Kamikazekid

I’d love too but I want to wear out the Pirelli’s as fast as possible! 😂 I should stop being tight and just replace them.

Yeah, I know the Pirelli’s are a bit naff. Unfortunately one of their strong points is they seem to last forever! I have 2 Michelin Cross climate plus on the rear while I wear down the remaining Pirelli’s on the driven wheels. Hopefully Michelins all round will improve things a bit.

I’m still living this quandary 3 years in…my sensible side says the 190 was a good buy as I save quite a bit on fuel, plus it nice not having to fill up every 5 minutes. But the added refinement and extra power of the 280 would have been nice! One thing I would definitely change, I wish I waited until a 4x4 one came up. My front wheel drive 190 DSG spins up I’ll the time. I don’t know if it’s a heavy car, crap tyres or a consequence of having DSG…but I’ve never had a car spin up so much out of junctions. Very frustrating when you want to pull out of busy junctions safely.

Try another Skoda garage? The one I used in Ashford Kent had the Calibration board. Or maybe try a VW garage?

Agreed. I probably only get 43 because the Mrs drives it most of the time! The economy is very similar to my previous car (Mondeo ST TDCI which was mapped to 185). I’m surprised the Skoda doesn’t get a bit closer to the claimed 60. Ford quoted 46 combined for the mondeo, so a bit more realistic. I guess these days they can quote better figures by fiddling the system with defeat devices, stop/start etc... Maybe it is capable of 60mpg if you drive it like a granny. But then why buy a 190? If economy is anyone’s primary concern then the 1.6 Diesel is surely the way to go?

What speed was you doing? And what about more mixed driving? I have a 190 diesel and long term average is 43. I don’t drive like a maniac, or with economy on mind. I just drive it how I want. That’s probably 80% motorway and 20% town driving. Previous cars I’ve owned with anywhere near the power of a 270, I used to get between 23-26mpg average over a tank. Either petrol engines have come a long way or the guys getting high 30s are the exception and not the rule. I’d love a 270. But it’s hard for me to justify double the fuel cost. Especially when it’s loaded with the family most of the time and I get ‘the look’ from the Mrs every time I put my foot down! 😂

Good price. I bought mine from TPS, fitted it myself, and got Skoda to code and calibrate. Cost me about £350 all in. Plus the best part of a day of agro for me and a mate! (Having not done it before it took a lot longer than it should have. Learning how to to overcome problems etc). You definitely made the right decision. £30 for no agro!

100% agree. I wanted a 4x4 but due to my previous car dying I didn’t have time to be picky so ended up with a front wheel drive 190. Every time those wheels spin up (which is a lot) when I plant my foot down, I regret not holding out for a 4x4. I have considered putting PS4 or maybe even PS4S tyres on in the hope they might grip better.

Not on my 2017 190TDI L&K. It is enabled by default. Unless maybe it remembers the previous setting? Interesting to know that the car restarts once you release the brake when the auto-brake feature is switched off. I didn’t realise that. I assume when you say hill hold, you mean the technology lots of other vehicles have where it will hold for a few seconds to give you time to pull away, but if you release the brake and do nothing, it will after a short time start to roll backwards? I assumed the Auto-handbrake as you call it, was just a newer/more advanced version of this. I didn’t realise the car could do both depending on which way you set it. So again thanks that’s interesting to know. Agreed. My sister has a 1.5 TSI Octavia and it works really well. The engine is so quiet you barely notice start-stop happening. Agreed, although when I first got the car the Mrs. used to drive around in Eco driving mode (until I convinced her of how awful this makes the car feel to drive!), the car remembered that she drove in eco and I used normal based on our driver/ key profiles. Perhaps it allows you to do it one way (eco) but not the other (sport)? Seems silly to not let the driver decide how they want it saved. I’ll try sport on mine later and see if it remembers the next time I take it out.

Never seen my handbrake activate automatically. Only if I stop and switch the engine off and forget to activate it. When I stop at a junction the breaks hold. When I press the accelerator they release. All I know is start/stop means nothing happens until I press the accelerator and the delay is dangerous. I have a DSG. Easy answer for me was just permanently disable it. Most people I know switch it off everytime they start their car anyway so easier to just bin it off for me.

Deal breaker for me as I find auto hold a genuinely useful feature. Plus I don’t feel start stop really adds anything useful. More wear and tear on battery and starter motor. In the summer I want my A/C going, in the winter I want the heating on and windows clear. In my experience as soon as the engine stops, the lights change and off I go again. Almost pointless. If I get stuck in traffic at a standstill I’ll just turn the engine off myself. I don’t think it has much of an eco benefit to be honest. Just another way for the manufacturers to blag their economy figures of make out the car is more eco friendly than it really is. No benefit to the driver. No doubt someone will slate me and say we need to save the world from diesel fumes...I agree, but you could make a much bigger contribution to reducing emissions or improving economy by getting a smaller engine or just going electric. Depends what your priorities are. Just my opinions. Others are welcome!

All fair comments and you are right to point out that everyone has their own preferences and opinions. The stop/start for me felt dangerous when pulling out of junctions, too delayed. I take your point on the steering wheel thing but I didn’t want to have to put that much thought into it, I just want it to work. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of stop start anyway. That said, on my sisters petrol, manual Octavia it’s seemless. pedalbox, yeah it’s not essential. I just found the car felt lazy off the mark or out of junctions. I guess this will largely depend on what cars you’ve driven previously. BMWs have a very heavy accelerator pedal (you have to press down hard), whereas a Civic Type R tears off the line with very little input. I’ve had this conversation before and I like to compare it to adjusting the sensitivity of your controller on a first person shooter game like COD on the PlayStation/Xbox. Personal preference. 100% agree about the tyres. I wouldn’t waste the money replacing them unnecessarily. My fronts wore down so I bought 2 Crossclimates which are now on the back, that way I can wear down the other 2 Pirellis by having them on the driven wheels at the front.

According to Castrol’s website: Service fill: 4.7L Dry fill: 5.3L Although I must admit I stuck 5L in mine when I serviced it. 😳 The dip stick isn’t the easiest one to read.

I’ve been getting prices this week for a detachable tow bar. I thought I’d give my local Skoda dealer a call so see what they can offer. They quoted me £1137 to supply and fit the OEM drop down one. Although it’s expensive, I was surprised that they came up with this as an option as I’ve read other people have been told by their dealer that retrofitting the OEM one is not possible. Skoda said they would need a week or two to get the parts as they would be ordering from the Czech republic. Even more interesting that this, they quoted about £3 more to fit a 3rd party detachable towbar! Very strange! I think I will end up going for the Bosal one through PF Jones due to good feedback on this thread and it’s pretty much half the price. Although the OEM one would be a nice touch.

Disable start/stop with VCDS as it’s a nightmare with DSG. While you’re at it, check out the VCDS adaptations thread. When slowing down you may notice 2nd gear is a bit snatchy as the car shifts down the gears. I’ve read it’s common on the DSG’s. Mine does it. I have read this problem seems to be cured with a DSG flash but can’t confirm. It’s not a big issue. Front assist, adaptive cruise and traffic jam assist have their quirks but once you get used to how the car behaves, they are really nice features. Well maybe not front assist, but best to have it switched on...right? I enabled undertaking on adaptive cruise on mine as my daily drive has a very long exit/slip lane. Before making this change it was unsettling when the car would unexpectedly brake when it saw I was about to undertake (sort of). Fit a pedal box. The stock accelerator response is awful (at least it was in my 190). I read all the comments good and bad about pedal boxes for weeks before biting the bullet. Just do it. So much nicer to drive. On mine, a couple of times I have had it where the radio loses all presets. A common issue with no known fix. But it hasn’t done it for ages. Another common issue, the drivers seat memory can get lost if you go all the way back or forward (can’t remember which). The standard Pirelli tyres are awful. I’ve found this forum to be really useful for any issues or questions I’ve had since owning my Superb, so you’re in the right place. Enjoy the car!