The 220ps experiences, questions & answers thread

[Slugman]

Super excited. Three month wait coming to an end next Friday (28th). Bog standard Business Grey SE-L estate with Modus wheels. Contemplated the 280, but with fuel prices so unstable and the higher octane stuff nearly 10p/l dearer, I decided to go with the 220.

 

This will be our fifth Skoda, the previous ones being: Mk2 Octavia 140PD, Mk2 Superb 170TDI DSG, Mk2 170TDI DSG estate, Mk3 Octavia 220 vRS manual estate.

 

The vRS has been my least favourite, so I'm hoping the new Superb will restore my faith. Really looking forward to it.

[Rainmaker]

Super excited. Three month wait coming to an end next Friday (28th). Bog standard Business Grey SE-L estate with Modus wheels. Contemplated the 280, but with fuel prices so unstable and the higher octane stuff nearly 10p/l dearer, I decided to go with the 220.

 

This will be our fifth Skoda, the previous ones being: Mk2 Octavia 140PD, Mk2 Superb 170TDI DSG, Mk2 170TDI DSG estate, Mk3 Octavia 220 vRS manual estate.

 

The vRS has been my least favourite, so I'm hoping the new Superb will restore my faith. Really looking forward to it.

 

Not long to go then... You'll love it I'm sure. As you'll know from the VRS it's a peach of an engine, and the 220 Superb has longer gearing making it more relaxed and somewhat better on fuel. Stick up your impressions when you get it mate.

[pilkers]

Well the long wait is nearly over.  I collect my new baby next Monday and I cant wait!  It is worse than being a child counting down the sleeps until Christmas.  The dealer who is 400 miles away contacted me yesterday and realising my excitement produced a look around video clip which he sent me today.  Fantastic

[Norian]

Well, I'll be joining the "220TSI club" 

 

Just ordered a Style (the trim level just below the L&K), Beige Cappuccino, 220TSI DSG with the following options: 19'' Sirius, Sport Supension, Progressive steering, Canton, Park Assist, Heated Windscreen, Alcantara seats, Paddles steering wheel and tinted glass.

 

It's gonna be a loooong winter, as expected delivery is Mid March 2017  

Edited 2 November, 2016 by Norian

[Oldgits]

I've just taken my 220 on its first proper run out doing a round trip all motorway of about 200 miles.

Up until now I had been running in the engine as per Rainmakers suggestions (thanks) so hadn't seen any great mpg returns.

Yesterday's run was mainly in patchy fog so my slow bro style was perfectly suited to the conditions. Used the acc for the first time, unnerving initially but soon began to enjoy the experience, very impressed with how the engine picks up as soon as you indicate to change lane.

Using 97 fuel and running at a steady 65mph I managed 45.2npg which impressed me.

Is the alert to "take a break" something that happens automatically after 90 minutes of driving?

[Slugman]

So, my 220 was delivered on Friday morning and since then I've done about 150 miles, so these are very initial impressions.

 

So far, I'm very impressed with:

- The comfort and the ride. Compared to the 220 vRS it's like driving on a pane of glass and it is sooooo much quieter.

- The DSG box is really smooth, certainly compared to the 59 plate 170 TDI I had a while back.

- Lots of space, again compared to the vRS

 

Things I don't like:

- The Stop/Start currently drives me a little mad. Everytime I draw to a stop the engine cuts, sometimes before I've actually stopped, so the steering loses a bit of its power assistance. Edging along in a queue is a right pain, so I have to turn the Stop/Start off.

- Levels of condensation on the inside of the windscreen (and front windows) in the evenings after work. Appreciate that a temperature difference between the cabin and outside can develop at this time of year, but I often feel that turning on the demister actually deposits even more moisure on the windscreen. Anyone else notice this?

 

Things I haven't got to grips with yet:

- Perhaps related to the above. I can't quite work out how the Auto Hold thing works in relation to the Stop/Start. Can anyone advise?

- Apple CarPlay. Haven't worked this out yet. I thought it might work through Bluetooth, but maybe I have to plug it in via USB. I am on iOS10.0.2 at the moment.

- Saving the seat memory to my key. Need to sit down with the Manual again.

 

All in all, very happy so far.

 

Andy

[Silverage]

I can comment on a couple of your comments.

 

Stop/start: totally agree. I have KESSY, so my start up routine is press the engine starter and then press the stop/start disable button next. Got into the habit of it now, so it seldom catches me out. Will get it permanently disabled when I get round to having some VCDS work done.

 

Condensation: I find the inside of the hatch is almost permanently misted up. Demister soon clears it though.

 

Apple Car play: Needs to be connected via a USB cable I believe. I tried it once and was not impressed. I think Spotify is better through Bluetooth directly to the Columbus and the built in nav is better than faffing about with Apple maps.

[garethowen01]

So, my 220 was delivered on Friday morning and since then I've done about 150 miles, so these are very initial impressions.

 

So far, I'm very impressed with:

- The comfort and the ride. Compared to the 220 vRS it's like driving on a pane of glass and it is sooooo much quieter.

- The DSG box is really smooth, certainly compared to the 59 plate 170 TDI I had a while back.

- Lots of space, again compared to the vRS

 

Things I don't like:

- The Stop/Start currently drives me a little mad. Everytime I draw to a stop the engine cuts, sometimes before I've actually stopped, so the steering loses a bit of its power assistance. Edging along in a queue is a right pain, so I have to turn the Stop/Start off.

- Levels of condensation on the inside of the windscreen (and front windows) in the evenings after work. Appreciate that a temperature difference between the cabin and outside can develop at this time of year, but I often feel that turning on the demister actually deposits even more moisure on the windscreen. Anyone else notice this?

 

Things I haven't got to grips with yet:

- Perhaps related to the above. I can't quite work out how the Auto Hold thing works in relation to the Stop/Start. Can anyone advise?

- Apple CarPlay. Haven't worked this out yet. I thought it might work through Bluetooth, but maybe I have to plug it in via USB. I am on iOS10.0.2 at the moment.

- Saving the seat memory to my key. Need to sit down with the Manual again.

 

All in all, very happy so far.

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy.

 

I picked up my 220 SE-L last Friday too. Super car and, as you say, great ride, drive and gearbox.

to set your seat memory to your key:

In the infotainment screen press the CAR button,

Then press the SETTINGS button,

Press PERSONALIZE,

Tap DRIVER 1

Scroll down to the keys option and follow instructions.

It took me a while to find it.

Good luck and happy driving.

[garethowen01]

Hi Andy.

 

I picked up my 220 SE-L last Friday too. Super car and, as you say, great ride, drive and gearbox.

to set your seat memory to your key:

In the infotainment screen press the CAR button,

Then press the SETTINGS button,

Press PERSONALIZE,

Tap DRIVER 1

Scroll down to the keys option and follow instructions.

It took me a while to find it.

Good luck and happy driving.

 

And repeat for Driver 2 etc.

[Slugman]

I can comment on a couple of your comments.

 

Stop/start: totally agree. I have KESSY, so my start up routine is press the engine starter and then press the stop/start disable button next. Got into the habit of it now, so it seldom catches me out. Will get it permanently disabled when I get round to having some VCDS work done.

 

Condensation: I find the inside of the hatch is almost permanently misted up. Demister soon clears it though.

 

Apple Car play: Needs to be connected via a USB cable I believe. I tried it once and was not impressed. I think Spotify is better through Bluetooth directly to the Columbus and the built in nav is better than faffing about with Apple maps.

Thanks Silverage. Maybe I'll get used to the Stop/Start thing in time. Not too fussed about the Apple CarPlay - will investigate with an open mind

[Slugman]

Hi Andy.

 

I picked up my 220 SE-L last Friday too. Super car and, as you say, great ride, drive and gearbox.

to set your seat memory to your key:

In the infotainment screen press the CAR button,

Then press the SETTINGS button,

Press PERSONALIZE,

Tap DRIVER 1

Scroll down to the keys option and follow instructions.

It took me a while to find it.

Good luck and happy driving.

 

Would have taken me ages to find that, so thank you. It seemed easier in the Mk2 Superbs, but now it's done I can forget about it

[pilkers]

I collected my 220 L&K estate on Monday and promptly drove 300 miles towards home, completing the other 150 miles on Tuesday.

 

What a car.  She is fantastic in all respects.  I cant find anything I don't like.  I have done 500 miles in total and returned 41 mpg (fill to fill).  Astonishing.  All the toys I specified are better than I anticipated.

 

I am in love

 

(Sad) Pilkers       

[Rainmaker]

Welcome on board to all you new owners!   Keep the observations, questions and reactions coming!

[Oldgits]

Thanks Silverage. Maybe I'll get used to the Stop/Start thing in time. Not too fussed about the Apple CarPlay - will investigate with an open mind

I recently had my stop/start disabled using vcds technology (thanks to Gizmo). A p in the a no longer.

[Slugman]

I think I'm getting used to it now. At least I can turn it off. I drove a Citroen Picasso auto for a couple of days at work. It's Stop/Start was very jerky and violent and I couldn't find the off button!

[philsmith]

- The Stop/Start currently drives me a little mad. Everytime I draw to a stop the engine cuts, sometimes before I've actually stopped, so the steering loses a bit of its power assistance. Edging along in a queue is a right pain, so I have to turn the Stop/Start off.

- Levels of condensation on the inside of the windscreen (and front windows) in the evenings after work. Appreciate that a temperature difference between the cabin and outside can develop at this time of year, but I often feel that turning on the demister actually deposits even more moisure on the windscreen. Anyone else notice this?

 

You can control the stop/start by the amount of pressure you apply to the brake pedal, a light pressure will not activate the system, you need to press quite hard, so you soon get used to controlling the stop/start by varying the amount of pressure you apply.

If you leave the Climate Control on Auto, i.e. with the air-con turned on, the car will not mist up at all. Air-con is not just for summer it should be left on all year round as it dries out the interior during the damp winter months and keeps it mist  free.

The system is also intelligent and will turn on the demister automatically in the unlikely event of  misting on the screen.

Edited 17 November, 2016 by philsmith

[facet edge]

I think I'm getting used to it now. At least I can turn it off. I drove a Citroen Picasso auto for a couple of days at work. It's Stop/Start was very jerky and violent and I couldn't find the off button!

I find the stop start extremely smooth but I have the 1.4 petrol engine.

I previously had a 1.6 diesel Ford and the whole car shook when it started so maybe it's the diesel engines that don't feel as good.

[garethowen01]

Had my SE-L 220 TSI for just over three weeks now. I've noticed the car sometimes hangs on to second gear when I first start the engine from cold.

I appreciate that the operating temperatures need to be reached for effective running, but mine wouldn't change up to third or fourth after two miles.

I switched of the motor, waited a few seconds and restarted with no problems.

This has happen three times now.

Any ideas as to what's happening?

[Phil74]

Are you driving it in S or D?

 

I've found that S holds on to the gears well past the red line before changing. If I let off at higher revs, in order to prompt the car to change up, it eventually does but there's a bit of a delay. I generally only drive it in D or Manual (flappy paddles). If I use S mode it's only to get away promptly and then I flick it into D or over to Manual mid way through 2nd.

[garethowen01]

Are you driving it in S or D?

 

I've found that S holds on to the gears well past the red line before changing. If I let off at higher revs, in order to prompt the car to change up, it eventually does but there's a bit of a delay. I generally only drive it in D or Manual (flappy paddles). If I use S mode it's only to get away promptly and then I flick it into D or over to Manual mid way through 2nd.

 

Driving in D. When I use the paddles to manually change and then go back to auto, it's stuck in second again. Switch off, wait ,restart and all is fine.

It doesn't happen all the time, so booking it in will be problematic as it's one of the famous "intermittent faults".

It's very frustrating, to say the least. 

[kewals]

Hi,

We are considering the 2.0 TSI 220 Superb Estate and I wonder if you would be kind to advise:

1. I read about 2.0 TSI engine failures, including on Octavia thread but it seems this was relating to 200hp engine. Any worries/ failures you know with 220hp version although there are probably not many cars with high mileage to demonstrate any of these.

We plan to keep the car for 10 years so it will do probably 120-140000 miles.

2. Similar to item 1 regarding oil consumption - what is your experience?

Many thanks in advace

[garethowen01]

As previous threads above (#93 + #95).

Car was stuck in 2nd gear again this morning. I tapped the "Mode" button, the infotainment showed the car in "Normal" mode.

I tapped the "Normal" icon on the screen and the car changed gears fine after that.

Odd, or what?  :(

[indyjukebox]

You can control the stop/start by the amount of pressure you apply to the brake pedal, a light pressure will not activate the system, you need to press quite hard, so you soon get used to controlling the stop/start by varying the amount of pressure you apply.

If you leave the Climate Control on Auto, i.e. with the air-con turned on, the car will not mist up at all. Air-con is not just for summer it should be left on all year round as it dries out the interior during the damp winter months and keeps it mist  free.

The system is also intelligent and will turn on the demister automatically in the unlikely event of  misting on the screen.

 

I realised the bake pressure trick pretty early on. My only concern with this is what happens to the clutch when stopped with light pressure on the brake. When you push firmly on the brake and SS is deactivated, you can feel the clutch disengaging to prevent undue wear/stress. You can see the revs drop from 1000 to around 800 rpm. On the other hand when you have the car stopped with light pressure on the brakes, the SS doesnt engage, but the clutch isn't disengaged (rpm stays around 1000) and hence are you wearing it out? DSG gear boxes are not especially famous for durability. Various DSG experts advise not allowing the car to creep whilst applying the brakes as the clutch is engaged and wearing more than usual.

[Rainmaker]

Hi,

We are considering the 2.0 TSI 220 Superb Estate and I wonder if you would be kind to advise:

1. I read about 2.0 TSI engine failures, including on Octavia thread but it seems this was relating to 200hp engine. Any worries/ failures you know with 220hp version although there are probably not many cars with high mileage to demonstrate any of these.

We plan to keep the car for 10 years so it will do probably 120-140000 miles.

2. Similar to item 1 regarding oil consumption - what is your experience?

Many thanks in advace

 

A bit (very) late to answer this, sorry. It seems we fell over it while discussing the brake pressure/stop-start stuff. Do you still need answers or have you already pulled the trigger? Either way the EA888 gen 3 TSI engine is quite new so it's hard to say. They have swapped the injectors from direct only to dual injection (i.e. both port and direct injection). This will help resolve the old carbon/coking up issue the old direct-only blocks had, as the newer engines only use DI on idle and some part-loads to stabilise the running. The rest of the time it's all port (MPI) injected, so of course petrol can once again wash over the back of the inlet valves. So that's one big flaw hopefully put to bed. 

 

As for oil consumption, I've found mine burnt through about 500ml in the first couple of thousand miles then settled down. Others had no oil usage at all. It's a modern turbo engine, so it'll have its potential pitfalls and its advantages, but so far they seem no worse than any other marque, and potentially a lot better as most are now DI-only.

[Rainmaker]

Just to add my own little update, as it's been a while. The car is 8 months old now, and has a hair under 7,000 miles on the clock. The tyres still have 5mm on them (Michelin Pilot Sport 4) which is impressive given the nature of the car, the oil is still looking good and everything's still ticking over a-ok. No rattles, knocks or other issues to report, just a nice serene drive. That said, I do still hate the rear wiper - specifically its anaemic washer that can't even cover half the swept area, instead leaving a smeary mess. First world problems and all that, especially when that's about the sum total of your build quality complaints in a car.

 

I haven't had much time to drive for pleasure lately, so I have mostly been stuck with city-centre style rat runs and getting about 28mpg which is still impressive for a car like this. Luckily this week I got back to RoSPA/RoADAR (I'm a certified tutor now) and got to stretch its legs on an hour long demo drive. Tonight I managed to take it out for a good run once the kids were sound asleep (don't worry, the wife stayed at home :D).

 

I got in just under 2 hours of very mixed driving; city, suburbs, rural, NSL dual carriageways and motorway. Thanks to being oop Norf and so late at night I had the great outdoors pretty much to myself, so I could really use all of the available road and press on at the full permissible speeds. You just can't beat some good background music, solitude and a series of good twisty corners to string together. I managed to overtake a local patrol car on a rural 50 stretch before off-siding then straightlining a couple of lovely bends. I soon lost him in my rear view mirror, but as the road split into a dual carriageway I got a thumbs up from the traffic cop on his (BMW) bike who had no bother keeping up.  :devil:

 

It's really nice to feel how much the motor has loosened up since we got it last April, and especially so once it's good and hot. Since we do mostly short local journeys day to day it's easy to forget just what a smooth, free-revving and torquey drive the 220 is once it's fully warm and opened up. It's so eager to pull hard from low down on minimal throttle, and positively glides along. The vast majority of our daily journeys are 1-2 miles (I'm disabled so please don't judge too harshly!), which as you can imagine don't leave much room for the car to get to temperature and run nicely. It's the main reason I always try to give it a good long stretch out at least once or twice a week, including some good hard red line action once the oil is over 85.

 

Anyway after tonight's jaunt I pulled back onto the driveway feeling a lot more relaxed and de-stressed, and was very happy to switch from the Media screen to the Car screen:

 

 

You really can't complain at that, especially when it's a 'mixed driving' result including some very tyre-squeal inducing red line starts and hard corner exits on the damp roads in manual flappy-paddle mode. I can only imagine what I'd get if I pointed the thing at the M6 (a few mins down the road) and put a few hours on it using the cruise control... :thumbup:  So, I'm loving it and still not bored. I think this is going to be one of the few cars I keep for a few years and actually regret having to trade in. Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world I'd have something more akin to a real sports and/or GT car when I didn't have to fit in the wife and three kids, but as a practical family all rounder the Superb is hard to beat. The only downsides (for me) are: 

 

* The weird, dull throttle response (easily fixed with a RaceChip response control pedal box)

* The ridiculous jerky gear changes in sport or manual mode, deliberately mapped in by VAG to feel 'sporty'. No it feels rough and unbalanced, and I can drive a manual so much smoother. It needs mapping out really (such a DSG map is available according to an Evo article I read recently). The ZF8 box in this car instead of the DSG6 would have been bliss I think!

* Front wheel drive. Just no! There's a transmission tunnel there, it'd have been perfect with RWD.

 

Overall though, I'm still in love.  :sun:  How are you all getting on?