Traditionally diesel powered cars had the advantage with diesel fuel costing less to purchase per litre while petrol engines consumed more fuel per kilometre. The real attraction of diesel powered vehicles became apparent in 2008 with the arrival of emission-based vehicle taxation which greatly favoured diesel vehicles.
ŠKODA however has been developing new low emission petrol engines to close the gap on diesel. In their Superb model they have introduced a new low capacity 1.4 TSI which utilises the latest direct injection petrol technology together with turbo charging to develop a surprising 125bhp from this small unit. To reduce emissions and fuel consumption even further they have added the latest green technologies “GreenTech” including Stop-Start, optimised aerodynamics, lower rolling resistance tyres and brake energy regeneration.
Raymond Leddy, Marketing Manager, ŠKODA Ireland said; “ŠKODA has an built a reputation for producing excellent diesel engines however we believe we can increase Superb sales thanks to our new 1.4TSI with GreenTech. With an entry price of €23,995 it is €2,150 cheaper than the 1.6TDI diesel derivative with identical specification. Furthermore it has 20bhp more power and achieves 0-100km/h a whole two seconds faster than the 1.6 TDI.”
The ŠKODA Superb 1.4 TSI with GreenTech consumes just 5.9l/100km (48mpg) and with CO2 of just 139g/km places it in the affordable motor tax band B with annual road tax of €225. Although the diesel version is in the lowest tax band (A) and has slightly better fuel consumption on closer inspection however if diesel is on parity with petrol at €1.47 per litre the diesel only becomes more cost effective after 94,000km of driving!
Leddy continued, ŠKODA Superb 1.4 TSI GreenTech is almost as miserly as its diesel-powered sibling. Taking the narrowing of the gap in fuel efficiencies and emissions output as well as the pump price into consideration and suddenly it looks like petrol is the new diesel in terms of efficiency and affordability.”