[jblackburn]

Hey, you bought my car!

Welcome to the 1LT MT club...they seem to be few in number...and mine was pretty hard to find

Peak torque is available at 1,850 rpm which is good and turbo lag seems minimal to the point of invisible, but I don't beat on cars so I may not feel it like someone else.

2500 on the manual (auto is 1850). You feel the engine really wake up around 2000 RPM, and start to pull hard by 2200. They're spunky little fellas, but keeping the RPMs below that magic 2000-2200 number will keep your MPGs up.

If you have seen the threads here on the copper spark plugs or checking/resetting your gap to at least .028"-.030", that will make low-RPM drivability on the 1.4 much, much better.

For the record...you wouldn't be the first I've seen to be fed up with an older VW, TDI or not.

 

[jblackburn]

I thought the same after all this time driving VW diesels but that's why I made a point of saying it compared favorably with the TDI's. I'd recommend anyone with a diesel drive the 1.4 gas turbo with an open mind. I knew I was buying the car so I didn't beat on it (there were no others on the lot to beat on, haha) so I don't know if it pulls to redline like a diesel but what I felt in normal driving was very good for a gas turbo car.

It's a good manual transmission option, I can't speak to what it's like with an automatic, I didn't bother to drive one because I knew I'd never buy one.

Having driven both...the manual trans makes the little engine feel SO much more spunky.

 

[jblackburn]

Yoko Envigors

I really, really like those tires - had a set on my old car and that was the best it ever handled - stuck to the road like it was on rails. But the tread life is just atrocious.

 

[jblackburn]

Thanks. How/what are the factory plugs? AC Delcos? Coppers? It's been so long since I had to mess with plugs, I hardly know what's out there. I run NGK's in my aircooled VW's and anything else that needs plugs, Bosch stuff has gone to Hades since it's not made in the EU any more.

They're AC Delco (NGK) Iridium. They seem to not do well at handling heat in the turbocharged engines and can cause pre-ignition at low RPMs that make the car feel like it's falling on its face at times. Add to the table that most 2011-2013 models came from the factory with plug gaps all over the place.

A lot of us have switched to NGK Copper plugs (same heat range) or Iridium (colder by 1 heat range) with great results in drivability. There are several threads in the 1.4T technical discussion section.

 

[jblackburn]

Really? That's odd. I installed a set on a Volvo wagon some years back that has been through three owners and ended up next door to me. Still has the same Envigors and they got the guy through the winter from h*** this year. they don't appear to be worn hardly at all. Aren't there different speed ratings on those? Maybe that's the difference.

Haha, mine were V-rated on a Volvo S70. Granted, I drove that car pretty hard...and 30K miles in a year, but I don't think I got more than 25-30K out of a set of em. Reviews from Tire Rack all said that's about the expected lifetime as well.

And I'm surprised he got through snow with them. Those were absolutely useless in snow, especially compared to the Conti DWS's I had on there...also one I was very impressed with.