Tiguan 1.5 Petrol 150 or 2.0 Diesel 150

Wotcher,

Have inherited a 93 plate diesel Octavia VRS, which is not doing it for me and want to swap it in for one of the above.

I’ve always had 2.0 diesels and more recently the DSG (prior to the VRS which is also a DSG) and want to keep with DSG.

Typically my driving is maybe a couple of days a week in town if the kids are late for school in the mornings of about 6 miles round trip and then weekend adventures 50miles+.

My default would be the diesel, but intrigued by the 1.5 petrol.

Don’t need the 4 motion or 190 diesel.

Thoughts of the STW massive please!

I’ve got a 2.0Tdi DSG and my Wife has got a 1.5TSI DSG (they’re both Skodas, but same engines)

Despite my car being, bigger, heavier, more powerful (I’ve got the 190) and 4×4 it easily beats my Wife’s on MPG, you really need to nurse the 1.5 to make it efficient.

However, despite hers being less powerful and having less torque, it’s way nicer to use, quieter, more refined and smoother.

Some of the costs are off-set because petrol is a little cheaper than diesel.

I’ve decided my next car, which will likely be my last ICE will be Petrol.

I’d agree with P-Jay. Turbo petrol will be the nicer one to drive and travel in but will cost more in fuel. Really comes down to which matters most to you.

Correct answer is of course to swap the not-worthy-of-being-called-a-VRS diesel for a petrol VRS 😉

Surely the driving profile screams petrol? At least it did to us when the wife’s commute went from 32 miles mostly motorway, to 11 miles across town. In fact, the 1.4 TSI DSG seems to hit high 30s for mpg on that urban run and just took that up to high 40s on an hour’s drive across country.

I’ve driven a Golf with the 1.5TSi engine and another with the 2.0 diesel. The former was much more refined round town, on the motorway there is not a lot in it for refinement. As stated above, if only doing shorter journeys, I’d go for the Petrol

I went with a diesel when I got my octavia as I prefer the way it drives. I actually find the petrol too quiet.

We have the 1.5 Tiguan petrol. Previously had an old rav4 diesel. Our mileage profile suited petrol but finding it better in almost every way and wouldn’t go back to diesel. Mileage might be a bit worse than the petrol but it’s not that bad. I suspect diesel will depreciate faster as well.

If the only concern is mpg, then you have to go diesel.
Once you factor everything else, the answer is petrol.
1.5tsi dsg is a bloody good choice.

I’ve got an Octavia estate with the 1.5 turbo petrol.
It’s a good engine, smooth as you need but with enough grunt to boot it onto the motorway.

I get average 38-40mpg on runs around the city and 50+ on the motorway at legal speeds. Naturally drops if I weight the right foot a bit more.

Can’t help thinking the less aerodynamic shape and increased weight of the Tiguan means it would be less than the above, but considering the Octavia is not small I was surprised at how good that engine is.

I’ve got the 150PS 1.5 Turbo petrol Tiguan and it is very nice to drive. I have done about 3,500 miles in it and so far am averaging 37.7mpg. That’s majority town driving with a few 100+ mile motorway journeys thrown in.
My last 3 cars were diesel but this is much more refined and smoother to drive. The decrease in mpg isn’t too bad and is partly offset by petrol being cheaper than diesel.

We have a 1.5 petrol DSG T-Roc and I’m very impressed with it. Easily gets to 40+mpg and is surprisingly nippy.

Can’t help thinking the less aerodynamic shape and increased weight of the Tiguan means it would be less than the above,

I’m happy to be proven wrong by owners but I reckon the boot will be smaller than an Octavia – if that matters.

Thanks all, that’s really helped my deliberations.

Been diesel for a long time, but these last generation petrol engines are very impressive. Have my eye on one about an hour away so will try and get a test drive tomorrow.

Like one of the other posts, this is likely to be my last IC engined car.

Thanks again.

All depends on what driving you’re doing. If its mega motorway miles then diesel is perfect. However, if all your doing is short journeys through town with the odd motorway drive get a petrol engine as that can knacker diesel engines (even modern ones!) since it clogs up the dpf.

BTW, any top tips to look out for on the 1.5?

Ta.

drove the Tiguan with 1.5t petrol with DSG, nice and smooth but only got low 30mpg on a 100 mile run and it felt pretty gutless when overtaking compared to my diesel kuga.

I don’t know why anyone would choose the heavier/poorer handling/thirstier/less practical SUV over a decent estate car.

A colleague of mine that I normally liftshare with has got a Seat Ateca with the 1.5 petrol. It seems like a well-suited engine for the car; quick enough and quite refined.
He gets low 50s on mainly A road stuff.

Another colleague of mine has got a Leon estate with the 2 litre diesel (150) and a Leon hatchback with the 1.5 petrol.
I think he prefers the petrol for driveability, but the diesel gets quite a bit more mpg, from what he’s said.

I don’t know why anyone would choose the heavier/poorer handling/thirstier/less practical SUV over a decent estate car.

I’m guessing from that, that you haven’t driven either of these specific cars?

It’s not a proper big SUV is it more a taller car, personally I think they make for superb family cars, they handle fine for the road while being more practical/sometimes safer and a better view of the road.

If you’re buying new, lead times might force your hand. The last time I bought (well, leased) anything on the larger side, the 2L TDi was in stock in a choice of colours and a two week lead time to get it up North and sort out registration etc; the 1.5 petrol I wanted would have been several months.

If the question isn’t moot then I’d agree with everyone else. for your usage I’d go petrol if I could.

Had two cars with the 1.5 petrol (one was DSG too) and they are/were great. Current is a VW Touran.

Could diesels be more likely to be excluded from future city low emission zones?

That aside, Diesels have DPFs. I don’t think your driving profile suits those, although they have got better.
It’s my understanding you have to be doing mega motorway miles for a diesel to be more cost effective when all costs are considered (purchase cost, servicing etc.)

It’s not a proper big SUV

On this point, SUVs tend to not have as much cabin space as you think. If you need to fit things inside, like a buggy, a dog, several children’s cars seats or your bike, check they will fit before you buy.

As above, that’s how we ended up with a Touran rather than a Tourag

Just got a new Kodiaq with the 1.5 – feels good for the size actually. Space is huge.

Even my previous 1.0 Karoq was good for South of France trips.

I’ve not driven the Tiguan but agree with the above. I’ve got my last diesel car sitting on the drive, when it gets replaced it will either be petrol or electric. When I was 20k+ miles it made sense, but now the EV does the commuting mileage and the wife has gone part time it doesn’t do the mileage to justify being diesel.

I guess if you’re buying new then you’ll be OK with diesel as it will be Euro 6 but I don’t think it’ll be long before I’m not allowed to take mine in to a number of towns / cities. Restrictions on Petrol vehicles is probably a bit further off.

BTW, any top tips to look out for on the 1.5?

Are you buying used? If so the 1.5 manuals did suffer from kangarooing when pulling away but there is now a software fix for that. Supposedly the DSG’s dont need it but we had it downloaded into ours and the wheelspin is definitely reduced.

You don’t have to be doing mega motorway miles to keep the DPF happy. You just need to pay attention to the warning lights, first and foremost, and read the manual on the subject. It isn’t a problem in most driving but if you are ONLY driving it to the shops 2 miles away and never anywhere else, then you might get the light and you would have to take it for a longer drive to let it clean the DPF.

My SUV is much better to drive than my previous Estate.
I can’t get as much in the back, but sufficient enough for me, kids and dogs.
We had one of the new style of petrol engines, personally I hated it. Went back to a 2 litre turbo diesel. The petrol engine was a 1.6 GDI ISG (not sure what that means, but it wasn’t nice to drive)
Wasn’t a VW so not comparable. Mine felt like it revved really high, sat at the traffic lights I honestly felt like a boy racer. I’d have to keep the engine revving to pull away. It was also a bit on the whiney side driving on the motorway.

Had the tsi dsg in an Octavia. Hateful engine, no low down pull and with the poor chassis of the Octavia loads of wheel spin and torque steer when the turbo spools up. I imagine in a got hatch with a manual box it would be a fun engine but outside of this it’s poor. Mpg 25-35. Sold it after 5 months.

I don’t know why anyone would choose the heavier/poorer handling/thirstier/less practical SUV over a decent estate car.

TBH it’s not like it was years ago, yes they’re still a little heavier, but it’s not like when SUVs ran ladder chassis and had 500Kgs of diffs etc. Really, they’re just taller hatchbacks, the seating is a little more upright so you get more interior space etc and people do enjoy sitting a bit higher.

I’m with you, I like a saloon / estate but my Wife little SUV is lovely to drive.

I agree with a lot of the posters on the petrol thing – for your usage is probably go with that route.

My wife has a 1.2 turbo petrol Nissan Qashqai (with cvt gearbox). It’s not hateful to drive in terms of pace / flexibility – although the higher body has more roll to it then any car I’ve ever owned and the steering is too light / vague. It’s only got 115bhp and I wouldn’t ever say it feels massively slow. I think average mpg is around the 30mpg mark but that’s basically pottering around town – it rarely gets any longer runs.

I’ve recently handed back a company car at the end of the lease – it was a 2 litre diesel Jaguar XE and when doing longer runs it averaged 45-47mpg. During Covid that dropped to about 30mpg with mostly local trips and nothing meaningful mileage wise.

Now I’ve had to buy my own car I’ve gone petrol – mainly because Bristol / Bath keep threatening to exclude diesel cars along with other cities – and I feel as it’s my last ICE car I may as well have w bit more fun. Diesel engines are effectively quick but they aren’t really fun IMO.

I’ve gone for a 2 litre petrol XF Sportbrake and I love it. It’s much nicer to have a quiet but tech engine vs the slightly agricultural rattle of the diesel and low revs. Mpg is frankly shockingly bad but hey ho.

In the spirit of recommending what you have I’ve got a Cupra Fprementor 1.5 DSG Petrol. It doesn’t feel underpowered and does what I want from a car – it drives well, is practical and looks good.

Again, thanks for the responses.

Just to throw a little curve ball in, anyone had a drive of the Kuga 1.5 auto petrol and how that compares?

It seems used stock of the specific Tiguan I’m after is a bit tight at the moment so having a look at alternative options.

I think the Kuga is meant to drive ok a d the 1.5 Ecoboost engine is meant to be decent. My neighbour has had 3 or 4 Kugas in a row now so he must like them. Got to say the 21 plate one he has now looks a lot nicer than the previous models.

The Kuga seems a popular choice on our company car list, but the boot space is disappointing compared to the VW.

The Police seem very keen on Kugas, it’s usually a sign they’re pretty robust.

The Police seem very keen on Kugas, it’s usually a sign they’re pretty robust

Modern ford interior will be a much nicer (and higher specced) place to spend time than a Vw too

Little update:

Kuga: very nice car, different but on a par with the Tiguan. Choice of engine/ gearbox combination let’s it down.
Can’t get the 1.5 petrol with an auto currently (can in the Focus it’s based on). Tried the 2.0 diesel manual mild hybrid, odd noise when at the bottom of the Rev range, disappears when further up. Mild hybrid just adds power, no electric only mode, which is a shame as would have been tempted otherwise.
Also available in better colours!

Had a look at the Seat and Skoda cousins of the Tiguan, and the used prices are on a par with the Tiguan for a lesser spec if you can find any. Also Seat/Skoda dealership was staffed by knobbers.

So the search continues, for a Tiguan in the right combination…