I mentioned diesel, manual cars in this space a few times already, so you probably know I do not like. I do not like their sound, and I do not like their limited range and speed turbo surge. I do not like the massive service charge of those common rail, which is the price you pay for noise reduction. And I hate the tons of soot they spew.
There is one thing, however, that they are hard to beat. It is providing a combination of practicality and driving pleasure combined with great fuel economy. But hard to beat does not mean impossible to beat. So, let me introduce a car that should, in theory, kick diesel, manual wagon ass at his own game. The Škoda Octavia 1.4 TSI G-TEC.
What is? In essence, it is the only car in person the world needs. What they say about the VW Golf, and they are right. But it is also a Golf. Just a little bigger and a little cheaper. With much more space inside. The space for rear seat leg rivals that of the BMW 5-Series, the trunk is huge, and everything is built just a little worse than a Golf, to enter the Sloan The Plan Piech of the scale of the brand.
Under the hood lies a Downsized turbocharged 1.4 TSI engine, providing 138hp in its standard form. But this is not a standard car. This has been factory-fitted with a CNG fuel system. Under the boot floor, there is a huge reservoir storing only 15 kilograms of compressed natural gas, while 50 liters of origin (13.2 gallons) of tank kept intact. Together, they offer a range of about 0 miles in normal driving (or 1000 miles under "economy run" conditions), with 0 miles of those 0 CNG-burning mode.
CNG provides a great advantage in operating costs - in the EU, it costs about half as compared to gasoline, mile-for-mile . First of all, there are no significant differences between the car and regular gasoline one. There are sublte details, like the second fuel gauge instead of a water temperature gauge in the tachometer, or the second fuel cap in the fuel door. There is also a slightly higher cargo floor, and the lack of a spare tire. Otherwise, it is just like ordinary car. Switching between fuels is automatic, and you will not even notice. The trip computer provides information on the distance to empty the two fuels together and individually each. Everything is nice and easy.
In real life European conditions, this car gets about as cheap to run as it gets. With a consumption of less than 100 km of CNG 4kg, it is possible to achieve cost about $ 0.04 per kilometer ($ 0.06 per mile). At our price of electricity, equal to the cost of driving a Tesla in the same way. In fact, I'm working on getting these two together to make a comparison test of the operating costs of real life. I have a strong feeling that Octavia can actually win.
At the same time, the car CNG still offers good quiet operation of the gasoline engine and its wide rpm range. Add in a very nice interior, great build quality and high-end suspension (G-TEC, unlike other Octavias lower propulsion, receives a multi-link axle at the rear), and you should have a clear winner on your hands. Even when I take into consideration that not the actual G-TEC life will look like my press tester, which came as a top-trim Elegance model with navigation, automatic parking, lane assist, adaptive cruise control, seat in heated front and rear leather, all power, including seats and tailgate, etc., the car is likely to get ordered by a typical client (mid-level trim with only a few options, which costs it may -being $ 25,000 with VAT, not $ 40k VAT as the example tested) will look and work well enough for what it is.
The downside? Lack of power. Turns out there's more to the G-TEC changes than a simple addition of a second system, and it is not only a different application, either. The company does not say much in its public relations materials, but the G-TEC has a different camshaft and a different turbocharger of the petrol version, reducing both power and torque curves. The result is a car that is, in real life, slower than the smaller 1.2 TSI, with the power and torque seriously lacking in rev-range bass.
Unlike a typical TSI engine, you need to rev like an old N / A 1.6 four cylinder. On Czech roads with lots of turns and the heavy traffic, making any type of fast driving significantly comfortable - I had a time to precipitate the G-TEC a little, when I woke up an hour and a half before I was to appear at lunch, in a town about 100 miles. I did, but overtaking on country roads and was a pain driving 100+ mph on the highway need full quasi-steady state. This also means that fuel consumption has skyrocketed from 4 kg / 100 km around twice.
The other disadvantage? The combination of small CNG tank with a network of CNG stations rare in Europe. Two hundred miles on a tank is really not much, and gas stations may be a 10 or 20 with CNG, you'll probably end up running on an empty tank CNG quite often, the combustion of more expensive gasoline instead. But even then, the 1.4 TSI is frugal enough car, but nothing to write home about. Also, it is interesting to note that even during the combustion of gasoline, the engine does not get back lost horses.
In theory, CNG cars combine a gasoline engine for smooth, quiet power with even better economy than diesel. And the G-TEC provides about 85% of the total. As you leisurely, relaxed driver, you can get unmatched fuel econmy, beating even electric cars. But if you tend to rush, the car lacks power significantly. The solution would probably be to offer the G-TEC version of the more powerful 1.8 TSI as well - and we can only hope that we will get one soon. With this, the unpleasant diesel, manual trolley can finally be taken and shot, as it deserves.
is @VojtaDobes Motoring journalist of Czech Republic, who has worked for local editions Coach and TopGear magazine. Today, he runs his own website, www.Autickar.cz and serves as editor at www.USmotors.cz. After a failed adventure with the importation of classic American cars in Europe, it is quite broken, he drives a ratty Chrysler LHS. His previous cars included a Caprice New York Taxi livery in 1988, hot rodded Opel diplomat, two Dodge Coronets, a Simca, a Fiat 0 and Austin Maestro. He never owned a diesel, manual trolley
Photos: David Marek
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