Hedgecutter

Hi, Does anyone have the OM geometry figures for my 62 plate combi 4x4. Many thanks

Sorry, I forgot, what rating did you give the queasy brown interior

I get the air con rattle, and sometimes it occurs without air con, like a pinking sound, but vanishes with a grating noise when you turn on air con. My dash also rattles, but so did my Legacy after a year. My current Skoda dealer used to be the local Subaru dealer as well, and I wouldn't have high expectations of them finding any fault, or dealing with warranty claims, as they failed to do anything with the Subaru, when it had corrosion. It`s worth noting that if your tracking is set at 0, no toe, it will always follow the camber of the road, to the left. A good tech should be able to balance this out and centre your steering wheel. It is common knowledge amongst geometry specialists that even prestige marques often leave the factory with poor alignment. My 4x4 combi skips about all over the road at speeds under 60, so I am just about to have my alignment checked at Christchurch Tyres, who are normally very good. I went to the Wheel Alignment Centre in Southampton a while back, who are owned by Supertracker, and had a rubbish alignment on my Impreza, with different toe in opposite directions on the rear. It`s all down to the tech, and how fussy they are.

Come on, who are these dealers ?

Given your forum name, perhaps you are wishing it on yourself I have found most main dealers only have an incentive to make money out of their franchise, whereas a recommended indie`s reputation is based on actually satisfying each customers requirements, else their business would rapidly vanish. I know that doesn't help with warranty repairs, but some are better than others. Letting others know which dealer has given poor service should be a step in the right direction, as good dealers are sometimes willing to contribute to maintain a good local reputation. I have an aircon rattle and an intermittent sat nav fault at the moment and I know that it will be a battle to prove them under warranty; " we can`t find anything wrong, Sir"

Have you found less dirt accumulates on the rear screen ?

Cobreti; Happy Christmas and New Year. I have just returned from the Alps yesterday, a round journey of 1800 miles, and the Superb coped with it, well, superbly. I got the whole family and ski equipment inside, rather than needing a roof box, and it pulled well at all times, cruising at 140 kph. It was a bit overloaded, which made it feel a bit saggy and bouncy on country roads, and the dash creaked a bit. The only problem, which seems to be across the VAG range, was that the Colombus satnav froze up for a half hour period. It was, dare I say it, a much smoother journey than in the Legacy. I hope that you enjoy yours, especially washing it twice as much, it being white.

Happy Christmas, Brocky. I can guess where you live! It seemed to settle down after an hour or two, but would have been a real pain if we didn't have a Tomtom live. What did Meadens do? I had really bad service from them when they were a Subaru dealership 2 years ago, when they failed to put through 2 warranty claims which were then successful with another dealership. I also had a really rude email from an employee there so I am reluctant to give them my business. I think their Subaru side was in trouble at the time, but I got the impression that as I hadn't purchased from them, I wasn't a priorority. Thanks for your reply.

Hi. Travelling in France at the moment and Colombus has frozen and reset a number of times. I have read the other posts on this and just need confirmation that all that I can do is a soft reset. Car is a 62 plate and thought that it was worth a new topic to highlight how common this is. Will dealer replace or repair? Thanks.

Thanks, that makes sense

How does this work? I have gone from 18" wheels to 205 55 16`s, and it`s set to dynamic at the moment. I think that the offset is 45. Cheers

I was nearly caught out in France 2 years ago; northern and central France was dropping to -14/16 C and none of the petrol stations, mainstream or supermarket, had bothered to boost antiwaxing above -10. Dervs littered the hard shoulder, but we did`nt realise why until we hit the Haute Maurienne and it was -22C at valley level at midday; this meant night time temps at least 8C lower. Even the better Alpine dervs are only rated to -15 or -20C. I understood that some European car manufacturers have inline fuel heaters, but maybe not? Probably not as cold as Lithuania though

Hi, would a Superb my62 1.9 tdi have any pre heating system to prevent fuel waxing and help starting, on a UK model. I am heading for a cold place, and have run into problems before with diesel waxing on my previous derv car. Thanks

Cobreti, I sold up from an 09 Legacy diesel to a 4x4 1.9tdi Superb. I loved the Legacy because it was a drivers car; great chassis feedback and road holding, but always that worry that something would fail ( the gearbox went with 2 weeks warranty left) The Superb is a dull and unrewarding car to drive in comparison, but it is better than the Legacy/Outback in just about every other way and detail. The gear ratios are much better,ditto power delivery, space, and specifications. There are probably more electrics to go wrong on the Superb, but the build quality feels much higher; after all, they don`t build Subarus like they used to. My air con has an annoying rattle, and you may find the front seats less comfortable on a long journey, despite them having far more adjustments. Good luck; I think you will be happy.

Just put 205 55 16`s on and the skipping has gone; almost certainly low profile 18`s with soft sidewalls cause it for me.

I only drive our superb occasionally, but I did yesterday whilst thinking of your post, and I did notice it skip. It occurred at about 40mph on a corner with a broken surface. It may well be a characteristic of the car, but I will be changing to winter rims and tyres shortly, so that will either support or blow apart my theory! After that I will have a geo set up, and report back

Wheel alignment is even incorrect from the factory sometimes, but the other factor that makes cars feel like they skip sideways is tyres with soft sidewall. I have noticed this feeling in my 4x4 superb. Tyres that score highly in tests these days tend to have soft sidewalls to maintain as much contact with the road surface as possible; they also have to cope with profiles which are low just for cosmetic reasons (hence the ride being better on 205 55 16 than standard 18 inchers) So whilst the tyre maintains contact, there is a minute sideways movement of the rest of the car. When I changed from Bridgestone potenzas to Goodyear eagle asymmetric 2`s on my Impreza this was noticable and is the payoff for safety against handling. Just a guess, but if you are on Contis, which always score highly, this could be the case. For wheel alignment, I would always choose a specialist over a dealer; good geo set up is down to skill as well as good equipment, and you want a tech who does this day in day out. I don`t count national tyre chains as specialists !!

I have this noise, which gets louder the longer the journey; it is definitely connected to the aircon, as it vanishes when the aircon is turned on. What was the outcome, D.H ?

I looked for second hand alloys for 2 months; they were generally £ 250 plus, often collection only or a large courier charge, and in bad condition. I have been stung on buckled alloys before, and was not prepared to pay this amount for ragged second hand alloys. There certainly were`nt any going for £ 80, in any condition. So... ugly steels for me!

Christchurch Tyre Co are also excellent, and fit all my winters; as an old customer I get it a bit cheaper than £40.They are on off Somerford Rd by Screwfix. You also get offered a coffee or tea as well! Got the steels from Oponeo £46 each delivered, and Nokian WRA3`s 94V reinforced, £78 each, Pneu`s online.

Sorry.. correction; Mytyres could not supply the tyre that I wanted with a 94 load rating...that`s what I meant. I`ve had tyre/wheel shopping overload!!

Good, good. Does the hub have to have a centre cap?

Thanks for those replies; great community. Richie, Mytyres only offers a steel with an offset of 50, and I want to keep as close to OE as possible. Oponeo seems cheapest at the moment, at £45 a rim, free delivery. I have gone for Nokian WRA3`s. Having used Nokians for 4 years on two Subarus, I have found them to be the highest rated winter tyres for the price, and very hard wearing. I have just sold a 3 year old set for £100, so they cost me £232 over that period.

Evening all ! I`ve got to buy some steel rims for my superb ( 7j 112 et45 centre 57.1) but there seems to be a lack of places to buy. I`ve seen Oponeo, Tyremen and Mytyres, but are there any others ? Will 9mm snowchains fit and clear the suspension on 205 55 16`s ? Many thanks

Another vote for Nokians; I`ve run A3`s and G2`s, and for the price alone they are worth it. They also are rated up with the more expensive tyres in German tests. If your vehicle is fully loaded, eg travelling to Alps, it is wise to uprate the tyre loading to 94 or tick the reinforced box when buying. I`m about to buy some more in 16 inch; Oponeo and Pneus Online are cheapest at the moment, but the prices will jump by at least 20% in October. Karl, are you sure they are not tractor tyres!?