Gerrycan

Our winter weather/work/social/laziness have contributed to a less consistent recent training phase. However, a social media post by my daughter-in-law (full-time work, with a two and half year old) showing her improved running times and fitness over the last year spurred me into venturing out for a twighlight run tonight. After my involuntary tapering I decided to extend my distance to 8km. Went out too fast for the first km so spent the next three recovering and then was able to settle into an even pace. Very happy with 5:36 km averages, which is the best I have been achieving recently for shorter runs. Calves hurt...a lot. Must walk out the lactic acid tomorrow, but my knees handled it comfortably despite the cool conditions.

Hi @m0thm4n , and welcome to the forum. Our Octavia wagon manual 1.4tsi does everything we ask of it and is still a joy to drive after 11 years of ownership.

I'm quite pleased with how things are progressing since being able to string together a few runs in our now cooler weather. My distances covered and speed are slowly improving, but I am not putting too much pressure on myself so that I can enjoy the run more. I have had to correct a previous mentioned running posture problem (stooping and looking at the ground in front of me) and now a new issue with my breathing. Seems stupid, but I actually have had to concentrate quite hard on breathing by using less chest expansion and using more diaphragm breathing. I think both issues were what made my first 'comeback' run a few weeks ago so hard. No wonder I prefer running by myself, it is taking most of my brain power to keep putting one foot in front of the other, conversation is way beyond me. Not sure if it inspirational or just plain daunting when you read headlines like: Canadian ultrarunner Stephanie Case just won the 100-kilometre Ultra-Trail Snowdonia ultramarathon in Wales — six months postpartum, without an elite bib, and while stopping to breastfeed her baby at aid stations. She took 3 years off running to have her baby and just entered the event to test where she was before a more challenging event in July. Incredible!! Me, well I have decided my target this year will again be a 10km run on the flat, and hopefully in under an hour.

Getting older does not make anything easier and I have found myself putting off running due to current high daytime temps/working/health/any excuse really, and then dreading the likely deterioration and pain of resumption after an extended break. I've also been slack regarding my diet and increased my mealtime wine consumption, so I should not be surprised (but I was) that a couple of recent impromptu blood pressure tests have indicated it has risen above ideal levels. Not dangerous but not a trend I want to worsen. I was obviously too complacent that my regular casual and mostly physical taxing work, plus walking two dogs we are looking after twice a day, would be enough to maintain my fitness. So, I have resumed running, just 4 km to start with and by gosh is it slow and has it hurt! However, I can take some solace from the fact that when I started running, about 35 years ago, and did 2km for a short triathlon that I remember it hurt a lot more. It will be interesting to monitor my blood pressure if I manage to maintain about 3 runs a week.

Theoretically both are very economical options but no ICE car really gets good economy unless it can get into the higher gears for most of a journey. If most of the journey is in 4th gear or below then a not so good 32-40mpg, 4th gear and above 40-60mpg The 1.5tsi has more performance potential from the larger capacity but can achieve remarkable economy if driven lightly due to the engine only running on 2 cylinders in low load conditions. It is the smoother of the two and probably the better option if you live in a hilly area. The 1.0tsi engine has only 3 cylinders and is reportedly slightly less smooth of the two. It has adequate performance for normal British roads/traffic/speeds. The .1.0 tsi DSG version does 0-60 in 9.7 seconds (officially) and presume the 1.5tsi is about 8 seconds? You don't say whether you are considering new or second hand? The 1.0tsi could be significantly cheaper to buy and insure, if that is a factor? Test drive both options if possible.

I don't have ACC on my cars but I have noticed on a couple of hire cars that the ACC ran a little closer than I liked. A 100km out of Adelaide the interstate highways go down from Motorway/Dual-carriageways to just an undivided single lane in each direction, bit like the British "A" roads before Motorways. It means if you are following a large truck, or B-double then you don't want to be too close because they could run over a kangaroo/emu/wombat and clear it with their high ground clearance, but which would cause a lot of damage to an Octavia when you run into it. Around 50k kangaroos are killed on Aussie roads a year. I like to allow 3 or 4 seconds distancing here but have to cut it to around 2 seconds or less in Britain, otherwise it's just an invitation for other vehicles to drop in the gap. Impressive economy for a 2.0tsi I filled up tonight and calculated our "since last refuel" average consumption display optimism has worsened by 0.5l/100. So the displayed 5.8L/100 was an actual of 6.3L/100 (45mpg). Which is still not bad considering it is primarily my wife's car. 97% urban environment and 70% peak traffic times.

^^^ That will do it. Not intimidatory drafting I hope. It amazes me how little gap British drivers leave as standard anyway.

Best I have seen claimed for a 1.8tsi. The 2.0tsi engine versions rarely better 50mpg on a run although high 40's is easily achievable. However: a) I'm presuming that this was a relatively exceptional event for you so there must have been a lot more positive than negative factors involved. For instance, when I am rarely holidaying in Britain with a hire car, I get far better consumption on a busy moving motorway than I do on an empty one (the race-cycle peloton effect) b) You have quoted the displayed consumption, which may or not be accurate unless confirmed against actual consumption My now 11-year-old 1.4tsi consumption display used to be pessimistic (consumption better than display) when new but over the years progressed through truly accurate to being optimistic. Today if it shows 5.6l/100 (50mpg) then it is probably 5.9l/100 (48mpg) actual. My odometer is accurate, but the speedo is about 7% optimistic and always has been. I get the unusual situation where the average speed display (calculated by distance and time) is accurate while the digital speed display reflects the analogue speedo inaccuracy. Sorry about the full-on nerdy reply.

Five years is the norm across most brands except a few of the 'elite' which are still three years. Then you get kia and skoda on seven years. The outliers are Mitsubishi with 10 years (if you service annually with them) and MG also with ten years. BYD are seven years but with a lot of caveats on many parts. Host of other Sino brands with long warranties but who knows how long they will be around?

It should not be forgotten that the VAG group did have some difficult times with this engine. When the new WLTP emission requirements came out this engine virtually disappeared from production for about 18 months. When it eventually appeared there were many posts about the cold start kangaroo's issues especially for manual transmission owners across all models. The issues seem sorted now and I would not mind owning one although it is pretty rare here in Australia where the old, but still good, 1.4tsi predominates across new vag group vehicles.

If the knocking noise is related to wheel rotation does it vary with acceleration or on extreme lock in either direction? Universal joint wear? Rarely reported on VAGs but since we still don't know the car mileage or whether it is subjected to a lot of full lock maneuvers like a taxi driver would likely do?

Are you now saying the noise pattern is related to wheel rotation speed and not engine revs?

I'm with @Aldfort on this. The car is still under warranty, contact the dealer for an appointment to update all relevant software, almost bound to be more. Roadside Assist have identified a particular software problem that can repeat without notice so make it the dealer's problem. If you can find out when the update was issued and it was not done during the last service, then I would politely be insistent on a very good explanation. Especially since you have now been inconvenienced twice by their incompetence. I'd only get an OBD2 reader after the warranty expires. A little bit surprise that warranties are still only 3 years in the UK. In Australia they were 3 years when I bought my Octavia in 2014 but increased to 5 years about 2016 and 7 years about 2021. Dates are guesstimates 🙂

I recently found a longlost self help book called "Superman" by a Robert Heller from the late 1970's. He had applied his speciality of business management analysis to consolidate a lot of the recognised texts and studies of the period into a simple to read presentation of the best practices to improve mind and body. It influenced me when I first read it, especially with regards to the ongoing benefits of exercise and a good diet, and I have to say that on re-reading it stands up fairly well to accepted modern recommendations. However, I discovered a subsequent disconcerting revelation: There is an entry in the book about his father and how he had a formidable constitution undermined in later life by a crank diet which is inferred to have lead to his death at the age of 81. When I googled Robert Heller I found that as well as being a prolific author of 280 publications, he died in 2012 at the age of 80 after a long illness. I now have a "what went wrong" feeling similar to what I experienced when I learnt of Michael Mosely's premature death.

Have you owned from new or just acquired this car? I'm almost surprised that the pump has not had to be replaced already based on the frequency that topic appears in this forum. IF it has then hopefully the belt and guides were at the same time but while that is considered a 'no-brainer' addition, obviously not guaranteed. If you are a new owner of an old diesel I'd recommend you get an OBDC reader and software to confirm the status of the DPF.

I attended a local athletic meet recently and watched a junior athlete give a seasoned Olympic finalist a surprise in the sprint finish to a middle-distance race forcing the more experienced athlete to rally again to win. Who doesn't love precocious talent, especially when the backstory includes coming from limited Australian country facilities (a good grass oval) and the nearest proper running track a couple of hours drive away. I was also blown away by his likability and maturity at just 17 years old when I spoke to him later. I find youngsters like that really uplifting.

You are quite right, it is up-selling of a service in much the same way as McDonalds' employees automatically encouraging larger portions (that you may not want). However, as others have already pointed out modern cars with stop/start and numerous other electronic loads and devices do require more expensive versions (EFB or AGM) than the traditional flooded lead-acid type to support the extra requirements. Also bear in mind that stop/start has largely been implemented by the manufacturers to meet increasingly severe pollution and consumption requirements. Anecdotal comments in Briskoda suggest that stop/start equipped vehicles battery life (even with the much expensive EFB or AGM types) can be as short as two years or longer than 5 years, depending on vehicle usage patterns. Occasional charging on an advanced charging systems (presumably those used by the dealers) can reduce sulfation present in lead acid batteries and theoretically extend their life. They may also detect a failing battery and offer a relatively high-priced replacement. There are two ways of looking at this: a) cynically, which I fully understand or b) this is offering preventative maintenance for the many owners that do not know anything, or even care, about vehicle maintenance but would complain vociferously when their battery fails in inconvenient circumstances soon after a vehicle service, which Murphy's law dictates is 'always'. Reading above, I think @nta16 put it better than I did lol

Now I have disturbing images of all those kilted Scotsmen constantly bent over by the roadside adjusting their tyre pressures 🤮

For Loads yes, but do you seriously think 'plenty' do for temperatures? Of course there many, many other factors but that is just changing the topic goalposts.

Yeah you do that.

Sure, but we can get quite high diurnal temperature variations, and I for one won't change all 4 tyres twice a day, everyday.

We used to do a regular 120 km run to the countryside (so little or no traffic) on a near perfectly flat route during our (Adelaide, Australia) winter. If there was a high-pressure zone over us then there would be no wind, but clear sunny skies with daytime temperatures typically in the high teens (say 18 deg C) just after midday. Our return journey would be at night and the temperature would plummet to 4 degrees or less and our average consumption would always be noticeably worse by about 6 mpg for the same average speed (56mpg going and 50 mpg return) While there may have been a marginal improvement in engine efficiency from the higher density cold air it was obviously not enough to offset the negative factors. The longer warm up time to engine operating temperature (you can bet we had the heater on), the increase in air resistance from the aforementioned higher density cool air, the reduction of effective air pressure in the tyre from the colder air and lower road temperature would increase rolling resistance as well, also, headlights would make a very small negative contribution. Looking at internet references your ~15% deterioration in winter is pretty well spot on with reports from others based in the UK.

Never owned a diesel with DPF but I thought the problems with modern high mileage (km) diesels also occurred with high 'ash' levels? What does that register? A very minor point but 10L/100km equates to 28.5 imperial mpg so not quite as awful as the title claim but obviously well below expectations.

Yeah, not good! More detail would be useful, so people know rather than assume. Diesel or petrol (I 'assume' diesel), manual or auto, distance on odometer, ownership history including any fixes, servicing history, has consumption always been bad or a recent phenomenon, typical driving patterns, location in Aus (ie Brisbane is recognised as having the worst traffic conditions), how does the car drive??? Do for starters but others will probably seek more to try and help you.

No protein supplements?