Gerrycan

The variability of recommendations across the VW group's limited range of shared engines across different countries is almost infinite and quite often contrary to expectations. Australia is a massive island continent and the variety of climates and micro climates is extraordinary (four seasons Tasmania to the tropical North, alpine snow to desert), but as far as I know Australia gets one belt replacement policy. It all seems very random. Yes it can occasionally get quite dusty here in Australia We have taken our Octavia wagons estates (mk2 and mk3) on a number of dirt roads over the years and while the outside of the car from the front tyres back get very dusty, very quickly I am always surprised how clean the under bonnet and air filters are when I check afterwards.

I have got an early Mk3 Octavia and I find the brakes are very sensitive but like @TheUltraRunner I avoid heavy braking mostly because I drive to get good consumption and I think it is safer way to drive anyway (less reactive and more anticipatory driving). Despite its relative vast internal space the new 1.5tsi Mk4 Octavia is relatively light at 1327kg, so no it is not heavy, however the new engine is probably like my 1.4tsi and offers very little engine braking, possibly even less with active cylinder deactivation. Other threads have also suggested that the dsg model's may now coast 'out of gear' in normal mode whereas before it was only available in economy mode? Skoda make a big thing about charging the battery from regen braking, so maybe light applications only initiate the regen process and real braking only with more determined application? I don't have this feature on my 2014 Octavia.

Very nice. It is increasingly difficult to get sensible rubber on a sedan/estate over here in Australia. I accidentally upgraded from 16 inch steel to 17 inch tyres when I took a very reasonably priced option package for cruise control/rear sensors/more speakers etc. I know that goes against the usual trend but I was concerned about driving on our local dirt corrugated roads. The 17" are just ok but I would still have preferred the 16". I posted above about not having had or really seeing a need for front parking sensors. Yesterday I parked our very old and tiny Echo runabout at the back of the local shopping mall. A Qashcai pulled into an adjacent bay and the driver mistakenly tried to park level with my much smaller car and smacked her nose into a low concrete block So yeah, front sensors are a good idea

The sedan does have the best aerodynamics in its class so I am not really surprised to see owners reporting good consumption on a longer run

I'm pretty sure from many threads on this topic that the dreaded B-pillar rattle is a referred sound from fuel pipes running under the car. Apparently easy to fix with a bit of padding if you have access to a car pit or jack it up to get under it. Mine is only apparent for a couple of months of the year with winter temperatures so I have never bothered to address it.

I did laugh at this one.

My old Octavia only has rear parking sensors and I find them a really useful supplement to conventional reverse parking using mirrors and natural driver vision. Particularly at night where low to mid priced vehicle's reversing cameras are noticeably lacking. Is your new car fitted with standard cruise control or the active radar system? I have only had the standard systems fitted to my vehicles but it makes longer journeys a whole lot easier. I understand that the radar based system is probably much more useful for crowded UK roads.

That is a noticeable improvement to consumption but it is now about what I would expect for a diesel on a longer run with a high motorway component. Be interesting to see if others follow up on your tip and get similar benefits I'd agree that manuals are capable of offering better consumption than an auto around town but that might be countered by the autos longer gearing benefits on a motorway ?

When you say adapted, do you mean you changed some EGR settings or you initiated some sort of reset? I hope your daughter is ok now? I remember going through a similar traumatic event with my daughter at about that age when she got a bad infection from a really bad mosquito bite and my wife and I did shifts staying with her (24 hours) in her room for a few days. All ended well for us and I hope that you have the same sort of resolution.

No real economy benefit at all from what others have reported I'd say from your impressive results that you are already an economical driver and already light on the throttle but I guess there is no harm in trying it and finding out for yourself. just a warning that some find their display results a bit optimistic when compared to real consumption. Every vehicle is different, for instance my 2014 manual Octavia was slightly pessimistic (tank average was always 0.1L/100 or 0.2L/100 worse than distance covered against refill quantity. Over 7 years it has moved to being about 0.2L/100 optimistic. It's a simple check every time I fill. I used to use Fuelly.com but can't be bothered now. My wife drives the car now for her daily 13 km commute and is getting about 47 mpg, and when I drive it I usually get about 53 mpg on the same journey. Longer open highway distances we get somewhere between 50 and 60 mpg depending on a lot of different factors. Strong headwinds have been a killer for a couple of attempts to achieve 1000 km on tank where I have to average better than 55 mpg (5L/100). The other thing is my chickening out when realising I could possibly run out of fuel nowhere near a petrol station in some remote part of Australia. The 1.4tsi is a really good flexible and economical engine, just a pity the Octavia did not come with the ACT version that was put in the Superb.

@Michaeldavis39 is your car equipped with DSG or a manual gearbox? The main difference with Eco mode with the DSG is that it allows 'in-gear' coasting, which can be beneficial in certain circumstances but not everyone likes it or finds it improves consumption. If you have a manual box then Eco just changes the throttle mapping to a 'softer' setting but does not improve consumption. Cruising with other cars on motorway or single lane highway will get the excellent consumption you experienced.

Ask yourself how fast would you drive with your family in the car and your expectations of other driver's behaviour in the proximity of your wife driving your children? How about a bigger engine 1 series for some track work where you can have some fun in relative safety for you and everyone else?

I drive a manual 1.4tsi Octavia and have commented on here a few times on my findings on the merits of coasting. A modern direct injected petrol engine behaves more like a diesel insofar as it does not have a throttle (that a port injected or old carby engine requires) this reduces the pumping losses compared to older fueled engines at small throttle settings. Australia uses the metric system and with the L/100 setting it shows the consumption at tickover (my car does not have stop/start) of a remarkably low 0.5L/hour which is the same as my previous 1.9pd. If I raise the revs to 1500rpm then consumption is 1.5L/hour. When coasting at only 20kph with a tickover consumption of 0.5L/100 that translates to 2.5L/100 (113mpg), and coasting at 100kph (565mpg) There is a long descent on a dual carriageway that I used to use regularly, the gradient was such that if I left it in gear and on cruise control at 100kph (no other cars around me) then there was a small amount of engine braking and the cruise control would have to apply a tiny amount of throttle to maintain the set speed so consumption was around 1.5L/100 (188mpg). If I disengaged gears then the gradient was enough to allow the car to maintain 100kph (maybe even increase) with consumption of 0.5L/100 (565 mpg). If I had a car or truck in front lowering the wind resistance then I had to stay in gear to avoid running into it and consumption was of course zero fuel. I have frequently commented how little engine braking the 1.4tsi offers and can only imagine how low that engine braking is with the 1.5tsi and two deactivated cylinders. That is not a problem on the largely flat terrain on which I drive but you sure would have to use the brakes a lot if you live in steep terrain. I'll just say that coasting does have a role in promoting good consumption but it does depend on the driver's abilities and the road conditions and is not always the best option in all conditions.

Our 2014 Mk3 Octavia manual 1.4tsi went in for its annual 90k km major service including all filters and brake fluid. Skoda sold here only have annual service options. During the drop off it was mentioned that the belt replacement was due at 7 years or 105k km, our car has only done 78k km. Australia is usually regarded as a severe operating environment with our very high summer temperatures, relatively dusty environment and appallingly high sulphur content fuel so i was somewhat surprised to note that the UK is 5 years and ours is 7 years. I also thought that our distance recommendation is relatively low. There was no real pressure applied by the rep and I decided to defer cam belt replacement as we are looking at our future transport requirement alternatives. He admitted others in my situation (7 years and low distance) had also decided to defer and that to date there had not been any incidents of cam belt breakage for my model. The cost was quoted at A$1200 (about 700 pounds?) so it might pay me to look around, although our VW specialist independents are generally not a lot cheaper in my experience. Report confirmed original brake pads still had 6mm on front and 8mm on back and the Michelin tyres still had 3mm tread front and rear, with even wear (I rotate them myself). Despite the good report the tyres have become distinctly noisy in the last 10k km, There is small but discernible saw-toothing apparent on all tyres and the noise varies a lot as they become 'in sync' or 'out of sync'. I arrived early for the pickup and while waiting for the car to be washed I wandered around the smart new dealership premises and found my possible new car, a new Candy white manual 1.5tsi Scala on display. They only offered a test drive in a DSG but I have to drive the manual to ensure they have fixed the kangarooing 1.5tsi to my satisfaction. And I guess I should involve the wife

@pragmatix It seems odd that no other Karoq owner is reporting experiencing coasting in 'D'. Might be worth checking with the dealer if this is actually a new 'feature' or a defect of your car to be corrected.

An interesting read but how does the same 1.5tsi engine perform below official figures in the two Audi and better in the Karoq?? To me that says they should be subjecting a number of individual vehicles of the same model to see what result variation is realised.

@jonsym, I sympathise with your almighty consumption drop, and the lack of assistance or even empathy from the dealers. I've got a couple of questions and suggestions for you: Is your car fitted with a PPF? What is your recent 'normal' sort of journey (distance, speeds, highway or town)? The latter question is less relevant if no Petrol Particulate Filter is actually fitted. Someone has already suggested that your car system setting may have been changed by accident to metric but as pointed out by another that would be pretty evident (we run metric settings in Australia)...however you may want to check that it has not been changed accidentally to American gallons which are smaller than Imperial (British) gallons as that would be much less obvious. US gallons was/is an option on both my mk2 and mk3 Octavia. Assuming the measurement has not been changed and the reading is accurately reflecting higher consumption then it is possible (but admittedly unlikely) the fuel was contaminated. I would expect the car to be running really badly and barely able to tick over if the fuel was that bad. I can't see how Stop/start operation would be affected by bad fuel, well it would stop, but not start again. if the dealer only topped up the battery and did not actually test it then it may be worthwhile getting it checked. Stop/start can be hard on batteries and there have been a few reports in Briskoda of premature battery failure. Probably depends on the usual journey type and maybe what happened to the car over lockdown? Very unlikely it is the air filter, degradation tends to happen over a longer period, not overnight. Fuel filter? again I'd expect the car to judder or stop from fuel starvation, not just worsen consumption. Assuming none of the above it may be worth your while contacting the selling petrol station and registering a complaint (hopefully bought on credit card for confirmation). 1) it registers that you recognise a possible problem with the fuel they supplied and if it manifests in later possible engine issues then it strengthens your claim for compensation. 2) Others who have filled there may have had the same problem and reported their issues which may prompt an ethical company to be proactive (don't hold your breath for that). In fairness what they don't know they cannot investigate. I know two separate incidents in our tropical Northern Territories where contaminated diesel fuel was sold from individual stations (pumps?) and numerous vehicle engines were damaged. It was only the the fact that the NT equivalent of the AA or RAC were able to collate the increase in call outs that they were found out and the vehicle owners compensated. In one of my mate's case he did unexpectedly well out of it when all the inconvenience factors were thrown in Edit: Just another thought: I don't know all the details of the UK lockdown and release but UK 95 octane fuel has a legal requirement for 5% Ethanol content which is not usually a problem but IF the fuel had been stored for an excessively long time (lockdown closure and /or lower general fuel use) and IF storage had been slightly compromised (allowing some moisture contamination) then the ethanol and petrol would separate and you MAY have been unlucky enough to fill with a less than optimal mix? A lot of 'IFs' but you would think the next fill would resolve the problems.

A quick google suggests petrol particulate filters were introduced to the VW group from September 2018 so it seems likely yours would have it. Surely it is only a problem if the tuner says it is. I would have thought a remap would make the filter more effective by running hotter?

When was the car manufactured?

Uk holiday and a hire Kia Cerato manual 1.6d (I think, as there were no markings). Most of our mileage was on motorways and I was sticking to speed limits, not that there was much opportunity to speed with the heavy traffic and the many sub 70mph restricted zones. The upside was the surprisingly good mpg and repeated calculated 70mpg tank fills. The first tank was about 60mpg but when I learnt to ignore the car's gear recommendations and give it a few more revs in each gear it actually improved the consumption. Ideal car for what we needed but as boring as all ..... to drive. We really enjoyed touring Cornwall and later the Welsh border area but after Covid restrictions lift we'd love to come back and 'do' Scotland. Maybe late 2022 as Australia is really behind in our vaccinations but the momentum is starting to build now. Get my first on Tuesday Be interested to hear how you get on with the Ioniq.

Having experienced an EV I am not surprised the disks can get get quite rusty. The strong retardation off 'throttle' initially took me by surprise. It's a bit of a badge of honour really.

When we drove around similarly the steep and narrow roads of Cornwall in a diesel our consumption dropped by 20mpg to 50mpg so I know where you are coming from. I said earlier that EV are excellent for urban journeys but I suspect that they are also good in the terrain and journey type you describe. Every time you brake you are not converting your inertia to heat but putting something back in the battery. At this early stage of battery development I don't think it is feasible to try to implement a common interchangeable format because the technology is likely to become outdated very quickly. Bad enough trying to standardise the plugs. I recently read about developments in Aluminium based batteries (by an Australian university) that acted more like a supercapacitor so although it did not quite have the energy density of Lithium it offered potentially relatively low cost from common materials, light weight, no temperature issues during use, long life and the ability to charge in seconds. Of course take the claims with the usual pinch of salt but interesting none the less. My 'perfect' EV would offer superior efficiency to any existing EV, so either be like the Lightyear 1, or better still the Aptera. The latter is sort of a futuristic cross between my first vehicle, a BMW Isetta 3 wheel bubble car and the aerodynamics and seating position of the gliders I used to fly. I do like good aerodynamics in a vehicle which is why I can't bring myself to go back to an SUV, petrol or electric.

EV are perfect for urban travel, but I agree that interstate is a more challenging. I'm confident that things will change. I have had solar panels for 10 years and they have paid for themselves times over but when I do eventually get an EV I think I will probably invest in a much bigger PV and domestic battery system. Currently my backup plan for long blackouts is a $250 2kW petrol generator for the fridge freezer, everything else is luxury really. Candlelight is so romantic

@Baldur73 I genuinely did not see that coming, but that is from my perspective of the Australian market which is way behind the UK in adopting and promoting EV. You have done your sums for your particular circumstances and it makes sense. The cheapest Scala here is the 1.5tsi manual and is priced at A$28000 drive away, while an Ioniq EV is A$53166. I currently buy our 95 Ron fuel priced at A$1.35 (although that can increase by up to 50% more for a few days). There are no financial incentives to buy an EV in my state of South Australia (Victoria have just announced a $3000 subsidy but are likely to impose a 2cent per kilometre 'road tax' for EV and hybrid because they pay no fuel excise). So you can see there is no real financial logic for us to buy an EV......however Despite our federal government's ongoing love of carbon, particularly coal, there are going to be big changes over the next 3 to 5 years driven by improved renewables and battery technology (and international condemnation of the Aus Govt stance with punitive carbon taxes). One thing for sure is that implementation of the Australian electrical grid revolution is going to be really painful, expensive and not well thought out because politics. If there is one thing that Covid has taught us is that the countries that have handled it the best have followed scientific advise. The same will stand for climate change. Using similar logic to you I've decided to forego buying a new replacement car and wait for more affordable and hopefully more efficient EVs to appear on the Australian market, hey it might be a Skoda by then. From your original post I'm surprised you were only averaging 54 mpg in a diesel driving frugally on a long commute? From my limited experience of driving a diesel in maybe soon to be 'Lesser Britain' I would expect at least 10mpg more.

Nice write up@sthodgson , I tend to agree that driving tiddler cars is a lot more fun than most realise. I've got a now 18 yo Toyota Echo 1.3L manual that is still a hoot to drive. I have prevaricated over its replacement and the price of new and second hand cars has gone up so much that I am losing interest in replacing a perfectly functional runabout that still gives good economy. I recently looked up the Citigo engine specs for another thread and was blown away by what it offers for its tiny size. I am not really interested in the power but the torque on offer. A really good NA engine target is 100Nm per litre engine size, this is rarely achieved and then usually at very high revs. My 1.3 L offers a useful 122Nm of torque at 4400rpm a high percentage of the target which pretty reasonable for its generation but note that the max 63kW of power is at 6000rpm so a relatively small power band. However when you look at the Citigo engine you get an unusually high 95Nm for the one litre engine but at the incredibly low 3000 rpm with max power of 55kW at 6200rpm. I am not sure there is any other production NA petrol engine offering such a wide range and driving flexibility. These numbers are not going to give the car anything other than adequate on-road performance but I think the real difference is its relative efficiency compared to my older generation engine. Only the Up! was sold in Australia for a short time, but I keep my eye out for a tidy low mileage version but they are as rare as hen's teeth and usually a couple of thousand km away interstate :( Just out of curiosity what revs does yours show at 70mph?