Driving the Slavia 1.5L DSG Automatic
1.5L, 4 cylinder turbo-petrol engine makes 148 BHP @ 5,000 - 6,000 rpm and 250 Nm @ 1,600 - 3,500 rpm:
The 1.5L engine is shared with the Kushaq and we were mighty impressed when we drove it the last time around. This engine gets 4-stroke positive ignition direct injection with active cylinder technology. It's offered only in the top-end Style variant with a either a 6-speed MT or a 7-speed DSG AT. During our media test drive in Goa, we got to sample the DSG AT variant. On paper, the engine produces 148 BHP & 250 Nm which is much more than Honda City 1.5's 119 BHP and Hyundai Verna 1.0's 118 BHP. These figures put it in a different league altogether.
Fast and effortless at any legal speed, this powertrain compliments the ride and handling characteristics of the car beautifully. The combo makes the Slavia an effortless mile-muncher if fuel prices aren’t a concern
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Slot into D mode, take your foot off the brake pedal and the Slavia DSG slowly creeps forward. This will be highly appreciated in heavy traffic conditions where you can drive with just the brake pedal. With a light foot, the gearbox moves up the ratios pretty quickly. Impressively, you won't feel these shifts as the transition is butter smooth. While the automatic transmission makes the Slavia very easy to drive in the city, when crawling in slow traffic (1st - 3rd gears), you will experience a little jerkiness, which is a typical DSG trait. In the city, the 1.5 motor's healthy bottom end helps you get around effortlessly. The throttle response is good and the Slavia rolls smoothly. Add to that, the direct-injection and turbocharger ensure that the engine isn't lethargic at any speed. There's always enough power on tap to accelerate or overtake quickly.
Out on the highway is when things go from good to great! This is easily among the most fun-to-drive sedans for 2 million bucks. You'll find yourself addicted to flooring the throttle whenever there's an empty stretch of road. Outright performance is excellent and the strong mid-range takes care of all the overtaking you need to do. Downshifts are quick (
not as fast as upshifts though) and the gearbox responds well to throttle inputs. The 7th ratio gives the Slavia DSG long legs on the highway. And touring you must do - this car is built for long road-trips. In terms of cruisability, the 1.5 TSI can run at triple-digit speeds all day long without breaking into a sweat. The engine spins at a relaxed ~1,900 rpm at 100 km/h. In summary, the 1.5 TSI DSG is a jewel of a combination that will keep you happy at low revs & high, and in the city as well as on the highway. Other than its reliability woes, this is one of the best AT gearboxes sold in India.
IMO the 1.5L TSI sounds great even at high revs. It has a very sporty tone to it which is addictive too. If you are continuously driving hard and / or in ‘S” mode, your passengers might complain about the sound though.
Tap the left paddle for a downshift and manual mode is engaged. The ECU blips the throttle to match the revs, and holds the gear till near the redline. This gets addictive, especially during overtakes! However, even in manual mode, the DSG will upshift above ~6,250 rpm and also downshift below ~1,000 rpm. We feel this is on the conservative side. Manual mode will also ignore wrong gear selections which put the engine out of the above rpm ranges. Long hold the paddles to revert back to auto mode.
Cruising around in D mode, one won't even notice the gears being shifted. They are damn smooth. The kickdown response time is quick enough and you will never feel that the gearbox is hunting for gears either. It's in the right ratio almost all the time. When you are in the mood to drive the car aggressively, engage Sport mode by pushing the gear lever down once. In S, the gearbox downshifts to keep the car in the power band, holds the ratios longer and lets the punchy midrange do all the heavy lifting required. Out on the open road, you will find it hard to resist the urge to go hard on the throttle. The Slavia is simply brilliant to drive!
On the flip side, we have scarily serious concerns over the DSG's long-term reliability. Just search on Team-BHP and you will see story after story of DQ200 failures & breakdowns. Skoda insists they have fixed the problem, but we aren't convinced at all. This gearbox has inherent design defects IMHO. Some BHPians who can't resist the DSG have mentally relegated themselves to 2 breakdowns over 8 - 10 years of ownership. If reliability is your topmost criteria, you should pick the 1.0 with a torque-converter AT, or consider another car model altogether.
Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
The 1.5L TSI is overall refined. It's a lot smoother than the 1.0 TSI which has some 3-cylinder vibrations. All the vibrations are well controlled and so is the engine noise inside the cabin. At high revs, the engine note sounds sporty.
Mileage & Fuel Economy
Skoda has given the 1.5L Slavia Active Cylinder Technology. When cruising calmly on the open road, the ECU shuts off cylinders 2 and 3 to reduce fuel consumption. This 2-cylinder mode will lead to good long distance FE, that is if you drive calmly (which is tough in the TSI). While we never felt the cylinder activation / deactivation happening, we did see an "ECO" sign on the MID which might be signaling its action.
ARAI numbers:
1.5 TSI MT - 18.47 km/l
1.5 TSI AT - 18.41 km/l
'ECO' indicator comes up on the MID when you are cruising at easy revs. The Slavia 1.5L has Active Cylinder Technology, which shuts down cylinders 2 and 3 in the interest of fuel efficiency:
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