1.9 TDI or 2.0 TDI

[gcook]

I currently have an LCR but due to a baby on it's way and needing a more economical car I'm looking at a newer Leon TDI. The newer 2 litre engine is more powerful but more expensive. Do you think the 2 litre engine is worth the extra?

 

[cuprabod]

I have a mk1 04 cupra tdi which i bought last year,i looked at the mk 2 fr tdi but an 06 was going for about 12 grand with the same milage as mine,which was nearly double what i paid and i.m.h.o. the newer model is not as well built.The engine may be more frugle but i don't think there is that much in it

 

[gcook]

Cheers Sooty, I've not driven a Mk1 Leon diesel. May have a look. The only thing with that is the lower mileage ones will be getting hard to find.

 

[joolsvern]

Only test driven the 1.9 but I thought NOOOO, get the 2ltr, my mate (company cars) went from a passat 1.9 to A3 2.0 and thinks the 2.0 is way way better. You have to weigh it all up though.

 

[cuprabod]

I'm not saying the 2.0 l is not a better engine its just that its a lot more money,i find the 1.9 plenty powerful enough,it all depends how much cash you have to spend( i have 2 children and they cost a fortune to run).There are still some low milage mk 1's around,i got mine with 39,000 on the clock

 

[coggie]

Depends on how you expect to use the car - for knocking about town in, the 1.9 would be the better option. For me the 1.9 / 105bhp lacks some top end pulling power, on motorways etc.

If you think of the accelerator as a money tap, you'll use less fuel / money running the 1.9.

 

[gcook]

Thanks for the advice. I would use it out of town quite a bit on windy A roads with ups and downs so would like the pulling power for that.

I'll go for a test drive, probably the best way of comparing.

 

[erichuyn]

Or buy the 1.9 and chip it. I have a chipped 1.9TDI with around 135hp, honestly I couldn't get the 2.0 within my company car budget .
But having driven about 126.000km/ca 78000miles in roughly 2 1/2 years I can say it has yet to disappoint me.
Zero problems, well a pair of cupped Falken's but I blame the tyres, and even with my frequent wintersport runs with 4 people and all equipment in/on top the car it still is plenty powerfull.

The fuel consumption is not as good btw. At least for me. My drive to work is at speeds around the 85-90mph mark and the 1.9 does not like it. At the moment I average 32mpg on a 155miles roundtrip. A bit of that is the relative cold weather at the moment.
This can be solved by looking for the ecomotive version, or so I heard. Longer fifth gear mean that the engine runs at about 2500rpm at those speeds instead of 3500rpm..

But if you stay below the 80mph mark it is a lot more frugal, if you don't floor it all the time .

 

[WeeG]

I don't know what your budget is mate, but get a leon fr tdi mk2 and they are pretty quick standard, but if you like power and have a bit of cash dpf delete stage 2 and it will be bye bye to any standard leon's in the range mk1 and mk2 and 40-50 mpg