1.5 tsi reliability

Sword

Active Member
Apr 22, 2019
105
43
Winchester
I used to use eco on my work commute and sport when the roads were a little clearer and not full of traffic until I read peoples opinions here of eco mode, I agreed fully Now its just dangerous, especially at roundabouts!

From there on in its normal all the way, I do sometimes switch to eco but that's only on motorway runs.

I get the same mpg whether on eco or normal on my morning commute so basically makes eco mode useless in town driving.
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,278
Not specifically the 1.5 EVO, but the general view on some of the VW forums is that ECO mode doesn’t do much for fuel economy gains, but it dulls the throttle response, so you get less rapid progress. The tendency is then to push the accelerator pedal down further / harder to maintain the same level of progress that you would in normal mode, and by doing so, any small mpg gains are pretty much lost.
 
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black_sheep

Active Member
Mar 10, 2013
1,256
585
We have the 1.5 TFSI COD / 7DSG fitted to our A3.

The kangaroo effect is still present on the DSG car when cold, and the gear shifts are not as smooth as the Cupra’s DSG box. My personal opinion is that there are flat spots ‘low down’ in the ECU map in order to achieve emissions test pass (impacting on driveability not reliability - see post title).

Eco mode makes a big difference to mpg with the DSG box as when off the throttle the gearbox disengages and coasts, but the biggest mpg gains are when you only use small throttle inputs in order to utilise ‘cylinder on demand’ aka ACT.
 

G.P

Active Member
Sep 3, 2011
1,241
38
Worcestershire
Not quite sure I understand this...although I've never compared journey MPG against Eco or Normal Modes, both Driving Modes offer a 'normal' mpg when driving then an increased MPG when ACT is active and if on overrun via gear engine braking or going down hill with foot off accelerator engine fuel shuts off completely. You can see the reading and effects using Instant Consumption selection.
Unless of course I'm reading GP's response wrongly.

Sorry I forgot to mention mine is DSG.

When I come down Birdlip Hill, Gloucestershire, which is 60mph and steep enough to come down on overrun foot off accelerator, in normal mode as you say the fuel is shut off so no fuel will be used with the engine rpm reading at whatever it reads in 7th gear at 60mph, in eco mode the rpm will read whatever it reads on idle so around 800 rpm, hence eco mode in my DSG uses fuel to idle the engine when coming down hills and when slowing down for junctions/islands, hence for me over a 150mile journey Eco mode actually uses more fuel..
 

Yern

Active Member
Apr 25, 2019
625
311
Sorry I forgot to mention mine is DSG.

When I come down Birdlip Hill, Gloucestershire, which is 60mph and steep enough to come down on overrun foot off accelerator, in normal mode as you say the fuel is shut off so no fuel will be used with the engine rpm reading at whatever it reads in 7th gear at 60mph, in eco mode the rpm will read whatever it reads on idle so around 800 rpm, hence eco mode in my DSG uses fuel to idle the engine when coming down hills and when slowing down for junctions/islands, hence for me over a 150mile journey Eco mode actually uses more fuel..
Ah ok GP, now I understand. Mine is manual and in both Eco and Normal overrun shuts fuel off completely. Its been a while since I went down (or up) Birdlip Hill, used to have a client in Swindon I visited often.
 

Goggles76

Active Member
Oct 1, 2016
27
1
I had the 150 bhp in my Skoda Karoq and I ended up rejecting it due to the kangarooing. My wife has a Leon FR with the 130 bhp 1.5 and it is fine, smooth engine with reasonable performance. It's not as good as the 1.4 125 bhp we had before though but sadly some scumbag broke in overnight and stole it, along with my Leon st tdi fr.
 

Leonfr140

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
420
65
East Sussex
I had the 150 bhp in my Skoda Karoq and I ended up rejecting it due to the kangarooing. My wife has a Leon FR with the 130 bhp 1.5 and it is fine, smooth engine with reasonable performance. It's not as good as the 1.4 125 bhp we had before though but sadly some scumbag broke in overnight and stole it, along with my Leon st tdi fr.
Oh no sorry to hear, so both Leon's they stole??

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Owen83

Active Member
Feb 9, 2018
77
20
Sorry I forgot to mention mine is DSG.

When I come down Birdlip Hill, Gloucestershire, which is 60mph and steep enough to come down on overrun foot off accelerator, in normal mode as you say the fuel is shut off so no fuel will be used with the engine rpm reading at whatever it reads in 7th gear at 60mph, in eco mode the rpm will read whatever it reads on idle so around 800 rpm, hence eco mode in my DSG uses fuel to idle the engine when coming down hills and when slowing down for junctions/islands, hence for me over a 150mile journey Eco mode actually uses more fuel..

It still uses fuel when coasting down a hill..... If it didn't the engine would stall and the car would come to a quick stop due to the cylinder compression.
 

Goggles76

Active Member
Oct 1, 2016
27
1
Oh no sorry to hear, so both Leon's they stole??

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Thanks, yes they had my wife's 6 wk old 1.4 Leon fr and my 18 mth old tdi Leon fr st. Really like my Karoq Sportline now but miss my Leon, it was a cracking car.


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Leonfr140

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
420
65
East Sussex
Thanks, yes they had my wife's 6 wk old 1.4 Leon fr and my 18 mth old tdi Leon fr st. Really like my Karoq Sportline now but miss my Leon, it was a cracking car.


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Have you been able to try and recover the cars or got no chance?

So what have you got at the moment? Karoq Sportline? What engine, gearbox?

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Goggles76

Active Member
Oct 1, 2016
27
1
Have you been able to try and recover the cars or got no chance?

So what have you got at the moment? Karoq Sportline? What engine, gearbox?

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It happened end of last year, heard nothing. The insurance paid out straight away so I guess they had little hope of either being found. I've got a Karoq 2.0tdi manual 4x4 sportline in grey. It looks great and drives well; not as great as my Leon though.


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LouG

Active Member
Dec 1, 2017
1,319
481
Nelson, New Zealand
Out of interest why go back to normal mode when you have friends in the car if you normally use Eco mode?

For me Eco mode uses around 3-4 mpg more fuel over a 150 mile A road journey as it uses fuel when going down hill to keep the engine running whereas in normal mode no fuel is needed to keep it running..
You are talking about a miniscule amount of fuel, unless you have incredibly long hills. As in half an hour long.
 

G.P

Active Member
Sep 3, 2011
1,241
38
Worcestershire
You are talking about a miniscule amount of fuel, unless you have incredibly long hills. As in half an hour long.

True, but over the same 150 mile journey in the same direction, of which around 60 miles are motorway & dual carriage way with the rest been A roads in Eco mode I get approx. 2-3 mpg less than in normal mode..
 
Jun 18, 2019
2
0
My wife has a Leon FR with the 130 bhp 1.5 and it is fine, smooth engine with reasonable performance. It's not as good as the 1.4 125 bhp we had before though

Hi, would you in short describe the difference between 1.4 125 bhp and 1.5 130 bhp? How is more powered engine not as good as less powered engine. I was settled to go for 1.5 130 bhp but now I'm all confused. Thanks
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
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Hi, would you in short describe the difference between 1.4 125 bhp and 1.5 130 bhp? How is more powered engine not as good as less powered engine. I was settled to go for 1.5 130 bhp but now I'm all confused. Thanks

With the impact of WLTP, there may be more emphasis on fuel economy improvements / emission reductions than performance by VW with the 1.5 EVO 130 ps engine compared to the 1.4 125 ps engine. If so, VW might be using transmission units with longer gear ratios to help achieve this, that require owners to hold on to the lower gears for longer in order to achieve similar performance to the 1.4 unit.
 
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BigJase88

Jase
Apr 20, 2008
3,767
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With the impact of WLTP, there may be more emphasis on fuel economy improvements / emission reductions than performance by VW with the 1.5 EVO 130 ps engine compared to the 1.4 125 ps engine. If so, VW might be using transmission units with longer gear ratios to help achieve this, that require owners to hold on to the lower gears for longer in order to achieve similar performance to the 1.4 unit.

I would agree with this the gearbox has very long ratio’s on it.

You can rev the engine but its pointless, take it to the redline and change gears it drops out of the sweet spot anyways. Also does this strange lurching thing when you change gear at speed. Its not a fun engine by any stretch of the imagination

So i just drive it like a grandad. No point in revving it because its not fun at all.

1.5 tsi 130 evo
 
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Goggles76

Active Member
Oct 1, 2016
27
1
Hi, would you in short describe the difference between 1.4 125 bhp and 1.5 130 bhp? How is more powered engine not as good as less powered engine. I was settled to go for 1.5 130 bhp but now I'm all confused. Thanks

It's a good engine, very smooth and performance sound for a 130 bhp car. The previous 1.4, in my opinion, just felt more lively and responsive plus had a better engine sound. Don't get me wrong, the 1.5 in the Leon feels good and I love driving the car, it just isn't as responsive as the 1.4, but that is probably because of WLTP emissions changes.


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