[Trejster]

Afternoon all, i've got a dilemma which im hoping you can help me with. I'm undecided whether to go for the 1.0 SE or the 1.4 SE petrol (on PCH). The 1.0 is more within our price range, the 1.4 is over budget at £42 a month extra.

If we were to go for the 1.0 my only concern is that it may be underpowered when fully loaded (2 adults, 2 babies and a full boot).

Has anyone else bought the 1.0 tsi SE as a family car? What's it like when loaded up on the motorway?

 

[Fred99]

What constitutes adequate performance will depend on what the user expects, so it is a personal opinion. If you ask existing owners you will always get a biased opinion. Looking at the many road tests that have been done over the last few months, the general opinion seems to be that it's a surprisingly good engine for a decent sized SUV but it will struggle with a full load at higher speeds.

The 1.4 is one of the best small turbo engines available from any manufacturer and across Europe it is now the most popular option, there has to be a reason for that. It's certainly worth the extra cost.

Yes my opinion is biased as I have a 1.4 on order, but I have been driving a Leon for the last three years with the 1.4 engine.

 

[Belluszyra]

Would you be able to get a test drive with 5 adults in the car and some luggage. We didn't try the 1.0l but we did get to drive the car with luggage and 5 people over the Pennines.

 

[Dougie]

Surely, if it wasn't any good they wouldn't put it in the car?

 

[Magpie86]

I may be biased, but I don't think you will have any issue with the 1.0. With me, my wife, two kids and heavy toddler seats in back it hasn't struggled around town or felt slow at all. I will be making a five day tour of the country in 2 weeks with the family and a decent amount of luggage so I can test fully loaded on motorway, but I don't foresee any problems. As long as you are realistic in what you expect to happen when you put your foot down in 6th cruising at 65 mph pulling in to faster moving traffic. Just leave yourself space to overtake, or drop some gears. In general the car needs to be in second round town for anything below 15 mph, you won't be able to get away with staying in 3rd if you lose momentum and drop to that sort of speed, not without some downhill assistance! But the gear change is easy and slick so is no chore to keep changing gears at lower speeds, and as soon as you get to 20 mph 3rd and 4th is fine.

 

[Ghiggz]

Different engine/car I know, but my mate has a grand cmax 1.0t ecoboost, and he has three kids, and he says its fine when loaded up and on mways..
they recently went to France with the three kids, a full boot and a roof box..
as magpie said above, there's a bit of lag when overtaking if you put your foot down at 65-70+ but other than that he has no issues with it...

 

[Trejster]

Cheers for the replies. That's helped me decide to go for the 1.0!

 

[markyoxon]

Hi
We've a 1.4 auto golf which is fab to drive. The engine is great and more powerful than a golf gti I had a little while back. I'd have ordered this set up for ateca had it been option (amazed it's not) so have gone for diesel on 3 year lease. Who knows when I'll see it!
Cheers, Mark