brettikivi

another 2k down, winter tyres are now on. With colder weather (we had snow the first three days of last week), the Aux heater is getting used and the numbers are immediately worse. My commute change seems to have been negative on the numbers, as there's literally five minutes of 50/40km/h at either end and a bunch of 80 at the Helsinki side. Limits are still posted at 120... and so I figure the winter tyres alone make for a 0.3l/100 difference. The Aux heater is drinking quite a lot Hoping to leave the car standing still for much of this week, I've done near 3000km in October alone. - Bret

It doesn't work like that. I'm becoming less and less a fan of what OBD11 does the more I see posts like this. Coding is like playing with the Windows Registry. Some stuff seems trivially simple and some hives like HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE exist for all computers. But where HP might add a specific tree "HP", it would be a little... obtuse to expect Lenovo to do the same or MSI. Just because it's a Windows 10 machine doesn't mean any changes you make are going to work and be without side-effects. You may or may not be able to see or experience those side-effects immediately. The registry may or may not be case-sensitive. You won't know until you try and even then it might not be clear without damage, like not being able to start the computer up any more. Having a backup or plan b starts to be important at that point. Back to VCDS: reading the VIN is trivial as it's in the top level of the ECU. Connecting the VIN to a setup and / or software and firmware versions is something that I see as being well beyond both the remit and capability of the log-reading companies and comes across as naive. It's not even in the capabilities of ECP and co, whose business model depends on them selling you the right thing, and even dealer information isn't always 100%. So why should it be possible for a small outfit to know definitively? If you don't know what you are doing, you should leave it alone. If you understand what you *want* and *why* it should work like that, then you'll also know that you should be taking care to ensure you have a record of "was" before anything changes and the changes you make. Understanding the principles of "leuchtfunktion", that side and tail and DRL lights are all seperate and each side is treated differently, that the BCM is trying to play nicely with the various electronic systems of the car, that the complexity of the systems involved is significant - the connection between headlight switch and LED is at the level of "tell the LED to turn on" being sent by bus and no longer "just" a relay or switch connecting. Like the facelift wasn't just a facelift and 2016 cars differ from 2015 ones (MIB version is a starting point), the facelift brought a whole bunch of changes - this is non-trivial information which seems irrelevant to those who are not versed in the ins and outs but may actually be quite important. Long coding gets around some of this by allowing you to understand that you changed the value of Byte 1 from 0x0011 to 0x0111, which is the better way to do it. Then you really should have a note of what the preceding state was and what you did to "fix" it.

those are ambition wheels here as well. - Bret

Active, Ambition, Elegance, L&K. Changed in 2016 or so here to Active, Ambition, Style, L&K. For us the wheels are the giveaway. SE stuff is just ... strange for me... - Bret

as far as I'm concerned, if I can read a number, the engine is warm. Especially from a -20C start. I might only see 65-70C in winter. - Bret

happy with my 1.0. Decent consumption, too. I'm on my second... - Bret

factory reset. Takes 2 minutes, clears everything. - Bret

now heading towards 17500km. Things have settled a little, though my commute just changed so my numbers will change slightly. I have had the experience of pulling a couple of massive trailers over the last two weeks, though, and it was interesting - first, it added around 25% to my consumption numbers (though most of the driving was in Helsinki congestion); second, the car was fine with it but it was nowhere near as sprightly as usual. That's fair enough with something like this behind you. Second trailer was far nicer to drive than the first - not quite sure why, but whatever. The electrics worked well, no PDC, Trailer on the display, secondary indicator light showing... Normal business sees me dropping the averages below 6l now. With winter rapidly approaching, the Aux heater has seen lots of use already and winter tyres will go on in a couple of weeks. Speed limits will change at the end of the month to 100km/h and I will try to run a couple of weeks with summer wheels at the lower speeds just to see the effect - I think it's around 1l, possibly more. - Bret

Depends a little on the power you're putting in.. what amp was it? - Bret

.. and there are generally pretty good reasons why OBD11 can't. Especially this particular thing, I'd be talking to a dealer to work out what it is that you think is wrong.. you can adjust the physical position of the headlamp unit but it's a process which requires precision. Or a flat surface and some time and a measuring stick or three. - Bret

yes, it is, and the free version is pretty good. If that can't connect, I'd say you have a duff dongle.... if it can, then the DPF app is doing something strange. But when it's connected, it should just work. - Bret

OBD 11 demands you use their dongle. Carista allows you to use any. Torque will also communicate with most. If the Dongle actually connects and works, then the DPF app should also "just work". Does Torque work with it? - Bret

We just swapped one car - the Swift went and was replaced by an S-Cross. It's a great car, it was a stonking deal and it means I've got a lot of the numbers we used for that justification in my head. Start from the top: a three year old car is generally a great deal cheaper than the new one. We were looking at €26k for a new S-Cross and we got a three-year old with 21k on the clock for €17k or so. Depreciation didn't figure in our calcs, because it's not of interest when the car will be used for, say, five-six years - you've got your value and anything left at that point is a bonus IMO. If it's worth €5000, grand. There were three cars I was looking at. The one we bought, a blue one, and an oddball from Sweden with the 1.4 engine. We tried the blue one, it was tired and unimpressive. The one we eventually bought felt much nicer, tighter, sprightly, and it turns out it was looked after *superbly* by the PO: towbar was added, rust protection, nearly-new Hakka 8 winter tyres, DoT 5.1 brake fluid... that I didn't know at the time, but the direct car comparison was an easy decision. The 1.4 would have been nice, it has a six-speed box... but the hassle of importing is a pain here. Then there's the additional running costs, which I thoroughly checked. We have CO2 based yearly tax here and the difference between a 113g/km CO2 and 145g/km is around €60 per year. So the 1.4 would have taken time, been a nicer car to drive, but would definitely drink more and so we're talking total extra costs of €25-30 or so on a monthly basis. Add on the additional initial cost of €2000 and, over a four-year finance, we're looking an approximate €75-100 per month difference, depending on interest rates. Which would be why the 1.0 S-Cross sits on the drive. We can easily deal with the payments, the running costs are acceptable, and it's actually way better on fuel than I thought it would be. It's also fast enough, though it does sound raucous, and the wife likes driving it. Big bonus there. For the situation outlined from the OP: I'm taking it that they are on a tight budget and have multiple kids, and one of the reasons for looking at a nearly-new car is to avoid the potential unknown costs of running an older car. It's exactly why I have an Octavia; I figured I needed a more reliable car than the not-quite-20-year-old-one to make sure I got to the airport on time for my flights, back when they were a thing. From that perspective, €50 per month may be the point to say yay or nay to a particular car. I would also avoid 17" rims on a car that needs to be kept cheaply on the road simply because of the extra cost in tyres. For us here, the buying costs are extortionate: the old VRS was around €40k IIRC and the 1.0 was below €28k. Monthly leasing on the 1.5 was around €500 vs €400 for the 1.0, making a decision really simple. Finance on used cars is generally incredibly expensive, with 5-6% interest rates being "normal", so a new one was the only easy way to go. - Bret

the spritmonitor stats are from the new car. The old one's long term, I believe, was 5.3l/100. That equates to around 52mpg. Including -20, winter tyres, and lots of aux heating use. 60 was eminently possible in that car on a longer run. This car, I've seen it once so far, on the way back from the summer house. I expect better now it's past 14000km.

So without going too much into detail: I'm on my second 1.0TSI. The first was a late 2016 model, no GPF, one of the first in Finland. The new one has a GPF and is a kombi, not a hatch. I did not use spritmonitor for the first one. The 2016 car improved significantly in consumption after the 10-15000km mark, and was consistently able to give me 5,6l or so as a long term average. This despite cold temps, winter tyres and traffic on the regular commute. I hit a personal best of 4,2 one trip up to the summer house - the only reason that was possible was because I was driving 60km/h for a bunch of it. Speed makes a signficant difference. Opinion: the only reason that insane record could have been set in the 1.x TSI is because the traffic is flowing at a slow speed. Minimal stops, starts, acceleration or braking. So the DSG drops it into the highest gear possible and it rumbles along. Octy vs. Superb: the Superb does a theoretical 5.2l/100. Both the Octavias have a theoretical number at 4.8 or so. But the Superb is a DSG. That should deliver better numbers than a manual shift. I was expecting a certain amount more, that's fair enough. But over 6l/100 - I think I ended up with 6.6l/100 - in comparison to a normal 5.3 for the Octy on the clear runs to the office with winter tyres on and up north - no, that was a chunk more that I was very surprised to see. I've read a tale on the German forums of someone hitting 1000km on a single tank in a Superb 1.4. I was looking to that and not 800. I absolutely see the point in the small engine. It's cheaper to buy. It's cheaper to insure and it's cheaper to fuel. If someone's on a shoestring budget for a new-ish car, stretching for something which is going to cost more to run is counterproductive. Yes, it's more desirable. Is it really going to matter if resale isn't for another five-six years? Especially if there's finance involved at higher interest rates, that £1-2k on purchase can make a massive difference in affordability. Having said that, I agree that a test drive - preferably full! - is important. Better still would be one back-to-back. But the roof box will make a big difference so it can only be a guide. - Bret

I've done nigh on 70k Kms in 1.0s over the last few years. 1.2 Vs 1.0 is no argument - very similar specs. The 1.4 is a different beastie. I mainly run one up and have excellent economy, 60+ mpg. I had a 1.4tsi dsg Superb for a couple of weeks and didn't get close to the Octy numbers. We're talking 25% more fuel. Yes, some of that is the size and weight, but the roads were just as empty and cold. If you are prepared to bite the cost bullet every time you fill or insure the car (don't think it makes any tax difference over there, here it does), then go ahead and stretch. I've perceived the 1.0 to be underpowered only when it's stupidly hot and the car's full of people and gear. Even then, the limitations are mild. We took the present car up north a few months back, jammed to the gunnels with *heavy* gear and it was still enough. Yes, you do need to use revs sometimes - mine sings nicely to 5500 and third is great for a road overtaking, as it goes from 70km/h to 120 nicely - but I fail to see the chore in this. I also disagree that it fails to get out of its own way - it is an economy-focused engine that delivers excellent mpg numbers and can be reasonably rapid if you need it. Doesn't mean it's fast, as it isn't. I don't see the point in paying a price all the time if you 'might need' the advantage three times a year.

I called Skoda assist when I got a screw in the tyre a few weeks back - no way I was ruining a good tyre with gunk. I might put a spare in at some point, but I don't want to have to swap it between summer and winter tyres... <sigh>. - Bret

5E5 is the Hatch. 5E9 = Combi, so Estate. 5E *is* the "mk iii" nomenclature. The model type is always more accurate. What are your axle weights? It's either the 28833-2 or 28833-1, depending on those. - Bret

as stated earlier, they are not monitored so should not need it. Swap them back out again and if the alarm doesn't go off, you've found your culprit...

I'll expand - I'm of the opinion that there's a small spike of current sent through each of the doors and interior lights multiple times a second. Probably 10-20Hz or so, a miniscule spike. If the spike is not detected on the return, the respective circuit is switched high, to un-dim the lights. When the circuit returns, the lights wait their turn and then dim off. If that spike is interrupted because something actually reacts to it - remember how slow halogen bulbs are vs an LED - then things start to get wierd. This explains flashing when turning the car off (the LEDs are still reacting, when the car thinks the bulbs wouldn't). I would expect a bunch of individual circuits - one per door, another for the boot lid and then another for the glovebox. Maybe one for the bonnet, too. THese would also be multi-use, so provide the data for the alarm. This also excludes the idea that there's a poorly-shielded component on the LED driver board that produces EMI and interferes with the circuitry in the car. - Bret

no, it's not about monitoring. It's about how the system finds that a door is open. - Bret

because there are electronics involved and the LED bulbs present different loads depending on which driver is used and how it's connected. The system is looking for specifics - like a load or not - and you're confusing it by giving it a load or removing one where it's expecting something else. - Bret

No, OBD eleven requires the OBD eleven dongle. - Bret

thanks. Star has been glued, we need to see what happens next. - Bret

So the car's only done 11000kms, and it met a stone at high speed the other day on the motorway. Promptly I have a nice star on the screen. Will be trying to get it fixed Monday. Question: If I can't get it fixed, I'll need to get it replaced. My car doesn't have the cameras for HBA; do they require a specific screen variant? I probably won't get it retrofitted just yet, but the prep would be good to have. Thanks! - Bret