Discussion
Was on hols in Spain recently and got "lumped" with a new Leon hire car on arrival, a whopping 1.2 TSI (phoar), and I'm thinking good grief here we go.. memories of various dangerous, dodgy hire cars past.. but..
After a couple of weeks with it, I can't believe this car, it's utterly brilliant! The engine just cannot be a 1.2 !? It's got so much, dare I say it, grunt?! Four up, luggage, the thing whizzes up hills, overtakes with aplomb, returned just under 40 mpg on some very hilly areas too (being spanked like the hire car it is). Inside it's very, very comfortable and has a huge amount of gadgets and leccy bits.
Seems like a massive winner to me, and has me wondering about a number of much higher priced cars I've been driving recently.. Think the one I was driving was about £16k.
Not exactly PH worthy news but I was well impressed with it.
After a couple of weeks with it, I can't believe this car, it's utterly brilliant! The engine just cannot be a 1.2 !? It's got so much, dare I say it, grunt?! Four up, luggage, the thing whizzes up hills, overtakes with aplomb, returned just under 40 mpg on some very hilly areas too (being spanked like the hire car it is). Inside it's very, very comfortable and has a huge amount of gadgets and leccy bits.
Seems like a massive winner to me, and has me wondering about a number of much higher priced cars I've been driving recently.. Think the one I was driving was about £16k.
Not exactly PH worthy news but I was well impressed with it.
AndyT77 said:
Codswallop said:
I really like the looks of the new Leon. Very smart design for a family hatchback 
I really like the look of it too, but having not seen any interior pics i hope they've improved it over the last model.Interior seems to be Golf 7 - 10-20%. Shame really since with the right bits of rubberized plastic and built by someone other than VAG, it'd have a fair amount of potential.
nickfrog said:
With a turbo and a compressor it was never going to be your average 1.2 65ps engine...
The same way as next year's 1.6T engines in F1 shouldn't struggle to match the performance of the current n/a 2.4...
It hasnt got a supercharger , Anywa i think that s what you mean by compressor?The same way as next year's 1.6T engines in F1 shouldn't struggle to match the performance of the current n/a 2.4...
Edited by nickfrog on Monday 1st April 03:17
I've got a 2012 Leon. I've seen the new one and certain aspects have improved.
But, they've done away with the funky rear door hidden "handles" and they've lost the little rev counter in the middle of the dash, both of which I really like.
As a car, I can't speak highly enough of it. I've got the wheezebox, 1.6TDi Ecomotive. 105bhp, sub 100 co2, no road tax, no congestion charge and an average of 60mph. It does everything it says on the tin very capably.
And the built in satnav with autozoom feature is the best I've ever used in any car. Certainly miles better than the Porsche Panamera satnav that I was in the other day.
But, they've done away with the funky rear door hidden "handles" and they've lost the little rev counter in the middle of the dash, both of which I really like.
As a car, I can't speak highly enough of it. I've got the wheezebox, 1.6TDi Ecomotive. 105bhp, sub 100 co2, no road tax, no congestion charge and an average of 60mph. It does everything it says on the tin very capably.
And the built in satnav with autozoom feature is the best I've ever used in any car. Certainly miles better than the Porsche Panamera satnav that I was in the other day.
ED209 said:
nickfrog said:
With a turbo and a compressor it was never going to be your average 1.2 65ps engine...
The same way as next year's 1.6T engines in F1 shouldn't struggle to match the performance of the current n/a 2.4...
It hasnt got a supercharger , Anywa i think that s what you mean by compressor?The same way as next year's 1.6T engines in F1 shouldn't struggle to match the performance of the current n/a 2.4...
Edited by nickfrog on Monday 1st April 03:17
ED209 said:
It hasnt got a supercharger , Anywa i think that s what you mean by compressor?
Supercharging is actually the generic term for forced induction. Ie you are shoving more charge ( fuel air mix ) than would normally fit into the cylinder. Hence you are super charging. The term applies to belt driven (what is oft referred to as a super charger because that's the way it used to be done with big air craft engines) and newer turbine (turbo) driven air compressors. I have the same 1.2TSi engine in my Ibiza, with the 7-speed DSG. Considering it is only rated to 105PS, it really surprises me sometimes with its turn of speed, especially keeping it in the peak torque range 2-4k revs.
Reading other forums, some have had theirs on a rolling road and they are producing up to 115bhp from the factory. Not bad for such a small displacement.
Reading other forums, some have had theirs on a rolling road and they are producing up to 115bhp from the factory. Not bad for such a small displacement.
How good is the reliability on these new little engines? Presumably they're running a much higher boost pressure than older engines and have a bit more electrickery all over them? Power and fuel economy on some of them sounds almost too good to be true.
SrMoreno said:
Ah hire cars. Every summer I fall in love, and yet every summer I leave them behind. I know that it just wouldn't be the same back home and away from the romance of the holiday.
My favorite wasn't even on holiday, a 1.2 Corsa on Otterburn ranges...ie tracks identical to the Kielder Forest rally stages the other side of the main road. Poor thing didn't look it's best when I handed it back a week later real4star said:
Anyone tried the 3cyl Ford Focus yet?
Yep, got one.Got the lower output version (100bhp) and it's a cracking car. Comparable with the old 1.6 unit in terms of speed and acceleration but better mpg (although nowhere near official figures (a common complaint) but it's got less than a 1000 miles on it so should improve).
Quite highly geared so it's actually quite refined at motorway speed (only 2750rpm @ 70 mph) and it even makes a decent noise!
Mine lives in the city which is why I went for the smaller bhp model but if you do regular motorway/dual carriageway work then the 6sp 125bhp would be a better bet.
Love mine!!
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