mumpsim

People say the Pirelli Powergy is a noisy tyre. As Ootohere suggests, I'd be swopping front to rear. It might not solve the problem but if the noise moves mainly to the rear, you'll know the issue is with those tyres.

Yes, the current CrossClimate 2 is still a good tyre. However.... ... Michelin nearly always cost more than the other top brands. Many times in the past I have been happy to pay that premium for their superior ability or comfort or longevity or whatever. However, with the CrossClimate 2, here and now in late 2024, Michelin is still charging more than other manufacturers for an old design that has been beaten on ability by three newer designs. That is not such a compelling proposition: pay more, get less. Interestingly, Jonathan Benson (tyrereviews.com) found that the Pirelli and the Continental offered better comfort than the Michelin. Yes, some of Bridgestone's summer and Eco tyres are truly terrible.

Michelin has admitted that they made a mistake with the CrossClimate 2, at least for the UK market. Its snow ability is outstanding, but at the expense of its ability on cold wet roads. And it's the latter, not the former, that we get for many days in the UK winter. They will be rectifying this in the CrossClimate 3 or whatever they call the next version. Meanwhile, there are three newer designs of all-season tyres that beat the CrossClimate 2. They are: Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 (which I'll be buying this month); Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 (which I have at present); and Continental AllSeasonContact 2. See https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/Best-All-Season-Tyres-2024-2025.htm for the only person outside the German-speaking world who is doing proper back-to-back blind testing of tyres under controlled conditions. To get the best out of the information he provides, one should watch the Youtube version as well as looking at his tables of measurements. One can even adjust the weighting given to various factors, so if comfort or price, for example, matter more to you than the ability to stop on a wet road, you can rearrange the scores accordingly. The best all-season tyres are now so close in ability to both a good summer tyre and a good winter tyre that I have given up swopping from summers to winters twice a year. This not merely an opinion; it's based on objective measurements of braking distances, handling, etc. Yes, alloy wheels like being away from the salty roads in the winter. I take care to hose them down more often. And you can use a product like this or one of its many competitors:

But they don't say that. At least I don't. The 1-litre engine is indeed better than expected on motorways and hills. But it is poor around town: gruff, lumpy, off-beat, intrinsically unbalanced, slow to react, as any 3-cylinder engine is almost certain to be.

I hunted for the same thing when we got our Karoq. As far as I could see, the last manual Skoda issued as a single PDF was for 2021 models, published November 2020. The Skoda website says, with typical Skoda lack of attention to detail, 'View or download a manual' but one cannot download. I tried a few software hacks to see whether I could iterate over all the pages of the online version and download them all in one go. But they are generated on the fly, not static pages, and I gave up. Maybe someone whose Java programming skills are more up to date than mine could do it. The absence of an up-to-date PDF manual is indeed annoying. Almost as annoying as the poor quality of the manuals themselves.

This is a money-maker for the dealership. Avoid. If you'd like some additional protection, spend the money at an independent local 'detailer' (absurd U.S. name but that's what they all call themselves) who will use better-quality products and have the training and skill to apply them well. Those are almost always lacking at larger corporate dealerships. I am not alone in my view: https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/threads/gard-x-ceramic-dealer-quote.433773 That site should list some independents local to you.

Based on my experience doing a similar swop twice yearly for ten years with my wife's Yetis, I think you'll notice the winter tyres will give less immediate, less precise turn-in response from the steering. Some people don't mind that. Otherwise I think you have a good grip (sorry) on the various issues.

Just to comment on the Blizzak LM-005 that you'd get with that package from Caffyns. In terms of winter capabiity, they are better than 'will do initially', in fact a very good winter tyre, their main weakness being high wear rate. See a thorough comparative test here, by the only person doing properly controlled back-to-back blind testing outside of the German, Austrian, and Swiss motoring clubs: https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2023-Tyre-Reviews-UHP-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

One of these products may well be all it needs: https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/exterior/paint-contamination/iron-fallout Though as you have got both SRP and wax polish on, you might need to remove them first to let the iron dissolver work. Isopropyl alcohol would take care of that, and so might your clay bar. One of the golden rules when detailing responsibly is: use minimal interventions first, then step up to more forceful measures only if necessary. In this case machine polishing is the more forceful measure.

The fronts are definitely A864S: I fitted a pair today. Bought as usual from wiperblades.co.uk which normally has a good price. For a few moments I thought they were not going to fit, as the plastic fitment that connects the blade to the wiper arm is not quite the same shape as on the OEM blade. But it did fit correctly after some careful inspection and manipulation. Oh for the days before SWF was bought over. Their blades were a lot better than Bosch. I last replaced the SWF blades on my BMW eight years and three months ago and they still wipe as well as when they were new. But Bosch will do.

You won't know until you try it and nor will anyone else. IT technicians solve component problems by a process called swop till you drop.

Sorry I don't have the update (the Russian sites seem to be all over it) but if you have the changelog I'd be very glad to see it.

He said the tyres were more worn on the outer edge than the inner. That points to too much toe-in, not under-inflation.

That is indeed what the law requires. But it isn't a case of tyre manufacturers taking advantage of the law to skimp on tread depth at the edges. It's the other way round: the law sensibly recognises that modern tyres would have much less safe handling during cornering if the tread were equally deep all the way to the edge, leaving a right-angle profile at the shoulder. The tyre is part of a mechanical system that has to take account of suspension camber, roll angles, and much else. Tyre design and manufacturing is fiercely competitive. Manufacturers are of course mindful of cost, but certainly not to the point where saving a small amount on tread would make a tyre a much poorer performer and less safe than others in its price bracket. As for 1.6mm, Michelin has been saying for several years now that their tyres will retain full performance all the way down to the legal limit and there is no need to change them at 3mm or 4mm as many recommend. When it comes to aquaplaning resistance, that claim takes some believing, but Michelin knows more about such things than any of us, and I for one would not assert they are wrong without some empirical evidence.

The tread is less deep at the outer edge because steering response when cornering would be badly degraded otherwise. I don't see what this has to do with taking advantage of any law.

Buying the Contis is a good decision and I agree with all the points you make. I'll just add that the point you make above is a case of cause and effect. That is, the deeper tread on the Contis when new is the cause of their poorer dry braking, as the deeper tread will squirm more under braking load than a shallower tread. And for the same reason, if you frequently brake hard, they will probably wear no better than a tyre with a shallower initial depth. These are the reasons why many new tyres are sent out into the world with slightly less tread depth than used to be the case. On the plus side, when the Contis are part-worn, they may well overcome their dry braking disadvantage - which is more than slight: when new, they take nearly 4 metres further to stop from 60 mph than the best of the latest all-seasons. But every tyre wins some and loses some. The Conti is a great choice at present.

You don't need the indicator plug unless you are determined to connect via the cigarette lighter instead of the terminals under the bonnet. And if so, the cig lighter socket has to remain live indefinitely. It is live when first entering the car, with ignition still off, but I don't know whether it may shut down after some time. Someone who has powered a dash cam from it will know. But it's easier to forget about the indicator plug.

If someone is charged with the offence of driving a vehicle that does not have a working speedometer, it is an adequate defence to show that steps have been taken to have the defect remedied by replacement or repair as soon as possible. So once you have arranged a repair and can prove it, you do not have to wait for the repair to be completed before driving the car.

Agreed. I think they will say no, citing type approval or some such regulation that doesn't apply in the UK but constrains the factory. As for speedo. Of the wheel/tyre combinations Skoda provides for the Karoq, in 16", 17", 18", and 19", all four have rolling circumferences within 1.5% of each other. The four 4WD fitments all have slightly higher rolling circumferences, but they are again within 1.5% of each other. I'd guess there may be a different final drive ratio on the 4WD and speedo calibration is likely fixed according to whether it's 2WD or 4WD. Hence I think they would say calibration can't be changed, and in any case it is not necessary.

That's when you walk. They will come after you unless they have a queue of buyers.

That's right. There are 'detailing' products for plastic but the improvement would be very slight. One could have insisted on a replacement part before concluding a deal (or walking away) but not afterwards. But the part is available. I see one on eBay for £44, though as it's used, it is likely to have some scratches of its own. I'd be going to TPS, the supplier of VAG parts, for a price on a new one.

I have 24.6. It updated over the air at some point without any indication it was doing so. 2023 Sportline.

There are two distinct issues and they occur on many VAG models with this design of filler flap latch and acutator. One is the latch sticking in the filler flap (it has to rotate through an angle to latch and unlatch). This can be fixed, or prevented, with silicone spray or graphite lubricant, which will need repeat treatment if it washes away. The other is actuator failure, which needs a replacement solenoid. A really crummy design with two flaws, and it has gone un-fixed for at least 10 years, as it occurs on a family Leon from 2014 as well as a 2023 Karoq.

On the Yeti it was controlled by a setting in the 'Convenience' section of the Maxi-Dot display.

There are many, many posts about rain closing on the OBDEleven forum for various VAG cars. I didn't see anything suggesting it can be coded to activate for the Karoq but I may have missed it.