VW 1.8 TSI Owners, Questions

[Delta]

As much as I love my Jetta with the 2.5 5 banger, I'm getting the new car itch in the next couple months. New Golf's are going for stupid low prices. Never have owned a turbo car in my life, so I do have a couple questions to owners with this motor.

-Turbo lag; is this still a thing now adays? Is the powerband consistent, or is there a moment of "oh, there is is!"?

-Low and midrange torque, is there any, or does it hit at higher RPM's? While the 5 banger I have now is considered a "dog" the low end and midrange torque of the old girl has spoiled me. Passing on the highway without dropping a gear, or rolling up the 10% grade mountain in 5th.

-Fuel. I assume it will run all day long on 87, but have anybody experienced any problems running it? Having to run premium would be a no bueno situation for me.

-For the 5 speed manual owners, how do you like the gearbox? I know on my MKV it can be kind of sloppy or clunky if you don't do it just right. I assume they are pretty alike.

This is all that I can think of at the moment, if anybody has any other thoughts, feel free. I know it's one of those you're going to have to drive it to see yourself, but trying to do a little before hand research.

 

[KrisZ]

I would like to hear some first hand experience as a 1.8 TSI VW my be in my future as well.
From what I read the 1.8 is tuned pretty much similar to the 2.5, for low and mid range torque, but can deliver much higher fuel economy.

 

[skyactiv]

Test drive one.

VAG has turbo lag in very good control. The feel of direct injected turbocharged VW engines in general are better than the competition.
If you look at the torque curve on the 1.8, it hits 184 pounds of torque at 1500 RPM's and it maintains it to 4750 RPM's. So the car will be a joy to drive.
The turbocharged engine in my GTI is awesome. 10X better than the WRX I had that while faster, but a dog until you hit 3000 RPM's.
Don't listen to Nick1994. He comes into every VW post on here bashing the auto maker.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Don't listen to Nick1994. He comes into every VW post on here bashing the auto maker.


Lol, well if I'm getting another car to replace the Jetta, it's going to be another VW. The way it drives is far better than what is out there. The Camry just feels numb, but the Jetta I can throw around the corners up the mountain like nothing.

I do agree I need to drive one; it is a little difficult to find the manual. Pretty much have to travel at minimum 1.5hrs to find one.

 

[RooflessVW]

Turbo lag is non-existent... If you experience turbo lag in a VW, you are below boost threshold and not driving the car properly. IE, lugging the engine.

The EA888 has ALL the torque off idle. As stated above, it all comes on at 1500 RPMs. An out of the box Unitronic or APR tune adds SIGNIFICANT power and torque, boosting the 1.8 above the GTI and the GTI into .:R territory.

The 5 speed manual is the same transmission. Expect a mild improvement; it's a brand new car.

 

[gregk24]

It will be a nice upgrade from the 2.5, more punch and better fuel economy. VW has the turbo lag well controlled and power comes on pretty early as peak torque comes in at just 1500 rpm. For me the power seems to fade away after 4000 rpm so there is no need to rev this engine out. There is no need to run premium fuel either, it is tuned for 87 octane and runs well on it. I can not comment on the 5 speed as far as how it drives, but I have heard too many stories of owners having issues with them for me to feel comfortable buying one with the manual. I will add, there seem to be very few widespread issues with the ea888 1.8T so far. The most common issue I see over at VW Vortex are those with rear main seal leaks, some say the root cause is the PCV system. A few also have fuel rail issues but I believe that is covered under recall and it probably a non issue on new models. Overall it feels like a very premium engine especially in the segments VW uses it in.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Turbo lag is non-existent... If you experience turbo lag in a VW, you are below boost threshold and not driving the car properly. IE, lugging the engine.

But turbo engines are touted as having gobs of low end torque, so a lot of people will keep the rpms down. Not everyone wants to stay close to red line in a daily driver.

I test drove a 2015 GTI manual, and the lag was quite apparent when compared to an NA engine. I'm taking about flooring it at say 2500 rpm. Honestly, it was a deal breaker for me, after having spent the last 10 years driving an NA engine. If I were to ever get a GTI, it would have to be a DSG as the auto trans programming is able to mask most of this lag.

Also had a 2017 Q3 2.0T loaner last week while the Q5 was in for some warranty work. Great handling car, but the engine was underwhelming. Takes time to get up and go, and runs out of steam quickly.

 

[Delta]

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys! Sent an email inquiry to the local dealer with what I'm looking at exactly. Rather buy local, but if they can't pull through then it's roadtrip time.

 

[dareo]

Do not test drive the new Golfs. You will end up spending your money on a new car. 14 months later i'm still glad i bought my golf wagon but it still costs money. If your cool with parting with said money, go check them out.

They don't lag. I have of problems with traction control in 1st gear, even with upgraded tires because it builds power so fast and so strong. It makes excellent output or cruises at very good MPG, your left foot decides.

The 5 speed box is fine, not as nice as our Honda but its good enough.

Get a wagon, you never know what you might need to stuff in there on the way home. One day i found all these giant 8 foot wide rugs on clearance, didn't have my truck. Had to buy them, and they fit in the wagon, all three of them.

 

[HemiHawk]

I haven't found much turbo lag. As others have mentioned, the torque comes on very low in the rev range. I find myself never needing to go above 3k RPM (at first I was trying not to for break in, turns out i rarely need to). I came from a 285hp turbo car, that needed some more revs to get going.

The car overall has been terrific. Can't speak to longevity as I've only driven it for about 400 miles now.

I have the wagen 4motion version with the DSG, so I also cant speak to the 5-speed. It looks like you may be in PA also. Depending on how much you want to spend, try out the wagen 4motion version. Through the snow we got last week the all wheel drive seemed to do a great job. The only issue may be finding a manual 4motion wagen, not sure they've arrived yet.

I've done some reading on the regular vs premium fuel for this car. I believe they've tuned it for 87. Thats what they say to run, and VW in the past has had no issue telling people to run premium if the engine required it. My first fillup my hand calculated average was 25.5mpg. Not terrible considering traffic and new engine. Also the 4motion is rated lower for MPGs over the FWD version.

 

[Delta]

I really like the wagon, but I'm actually looking to downsize a little bit. The Sportwagen is about the same length as the Jetta, so it would fit in the garage. The regular Golf is about 11" shorter. Who knows, it all depends on what I find and who is going to make the best deal. AWD is tempting living up here in the mountains, was planning on going for some snow tires on the regular Golf. Glad to see everybody likes the platform!

 

[dareo]

I just had another thought. The Donald wants to tax imported stuff. These are made in Puebla Mexico using world class engineering and dirt cheap labor. That, and dieselgate, is why you can get such a screaming deal right now. If our emperor does pass border tariffs then the Golf will be affected.

Also, snow tires on the FWD is good enough for Utah winters. AWD would be nice of course but i get by better than most with just X-ICE 3 tires.

 

[Tom777]

I own a 2014 Passat 1.8 TSI with gen 2 09G auto transmission. Rear main seal starts seeping oil now at 23k and dealer did a software update to fix it i honestly dont know how thats going to fix it. The 6 spd transmission is jerky during low speed or below 45F. Along with future RMS replacement waiting ahead there will be a carbon build up issue sooner or later depending on gas, oil and driving habit. As far as I know 09G and DSG (getting stable now when servicing it up according to schedule) have much good words on these two auto trans on reliability wise. The gen 2 09G is not very impressive in comparison to my previously owned 11 Tiguan (had to trade it in due to f#&@ing stupid timming chain starts rattling). Miss my Tiguan so much. I drove a 16 Jetta s loaner the other day when they have my passat in for tcm and ecm update. Maybe because the Jetta is the lowest trim, the interior its a plastic wonderland, shifting is also jerky since it has the same 09G I have in my passat and very noisy after getting up to highway speed. Test drive one to see if you like it.

 

[splinter]

Got one today.

Remarkably smooth and torquey, plenty of pep and handles quite nicely.

 

[edyvw]

Expect small turbo lag. While torque is at 1,500rpms there is a bit of turbo lag. Turbo lag is present in far more complex turbo engines, but on other hand, trust me, it is NOT an issue.
Torque is going to be available at much lower rpms and there is rush of torque.
While you are looking to downsize, consider Wagon with 4Motion. It drives same, it is more practical and has AWD.

 

[dareo]

I have a 5 speed sportwagen 1.8. Its pretty awesome. Stock, the turbo lag was virtually nothing. Previous VW was a 1.9 TDI diesel and that was much laggier and slower. 1.8 TSI hits great torque down low easily, runs great in all weather, heats up fast in the winter, great MPG, all that. The 5 speed gear box isn't great, shift quality is mediocre, seems a few people have blown it up in the mid 300hp range, but it does give very fuel efficient ratios. For a gas miser user its perfect. Outside of subjective style points, no reason to not get the wagon, its not much heavier, still handles good, and that space is so nice.

I did upgrade to a GTI turbo and a tune so i do see a bit more turbo lag than the stock charger. Mine is also just FWD and with the current higher power level traction is a serious concern for launches or hard driving at slower speeds. I wish i had an AWD model just for putting power down and the 6 speed gear box, but its not worth me selling my car for not a lot of money and upgrading.