1.4 Petrol Engines

[ross]

obviosuly not gonna be as fast as a 1.60 or 2.0 but do 1.4 engines do the car justice? or are they really slow and underpowered? thoughts please if u will

[wozza]

There not that bad I have driven one on a test drive. Obviously was not as quick as my own but it felt alright for what it was. Still reckon the 1.4 - 1.6 variants produce more power than is spec'd.

[Welshguy]

I have the 1.4 petrol coupe, and to be honest it struggles - with hindsight and more cash I would have gone for the 1.6. As with all Citroen / Pugs you do need to rev the engine high to get any sort of performance out of it. A good point however is the very good mpg return :D

[Rich_Eason]

Not a C4 but of similar size, my mate had a Focus 1.4 and that struggled badly.

 

Have read a review of a 1.4 C4 and it said that it was ok, however with smaller engined cars and larger bodies, I believe you need a long test period to really asess to meet your requirements.

 

Once loaded with 4 people and luggage I bet it is a complete beast.

[wozza]

Mate could not be as bad as a Clio with a boot full of junk and 6 people. in a 1.2 16v with 75bhp. now that was an interesting couple miles of driving trying to get the thing to actually move.

 

But as said go test drive one and see if it suits you.

 

1.6 is probably a better bet though can pick them up for near enough the same prices 2nd hand, And insurance is pretty much the same only slightly more expensive compared to the 1.4. Plus you get loads more gadgets on the 1.6 since you can get VTR+ spec again for similar money to a 1.4 VT.

[Stuey]

the 1.4 seems to struggle but it is a heavy car. The 16 valves and the injection definately helps. It has more than enough power to get out of situations and will happily buzz along at 90...

[Rich_Eason]

Doesnt Ciaran have a 1.4? Perhaps he's the man to ask...

[xavtia]

I have a 1.4 and it depends what your used to I've come from a xsara 1.4, the C4 version has better pull and faster acceleration than the xsara just been to France with a fully loaded boot travelled over 1000 miles and only really struggled once , it depends on your driving style and what your used to though, I had a 1.6 VTR as a courtesy car for a week and was glad to get my little 1.4 back because I prefer the economy but thats a personal preference.

[Welshguy]

I only really drive with my girlfriend as a passenger anyways so it is fine - I was probably exaggerating a little bit when I said the car struggled - to be honest only once has it struggled, and that was with 4 people in the car and attempting to climb a steep (I mean STEEP!!!) remote South Wales valleys hill. That hill was 1st gear all the way !!!

 

:D

[Stuey]

I have the 1.4. Welsh was a bit harsh :D

 

the only time I have struggled was in the same circimstance as him, 4 passengers up a steep hill with the aircon on, and it only had about 100 miles on the clock so the engine was still tight.

 

I have driven a 307 with the 1.6 and it was pretty quick but you have to weigh up accelration Vs MPG. mine is sitting at about 42mpg at the moment.

[Z3M Roadster]

Surely you'd be best off going for a 2nd hand 1.6 turbo diesel, quicker than the 1.4? and mine returns 54mpg.

[Stuey]

that is an option too. You will get a higher spec one too for about the same money I would imagine.

[barns]

it all seems to depend what you call extra mpg. I test drove the 1.4 and straight away new it was not for me, lacked pick up and i found it sluggish but it can also depend on what you are going from my previous motor 2ltr and found the 1.4 too big a drop, the 1.6 isn't anything special just that bit better and as for mpg not too great a difference between the two especially if you drive the 1.4 hard all the time.

[Ciaran2903]

I certainly do have the 1.4 and it does struggle when fully loaded with people, but still keeps up with traffic, just need to adjust your driving, i.e lower gears.

 

I drove a 1.6 ford focus (not the brand new one) today on my driving course, and it felt poor to be honest, that may be down to the fact that the car had four people in it, but it was not very good! :)

 

I am not sure you can really take my opinion on this as "set in stone" because this is the only car i have driven long term.

 

One thing to add is that it will happily cruise at 90 (almost too happily as i found out when i went past a speed check, looked at the speedo and saw 95!! ;) )

 

It has never got to the point when i feel i am holding up traffic when the car is fully loaded, just dont expect to have a car full of people who want to go blisteringly quick, becuase it wont happen fully loaded! :o

[Ciaran2903]

I think i have also done the car injustice, becuase reading over my post, i never mentioned the fact that i do think that it is quite nippy.

But as i mentioned this is the only car i have driven on the roads long term

 

Guess the answer is to have a test drive and see how it goes!

[Welshguy]

One thing I will say about the 1.4 engine is that for me it lacks power after gear changes - I.E when changing from 1st to 2nd the car sometimes loses power and there is a "dip" in acceleration before the car picks up again. I believe a 1.6 and up would have the power to fix this. All down to the fact that the 1.4 engine has to work harder to drag my car's heavy frame down the road!

[Ciaran2903]

One thing I will say about the 1.4 engine is that for me it lacks power after gear changes - I.E when changing from 1st to 2nd the car sometimes loses power and there is a "dip" in acceleration before the car picks up again.

That is one thing i forgot to mention, but it only seems to happen on mine when i am going up hill, not normally