Look what happened when the "amazing" common-rail diesels came out to triumphant fanfares - with the DMF/DPF, etc, etc problems, they're not exactly the great innovation they were touted to be.

I think CR diesels are amazing. DPF was driven by emissions legislation, it wasn't the manufacturers' choice to fit them. Nevertheless, the only people that have problems with them are the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses who buy an engine that's grossly oversized for their driving style.

DMF failure is a bit of a puzzle. It's really just an extension of the torsion spring assembly that you see in most clutches. Most people have never heard of the torsion springs-because they don't give trouble. A correctly chosen DMF should not fail. I would expect DMF problems to be ironed out fairly quickly-if they haven't already.

I think the 1.2 TSI may well turn out to be a very nice little engine well suited to a pokey urban runabout. It won't be troubling CR diesels on the motorway though.

I don't think it helped that many car buyers were duped into buying cars that were not suited to their usage patterns, e.g. diesels or high-performance cars (Mazda RX-8 being the obvious example) for short journeys, which then break down because of such issues.

I've found that quite often a medium-large sized car such as the Octavia would be better suited to a larger engine for out-of-town driving, as the famed "extra mpg" of the new small-sized TSIs just doesn't materialise because you have to thrash them to get them going.

Same applies to the "eco-X" cars - they're so underpowered that you have to cane them just to make progress under ordinary driving conditions: not 67mpg combined, more like 50mpg max. Don't forget that a larger engine that doesn't have to be stressed as much (not laboured though) will almost certainly last longer than a small engine that does. All the extra mpg £savings (not as much as is stated though) is eaten up by having to replace parts or the car itself at an earlier stage, and I'd rather have a car that makes smooth progress than one where I feel like I'm having to race it.

I think that's a huge sweeping generalisation. I am no VAG fan but I have driven dozens (literally) of TFSI engined cars in the last year or so - hire fleets are full of them all over Europe. I am always startled at how good the 1.2 105bhp (especially) is and how well it powers a Golf. Far from being thirsty and having to be thrashed they go exceedingly well and seem to return between 6 and 7 per 100km fuel economy (guess that's around 45mpg) in most conditions. Very refined too though Skodas seem to have a kettle-like whistle that you can't hear in VW and Audi installations - guess that's saving money on sound deadening.

The 1.4 125bhp is also great but I have limited experience in a couple of Audis only.

I've lots of experience of the TwinAir FIAT engine too in a 500C and get 50mpg without trying, nearer 60mpg if I try.

I drove the 1.2 TSI in a Yeti. Quite astounding. (from a diesel-nut)

It drove like a 1.9TDI VW engine, i.e. no need to rev the guts out of it.

Ditto I suspect the key to getting the predicted mpg's out of the Fiat Twinair is to "drive it like a diesel" using the torque rather than the usual petrol engine revs?

A couple of guys in work here when they switched to diesels b****ed about the poor milage, i pointed out that they still appeared to be driving a diesel from the revs I was hearing.

One of them had the grace to admit that I was probably correct as once he settled into the diesel way of driving his mpg's improved.

Cheers

M

Buster, I admit;

(i) I was a very keen putative Yeti buyer, (but bought an Octavia instead)

(ii) was comparing to a 200,000 mile 1998 diesel

(iii) Only on a short urban test run

(iv) And I would have still bought the 110HP 2wd diesel Yeti

(v) BUT it was the "unstallability" that impressed me..........ergo stupendous torque for a wee petrol = drive her like a diesel.

Anyway as a diesel driver I am used to swopping cogs to keep in the sweet spot(and maximize fuel economy)

And that is why the DSG/Diesel combination works so well (in der Octavia)

cheers

M