What is more reliable for the long term 2.0L vs 1.5L Turbo

[MJeed]

Thank you all very much for your discussions. I've learned a lot from reading through your posts.


Here is my summary and interpretation of info:
2.0NA
- has less parts meaning less failure points
- shares more similarities to the older civic engines (also means it will be more prone to oil consumption issues)
- performance and fuel consumption not as good as the 1.5T

1.5T
- smaller engine, likely will endure more stress; likely accounted for in the design
- more parts means more things that could fail or need replacing
- prone to oil dilution in cold temperatures and short travel distance
- better performance and better fuel consumption
- no long term data to support/suggest that it is not reliable in the long run


My thoughts:
I currently drive a 2015 Audi S4. Today, I test drove both the 2.0 and 1.5T. They are both very similar to me from a performance point of view. The 1.5T does have a little more oomph, but personally, I wouldn't pay more for that minor of a difference. This difference may seem small to me because I'm currently using a 333HP car. I'll be missing out on a lot of horses switching from the Audi to any of these Hondas, so the performance difference didn't make me swing towards the 1.5T.

I'm switching cars to save up for another real estate investment in the next few years, and build an emergency fund for my future. In addition, the vehicle I buy now (the Honda) will be the car I hand over to my future wife (within the next 2 years). I want this vehicle to be the least of my worries, meaning not having to worry about anything besides oil changes, brakes, and tires for her. My girlfriend doesn't care about cars and just needs it to play music and get from point A to B. We likely won't be keeping this car for more than 10 years but I just don't want to deal with any surprise issue. Life is already full of surprises, I don't want my girlfriend's car to be a surprise worry in the future.

Given the fact that Honda acknowledged there was an issue with their engine and more so in my climate and my driving conditions, I'm likely staying away from the 1.5T. This increases the odds of encountering issues in the long term for my conditions.

If this car was for me to drive for 5-10 years, as a 26 year old, I would get the 1.5T solely due to having more horses. Given all the information available to me as of today, my current financial goals, and the future needs from this vehicle; I'll be getting the 2.0L. I like to keep the odds in my favour and the 2.0 fits the bill for me.

Thanks folks

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[civicmanic]

If reliability is your greatest concern, get the manual.
The long term reliability of the transmission should certainly be more cause for concern.

 

[Deleted User 1886347]

I’ve seen quite a few 1.5 engines go beyond 200,000 km without issues other than regular maintenance. I’ve seen the same with the 2.0 NA as well. Couple were 6MTs and majority were CVTs.

You can’t go wrong with either option IMO.

 

[CastorX]

I’ve seen quite a few 1.5 engines go beyond 200,000 km without issues other than regular maintenance. I’ve seen the same with the 2.0 NA as well. Couple were 6MTs and majority were CVTs.

You can’t go wrong with either option IMO.

My personal opinion: I think if someone drives 200,000-300,000 km in 4 years (40-60k/year) then it doesn't say too much about the engine. There are many engines that can go long distances without any problem. Driving much without cold starts is good for the engine. But driving short distances (like the 10 km mentioned in the first post) in Canada every day... that is something different.

 

[civicmanic]

My personal opinion: I think if someone drives 200,000-300,000 km in 4 years (40-60k/year) then it doesn't say too much about the engine. There are many engines that can go long distances without any problem. Driving much without cold starts is good for the engine. But driving short distances (like the 10 km mentioned in the first post) in Canada every day... that is something different.

Of course highway driving is easier on any engine. But my work is 7.9km away from my home and the engine does get up to full operating temp in that span so 10km won't present an issue.

 

[CastorX]

Of course highway driving is easier on any engine. But my work is 7.9km away from my home and the engine does get up to full operating temp in that span so 10km won't present an issue.

Sorry, it doesn’t reach a good temp. What you see on the dash is NOT the wngine oil temp, but coolant temp and it’s just a rough value. I tried it. i drove 10 kms with my car onece even WOT (wasnt a smart thing to do), on the dash the temperature was on the Typical level it always is after about 2 minutes of driving. The engine oil however was not even warm. I tried to suck the engine oil out for a oil change after 7000 km in the oil (don’t ask, it’s a long story). And I was surprised how “cold” the oil was. I would say max 40 degrees C, not more! The external temp was about 8 deg. C. To reach a good temp of the oil (70-80 deg C) you actually have to drive 15-20 km, depending on the engine load, speed and external temperature. But you can also check the coolant temp with an OBD bluetooth device. What you see on the dash is very optimistic sometimes. And the oil temp is a totally different thing, but that is actually what matters the most.

 

[civicmanic]

I am not going to comment on the actual temp of my engine oil, as I don't manually test it. But all I can say is I've never had this dilution "issue". So if continuous 7.9km trips don't present the issue, then 10km won't either.

 

[Gruber]

I am not going to comment on the actual temp of my engine oil, as I don't manually test it. But all I can say is I've never had this dilution "issue". So if continuous 7.9km trips don't present the issue, then 10km won't either.

How would you know you have the "issue"? What symptoms are you looking for?

 

[civicmanic]

How would you know you have the "issue"? What symptoms are you looking for?

Elevated oil level on the dipstick. I've owned b and k series engines, so I am well versed in the habit of regularly checking the oil level, obviously for opposite reasons in those cases!

 

[Gruber]

Elevated oil level on the dipstick. I've owned b and k series engines, so I am well versed in the habit of regularly checking the oil level, obviously for opposite reasons in those cases!

So it's disturbing you don't see the oil rising. There must be something very wrong with your engine.

 

[civicmanic]

So it's disturbing you don't see the oil rising. There must be something very wrong with your engine.

Yup. Clearly these are garbage engines and their predecessors were flawless!!

 

[Devcom]

I put my vote in for the 2.0 for the reason of less stuff to break. My experiences with my 1.5L have not really been bad at all with the engine. In fact mine actually when the oil change comes around is a very tiny bit low on the dipstick. As for getting up to operating temp which I saw mentioned in this thread our civic is actually the quickest compared to our other vehicles to get there. For the oil operating temp I use something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073XKQQQW?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=amazonquery2-20 that I plug into the OBD port and get the temperatures from that. When my wife takes it to work the oil temperature is at 210 or a little less before she gets there and it takes her 10 miles to get there. (In the winter it would take a little longer) When I lived in Connecticut for a short time where we got the car it was still pretty quick to get the oil temp to the operating temp as well even in the winter it reached its temp about 3/4 of the way there. My biggest concern is with the CVT more than the engine though. I just have this feeling is all with the CVT don't really trust it.

 

[gr8-wrx]

Personally, I drive a lot of short distances and in some cases my cars are not fully warmed up. 2.0 for me now and in the future for longevity.

 

[MaxPower]

Wow, really? Different story in my area. I was able to test drive an Si simply by showing up at a dealer that had one in stock. Easy peasy. Sounds like the dealer you dealt with is an idiot.

Maybe you should give it another try. You know, for science. You could speak more authoritatively about the whole 2.0 vs 1.5T debate if you actually got some personal experience with the latter. Honestly, based on your prior posts - I'd be curious to hear your opinions on the driving characteristics of the turbo engine.

Re: seats, check out an EX if you don't want to sit in an Si.

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