VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat FSI Engines

PaddyFagan

Hi Folks,

Kinda related to the other thread about my vRS, looking at my trade-in options I was looking at 1.6 Octavia. (Mods feel free to merge the threads if you think it makes more sense)

This comes with two diffent engines, the older 1.6 (at 105 bhp) and the newer 1.6 FSI (at 115 bhp). Now I understand (from the garage & some UK sites) that the FSI engines are designed for higher octane RON 97/98 petrol which isn't all the easy to come by here, not to mention much more expensive. (see http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/skoda-octavia-1.6fsi-1004204.html for a reasonable review of the car)

Now to my question - anyone out there driving a VW/Audi etc with one of these FSI engines? How do you find it? What petrol do you use? Have you tried to find the high octane stuff? (with any success?)

I'm plan on trying to test drive both anyway, but I was just hoping someone would have more day-to-day experience of the engine....

Thanks

Paddy

PS There is a 2k price difference between the 1.6 & the 1.6 FSI Octavia

CrowdedHouse

Paddy,

I have no experience of FSI but am looking at a Golf GTI which is FSI at the moment and this is a direct quote from the brochure

" Thanks to the knock control unleaded 4 star 95 RON can be used instead of unleaded Super Plus.In order to achieve maximum fuel consumtion benefits on the FSI engine Ultra Low Sulphur petrol must be used"

I dont know of anyone selling super plus in this neck of the woods !

PaddyFagan

CrowdedHouse wrote:

I have no experience of FSI but am looking at a Golf GTI which is FSI at the moment and this is a direct quote from the brochure

Can I recommend you get a tracking system in that GTI - along with the vRS's they seem to be a bit of a popular cars for getting nicked at the moment.

CrowdedHouse wrote:

" Thanks to the knock control unleaded 4 star 95 RON can be used instead of unleaded Super Plus.In order to achieve maximum fuel consumtion benefits on the FSI engine Ultra Low Sulphur petrol must be used"

I dont know of anyone selling super plus in this neck of the woods !

Yeah - I've read the same stuff - really trying to figure out what the day-to-day impact of high/low octane petrol in an FSI engine. In particular, if I'm mainly going to be filling up with RON 95, should I save myself 2k and buy the 1.6 MPI as the lower octane petol will be robbing me of most of the advantages of the FSI?

Paddy

joeL

Paddy,
I've an Audi A3 with the 1.6 FSI engine. I've been using normal '95 unleaded since I got it, without any problem.
When buying, I drove the normal 1.6 also, and to me it felt sluggish and unrefined. It is an old 8-valve engine. What attracted me to the FSI apart from the extra bhp, was that its a newer technology, it comes with a 6-speed gearbox and most reviews I read were very positive about it.
Economy is pretty good, its improved significantly as the km's are clocked up. I have the climate control on constantly, and the economy is as good, if not better (especially on longer trips) than my previous car - a 1.6 Focus.

PaddyFagan

joeL wrote:

Paddy,
I've an Audi A3 with the 1.6 FSI engine. I've been using normal '95 unleaded since I got it, without any problem.
When buying, I drove the normal 1.6 also, and to me it felt sluggish and unrefined. It is an old 8-valve engine. What attracted me to the FSI apart from the extra bhp, was that its a newer technology, it comes with a 6-speed gearbox and most reviews I read were very positive about it.
Economy is pretty good, its improved significantly as the km's are clocked up. I have the climate control on constantly, and the economy is as good, if not better (especially on longer trips) than my previous car - a 1.6 Focus.

Excellent - thanks for the feedback, exactly the sort of feedback I was looking for, thanks again

Paddy

ds20prefecture

The 6 speed 'box that comes as standard on the FSIs is a bit of a dog. Very balky and long of throw.

jdf

My da got a bought the ordinary 1.6 Octavia earlier this year. The garage refused to sell him the FSI as they said it was a complete waste of money. It is his 3rd Octavia and he is, as you can imagine, very pleased with it.

The argument used to dismiss the FSI was that for the money the benefits weren't worth it and if you weren't running on the recommended fuel anyway why bother.

From a resale perspective will anybody give a flying **** if the 3 year old car is FSI or non FSI and if they do will there still be the huge price differential.

kevodaly

Paddy
I have a Golf 1.6 FSI. Like JoeL, I've been using regular unleaded petrol since new without any problems. I didnt drive the 102 bhp 1.6, but again the fact that it's newer technology, has slightly more power and got good reviews helped me make my mind up.
The price difference was €1000.

Economy wise - with about 2.5k done and air conditioning always on, the average fuel consumption is 7.8l/100km. ( just over 36mpg ), which is pretty good I think.

I traded in a mark iv gti, and while there is an obvious decrease in power, the 1.6 fsi is still no slow coach. I would highly recommend it.

"The garage refused to sell him the FSI as they said it was a complete waste of money." - really ? What garage is this that would refuse €2000.

jdf

kevodaly wrote:

"The garage refused to sell him the FSI as they said it was a complete waste of money." - really ? What garage is this that would refuse €2000.

I'm only speculating here but one that knows their customer, is interested in building a lasting relationship with that customer and is more interested in giving a customer the best product for their needs rather than the most expensive option they have to push.

PaddyFagan

Thanks for all the feedback - I still plan to drive both, but was worried that if I drove the FSI and preferred it, ordered one then filler her up with 95 RON and lost all the advantages I'd be pretty pissed.....

kevodaly wrote:

"The garage refused to sell him the FSI as they said it was a complete waste of money." - really ? What garage is this that would refuse €2000.

Probably the same one I'm dealing with - their quote was that "...a lot of buyers where unhappy with their FSI's because of the preference for high octane fuel" and in the garages opinion "...you wouldn't get the 2k back when you're selling it".

Paddy

joeL

The 6 speed 'box that comes as standard on the FSIs is a bit of a dog. Very balky and long of throw.

Would disagree with that completely... I find it a very smooth gearbox, no problem with it at all. The only thing is that in 6th gear their ain't much pull/acceleration, which is to be expected I think.

The A3 FSI cost about 1700 more than the normal engine. My dealer told me I could expect a premium back over the normal 1.6 come trade-in time, but not all 1700 obviously.

bazz26

Paddy,

I haven't driven the FSi engine but was very interesting in the technology when VW launched it so I don't have the same indept opinion of people who own and run this engine. I did a bit of reading up on it at the time though and that the FSi engine operates at optimum capacity by using 98 Super Unleaded Plus petrol.

The 1.6 FSi has 115bhp and costs at least €1,000 more than the standard 1.6 102bhp version. So you have to ask yourself in order to reap the benefits of this extra 13bhp, you first of all need to find a petrol station that sells 98 Super Unleaded Plus and then as this can cost up to 10c a litre more than regular unleaded so it is costing you extra at the pump.

If you choose to use regular unleaded in the FSi engine, yes it will work fine but will you get that extra 13bhp in performance that you paid an extra €1,000 for? I would doubt it plus as already stated will you get your money back when it comes to resale time? Again I would doubt it.

Also you would need to ask yourself are you really going to be doing any sort of extra driving that warrrants the extra premium in cost and fuel to benefit from the extra 13bhp (assuming you use Super Unleaded Plus) or do you just want the latest technology.

Just my 5c worth.

PS. If you do choose to go with the FSi engine it might also be worth making a note that the new Passat 1.6 has the FSi engine as standard and they start at around €25k - €26k. The Octavia FSi costs about €23k.

Borderfox

The FSI wouldn't be like the Impreza's where if you put 95octane in the ecu ramps the power down?

AlanD

kevodaly wrote:

"The garage refused to sell him the FSI as they said it was a complete waste of money." - really ? What garage is this that would refuse €2000.

Many salesman are like this for one of two reasons: 1) either they know their customer and don't want them to spend more money than they need or 2) they haven't a clue about what FSI is and what it means in Ireland. 1) could have a bit of the no clue syndrome too which is usually the case unfortunately.

I came across a Skoda dealer who I asked about the Octavia with the 1.6 FSI engine. He said, no way would he sell one "cos you have to put special petrol in it and you'd have to go to Dublin to get it. Who's going to drive to Dublin to get petrol the whole time", he said. I walked away.

Anyway, as another poster mentioned, the FSI engine works well with low sulphur petrol. 98 RON petrol in most countries is low sulphur petrol. 95 RON in most countries is not however. But in Ireland 95 RON has lower sulphur than normal so works with the FSI engines.

Personally, I think you'll benefit from buying the FSI engine while using 95 RON petrol in it. Most articles saying that 98 RON is required are using high sulphur 95 RON petrol as the "other type".

But if it was my money and I was going for a Skoda, I'd buy one of the diesels. The 1.9 TDI is pretty quick, but the 2.0 TDI is awesome. Best diesel I've driven.