nicknorman

There are a lot of pros and cons for each. I do prefer the new car because it is faster and more economical, but it does have its irritations. The satnav is particularly bad, taking ages to boot up and it thinks everywhere in the uk is in Deutschland. But as I said, I use Waze with apple carplay so actually it doesn’t matter. Things that are better with the 2023 model: More torque and 7 speed box Much better motorway economy throttle mapping is better DSG sports mode is less rev-happy led matrix headlights are great ventilated seats Auxiliary electric heater (car warms up really quickly in winter) heated steering wheel washer for the reversing camera ACC stays armed longer in start/stop traffic warning lights for blind spot monitoring better placed and brighter Remote locking/unlocking via the app, honk and flash to find your car etc (but you have to pay to subscribe) Virtual cockpit is nice but as you say, by no means essential. Things that are worse with the 2023 model: DSG very reluctant to change down eg exiting bends drive mode defaults to normal on each start Satnav is poor Apple carplay volume is much lower than radio volume No knobs on the infotainment screen (old one had mechanical volume and select/zoom knobs) So overall I prefer the new one, it is just a bit spoilt by the DSG mapping. And L&K for both really makes them “Grand Tourers”. As far as “full service history” is concerned, there really isn’t a lot to service that is important, beyond engine oil and filter - and this is the easiest car to self-service I’ve ever owned, certainly to change the engine oil anyway. Haldex oil at 3 years and DSG oil at 40k miles. DQ381 DSG is nominally 80k miles but I think I will do mine sooner.

Sorry, earlier I said the DNUA was 6 speed but of course it’s 7 speed. Perhaps there is a bit of confusion about what you mean by “strongest” engine. I took it to mean “most robust”, but perhaps you mean “with the most power”? Anyway all the engines are very good. Well, I have owned the CJXA and the DNF and they are both very good. For me it is not just about the engine, it is about the whole car. The 2016 model had a sluggish throttle response, but that was easily fixed with a pedal box. The throttle response on the DNF is better and doesn’t really need a pedal box, but the gearbox mapping is very sluggish which rather spoils the drive. Not so easy to fix - a gearbox remap would be needed. Or of course to drive it in manual mode. But then the 7 speed is much more economical on the motorway, due to lower rpm. Both my cars were L&K with DCC. The old one remembered the drive mode setting, I used “custom” to keep everything normal except DCC which was Sport. The new car reverts to “Normal” so I have to make 3 presses on the button to set “Custom” after every start, which is annoying. New car has heated steering wheel - great. But satnav is worse (I use Waze anyway). Kessy on all 4 doors. Virtual cockpit is nice. Lane assist on new one is terrible unless you have Travel Assist. Predictive ACC is a waste of time. New car has coasting in Normal drive mode, which I dislike. It can easily be turned off with VCDS fortunately.

The core of all 3 engines is the same I think, so I doubt there is any fundamental difference in reliability. The main difference in performance results from the different gearbox on the DNFE - 7 speed with 400nm limit, vs 6 speed with 350nm limit for the earlier ones. So although the max rpm power outputs are much the same, the mid-range on the later car is quite a bit better. This and the 7speed box gives 0.5 second better 0-100kph time, which is a big difference. Downsides of the latest model is that the DSG mapping makes it very reluctant to change down until you really push the pedal, and then it is off like a shot. And the reliability of the DQ381 gearbox seems more questionable than for the DQ250 of the earlier models.

it’s not so much about not running over people, it’s about who has priority, which helps maintain an orderly flow of traffic. In the past, pedestrians would wait before crossing a side road, if a car was turning into it. The car kept going, the pedestrian waited, no-one got run over. What should happen now is the car waits, the pedestrian crosses. But in reality my experience is that 99% of both car drivers and pedestrians don’t know that things have changed. If I am turning into a side road and a pedestrian wants to cross, they stop and wait. I could stop and try to encourage them to cross but often they are not paying attention beyond waiting for the car to pass - on phones, chatting, looking elsewhere. So the consequence is either a prolonged delay, or I just keep going. Pragmatically it tends to be the latter. There is a junction near our house where most cars turn off the mainer road into the side road. If I walk across the side road, 99% of drivers will object, try to run me over, sound horn etc. One time I nearly got run over by a bus - would have done if I hadn’t broken into a run. A professional bus driver really should know the rules, but this one certainly didn’t. One should bear in mind this is Aberdeen where most drivers would rather have a crash than allow someone to change lanes - and pedestrians are beneath contempt.

Although most UK drivers don’t seem to realise it, it is exactly the same in the Uk these days, following a change to the Highway Code a couple of years ago.

That’s interesting, probably I have never let it get to the latter stages quoted. What is not mentioned is whether pressing the throttle overrides the whole process. In my experience it does, and certainly in now 120,000 miles in two different equipped cars, I have never had an automatic maximum braking event.

Ah yes this is exactly the old and bold pilot in you coming out! We must always drive manually, the computer is the enemy! In order to identify the best use of training time one should look at the accident statistics and direct training accordingly. I don’t think you will find an inability to control a car during an off road rally stage, is a major cause of road accidents! And skidpan training is good but somewhat reduced in need with the advent of ABS. Many years ago I was driving uphill on a RH bend on a country road on ice. My old Saab 900 was pretty good in icy roads. But coming the other way down hill appeared a 4x4 thing slowly spinning around and on a trajectory to collide with me. I noticed that none of the wheels were revolving! Driver looking horrified with foot stomped hard on the brake as it spun. Fortunately I managed to time a bounce onto the verge up the bank and just missed it. But it’s the same as aviation - manual flying (driving) skills need to be trained and preserved, but equally use of automation ditto. So the overall training burden is increased by having automation - but so is safety.

You and I survived, but quite a lot of people didn't. The aim of the various driver assistance devices is to increase the number of people surviving in the future. I have an aviation background and when aircraft automation first came in, the old and bold pilots resented it. Especially in an emergency situation, they wanted to be the big important hero guy manhandling the flight controls. They resented some computer doing it for them. But history has shown that they crashed quite a lot, whereas after the introduction and acceptance of aircraft automation, accident rates were substantially reduced. Of course competent use of the automation requires training, and that is probably where the problem arises with automation in cars - there is no training on how to monitor the automation, or even how it works or more importanly how it behaves. For example I suspect a lot of people don't realise that whilst if you have ACC engaged and the car in front slow down, your car will brake as necessary (up to a maximum braking limit), whereas if you come round a corner and encounter stationary cars ahead, it won't brake and will plough straight into them. This is the sort of thing that ought at the very least to be highlighted in the manuals - but even then, lots of people don't read the manuals! So really, there should be mandatory training on how a car's driver-assistance systems behave, just as there is for aircraft. Never going to happen, I know!

A system designer might (should) decide to limit the maximum automatic braking effect, to reduce their liability in the event of spurious activation causing a rear end shunt. Well that’s how I’d design it! My experience is that when the system needs to apply the brakes hard, it can do so up to a point, but if more braking is required to avoid a collision, the big red emergency brake splash logo appears on the dashboard display, along with a “bing” sound. It’s up to the driver to stomp the brake pedal. Or to press the throttle if it is a spurious activation.

Interesting. I think a problem with discussing this sort of thing is that there is some variation between models, and between the same model of different years. I put 100k miles on my 2016 Superb and have now done about 18k miles on my 2023 Superb and never had a spurious braking action that was not over-ridden by the accelerator.

The difference is whether or not you are pressing the accelerator. In my experience, if you are pressing the accelerator this overrides auto-braking (other than low speed manoeuvre braking). When cruise control is engaged, you normally don't press the accelerator as well, so the spurious braking can occur. One way around that is to press the accelerator a bit even if cruise control is engaged, this in my experience stops the spurious braking. Or to be ready with your foot over the accelerator and react to spurious braking by pressing is asap.

Not if the cruise control is engaged, and that is the only time I have had rogue braking.

I am fairly sure you can turn off front assist, but perhaps not on more recent cars. The gaffer tape would stop adaptive cruise control from working and as you say, throw up some lights. As far as I am aware the front assist can only put the brakes on "quite hard", not fully, so I am surprised that you got the abs kicking in unless the road was very slippery. One way to defeat it is to keep the accelerator depressed slightly, this overrides the automatic braking. Bear in mind that manoeuvre braking (very low speed, using the parking sensors) is different and not over-ridden by the accelerator.

My 2016 Superb had a sd card slot in the glove box. This was how the satnav database was updated (ie via an sd card that you had previously downloaded and unpacked the software on to on a pc) Not sure but I doubt you could simply download some software to get apple carplay etc You could probably physically replace a USB A with a USB C connector but it would only be for charging. The additional functuality including data transfer wouldn't work. You would be better to get a USB A to C adapter If fitted, lowering the mirror in reverse only works when the rotary mirror control knob is set to the L position - or the R position if you drive on the right in Chile? An LED indicator bulb uses much less current than an old fashioned one. If you replace with LED then probably the car will complain that the bulb has blown because it is not taking enough current. You could add a resistor in parallel to increase the current drain. I think you can get LED replacement bulbs that include such a resistor.

My 2016 UK model didn't have closing from the virtual pedal - just the keyfob (if you were outside the car) and the button on the boot. My 2023 UK model does do closing from the VP.

Yes it just falls by gravity when the lock is released by pulling the handle. Quite prone to slightly sticking due to dirt or corrosion, you just need to reach underneath and encourage it (assuming the cable is moving the release OK).

There is an edit feature, the 3 dots top right. But I think the ability to edit a particular post expires after a while.

I find the ACC very good. But you have to bear in mind it is a driver assist system, not an autopilot. You still have to drive the car and manage the issues mentioned by the detractors, but this can be done smoothly and not noticeable to passengers. I find it reassuring that on a long motorway drive, if I slightly lose concentration for some reason, it is watching the vehicle ahead and will clap on the brakes if necessary. One can reasonably sit closer than 2 seconds to the vehicle in front because probably 3/4 second of that is for human reaction time, which the electronic machine doesn’t suffer from.

Did you try Victoria Garage, Maud?

Haldex servicing, according to Skoda, is every 3 years. No mileage specified. Which is a bit odd, but it seems your car has been serviced according to the rules. The failure mode is normally debris from the Haldex clutch plates clogging up the pump inlet filter gauze. If the Haldex pump isn’t working due to pump failure, there are no dashboard warning lights so it might be worth checking that it is actually working, either by physical test on slippery service, or checking for fault codes with VCDS etc. A new Haldex pump is not particularly expensive.

There is a YouTube vid showing it done here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrvwbzAU810

Not sure why you would have to undo anything except the top and bottom nuts on the ball joint. There is no need eg to pull the hub outwards.

I think also that Skoda probably buys brake discs from whichever supplier is cheapest at the time, they obviously don't manufacture brake discs themselves! So maybe there is some variation according to which company supplied the discs for your car?

My rear discs were badly scored after 20k miles, they weren’t worn near limit but they had trashed the pads. I replaced them with Delphi (which are quite cheap) and these lasted much better.

Different climate though!