jonnybgood

Thanks for your comments guys, much appreciated. As some of you suggest the 2.0tdi is not a fast unit, but in the non VRS Octy estate it certainly performs a lot better than you would expect from what is an understated looking car.

I'm after opinions on both the 150 and 190, but as you say from what I've found on this forum, many people suggest the performance difference isn't as significant as you would expect. However, most were dsg owners, not many manual reviews. It's similar on the Octy forum, with the VRS tdi and the 2.0 tdi, not significant differences. I'm someone who likes a quick car that doesn't look quick as opposed to a car that looks quick that doesn't deliver as you would expect. That's why I'm not keen on the VRS diesel, and was wondering about the Superb 190. The more I look into things, the more I get the impression that I'm going to struggle to improve on what I've currently got. But I simply couldn't go and buy the same car again, what's the point, apart from the assurance of the warranty!

I'm coming to the end of a PCP and was wondering about changing to a Superb amongst many other options. I'm keen to hear other people's experiences of what the engine performance is like. I've read the dsg thread on the 190 bhp version, but was wondering what it was like in manual. I'm currently driving the 150 bhp engine in the Octavia, and find it a fabulous drive, particularly now it has done over 20k and is probably at its peak performance, but wondering how it was in the larger car? The local Skoda dealer only had the dsg 190 bhp hatchback when I went in recently, I had a twenty minute drive, but frankly I don't get on well with automatics and can never get them to perform how they should especially on a short test drive. So far have driven the estate versions of the Seat Leon , the Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Astra, and the Volvo V60 but none of them beat the Octavia or are even on a par. At this rate I might even pay the balloon payment and be done with it, but as someone who generally replaces their car every 3 years, I am keen to try out a PCH deal.

I've always gone for silver in Estate cars, Sovereign Silver in the Astra looks okay. Going to have to go with the Elite Nav spec and add on Parking Pack to match the Elegance spec. We'll see, test drive next weekend will probably put pay to everything in any case!!

I don't agree, I much prefer the understated Octavia's. My 2.0 tdi looks like it couldn't overtake a push bike, but its almost on a par with the VRS equivalent when you look at the specs. Give me a car that looks slow but isn't against a car that looks quick but isn't.

It would be now I'm wavering towards a diesel, but I wasn't over enamoured with the dealership or the Seat Leon. Next test drive is the Astra K sports tourer. A toss up between the 1.6 biturbo diesel, which has similar performance to the Octavia VRS diesel, and the 1.6T petrol. After that I'm giving up and going back into Skoda to look at another Octavia!

I'm coming to the end of my pcp, have been test driving various petrol engine estates in recent weeks as I feel I don't do the mileage to warrant the diesel and associated dpf issues. None of them excited me at all and one of them was a Cupra 290. I must be a total diesel convert because I have a feeling I'm going to end up with another. I rarely stick with the same brand but after three weeks of looking I can't find anything to beat my current Skoda. Intact it's a relief to get back into the thing after each disappointing test drive!

Handbrake? I only ever use that when I've parked up.

And VRS to 1.6? Must be close to halving the bhp. If you're only doing 2k a year, economy can't be the issue.

Mine still doing them regularly after three years. Bloody fan going on for five minutes minimum after engine switch off about once a fortnight. Too many short journeys, petrol next time for sure, although don't know if I'll be able to cope with the extra refinement and a silent engine!

Hope that's right because my PCP finishes in May, could work out quite nicely.

Is that correct, my dealer was suggesting late 2017?

Fair point.Perhaps I've been playing with fire these past 20 years. I'd still sit inside the car and wait for the engine to warm up as opposed to getting a scraper out!

Unlikely many thieves around at 7am on a dark freezing cold morning.Besides what's the point of scraping? You've still got to get the engine up to a certain temperature to prevent misting on the inside.

I admire you guys who have the patience to wait on a 3/4 month build. Luckily I wasn't over fussed on spec and bought one off the shelf, ten days later I was driving it home.