Advice Needed - Which engine to buy

[h3dshot]

Hi all

I'm currently driving a 1 litre petrol corsa 04 (thats right - unlimited power) and i'm looking to buy a Leon.

My knowledge is very limited, all I know is that I want a 2009 or newer face life model because the interior on the mk2's before the facelift was atrocious.

I went to one of the garages near me and took a 2012 1.6 TDI CR SE Copa (mk2) for a test drive. I wasn't expecting it to handle and pull as well as it did, but then again I suppose anything will pull well and drive well when compared to a Corsa.

So the reason for this thread - I'm looking for some advise as to which I should be buying - Petrol or Diesel, and what size engine.

I'm currently working 9.2 miles away, which is about 8.5 miles at motorway speeds. I am hoping to get onto a graduate scheme and will then be needing to drive up and down the country so i'm leaning toward a diesel, but with DPF issues and the fact that I don't really drive anywhere other than work, i'm not sure how feasible that is.

The 1.6 diesel I drove was fine for what I'd use it for, it felt lively when I put my foot down and I didn't have any trouble keeping up with traffic. So something around the same kind of power/torque would be ideal.

Oh yeah my budget is around £5000, with some flexibility on that.

Ideally i'd like a diesel without a DPF - how do you know which models have them and which don't? At the moment i've looked at getting 1.9/2l TDI or 1.4 TSI.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Unit9]

you wont get a facelift for 5k in diesel form' well an FR

 

[Updown789]

I would recommend a 1.9 tdi pre fl, even though you are not keen on the interior tbh, cheaper than a fl and no dpf to worry about, plus enough pace for everyday driving

 

[Unit9]

I'd take a 1.6cr over a PD lump to be honest, the CR engines are far superior to the PD, just my thought. Also doesn't matter which BHP model CR 1.6 you get they all tune the same as lesser BHP models are just de tuned, also if you go 170fr PF they have DPF and are a nightmare and a must is to remove it.

 

[mike0105]

I would second the 1.9TDI at your budget. But as a left field fun option, how about a 2.0 tfsi sport? Definitely in budget, no dpf to worry about and the pre face-lift interior is fine. 185 bhp so rapid compared to your corsa.

 

[Unit9]

Not stretch the budget abit

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=131577715326&globalID=EBAY-GB

£5800
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=181829325857&globalID=EBAY-GB

 

[h3dshot]

Thanks for the all of the advice guys, much appreciated.

I hadn't considered the 2.0 TFSI - I kind of ignored it as its 185 BHP so getting insured as a 23 year old lad would be a killer.

Definately something i'll look into though!

I was leaning toward a 1.9 too, they seem very very common on ebay and the likes. My dad has a 2005 2.0 TDI golf which pulls like a train.

Why is there such a big difference between the 1.9 and 2.0 in raw power and torque? :S

So how do you tell if it has a DPF or not? As far as I know its something they started introducing from 2009 onwards, so is it a case of any facelift ones will be DPF and older ones won't be?

 

[mike0105]

The pre face-lift 170 pd 2.0tdi also had a dpf, but the 140 and 1.9TDI engines didn't in the leon.

The 2.0TDI does pack a bigger punch and has a 6 speed box, but the 1.9TDI is a venerable unit widely used across the VAG range of cars.

The big difference in power and torque is simply by design, the 1.9 pd units were 105, 130 and 150bhp (there were more but these were the main ones). The 2.0 were 110, 140 and 170bhp, so evolutionary steps forward. It's just that they did not use the 130 or 150 in the mk2 Leon, as they moved on to the 2.0TDI 140 and 170 units instead.

 

[richicupra]

My knowledge is very limited, all I know is that I want a 2009 or newer face life model because the interior on the mk2's before the facelift was atrocious.

The interior is virtually identical, you get a few extra toys on some fl models but not enough to say one is atrocious and not the other.

 

[leontsibob]

What about a 1.4 tsi sport

 

[Unit9]

The interior is virtually identical, you get a few extra toys on some fl models but not enough to say one is atrocious and not the other.

the climate unit, stereo, flat bottom wheel, MFD, gear knob, along with wider looking front bumper and rear boot kid look far much better on FL FR's than Pre. I got put off massively, when you look there's quiet a difference' just my opinion, but for his budget you not going to be really picky to be honest

 

[h3dshot]

So the models i'm considering are:

Petrol - 1.4 tsi
Diesel - 1.6/1.9/2.0

From word of mouth and on paper i know the tsi is just as quick if not quicker than the 2 litre, but lacks the torque, which is expected from the petrol compared to the diesel.

I know the 1.9's are bulletproof engines since its what all the taxi drivers seem to have in their octavia's.

I've found a couple of cheap 1.6 TDI's on gumtree - anything I should look out for with the 1.6 engines?

Since i can't post links I'll give the last bit of the URL:

/p/seat/seat-leon-1.6-tdi-cr-2010-60-plate/1130566493

/p/seat/seat-leon-2011-1.6-tdi-start-stop-£20-road-tax-ecomotive-full-service-80-000-miles./1128763264

 

[Veyron]

Thanks for the all of the advice guys, much appreciated.

I hadn't considered the 2.0 TFSI - I kind of ignored it as its 185 BHP so getting insured as a 23 year old lad would be a killer.

Definately something i'll look into though!

I was leaning toward a 1.9 too, they seem very very common on ebay and the likes. My dad has a 2005 2.0 TDI golf which pulls like a train.

Why is there such a big difference between the 1.9 and 2.0 in raw power and torque? :S

So how do you tell if it has a DPF or not? As far as I know its something they started introducing from 2009 onwards, so is it a case of any facelift ones will be DPF and older ones won't be?

im 23, insured a 07 pd170 Fr for £600.

I bought a cat d write off with light rear end damage for £2800 and spent £700 having it fixed, and its got xenons, heated seats, Bluetooth and cruise control

 

[h3dshot]

Yeah its going to cost me around £600/700 to get insured on 1.4 tsi or the 1.9/2.0 tdi's

 

[h3dshot]

Does anyone have a definitive list of what varies between the trim levels offered?

I've had a look around and can't seem to find anything relevent, the closest I got was another thread on this:

forums/showthread.php?t=310012

releveant to FL models:
FL > 2009 on

S inc Ecomtoive Variant
S Emocian
SE inc Ecomotive variant
Sport
FR
Cupra
Cupra R