C3 1.4 Vtr Petrol No Acceleration

[robcmar]

Bought the above new in September 2011. Had previously a C3 1.6 TDI. Foolishly I expected it the 1.4 to have the same 'zippiness' as the 1.6TDI with it being petrol but it can't compare but I'm confused as why. Both are about the same time for 0-60mph but overtaking in the 1.4 can be a bit hairy to say the least. Is it the different gearing/torque (which I don't really understand)

 

1st gear seems very 'short' in that it seems designed almost purely for hill starts in that it only seems suitable for 0-5mph, though to start from 2nd requires a fair amount of revving of the engine. When I change up to 2nd and then 3rd it doesn't have the acceleration of the 1.6TDI and at times it struggles when overtaking in 4th and often on slight inclines I have to change down to 3rd just to maintain 40mph.

 

Can anyone explain in laymen's terms what is happening and is it right that it should be such a poor performer ?

 

Cheers.

[paul.h]

If you check the power and torque of the 2 engines I think you will find the petrol has less and therefore will not accelerate as quickly. Our 1.4sx petrol needs a lot of revs when overtaking maybe 3 to 4000 (or more - it is a high revving engine) so need to drop down a couple of gears, this would possibly compare to 2 to 3000 for a diesel. Our C3 though is not a performance car, more for reasonable fuel economy, and I could possibly count on one hand the number of times I have overtaken in the 5 years we have had the car.