If my A2 can borrow the drive from this Polo Blue GT...

When I had an A1 1.4 TSi courtesy car, & I'm assuming it's the same engine, the thing that impressed most was the low down torque. It almost felt diesel like!
 
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This is a further development and it does seem impressive however i would A) like to know the real world economy (because I am not convinced of the diesel like economy claims) and B) if they applied similar tech to a diesel then presumably the economy gap would once again favour diesel. I simply cannot believe a true back to back economy test of a state of the art diesel against a similar petrol would show the petrol in a very favourable light although I am happy to be proven wrong!
 
a1.jpga1-2.jpga1-3.jpga1-4.jpgHi i recently had the pleasure of having an audi A1 tfsi in mallorca-two infact ! i was really impressed with the torque but fealt that the boost/power dropped off at 3600rpm-possibly a remap would help. Stop start was great, build was great, handling was very good, economy averaged out over two tanks of fuel 49mpg so comparable to my fsi A2. NOW if i could have the torque of the tfsi with the high rpm push of the fsi it would be my ideal.
It is also worth remembering that this was the 1.2 tfsi A1 with climate and full satnav. The car fealt heavy but reasuringly heavy so im sure the 1.4 tfsi would be better at higher rpm but its possibly to do with emissions. Did i come home with the "i wants"? yes i would like an A1 but would i buy one NO not at the moment.
It had a few things i didnt like. First was the seat belt isnt hight adjustable at the shoulder so it was rubbing me neck. Second was interior lighting was poor-only one small light in the centre above the mirror(vanity lights though) none in the rear or map lights. Third gripe was the fact it looked like it was missing seat runner trims(it wasnt as the second car was the same). Fourth issue NO SPARE WHEEL and yes you guessed it we had a sidewall puncture rendering us stuck in the mid day heat till they delivered a new car--did learn that the boot is split level, the same floor can be mounted low or high.
Thanks for listening over and out mike--ill try a tdi A1 next time fingers crossed.
 
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a2sumo said:
It had a few things i didnt like.
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I doubt anyone else would notice this, but one thing which really lets down the A1 in my view is the interior typography. Yes you heard it right. Look at the dashboard dials - you have a different font width on the main speedometer compared to the rev counter. It's subtle inconsistencies like this that make you realise that this model wasn't penned by a designer with an eye for the aesthetic.
 
a few things; A1 1.4 'TSI' - I believe should be a TFSI, not the twin charged 1.4 TSI as used in the Golf GT, neither are the same as this new 'global' engine (will be used in US without mod). Secondly, I don't think anyone is claiming diesel mpg with this engine, real world or not. To compare to diesel is missing the point either, it is a hot hatch first and if it is like the 1.4 TFSI/TSI then it should properly rev pass 6000 rpm. Which I agree with a2sumo, the A2 FSI revs very nicely (also helped by a light A2) and I love that extra 1k rpm over my 1.4 petrol, much more fun holding 2/3rd gears. When I first drove it, I shift up as it hit 5k rpm, forgetting it has more!

I think this engine suits because it is first a very high tech engine designed to perform, while being efficient. The exhaust manifold is integrated into the head which has an integrated charge cooler all very close to the turbo for better spool, warm up ...etc. Cylinder deactivation paired with an optimised gearbox computer to select the right gear with cylinder on/off combination. It doesn't use cylinder deactivation at idle because the vibration would ruin the refinement is also music to my ears. Besides, I have a/c on all the time, so stop/start is not required.
 
Is it me, or do all modern Audis always look so ANGRY !!! With those frowning headlamps and that furrowed grille.... They look like an angry, annoyed thug... Had quite a few of the bigger ones behind me on the motorway recently (A4, A5, A6 etc) and they always look so angry and aggressive in the rear-view mirror. Is this how Audi wants their modern styling to look ? Intimidating, impatient, aggressive and almost bullying... I don't like it myself.
 
a2sumo said:
Fourth issue NO SPARE WHEEL and yes you guessed it we had a sidewall puncture rendering us stuck in the mid day heat till they delivered a new car
Thanks for listening over and out mike--ill try a tdi A1 next time fingers crossed.
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Well Mike this is the way VAG cars are going to try to reduce emissions IE reduce the weight reduce the CO2. Look at all the Bluemotion VW's and Greenline Skoda's no spares, Audi haven't realy got a Bluemotion type variant they just don't supply spares in certan cars

Phil
 
Not all good news about the 1.4TFSI engine range. Problems with broken cam chains and premature bore wear (principally on the 170 HP model) were commented on in the 'Honest John' section of the Telegraph on Saturday. The cam chain problem is not limited to VAG engines as Peugeot / Citroen and BMW/Mini are also failing.

Cheers Spike
 
The 65mpg was on a single journey, hence I specifically wrote real world. my a2 will exceed 70mpg on a single journey but day-in day-out its 60+ mpg if i take care and 60- if i don't. It's the same with this new Ford 3 cyl 1.0L wonder engine in the Focus with supposed diesel matching economy. Autocar have one on long term test and early indications are it doesn't. I am not against petrol but simply want to see real world figures (and how robust they are with 100k + miles on the clock.....)
 
The trouble with 'real world' mpg comparisons is that everyone's daily commute is different. My commute is mostly motorway & long enough to warm up the engine properly, and I do no short trips. Hence my 'real world' mpg experience is very different to someone else's who does (for example) urban driving with a shorter commute, or has to take the kids to school every morning.

That's why I have a lot of doubts about Honest John's 'real world mpg' website.
 
spike said:
Not all good news about the 1.4TFSI engine range. Problems with broken cam chains and premature bore wear (principally on the 170 HP model) were commented on in the 'Honest John' section of the Telegraph on Saturday. The cam chain problem is not limited to VAG engines as Peugeot / Citroen and BMW/Mini are also failing.

Cheers Spike
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I think Chris has a totally valid point about it being a new VAG engine, subject to fancy new tech failing. The cam chain issue though, if the manufacturer is claiming a life time chain then surely they'll have to cover it? Unless there is something like a 'lifetime' meaning of 10 years or 100k miles. Premature bore wear could be harder to argue for owners as it won't be straight forward to find out what actually caused it. At least it has cylinder liners that can be replaced, unlike my 996 which has locasil in the bore instead of liners and bore scoring stories are not uncommon amongst boxsters, 996/7 even with low miles.

I guess nothing is bullet proof, new tech is always a gamble. But you'd want to gamble with a warranty of sorts and that's why some people insist on buying new or semi-new with an extended warranty.
 
I agree about 'real world' mpg but car magazines tend to use their long termers on the hard side of average use so there will be a degree of comparative use and reasonable conclusions to be made. However the issue of the reliability of much of the new tech is also of concern and I will watch with interest over the next 3-4 years how these new super eco petrol engines stand up to diesel type mileage and use (and i know not all diesels will take high mileage well but most do). The advantage of the A2 diesel now being 'old tech' is other than for the exception of a few issues with the '90' DMF and turbo they do seem rather bomb proof and able to rack up a high mileage with little cost other than cambelts.
 
spike said:
... Problems with broken cam chains and ... in the 'Honest John' section of the Telegraph on Saturday. The cam chain problem is not limited to VAG engines as Peugeot / Citroen and BMW/Mini are also failing.
...
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The ironic thing is that Honest John has been campaigning to replace all cambelt designs with chain cam designs instead, over the last couple of years, on the basis of their reliability :confused:.
 
just picking up on that autocar test, I didn't read the printed magazine (probably where the 65mpg comes from?) but one of their online article mentioned 76mpg here:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review...ves/first-drive-review-volkswagen-polo-bluegt

"...On a 60 mile motorway run out of Amsterdam we managed 76.4mpg, proving both the worth of ACM and a series of aerodynamic tweaks brought to the new car, including bumpers, sills and rear hatch flaps brought over from the Polo BlueMotion..."

I think that's saying 1) under ideal conditions, it has pretty good potential for economy and 2) It isn't just the engine, the bluemotion aero mods also helped. Looks pretty promising, imagine that engine in the already slippery A2 or even the 3L.
 
Interesting about "real-world" economy - you only have to look at the wide variations in MPG by the owners on here who are using Fuelly to realise how variable it is - traffic, journey profiles and driving style all play such huge and changeable roles in everyone's real-world MPGs...

Thinking out TDi owners here, for example, Mike gets over 70, I get about 60, I'm sure there are TDi owners who get 50MPG - that's an enormous range of MPG experience from essentially the same base car - the "official" Audi figures were a mixed cycle of what, 64?
 
Having read Autocar I then mis-typed the mpg!

You will also get the same variables with petrol however overall a picture will build up of which is better. I like the Blue GT concept very much and there is no reason why cylinder de-activation cannot be applied to diesel along with much of the other tech to reduce weight/friction etc. Read up on Mazda 'Sky' tech on their diesel and petrol engines and the impressive results they are getting without resorting to complex economy harming systems to deal with particulates etc. As an aside one of the problems designers and manufacturers of diesels now have is that to meet EU6 standards the economy of a diesel is made worse!!!! Bonkers.
 
MikeMarsUK said:
The ironic thing is that Honest John has been campaigning to replace all cambelt designs with chain cam designs instead, over the last couple of years, on the basis of their reliability :confused:.
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The trouble is, the public seem to go along with the notion that chains don't need checking and replacing.
 
6cyl Chris said:
The trouble is, the public seem to go along with the notion that chains don't need checking and replacing.
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That's because there are no manufacturer's recommendation on the service interval, unlike belts. I'm pretty sure the BMW chains are said to be 'life time' so are the pair of chains on my flat 6 from Stuttgart and I think many Fords as well. I'm not aware of major out cry of broken chains on these cars. That's not to say individual cases don't exist, nothing is bullet proof but if it says 'life time' and it ain't broke, I'm not going to replace it.
 
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