I was intentionally looking at the 1.5 because i thought the 1 litre would be under-powered. Is this the case?
Whether or not the 1.0 is underpowered for you will depend entirely on how much power you feel you need. I've seen it mentioned often on the forum in the past, scepticism on how or if a 1.0 could power a car the size of a Golf (or Octavia). To me, the size of the engine isn't relevant, the power and torque figures are, and IMO, the 1.0 has plenty for most.
If you tow a caravan, regularly have a car full of people and luggage or always have to be in front of any other road users, perhaps not. But for most folk, in most circumstances, I wouldn't see the 1.0 as being something to worry about. Perhaps a test drive though?.
Indeed - especially if the car chosen has other qualities. For example, the (VAG) Skoda Fabia has a decent sized boot (smaller than the Golf, but still 330L) and one of its 1L engine variants produces 110PS, which means it's quite quick for a car of that size.
The OP may care to know that the 1L turbo petrols are normally at least a match (if not better) for previous generation 1.6L naturally aspirated petrol enegines. The 1.4/1.5Ts of this world are a step up in performance (especially those with 150PS), but a 1L turbo may often be more than enough for most people.
I think that the OP should pay more attention to how the car drives, rather than raw figures concerning engine capacity and suchlike. Best to find one that suits their needs in actual usage. Hence why a decent length test drive on a range of different road types/speeds is a must.
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