6 Months in Review - 1.4 TFSI

Tempz · Jul 31, 2017

Hi all,

It's been about 6 months since I bought my 2009 1.4 TFSI Sport. So I thought it would be a good time to post a brief review of the car. I've been doing almost exclusively city driving and a lot of short journeys.

The Good:
- Nice responsive engine with just about enough low down torque. Also like the turbo hiss!
- Nice premium feel interior. Puts my friends 320d E92 to shame.
- Decent seating position and adjustments.
- Adequate sound system although could be better.

The Bad:
- With a few passengers you can definitely feel the engine being underpowered.
- Poor economy. Current long term average is 26mpg. Around 130/140 miles from £30 of V Power. However it is all city driving.
- Sport trim is plain. The S Lines and Black Editions look perfect imo.
- Steering isn't that good. My old Mk5 Golf was better.
- Limited tuning potential. A remap gives about 140hp and 250Nm. Not worth it imo.

In retrospect, I sometimes think I should've paid more and got a 1.8T black edition. Possibly my next car.

Would be good to see the opinions of other 1.4tfsi owners.

Tylerrr. · Jul 31, 2017

Got a red 1.4 TFSI Sline 2011 so the same as yours except the Sline Touch.
I bought this due to insurance purposes being only 19yo.
Car had 46k on it so was fairly low miles!
I've found for the size of the engine it is a pretty nippy car when it wants to go, Overtakes are easy with drop of a gear.
Cant complain about the interior comfy and looks smart! Just want to install a double din touch screen to finish it off!
I was looking into map my self and get the similar figures so I was unsure myself!
My economy is totally dependent on the music I have on and my right foot ahah! I normally get going to work around 40-45mpg but on the motor way home around 52mpg which I cant argue with tbh!
For the size of the engine you can't expect to be keeping up with an s3 but it does give some larger engine diesels a run for the money!
All round I think its a smart sporty looking car and im happy with it!

Tempz · Feb 1, 2019

Almost 2 years in update:-

Didn’t think I’d own the car for this long but here it is still with me.
I’ve been toying on and off with the idea of buying a 1.8tfsi A3 or A4 but they’re hard to come by in good spec and mileage plus the 1.4 is a good all round car so I haven’t been in any particular rush to replace it.

Current mileage is 76,000. Apart from usual services, it’s needed a new o/s rear caliper and I replaced the diverter valve recenty. Contrary to my original post, I’ve been getting around 36mpg in summer months and so far 32/33 in winter. And that’s mainly city driving so I can’t really complain.

I also think it still looks good considering the 8P will be almost 2 generations old soon. Anyone else kept their 1.4t for few years?

sliced · Feb 3, 2019

Had my 2009 2.0 tfsi for around 6 years although for the last year or so I hadn’t driven it at all due to work commitments and company cars. Only done 12k miles in my ownership.

Pros
-cheap to run insure maintain
-fairly good spec heated seats and what not were great for winter as well as xenons
-good tuning potential (same as a golf GTI) and it certainly punches above its weight

Cons
-harsh ride, standard s line suspension felt crashy
-lack of road presence
-not suited for a 6ft4 driver

Sold it yesterday for £4,4K on 99k miles. This was below the webuyanycar price however I wasn’t too fussed. New owner looked chuffed to bits.

samisnake · Feb 3, 2019

Tempz said:
Current mileage is 76,000. Apart from usual services, it’s needed a new o/s rear caliper and I replaced the diverter valve recenty. Contrary to my original post, I’ve been getting around 36mpg in summer months and so far 32/33 in winter. And that’s mainly city driving so I can’t really complain.

what symptoms did you have to change the dv? mines on 70k, wondering whether it might need changing in the near future and what to notice when it does

Tempz · Feb 3, 2019

samisnake said:
what symptoms did you have to change the dv? mines on 70k, wondering whether it might need changing in the near future and what to notice when it does

Car would sometimes feel as if something was holding it back when accelerating. For the sake of £40 I changed the DV to the revision G. Car originally had Revision D which is known to leak boost slightly as it is a plastic piston type design whereas G is a rubber diaphragm I believe.

Daveyonthemove · Feb 4, 2019

samisnake said:
what symptoms did you have to change the dv? mines on 70k, wondering whether it might need changing in the near future and what to notice when it does

You'll know when the DV is shot, the car will feel like it's holding back or lacking power when trying to accelerate hard.
If you have access to VAGCOM/VCDS or OBD Eleven, log your MAF reading and you should be able to tell from that.
Peak MAF figure multiplied by 0.80 gives a close BHP figure, so if it is below what you would expect to see it's a good indicator that something is wrong.
When I first got my S3 I thought it felt slow so I logged the MAF and discovered it was running approx 220bhp. I inspected the DV and found it to be split so I replaced it and logged it again. Turned out my S3 was already mapped as I gained 70bhp instantly.

Tylerrr. · Feb 4, 2019

Had mine since December 2016 now so this year I thinks is new car year! loved the car couldn't ask for an overall good reliable car. Only problem I had was replacing clutch at 72k, Looking to sell around December should have around 80/85k any one know what of value the 1.4s hold as I sometimes find it hard to get one on auto trader my spec 3dr sline.

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6 Months in Review - 1.4 TFSI

Tempz

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Tylerrr.

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Tempz

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sliced

Drive safe, stay alive.

samisnake

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Tempz

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Daveyonthemove

Well-Known Member

Tylerrr.

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