Because of EU regulations car makers are constantly trying to produce smaller, cleaner and more efficient engines, both petrol and diesel.

ŠKODA bring a new 1.0-litre TSI petrol to the market for the Octavia.

Reducing engine capacity in favour of turbo charging has become a popular trend in petrol technology in recent times and ŠKODA were one company that was to the fore when they introduced their 1.2 TSI back in 2010. Now ŠKODA will be the first brand within the Volkswagen group to utilise the 1.0 TSI unit in a car of this size.

It will be available in their most successful car next month and while it is just a 1.0-litre, it delivers 115 bhp and replaces the older 1.2-litre 110 bhp motor that has been part of the range for the last six years.

Despite the reduction in engine capacity the new engine delivers superior performance in every area including: power output (+5%) acceleration time (-3% from 0-100km/h), fuel consumption (-7%) and top speed (+1.5%).

Indeed, ŠKODA Ireland say that the new 1.0 TSI engine is so efficient that it gives the comparable Octavia 1.6 TDI 110bhp diesel engine run for its money in terms of overall running costs.

Cathal Kealey, PR Manager at ŠKODA Ireland, commentsaysed: "The primary reason for purchasing a diesel vehicle is to acquire annual taxation and fuel savings over a petrol vehicle. The basic premise is that you pay a premium for the diesel car but over time you will recoup the savings by reducing your operating costs. The question is how long will it take to achieve these savings? Take the new Octavia 1.0 TSI, 115bhp engine which consumes just 1.1 litres more per 100km than the 1.6 TDI 110bhp engine. Using today’s fuel prices it would take 6 years for the diesel version to justify and recoup the savings on fuel alone! This really brings petrol back into the equation.”

ŠKODA recently celebrated 20 years of Octavia production. To further illustrate the advances in technology, Kealey addded: "The original Octavia was launched with a 2.0 MPI litre petrol 8 valve unit. The new 1.0 TSI produces the very same power output, superior torque, better acceleration and 44% less fuel consumption with an engine half the size. It is essentail that Irish customers focus on performance rather than engine size when selecting their vehicle. "

Orders are now open for the new Octavia 1.0TSI petrol engine with prices starting from €22,880 with 0% finance available on orders taken up to the end of July.