brettikivi

You have DCC? I found it rather good in DCC sport with cruise and DSG on the "A" roads up north. Very little wagging of the rear of the car from the 'van (1500kg). Did notice that weight in the absolute back - under the rear bunks - made a huge difference and brought that back into the car, which was very helpful. I've heard only good things about using the Kodiaq as a towcar.

The cost is going to be a couple of hundred. Are you keeping the car for 100k miles? Maybe change it. If not, maybe don't. I just got mine changed at 120k kms after it was done at 60, and there were no comments, so... it's entirely up to you.

the lag is obvious on my car, too; it was brought up by someone over the weekend when punting the car sideways across the ice. They were driving an X3 directly before my car, and the difference was apparently obvious. Within a slide the dead space isn't as much of an issue as you're already dictating attitude from the throttle, but it's disconcerting if / when trying to modulate power to allow grip to happen and I didn't see / feel any difference in Snow or normal mode. Pulsing the throttle simply didn't work that well. Will have to take the opportunity to test when it presents itself again. It's very obvious when you want to overtake on A roads (which is 80% of my 400km commute) - you need to either mash the pedal a good half-second before you want power or drop 2 cogs manually and push from there. Even with that, there's a certain amount of dead space at the top. Annoying when you have a small handful of good overtaking opportunities in 45 minutes of driving (that would be the E63 from Jyväskylä northbound).

Pics

Another not so minor issue last week: p0299. Limp mode, flashing glow plug. Turns out the boost pipe from intercooler to turbo wasn't on correctly... fixed now. Was on the ice over the weekend. Ca argue normal is better than snow mode for drifting. Absolutely awesome car for this with a decent balance if power vs grip with the x ice north tyres. Very impressed, great to get some slide practice in. You are welcome to join us next time!

it's hard to describe the differences of running with this vs the standard high beams. We have a couple of other cars, and they both run Phillips 7001 bars, which are ref 30+30. This is the same, conceptually, but.. no, it's not. The Philips bars are good budget bars; relatively small and giving out quite a lot of light in a reasonable pattern. The Lazer 24 light is way more yellow and complements the "pinspots" of the standard OEM LEDs nicely. Those pin spots aren't bad per se, but they're not particularly good either. Nice long throw but very little spill. The bar adds way more spill, and a chunk of throw at the same time. Difficult to tell how much, as there's been too much traffic around to stop, but I will hopefully be out on a lake in a few weeks, so will try to get some numbers at that point. I am assuming reflections from around 2km without too much difficulty and an obvious 500m+ light pool. Safe to say when you flash this at someone, they notice. I can now see the edge of the road at 2-300m on both sides, and a good 15m each way (remember a 2 lane A Road is generally 10m wide) - it's probably more but to check that I'm going to need a drone and a very long tape measure. Switch is next to the light switch, so I can turn the excess off at will. That's an important part of the legality here. Mount also seems good with no vibrations; it's just a full mount and into the bumper. Wiring is from Lazer using a CANM8 - that seeems to have worked very nicely, thanks. Cable for hifi amps was put through at the same time, behind the battery (without removing it!). Helped that a bunch of covers are currently off for the hifi install... took them an hour or so, just over €100. CanM8 was 80, mount around 75, the light itself close to €750 IIRC. Stabilizers were another 20 or so - they are just screwed in to the uprights of the grill. Satisfied with this.

..and with the original high beams. Phone cam is not consistent with lighting compensation... the big light is way brighter than the oem. The beam pattern differences are also pretty obvious too.

Couple of photos from the other day as I washed the car. Shows dip beam and with the new light.

Car also now runs Michelin X-Ice North 4 SUVs in 235/55R18. Seems to make a positive difference versus the Conti contact tyres that were on before. Grip levels are now truly nuts and it's difficult to provoke a slide. Just over €1100 for the set, fitted and mounted. Old tyres are at the lockup without rims for the moment.

light is finally working. I've been travelling a lot for work, so a liot of stuff has been on hold for too long... got it done just before Christmas and it's rather good. More to follow later.

For the upper glove box: under the mat. For the lower one there are two from the bottom, 3 inside IIRC and then another on the outside (you will need to remove part of the cover towards the door). Maybe buy the workshop manual from erwin for €8 or so? Would tell you how to do all of this stuff. My radio won't come out without the entire glovebox out, the cables are tied in place and super short. The upper one won't stay shut, either - very, very silly design with it only remaining closed if there is zero pull on the cable. Be very careful when taking out the lower one as you'll need to remove the cable - NOTE THE ROUTING!

I felt slip on a couple of occasions, mostly when trying to accelerate hard from standstill. I dare say the tyres have a lot to do with it - this was both in the wet and the dry. Vast majority of this trip was on highways: Düsseldorf - Hoek van Holland - Harwich - Midlands - Heathrow - Midlands - Stansted - Hoek - Amsterdam - Luxembourg - Speyer - Frankfurt. BUT: I didn't push it too hard on the Autobahn, so I only saw around 170-175 with it; it's quite slow above that, but it didn't feel fuzzy like some of the cars with all seasons I have driven. I distinctly remember one Focus where I felt I had to back off over 150; the recent 118 I had with Semperits all seasons felt good, an X1 a year or so ago also good, the A6s I drove were fine (but they were also quattro, so... ) So specifically not good tyres? No, I figure they're OK but I've got very used to the quantity of grip I have with 4x4. I was mildly surprised to hear the slip in the dry, but it was only a couple of small chirps.. it deserves mention, isn't necessarily a big thing. The 'box training was quite easy: just use the paddles to change down the box as you slow and it started to do it of its own accord. It did have a tendency at the start to drop lots of gears if I pushed the accelerator, towards the end it would hold them better and use the torque. After this, I don't think we'll be looking at a petrol 1.5 TSI 4x4 Karoq for my wife, it will probably be the 2.0TSI. I am also *very* used to my backup camera, though this car also did the drop of the passenger mirror (to a pre-set position, not just down!) despite no electric seats. Also had 3-zone climate. But no KESSY?! So I had to find the key. every single damned time. I am *so* used to keyless!

few further comments, having given it back over the weekend (which was not the original plan). - MIB 3 has great separation from left to right. But it doesn't have a soundstage to speak of. - the bass is there but detached. - the thoughts above - it actually had traction issues in the wet (Conti AllSeasons). Surprised at that, but it was OK. I would not want to drive this in the winter. Not bad. But I prefer my own.

So I have a rental for a couple of weeks. Done some kms so far through several countries are more are to come. The car is a TIguan Allspace. 1.5TSI DSG, 7 seater, with towbar (!). It rolls on 18" with Conti AllSeasons in 235/55R18. First impressions: this is in no way fast. It has the paddles on the wheel and they are super-useful on the motorway. You get to press - twice and then press the loud pedal and it responds nicely then. Otherwise lots of noise and not much increase in forward motion. Very quiet engine, like it in comparison to the diesel. Very quiet on good tarmac, not so much on the rough stuff. 7 seats really does eat a chunk of space compared to the 5 seater (no surprises there). I would prefer the seats go further back, and I think mine do but I will measure and compare. This car has virtual cockpit, MIB3 and had <2000km on the clock when I picked it up. But no Android Auto. Wierd that there's no tourist setting for the lights, but they seem to be pretty active (LEDs). Overall? not bad. Will see how the consumption holds up but 6-ish l/100 is OK. Wouldn't buy this engine for 4x4, though, nor for towing. any questions? have the car for another couple of weeks yet.

the sills on the side are tight, i agree. But the piece, for example, under the glovebox.. in my car, i essentially sneezed on it and it's out. I will be doing more later. If it helps, the description of how to do it is on page 107 of the "General Body Repairs - Interior" PDF, at least the copy I have, which I got from ErWin for the princely sum of €8. Also downloaded the full electrical diagrams and the exterior details, too in that hour.

I'll write this, having moved earlier this year from a 150 TDI 6MT 4x4 Superb to a 150 TDI 7AT 4x4 Kodiaq. Kodiaq is worse on fuel. I could previously do the work trip - that's 800km in one day - on a tank without thinking in all weathers and still have 1/4 left over. Not with the Kodiaq. Smaller tank and higher consumption means that I did a couple of trips in snow at the back end of winter and I'm not sure I can get the 800 and still be comfy that I have enough. I don't want the light on when I get home at -25C. Average is around 6.5l/100 in summer. That's easily achievable. The Superb would give me 5.7l/100, less with lower speeds.. I could almost get a 5.0 at some points. 6 was my long term average there (including some trailer work); the Kodiaq number is muddied by the 2000km from this summer with a caravan on the back, giving me numbers around 9l/100. Same trips, same engine, manual vs auto, Superb vs Kodiaq. Similar temps. I haven't driven the Kodiaq in serious winter yet. Definitely 65l tank vs 70+l of the Superb. Tyres are difficult for me in specific sizes. I cannot get the 235/50R19s in spiked winter versions for the life of me in anything other than Nokian 10s at an eye-watering price. IMO: Check the 20"s or the winter tyre availability and usability before decision time. Same with winter tyres if you need. Car vs Car: - Superb centre armrest at the front was better - I prefer the Kodiaq seat position - I have badly scratched the underside of the Kodiaq wheel with jean rivets. I have easy entry on for this specific reason only. - The Webasto is just as effective, as is the ACC and pretty much everything else. - boot is a similar size and shape - the Kodiaq is slower, but not by much - the phone pockets on the seats don't exist and this annoys me - Adblue tank on my 2018 Kodiaq is only 12l, the Superb was 18. 12 is super annoying for 10l refill options. I have just pushed the car today to the "BIM! REFILL ADBLUE! No Start after 1000km" notification as I want to add 10l. That's irritating. - the Kodiaq was a joy as a towcar. Very pleasantly surprised, though more power would be nice. - LEDs on the Kodiaq are a tick better than the Xenons on the Superb. But the high beam is not enough, I have a solution for that. Note that the battery may be in the trunk on some RSes, it's unclear to me which have it there. Spritmonitor should give you some clues on the real consumption. See https://www.spritmonitor.de/de/uebersicht/45-Skoda/1575-Kodiaq.html?exactmodel=RS&powerunit=2 implies 8.5l/100 for a Diesel RS, 6.9l/100 for a TDI190 4x4 Superb, so a 20% increase. I saw around 5% from the same engine. And this is Germany, where things are likely to be more... pushed... than on the Autoroute du Soleil.

i will be doing a set of skoda original rubber mats shortly and carpet ones shortly after that, as the previous owner managed to go through the original mat in 100000kms (only one position on the driver's mat, though...) And rubber mats are essential up here because of the snow. Good experience with them in the Octavias and Superb, so I'll be sticking with original.

rear tyre / the rear axle provides stability at speed. Drive on a wet motorway with poor rear traction and you'll really feel it - the tail wags too easily and is generally unsettled. Under dodgy conditions, it's going to be super-obvious, because the rear is the part that's guiding the car around the corner. Lack of front traction will mean you just shoot forward instead of going around, lack of rear will give you oversteer. And 4x4 won't help much because it can't. It's another reason why rotation is a thing and should be practiced. I always move mine when swtiching between summer and winter.

got a set of Hankook Prime 4 in the summer for a tick under €500 for 235/55R18. Reasonably impressed - they're quite quiet, grippy and nothing untoward. the old summers were scorpion verde, so either they were a second set or they held up *incredibly* well. 62k miles with a new set of winters? Nah, there must have been a summer set in there, too. For winter, though, I will be changing next weekend to the winter tyres and then getting another set of spikes... probably the Michelin X-Ice norths. Crossclimates seem to be pretty good. And on a 4x4 I would definitely rotate (and will now with the winters, and the summers when they go back on) as the fronts seem to wear significantly faster than the rears.

changed up some parts and added a couple of stays. Still need to swap a couple of screws for A2 / A4 Stainless ones with some correct washers, but I am happy with how this sits for the moment.

.. and we have done some work today. Both gloveboxes are out. Can't get the lever off for the bonnet, so the lower a pillar trim is currently still on. Canton amp is out... that will be interesting. I *was* going to bring the new amp outputs to the Canton to connect through to the doors, but there is minimal point now, as that cable setup is kinda spicy. So I will probabaly pull some cables through to the door connectors tomorrow and connect to the amps, then run a set through to the radio. I've prised the ISO connector out of my T-cabling as there's zero room behind the radio, so the outputs will be directly connected there and then run through to the inputs on the DSP, which will sit behind the rear seats. Everything on that side is cabled up. so that will leave just the big power cable and earth, and then the tuning, I think. Along with the speaker replacement. Front lamp is also mounted. looks better than I thought it might, and with 4 screws in it's surprisingly stable. Plate has moved down some, but it seems readable by carparks, which is important here. Activation will probably be via the CanM8 Connect I have; seems that on the BCM, T73a pin 14 is switched live, 16 is CAN H and 17 is CAN L. Will try to find these and then connect the CanM8 up.

Ok, TIL. I will have to test this, don't usually touch the SET button after I hit it once. I was wondering if the switch is somehow getting confused between the pull towards and the flick upwards. That could explain something, but not a jump from 63mph to 70mph. Would explain a jump from 63km/h to 70km/h, with the 10km/h detents.

I've come to use the closest position on ACC for most things. Anything else and the behaviour described above - too far away and yet already decelerating to match the vehicle ahead - is true. There's also a setting in the individual drive modes, where you can set it for comfort, sport, normal, eco (I think), or at least my Kodiaq has that, so I'd expect a profile Superb to have it too. I tend to have a lot of situations where I'm rapidly approaching a slower truck and want (and have free lanes) to pass. Dropping the speed too much is unnecessary in this context. In the UK, the detents on the cruise stalk are 5mph, no? So how are you getting it to 63? push down twice and then pull three times towards you? is there any link between pulling it and the speed increasing? (in km/h countries, it seems to be 10km/h. and you can get singles with buttons on the wheel in modern VWs or pulling the stalk in the older ones. Yes, I do drive too many rental cars... )

Fixed. Cable had worn insulation at the ABS pump side. €500 later, it's sorted.

that's not good 😞 I already have C-DSP with 8 output channels ready to go (was waiting for the car to be fixed from the AAC problems... ). Set up some basic XO the other day and some simple routing to prove it works. I was just very surprised to hear the difference and can now understand why some people are really impressed with the Canton. It sounds okay like that, a reasonable amount of bass that drops to an OK level, but imaging is awful and tonality... no, thanks. I intend to use cabin gain fully with a sealed box of around 30l, 20kg and a 10" sub running off around 1kW Going to clip it in with some hardware to make sure it doesn't move too much. Highpass is set to 10Hz @ 24dB/Oct so I don't shake things too much. Someone commented once you can "model" Cabin Gain using a Linkwitz transform with a q of 0.707 from the cabin frequency down (so the half wave length that will fit) down to 20Hz. I feel that's pretty close but I don't trust my mic that low. Too small of a membrane. 343/length in metres x2 should give you the frequency where it starts. For the A2 that calculated to around 57Hz, and I figure with the Kodiaq it's going to be closer to 45Hz. Adding in a little "hump" at 60-70Hz is another trick to use to make it feel like there's way more bass than there actually is. I will be aiming for "close to flat"