1.6 fsi engine any good?

[JON76]

Hi, I know alot about 20v 1.8T's and vag diesels but not much about the 1.6 FSI. The reason I ask is my mum and dad have been looking at a 2007 1.6 fsi golf plus with 21k on it. They only do around 4k a year now so not worth getting the diesel. After I had a look on the net it seems alot of them suffer cam chain tensioner problems, running problems when using 95 ron fuel and the inlet valves gum up due to no contact with the fuel due to direct injection. Any views would be great on this, thanks in advance Martin.

I have the 1.6FSI engine in my Audi A3. It has done 36k miles, and I have had none of the problems above. The only problem I have had is a fuel pump failure but I believe this is quite rare on the 1.6FSI. I have always run mine on 95 ron fuel without any problems. Contrary to what you might read on the net, this engine does not need to be run on 98 ron. I had read the same, and asked the chief technician at my local Audi dealership if it was the case. He confirmed that the engine can be run on 95 ron with no detriment to the running. 98 ron fuel is reported to give better performance, I have occassionally put a tank of 98 ron in it but can tell no difference whatsoever.

All in all I think it's a good engine, not the most powerful, but it's got a fair bit of poke to it around town and also keeps its speed up well on the motorway. The only criticism I would have is that it's a bit noisy and does clatter a bit when cold.