RS DSG - Diesel or Petrol

[K1W1]

Fuel economy wise I average between 7l/100km to 7.5l/100km and that's in Melbourne's peak hour - eastern suburbs to Richmond and back again. I’m not gentle with the throttle either.

I'm 6.5L/100Km over 36k in a manual in similar driving conditions.

[Transporter]

Family member has MY11 RS TSI DSG (not modified), done almost 10,000km now, and in the Adelaide's city traffic can't get better fuel economy than 9.2L/100km, he gets 8.0L/100km on long distance trips.

[Vas]

I've driven rs tdi wagon when my petrol rs was serviced. To be honest, I like diesels, but still my petrol rs seems smoother. Here's what I noticed: in TDi the DSG engine brakes- it's quite apparent when driving downhill, in the petrol it doesn't. Also the 1st gear seems shorter in tdi- it took a while for me to get used to it and take off without wheelspin. Overall, petrol is not only quicker, but also smoother when driving sensibly .

[Gnat]

TSI - 6sp Manual 11,000km
Perth traffic (yeh yeh ... nothing like Sydney traffic lol ) ~30km / 35mins freeway and backstreet to CBD and back each day. General suburban weekend driving;
To Date average - 7.3L/100
Freeway at ~100kmh - ~5.5L/100 (Bloody awesome)
Freeway at ~110kmh - ~7.3L/100
Green light and first 200 meters ~2354324534L/100

Edit, thought total average was 6.6 .... must have been a recent trip
Edit2, I should add, I dont spare the horses when I can go from zero to the speed limit ..... so I really like those numbers

[dazag]

I've never been one for owning a diesel, and after test driving just about ever variant of the Skoda's , I made sure I drove the RS TDI & TSI back to back as this was what it came down to for my purchase. The TSI was more "fun" to drive. The engine response was quicker, it sounded damn nice, and being a manual it felt like you were really driving it. Had a big grin on my face after getting out of it. Of note this car was an ex Tour Down Under support vehicle and had 13,000km on it so the motor was a bit free'er then the normal demo cars.
The diesel was a DSG and basically brand new ( only had about 80km on it) . It has some turbo lag when leaving the lights or as you come out of a round about or slow corner. If you slip the DSG into sports mode or manual mode then there is next to no lag and is a heap of fun. I dont think i would have the diesel in a manual as you would be changing gears a fair bit due to the short rev range, but some people like changing gears a lot.....
In the end i really liked both cars, but what sold me was the torque/towing capability and the fuel economy of the Diesel, and the fact that it didn't really sound like a typical diesel engine ( the typical diesel rattle ). Since now owning the RS TDI with DSG for almost 2 years ( 2nd b'day in late Sept ) and a little over 32,000km, I rate it. I can't compare to a RS TSI, but for what i bought it for it's been brilliant. With a fully loaded trailer & car it still pulled like I had nothing behind it, and the fuel economy went from 6l/100km to around 7.5l/100km which I thought was brilliant as i was expecting it to be above 8.5L/100km.
When i normally drive it and I'm just cruising I'll leave it in the auto, but when i visit my sister on the central coast there is a whole bunch of round-a-bouts that I have to go through, I slip the DSG into manual and use the paddles and have some serious fun punching out of them, 3rd gear is ideal - no lag and it just pulls!! with little effect on economy.

Seriously I dont think you will upset with either version of the RS, it will just depend if you can put up with a little turbo lag in the diesel, or if you dont mind slightly less economy in the TSI, or if you plan to tow with your car, or you like to "tweak" your cars?? I think you can answer this better then any of us........

I'll be looking at fitting a APR Cold Air Induction system ( which should get rid of the lag i've been told ) and an ECU upgrade ( for even more fun and embarassing "bigger" cars ) and an Anti Lift kit to get the power to the ground ( Spellbound, have you fitted one of these kits to your car if you're punching those numbers from your car or you enjoying the traction control light coming on a hell of a lot ?? )

[woofy]

I believe that the new DPFs are more reliable. Most of the time it was inexpensive differential pressure sensor for the DPF that failed in them (costs less than$100) and that part was also upgraded, so everything from 2010 production should be OK. I didn't here DPF light on the dash for some time in our forum. Put it that way, we have the DPF in 2 our cars and I'm not concerned about them, I plan to keep the Touareg for a long time and the manual says "check the DPF loading at 180,000km".

I was thinking more about regenerating the DPF, I don't know how or when it happens with VAG cars but have seen issues where short trips kill them. Most cars burn off after doing over 80km/hr for a while. I do hat or work often enough but my wife doesn't so when the car becomes hers it could be an issue.

[woofy]

I'm 6.5L/100Km over 36k in a manual in similar driving conditions.

I live right near Blackburn and drive to hawthorn, and get around 9-10, drops to 8 if I do some highway work. But I find it's my right foot, if I drive a bit less like a race it drops down quickly, but where is the fun in that.

[Transporter]

I was thinking more about regenerating the DPF, I don't know how or when it happens with VAG cars but have seen issues where short trips kill them. Most cars burn off after doing over 80km/hr for a while. I do hat or work often enough but my wife doesn't so when the car becomes hers it could be an issue.

No problems with regeneration in Touareg which done now around 50000km most of which is city driving. Tiguan done less than 10,000 and only short trips (15km) to work and back, or to shops that are even shorter.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Slick]

Wow! I can't believe how many replies I've had within 12 hours of posting. Obviously some passionate RS drivers.

Thanks for all your responses. I'd say I'm leaning to the petrol, but will consider a diesel if I find one at the right price with the right options.

[BlackSuperb]

I've had a 125 TDI for two years and 55,000 km and have been getting 6.55/100 over the life of the vehicle. Never had that diesel exhaust smell that the old diesel engines had. No problems at all in fact.

True it changes through the small gears quickly so you would need to be quick if you have a manual but you rarely have to change out of the top gears once going. The torque will handle any acceleration you might need.

Biggest pain in the bum is filling the car up with fuel. Generally service stations have two diesel nozzles maximum and one of them may be a high flow one. Almost always there will be some dude using the petrol nozzle next the diesel one and you will have to wait for them to finish their shopping in the shop before you can start to fill your tank. If you pull up to the high flow nozzle, it will take you half an hour to fill your tank up because there will be a truck filling their tank. Then when you use the high flow nozzle, it will still take you half another half an hour because the fuel will foam up and click off the trigger. Grrrr.

The good part about it though is that you get at least 1000km from one tank, so you don't need to fill it up often.