GT Diesel or GT Petrol ???

[Zebby]

Hi all,

new on here, but looking to join the VW family. I am in the market for a car, downsizing from a larger car for obvious reasons. This site is fantastic, and very informative.

I have sort of decided on the GT Golf DSG, but unsure which, petrol or diesel. Was very much looking at diesel, but with the explosion in price and worse to come it seems, not so sure now. Am leaning towards the petrol now.

Views would be very much be appreciated.

Thanking all.

Ps : do petrol only take 98Ron, or is 95Ron ok to use?

[DAN682]

I own the GT Sport TSI, it only takes 98 and I love it.
I am glad I got the petrol now, it gets brilliant fuel economy and has a very revvy effortless motor.

Take them both for a drive and see what you think, but with either of them you will be as happy as a pig in poo!

Dan

[GTom]

I own the GT Sport TSI, it only takes 98 and I love it.

Dan

I thought it could take 95 but it wasn't recommended and lost some power....

[gregozedobe]

Don't forget to get prices for comprehensive insurance before you choose, as some people are paying rather a lot to insure their TSIs (the thought of both a supercharger AND a turbocharger seems to send some insurance companies into a tizz ! ). Definitely drive both, and look at the total cost of ownership, including servicing and depreciation.

[DAN682]

I thought it could take 95 but it wasn't recommended and lost some power....

Maybe that is the case, but the sticker on the Petrol flap says 98 only, specs says 98 and the manual says 98

Don't forget to get prices for comprehensive insurance before you choose, as some people are paying rather a lot to insure their TSIs (the thought of both a supercharger AND a turbocharger seems to send some insurance companies into a tizz ! ). Definitely drive both, and look at the total cost of ownership, including servicing and depreciation.

Good point! Before I even consider a car, I get a quote. Insurance companies are happy to do it and it saves heart ache once you sign the Offer to Purchase!

In saying what I am in WA, I went with RAC, I am 25 and it cost me $657. If I recall VW's Allianz cover was double that and I really couldn't see much of a difference except between the policies.

[mrx]

Maybe that is the case, but the sticker on the Petrol flap says 98 only, specs says 98 and the manual says 98.

Interestingly, my Golf GTI states 98 with a little tiny 95 in brackets in side the fuel flap, where as the Skoda Octavia RS, with the exact same engine and ECU makes no mention of 98 at all and just says 95 min.

As stated above you could put 95 in it and the knock sensors will retard the timing to protect the engine, but in doing so you will be robbing yourself of maximum performance. I always use 98, I didn't buy the performance variant to go slow!

[OPVW]

As someone who gets to drive all of our cars a fair bit....except the R50 in our showroom...DAMMIT! I've got a list of favourites based on all sorts of things. Topping the list....the GT-Sport TSI with DSG gearbox.
Performance
Economy
Handling
Value of Money
Comfort

It's got good marks in all categories. I'd not worry about the TDI model myself..why?...you're pretty damn close to GTI pricing so you may as well buy one of them. The economy advantage of the TDI over the TSI is only small and with the added price of the vehicle it would take a fair bit of driving to make up the difference. Finally...the TSI is simply a better drive...smooth, quiet, revvy, fun...I love them!

[DAN682]

Interestingly, my Golf GTI states 98 with a little tiny 95 in brackets in side the fuel flap, where as the Skoda Octavia RS, with the exact same engine and ECU makes no mention of 98 at all and just says 95 min.

As stated above you could put 95 in it and the knock sensors will retard the timing to protect the engine, but in doing so you will be robbing yourself of maximum performance. I always use 98, I didn't buy the performance variant to go slow!

I am going to have a closer look when I finally get home from being in Queensland for the past week.

[ozgriff]

It will come down to kms driven and driving style for the difference in petrol.

95 would see ignition retarded, especially at higher revs. Engine pinging or knocking is something you definitely want to avoid... so go with the recommended octane fuel. If the Octavia was mine, 98 it would be.

Both engines can live on a starved fuel, they always have 'bad batch of fuel' parameters placed in, for when that 98 isn't quite right. In saying that, I wouldn't make 95 the car's diet.

[GTom]

Maybe that is the case, but the sticker on the Petrol flap says 98 only, specs says 98 and the manual says 98



Good point! Before I even consider a car, I get a quote. Insurance companies are happy to do it and it saves heart ache once you sign the Offer to Purchase!

In saying what I am in WA, I went with RAC, I am 25 and it cost me $657. If I recall VW's Allianz cover was double that and I really couldn't see much of a difference except between the policies.

I will be going with NRMA Insurance. Got around 3 or 4 online quotes and you wouldn't believe how much they vary!

22 year old NRMA - 920-970
ALLIANZ - Didnt want to quote over the net
Just Cars - 2400
AAMI - 2500 (More then Just cars!)

NRMA also reduce the premiums if the vehicles comes with Stability Control as STANDARD... if it's an Option they won't discount (Which isn't a prob with golfs as i think all Golf Specs now come with it standard)

[jb747]

I wouldn't take this a gospel, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that the only reason for the 98 is that there is a slight emissions reduction using it, versus 95.

[OzDJ]

I have sort of decided on the GT Golf DSG, but unsure which, petrol or diesel. Was very much looking at diesel, but with the explosion in price and worse to come it seems, not so sure now. Am leaning towards the petrol now. Views would be very much be appreciated.

Test drove both the diesel and the petrol. We went petrol (TSI).

The diesel torque was fun, but just felt less refined than the TSI - which is super-smooth smooth from "whoa to OMG!". The ULP vs diesel debate is far murkier now that diesel is pushing $1.80/l and higher.

Ps : do petrol only take 98Ron, or is 95Ron ok to use?

98RON is specified by VW. 95RON will work, but the knock sensors will retard the rev range to limit pinging/damage. Of course, the performance will also decrease.

DJ

[OPVW]

agreed on the 95 vs 98 in the TSI

I got stuck on a trip back up from down south the GT and HAD to put 95 in.. car was noticeably less fun!

[STV4SYT]

Comes down to which u prefer to drive. I test drove both TSI and TDI in DSG format, the TSI was a compeltley different car, more eager to get going, and i felt harder to keep license in. i went diesel as im a diesel boy at heart, been driving them since i got my license 15 years ago and actually prefer them over petrol and wasnt sure about the reliability of 2 chargers on a smaller engine.

For me the choice came down to TDI or GTI really, and i actually prefered the look of the GT and in the spec i got was about $2k less than GTI, considering i had already gone $11k over budget i had stretched to my absolute limit.

On that note, today i have finally paid off the last of the car in full. i did a bit of 0% CC Transfer to get the last couple of g's and it expires on the 1st...

Yay, time to start saving for a bike now....

[GTom]

Comes down to which u prefer to drive. I test drove both TSI and TDI in DSG format, the TSI was a compeltley different car, more eager to get going, and i felt harder to keep license in. i went diesel as im a diesel boy at heart, been driving them since i got my license 15 years ago and actually prefer them over petrol and wasnt sure about the reliability of 2 chargers on a smaller engine.

For me the choice came down to TDI or GTI really, and i actually prefered the look of the GT and in the spec i got was about $2k less than GTI, considering i had already gone $11k over budget i had stretched to my absolute limit.

On that note, today i have finally paid off the last of the car in full. i did a bit of 0% CC Transfer to get the last couple of g's and it expires on the 1st...

Yay, time to start saving for a bike now....

HA BUDGET, never works when buying a car! I was going for a Comfortline 2.0 TDI at most...... I ended up getting the TSI with a few Options, Just too damn good of a drive!