From diesel to petrol....?

T

T8DPR

Guest
HI, My current car is a 2.0 TDI, I've had it 2½ years and put on 23000miles in that time, I've absolutely loved the car since day one with or without its little issues now and again

my issue is as you may have guessed, I just don't do enough miles for a diesel, and the miles I do are mostly town, but every week I give it a decent motorway run.

I've seen an identical car to mine but its a 1.6 petrol and I assume it'll be 8 valve, as its 100bhp, I know it'd be the slowest car I'll have driven... ever...

but I wanna know whether its a problematic engine or reliable, I'd rather have a lower maintainence (and cheaper to sort problems) engine with slightly higher running costs, than cheaper to run expensive to fix, its on about 70k miles 53plate
 
1.6 engine no good. Try 1.8tfsi but I would swap to a 1.9 tdi mate... Greatest engine ever made
 
  • Like
Reactions: lgooch
I have a 2.0 tfsi and if I drive it soft I can get (close to) 40mpg. You will be surprised how uneconomical the 1.6 will be.
I will actually be doing the opposite in spring- I have wanted the 3.0tdi in the a4/a6 for years and I will finally go for it. I can't justify the the fuel/mileage ratio but i have always chose the engine before economy etc and everyone I know who have the 3.0tdi love it.
Just a wee bit worried about dpf...................

Anyway I would seriously consider the 2.0 tfsi - 200bhp, economical, reliable good solid engine - mine is the golf gti engine so can shift - but get the Quattro, I stupidly went 2wd and have regretted it every since
 
lgooch said:
Two words. Oil consumption !
Click to expand...

All cars these days use oil. People that think there car doesn't often find that yes the dipstick never moves but there oil is heavily contaminated with fuel (diesel or petrol)

I do a lot of miles per year in my company car my old work horse was an 60 plate Astra Estate 1.9cdti 150 bhp now that thing never used a drop ! well so said the dipstick anyway... i had it from new and covered 147000 miles in 3 years. it rarely took any oil between services (20000 miles) but when it had an oil change the oil was very thin and highly contaminated with Diesel.

I now have another Astra Estate1.7cdti 130bp 63plate currently on 48000 :s and when checking the oil it does use it. I would say over 20000 miles it will use around 3 litres. when it goes on the ramps for service the oil that comes out isin better condition than my old 1.9.

As for the S3 well that's my wifes runner/my toy. If ive not had a play for it in a while i find that the oil doesn't really move that much but does smell of fuel ! if i have covered a few miles in it, i find that the oil level is lower but doesn't seem as contaminated....
Anyway that's my theory and experience of things just thought i would share ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: CHEZ
I was referring specifically to the 2.0tfsi. A litre every 623 miles acceptable ? Er no

Buy a bad one and your in for big bills. Loads have issues with them and with the original OP currently having a 53 plate I assume that the new car will be 06 to 09 plate (sorry if I am wrong) which is where everyone is having issues. The 1.6 is underpowered, the 1.9tdi bombproof, 2.0 tdi will have DPF issues with his driving eventually, 2.0tfsi burns oil due to manufacturing faults with rings, leaving the 1.8tfsi as his only choice. And even that has the odd issue with timing chain slips and wrecking the engine.
 
lgooch said:
I was referring specifically to the 2.0tfsi. A litre every 623 miles acceptable ? Er no

Buy a bad one and your in for big bills. Loads have issues with them and with the original OP currently having a 53 plate I assume that the new car will be 06 to 09 plate (sorry if I am wrong) which is where everyone is having issues. The 1.6 is underpowered, the 1.9tdi bombproof, 2.0 tdi will have DPF issues with his driving eventually, 2.0tfsi burns oil due to manufacturing faults with rings, leaving the 1.8tfsi as his only choice. And even that has the odd issue with timing chain slips and wrecking the engine.
Click to expand...

I do agree in a sense, my S3 does use oil its an 09 plate, but what im saying is most cars do these days.... i think its more to do with the breather systems than anything else... just look at what goes into a catch can when fitted... so the oil isnt burnt its used in the breather system.

I had a new Golf 2.0 GTI in 2000 and that used more oil than fuel it felt like and also a Alfa 156 2.0 jts what was exactly the same... interesting Alfa recommended 2 oil grades 10w40 for ''normal'' conditions and 10w60 for hot climates and/or heavy right foot ! once i swapped to the 10w60 the consumption halved. So the oil was getting too hot and basically evaporating and been carried off by the breather system.

I 100% agree with you about small engine cars ! my 1.7cdti uses more fuel than my 1.9cdti did ! and thats simply because you have to work it harder.

I px my wifes Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 16v petrol for the S3 and the Audi is far more economical ! the C4 used to average 25mpg the wife averages 32mpg in the S3 ! this is simply because the S3 doesn't need to be thrashed to make progress.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lgooch
Actually my cousin asked me about getting a 335d the other day and i said dont bother. Great car great engine but he only does 5k max per year and its just going to clog up ! his daily drive is in to a busy town and spends around 7 miles in heavy traffic. i said just get the 335i and save on the initial purchase and then save on not wrecking the DPF every 6 months...
 
S3DUST said:
Actually my cousin asked me about getting a 335d the other day and i said dont bother. Great car great engine but he only does 5k max per year and its just going to clog up ! his daily drive is in to a busy town and spends around 7 miles in heavy traffic. i said just get the 335i and save on the initial purchase and then save on not wrecking the DPF every 6 months...
Click to expand...
So advice to original poster is get a good 1.8tfsi

Powerful enough to be economical and does not drink oil like a 2.0 does.

That's why I have one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: S3DUST
Yes definitely go for 1.8tfsi over the 2.0tfsi

mdm83 said:
everyone I know who have the 3.0tdi love it.
Just a wee bit worried about dpf...................
Click to expand...

DPF worries shouldn't hold you back from buying that engine if you want it

Take it for a run once a fortnight or get it gutted and remapped

With all due respect please no one come along with their lecture about emissions and/or staying on the right side of the law... Who cares lol, you only live once
 
Ok, had a read through your posts. On my current car, should I be worried about my DPF - given that it gets a good motorway run weekly?

* Apart from lack of power and not as fuel efficient, is the 1.6 engine bad for any other reasons, I.e. faults?

* Not enough miles to warrant my 2.0 diesel... why would I go for the 1.9 diesel then? purely because of having no DPF? Many days I do 6 miles to work and 6 miles back home and nothing else that day, surely 1.9tdi wont be any different?

* Since power is not a required factor (I literally just wanna get to work and back and trips to town for shopping and other short journey stuff, and have a car that still looks nice) do I really need a 1.8tfsi or 2.0tfsi over a 1.6?

I rarely do long commutes and I know that technically no engine is good in this situation hence why I do a weekly motorway "cleansing" run.

I must stress, I was really trigger happy when I first bought the car as I was so impressed with it compared to previous sheds I'd had, so although I did 23000 miles in the first 30 months, I'm more likely to do only 16000 in the next 30 months
 
If yours is the car in your avatar then chances are you don't have a DPF and you may as well keep it. Costs of changing it would be pointless because you lose £500-1000 on a car sale/trade.

Keep it and run it to the ground would be my advise, my mate has a 2.0 TDi bkd with over 200k on the clock, only issues its ever had is a turbo replacement which is normal for a bkd.

If your that worried take out a decent warranty on it, such things like turbos are replaced free and it'll probably work out cheaper in the long run than trading it.
 
T8DPR said:
it is, you sure mine wouldn't have DPF?? 53 plate bkd
Click to expand...

Yeah can almost guarantee it, dpf was only on the 170's and late 140 models. I had a 2006 140 tdi and it had no dpf and my mates is a 53 and it has no DPF.

It's only the idiotic new diesels that have them causing all the problems.

I'd only advise thinking about changing yours if it starts drinking excessive amounts of coolant which will point to a porous cylinder head, and I'd advise a hybrid turbo if the turbo ever went thus bulletproofing it for the next few hundred thousand miles.

Every petrol drinks oil, Audi advise that 1 litre every 500 miles is normal for the 2.0 tfsi, everything mechanical breaks eventually, until what you have shows signs of failure I'd keep it and enjoy it without the need to worry.

However, if you ever did decide to change it, and it sounds to me like you don't really have the NEED for what you have take a look at a 1.4tdi polo, simply the most bomb proof engine VAG have ever made.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ_26
A 53 plate will deco not have a dpf. Neither did the 1.9 tdis and hence recommending one.

Like it's been said, keep your old car. The 1.6 petrol is under powered for a heavy car like the Audi. They were used in the golf mainly and if you frequent a golf forum (uk-mkivs) then you will learn of the 1.6 Achilles heel and it will have one. (Gearbox from what i recall). You must also factor in that an Audi A3 is around 200kg heavier than a golf ( according to my handbooks for my old mk6 and 8p sport back) which dents economy.

If yours is running fine then keep it. I regret selling my 07 plate a3 sport with a 1.9 tdi lump. Cost me absolutely nothing nothing in 30k miles and 3.5 years of having it. I simply wanted a newer, fresher car and had nothing but issues with the next diesel golf I bought due to dpf and i drove it the same places as the old Audi.

That's why all the taxi drivers drive 1.9tdi passats and Octavias ! Men in the know for reliability !
 
To be fair I think most of my cars liked a good bit of oil- my s3 certainly did and it ran perfect, in fact I think topping up with Mobil 1 every couple of weeks/monthly keeps the oil fresh and clean- on top of the fact I.change the oil every 6k miles.
I'm pretty sure the 2.0tfsi engines are OK in the a3, it's the a4 which has a few choices in the 2.0 tfsi- the bul engine is problematic I may (probably) be wrong but I'm pretty sure they are fine in our a3's.
There will always be a combination of bad eggs and idiots who ruin a good engine.
If you want to be 100% safe stick to the 1.9 tdi as suggested
 
I've got an 1.6 Petrol (Nat-aspired) Engine, it is under powered but not as much as I expected, (had a Golf 1.9 TDI and 1.6 HDi C4 before this and I think it accelerates just about the same). I know the FSI 1.6 is troublesome so I'd avoid that if you can. Other than that, the benefits are cheap insurance and less maintenance. ;)
 
If I ever recommend the 1.9tdi it's the older one that came in mk4 golfs etc

Those conrod problems I've yet to see an example where quality PD engine oil has been used and it still let go
 
Mine was 07 plate in an a3. No issues at all. Car before with the 1.9 tdi was a mk4 golf with 130 BHP. Peach of an engine and owned the car from new on a 53 plate. Sold it to my best mate who ran it up to 120k before it needed shockers , clutch etc so work was more than it was worth. No other issues on a 12 year old car. Like I have said bombproof and surprising how many passats, Octavias and golf/boras you still see around with this engine. It's everything around it which generally gives up but hey easier things to fix.

I really cannot recommend a better engine than these for low cost motoring.

Mate has just bought a 53 plate passat 80k for his weekly commute up to Aberdeen from Manchester. The reason is that that are bulletproof compared to the later engines from the VAG group.
 
To the OP, I have an 05 plate A3 and it definitely does not have a DPF. As said above they only came on the facelift 8P2 (big grille) 170 and late 140 models onwards. I wouldn't bother with the 1.6 if you have the 2.0 TDI already. I've been in the 1.6 as a passenger and it wasn't too bad if you thrash it, but I'd say it's a bit of a downgrade from a 2.0TDI to a 1.6 petrol as the A3 is quite a heavy car and definitely benefits from the greater torque and power.

As you know once the engine is warmed up, the economy is a lot better. I reckon around town the 2.0 TDI could maybe match the 1.6 for economy. Seen as you've had the car for a while, I'd say keep it running until it properly lets go (hopefully it won't), but keep an eye on your coolant level as mentioned above.
 
Sayam said:
If I ever recommend the 1.9tdi it's the older one that came in mk4 golfs etc

Those conrod problems I've yet to see an example where quality PD engine oil has been used and it still let go
Click to expand...


Ive just bought a 57 plate 1.9 BXE on 155K one owner, rod through the block, full Audi history (never touched by anyone else) services every 9k

That said my mk5 BKC (same engine) is on 189,500 and rods are still intact :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sayam
it looks like I'm gonna keep mine then until it does indeed drive its last mile

I was just worried because of my daily commute being only 6 miles each way but since I take it for a motorway run every weekend am I worrying for nothing?
 
T8DPR said:
it looks like I'm gonna keep mine then until it does indeed drive its last mile

I was just worried because of my daily commute being only 6 miles each way but since I take it for a motorway run every weekend am I worrying for nothing?
Click to expand...

in a word...yes
 
  • Like
Reactions: shadow1993
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R14AYN
Diesel & Petrol
Replies
3
Views
1K
unkle
unkle
ch1z64
Petrol V's Diesel
Replies
4
Views
1K
Ricky Burrows
Ricky Burrows
A
Diesel vs Petrol
Replies
9
Views
1K
Lukeyb
Lukeyb
Sheikh
Petrol VS Diesel?
Replies
11
Views
3K
max69vk
max69vk
smudge_don
  • Start Poll
Petrol or Diesel?
Replies
24
Views
2K
jb111s
J
Top
Back