussed about getting a diesel, my 2017 Superb (bought a year ago) has the 2.0tdi 150 DSG, I get 48mpg on an 11 mile commute, and between 50-57mpg on a motorway run.

I recently upgraded my old diesel passat with 170k miles to a skoda superb. Estates.
I too was worried about the motorway grunt at 60mph plus. The passat was a 1.9 and always felt surprisingly nippy when putting foot down to overtake at top motorway speeds.

My advice is do a test drive of one with same engine and make sure you can get out on dual carriage way or motorway to see whether it has the pep you desire.
My Superb is petrol 1.4/1.5 and I can’t tell whether its just more comfortable but doesn’t quite have the acceleration, might just be that it’s bigger and so a bit heavier.
In terms of low speed urban acceleration no issues.

That said I love it. Brilliant cars. Was thinking about octavia too but couldn’t afford to get the latest version so I opted for superb

WWE have the 1.0l 3 cyl engine in wife’s Q2. It is quite punchy and never feels underpowered even with 2 large teenagers in the back !

1.4TSI 150 Passat estate here. It’s got enough power; while the Superb is a bit longer I’d imagine it would be fine too.

Good cars, excellent engine. I wouldn’t get a DSG with that engine though, my experience of that combination (in a VW T-Cross) wasn’t great and much preferred the manual I drove. It dulled the experience once out of town , made the car seem less powerful somehow

I have the 1.4 in the Octavia. Quite powerful compared to the last 1.4 petrol I had (In the 80s!). You certainly wouldn’t need any more than this in the Superb.

1.4Tsi 150 Superb estate here. Ample power even carrying 4 adults. MPG from 46-47 – motorway at 75mph up to 52mpg A road driving.

Given the Octavia is around 200kg lighter I think the 1.0 would be OK. Maybe not nippy with a full load but fine for general use and motorway cruising.

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/skoda/octavia/10-tsi-s-5dr/spec

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/skoda/superb-estate/14-tsi-150-se-5dr/spec

Manual 1.4tsi superb estate here. Mainly used for urban journeys for kids to clubs and rubbish to the dump. Fantastic lugger for holidays, cruises at motorway speed effortlessly. Relatively narrow which is a massive bonus in urban parking.

The 1.0 TSI makes more power and torque than the typical 80s/90s 2 litre repmobile. Don’t expect it to be rapid but it’s plenty of performance for mundane everyday driving.

Highly recommend getting the DSG version, they are superb (pun not intended!).

I wouldn’t. I have the DSG gearbox with the 1.4tsi and it has a fault which apparently cannot be diagnosed without taking the whole unit apart, even when it was under warranty that was a £1,000 job which they refunded if it was a proven warranty claim rather than wear and tear. I said no and currently living with driving it around faulty, pulling away from a standstill it will sometimes refuse to go into gear and the whole car has to be shut off, selector into park, engine back on and back out of park. It’s never been a nice gearbox even when behaving, it pulls away from a standstill with a lurch as if you slipped your foot off the clutch in a manual.

The engine itself is pretty good though, its nippy and handles heavy loads without feeling slow. Reasonably economical as far as petrol engines go too with a touch under 40mpg lifetime average (mostly urban and suburban driving with occasional motorway drives).

Go for the manual.

Just visually from seeing them on the street (not test driven or viewed one yet) it looks a large car for that engine size

I learned to drive in a 1l car. It was small, did about 35mpg and was slow as hell, I think it was 33bhp?

These 1l engines are really completely different. The size of the engine is unimportant, what matters is the power (and torque). Look those up.

I wouldn’t.

I would. DSGs are great.

I would. DSGs are great

They are great, when they work. If you end up with a lemon they are expensive as hell to diagnose and fix. To quote George Bush, fool me twice, cant get fooled again.

“molgrips- I would. DSGs are great.”

Makes me smile 🙂

But yes, so would I- and to reiterate, all the TSIs are excellent.

Did I miss a joke there?

Both myself and the better half have the VAG 2.0 turbo diesels (2013 year, ours have an Audi sticker on them)
225k miles between us, not a single fault with either engine.

50mpg with two bikes on, 60mpg otherwise. 70+ on a long motorway drive if you really try.

I drove a 1.0 TSI Kamiq a few weeks ago, it was fine. We bought a 1.5 in the end, which is better. Smoother, more refined and supposedly as efficient, or more efficient in the real world in the Kamiq anyway.

The 1.5 is nicer to drive than the 190 2.0tdi in my Superb, it has a later gen DSG which is smoother, but that might just be the engine… my Superb is great, best car I’ve ever owned and fun(ish) to drive with DSG and 4×4, but I’ve decided it’s my last diesel, the TSI is equally capable of high MPGs especially if you consider the difference in fuel costs, but it’s nicer, quieter, smoother and doesn’t shake the car every time it stop/starts.

Superb is a BIG car, but thanks to VWs MQB chassis it’s not a overly heavy one, some of the bodywork is so thin you can push it easily, but it doesn’t detract from the safety or refinement of it. Mine is deceptively quick at going places, but it’s not really Sporty in any way.

DSG / DCT is fantastic, I’m sure they’re hell if they go wrong, but they provide seamless power delivery and make the car faster and more efficient.

Not quite what you’re asking OP, but I’ve got a 2.0ltr TDI Superb estate with a DSG. It’s supposed to be 140bhp, but I honestly think it’s been remapped, but no one can confirm that, even Skoda. It’s an absolutely brilliant car. It pulls like a train even when loaded, but can return high 50mpg if driven within the speed limits and sensibly.

My slight doubt on the small TSI engines are that they are being put under a lot more load than a larger engine running well within itself. I’m not expecting to see 10 year old, high mileage 1.0ltr cars around like you do older, big engined cars.

My slight doubt on the small TSI engines are that they are being put under a lot more load than a larger engine running well within itself. I’m not expecting to see 10 year old, high mileage 1.0ltr cars around like you do older, big engined cars.

They’re not really. It’s taken me a whilst to accept this new small-engine + turbo thing, but the Turbo effectively increases the capacity of the engine by increasing the volume of air in the cylinder. Because they’re low pressure, small turbos they make more low down torque than high end power that you might have on something like a Nissan GT-R etc so they don’t rev very high. More cylinder pressure, but less revs. So. Bit like a Turbo Diesel then, which can do hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles without issue. As ever though, it won’t be the block/head that finally kills the car, it’ll be a electrical issue or ancillary.

The potential issue with the 1.0 3 Cylinder, this is only based on Briskoda but for the average driver, driving averagely the 1.0 will be ‘on boost’ a lot more than the larger 1.5 or even the older 1.2 and 1.4 versions and they tend to be a bit thirstier. They do say though if you drive very carefully they can be incredibly efficient.

According to some in the motoring press the new turbo age is coming to an end, the next round of emissions regs have caught onto the fact that they’re very efficient ok easy driving, but thirsty on boost and they’re going to cause the return of larger capacity, multi cylinder engines like 3.0 inline 6s etc. Frankly I think that’s wishful thinking on their part. Most of the motor manufacturers are quietly saying they’re no longer interested in ICEs past their current projects and will only be developing EVs going forward.

The VAG small engines are great – either would be great in an Octavia. As others have said, you essentially just have to ignore cylinder capacity – the point of a downsized 1.0 turbo engine (for example) is that you have the fuel consumption of a 1 litre at part load and the power of a 1.5-1.8ish litre (NA) at full load. Fuel consumption will be pretty much identical to the larger capacity engine at full load, but significantly better at part load. Being ‘on boost’ more often is a non-issue as it’s still delivering the same amount of air as a larger,NA, engine and robustness all good as well.

I have a Fabia with the 1.0tsi 110bhp engine.
The pull from low revs is surprising and the 6th gear makes motorway running pretty quiet and relaxing.I have a Superb with a turbo petrol engine and this more or less matches it on quietness.About 50 mpg urban and closer to 60 on the motorway.
I had an engine light come on on the Fabia driving it away from the dealers. Skoda breakdown came out and it seems a common problem with a pivot on an actuator arm which operates the turbos wastegate. This can start to seize as it’s dry from the factory. The breakdown guy said he had done at least 30 of these and it was a 2 minute job to grease it up.

I’d like to drive one because on paper the idea of a 1 litre Octavia fills me with dread!

As for DSG I had an Octavia hire car with the DSG box and didn’t get on with it at all. Would definitely recommend test driving one, some people seem to love them and others not so much. I only had it 24hr’s so might have got used to its hesitation when pulling away.

Anyone run a 1.6tdi Superb estate? 70mpg is acheivable but its a big car for a small engine
2010-11 m.y facelift models are getting dowm to sensible money now

We have the 1.5 tsi in a T-roc and it’s very good, very quick and the economy is excellent. 40mpg within a few miles of startup which normally settles around 44 in typical usage. On a run it creeps up to 48/50+ depending on which of us is driving (I always get better consumption than Mrs P).
We have had 3 DSG’s :-
1.4 dry clutch 7 speed
1.5 wet clutch 7 speed
2.0 wet clutch 6 speed
I find the trick is to hesitate for a split second before giving it any gas when pulling away – let it start moving on it’s own then apply power. There is also a software upgrade available now (on the 1.5) but you have to ask for it.
If I had a criticism it would be that the 2.0 changes up too early but I usually drive it on the paddles so it’s not an issue.
I love driving and would never go back to a manual now because overall DSG’s (and go be fair most modern auto’s) really are that good.

We have a 1.2 110 BHP fabia from 2016. It’s a great engine and that’s one variant back from the latest ones.  I’ve just bought a Koraq with the 1.4TSI.  I was expecting it to feel a bit flat coming from a 2.0D 190 BHP BMW but it doesn’t. Even tho it has a lot less torque.

It’s a massive step up from my 2015 1.2 Yeti which did feel a bit underpowered overtaking or fully loaded. This thing pulls like a train and gets better MPG from the old 1.2. Not driven the 1.0 but when researching came to same conclusion as P-Jay re:economy.

RE: DSG the latest one in mine is worlds apart from the on in my Yeti. And better than the Fabia. Still not a fan of the electric handbrake tho.

I’ll not have another diesel now. Net Gen Skoda ‘engines’ appear to mild-hybrid, PHEV and full electric. When this one finishes it’s lease in 4 years, I fully expect to go electric.

I came from a 2.5t Forester to my current 1.0t Octavia estate. The Octavia is much easier to drive at lower speeds and is actually really nice on the motorway.

Usually 2 of us with bikes and a boot full of gear going to the Lakes or similar most weekends. The only place I remember that it’s only a small engine is when you have to downshift for the hills.

I think the 0-62 is just over 9 seconds on them so they don’t feel sluggish at all. Not going to set the world on fire, but very drivable.

Even with my wife using it to commute every week to her new job, it still costs about £60 a month less in petrol that the Forester (and I was only using that on weekends!).