croquemonsieur

I was interested CJJE to read those comments about the active dampers & was dubious of the reviewer's comment. Is the suspension at all crashy in comfort or even normal mode. I think I read somewhere that such systems also quickly adjust the damper once the wheel hits a bump or hollow, to lessen the impact on the car. One of those links I put up, I think the first, goes on to say that the Automatic Emergency Braking system works more reliably than most of the competition. In view of some of the past posts here on brakes being applied occasionally & alarmingly, without any discernable reason, what must the others be like. Following those reports, I adjusted mine to the most insentive setting & do get the occasional audible warning when driving close to a grass bank or hedge, but have never screeched to a halt - hope that adjustment doesn't affect my insurance. However, I haven't noticed mention of this issue more recently, so maybe they were just teething problems.

After that first YouTube - I clicked on this link - this man says the Karoq is the quietest SUV amongst it's competitors In this link, she says in a somewhat throwaway comment, it's not worth going for the variable shock absorbers - hardly noticeable, but I wonder if she compared cars of the same wheel size and anyway some people aren't that sensitive to a firm ride. I really would like to try this suspension (with 16" wheels and all weather tyres) to see how good the ride can get.

I assume these are all manual. I have a 1.0 SE tech DSG (auto) & find the performance is remarkably good - mostly it's only with 2 people but usually a lot of stuff in the boot & often on the back seat too. it is a quiet car. Motorway cruising is serene particularly on 'smooth tarmac' - almost as effortless at 90mph as 70mph, so plenty of power for my purposes & typically get 50mpg on such journeys. From what people say, the manuals do a bit better still. The most I've driven in one day is from London to Sheffield and back via Derbyshire - 400+miles involving climbing over the Pennines - I don't drive anywhere near the limit, but the car was great fun going over those hills and an enjoyable trip all round, even if half was on the M1. The older 1.0 SEL will have 18" wheels with lower profile tyres, so the ride won't be quite as good as the newer 1.0 SE with 17" wheels & anyway I prefer cloth seats to leather. Not speaking from experience, but reports here show the 1.5 to be variable, most are clearly very good, powerful and economical, but there seem to have been some duff ones, particularly in the first year or two, maybe because it is a new, rather complex engine. My impression is that the simpler 1.0 3-cylinder is consistently good. One 1.5 owner wrote here recently about the problems he was having and at one point was lent a 1.0 by the garage while his car was being seen to. He was really impressed with the smaller engine, both noise and performance - sadly I can't find the link just now. See this link for 1.5 issues. If the 1.5 car doesn't suffer those problems in a test drive, it could be a good buy. I'd certainly take the opportunity to try both SEs, to see which is quieter and to check how much grunt you do surrender in the 1.0.

Well, I have been very happy with the service from my newly found local dealer in Walthamstow and have said so before and they sorted out some minor issues before Xmas without charging. There's also been a good number of favourable comments from people here about their Karoqs. I too, more than once, have noted how pleased I am with my 1.0 DSG SE Tech, but there are a few issues - e.g. wipers of course and ride generally pretty good but a bit crashy on broken road surfaces, noticed particularly yesterday at 4*C, but likely not helped by the summer Turanzas, better when outside is above 11*C.

I agree. Surely there's room for a more upmarket luxury Karoq version that emphasises comfort and with lots of features, not just those found on sporty models. Even BMW do a Luxe version of the Active tourer with fairly sensible 17" wheels, at least they used to. However that car doesn't seem to be one of the best for ride, to start off with. In th 1950s & 60s , the UK car upmarket sector had the choice of sedate Rover 90s, Armstrong Siddeleys, Daimlers, as an alternative to Jaguars & the like. I blame the motoring press for encouraging everyone to think we all have to drive racey cars. I see the next model Quashquai will have a 20" wheel option!

Ditto. I discovered a few weeks ago that the rather nice German 16" black alloy wheels, I was supplied with some years ago for the Yeti (at big discount), to go with Michelin X-Climates were also incorrect - 6.5J, not 7j and came with plastic spacers for the offset. I did keep the wheels for the new car, not being aware of the offset and rim width issues at the time - the tyres are only half worn. I'm still occasionally half tempted to still try them out on the Karoq, bearing in mind generally favourable comments here on X-climates on the Karoq, just to see what, if any, ride & road noise improvements I might find. That is compared with the Bridgestone Turanzas, which unlike most people, I actually find not half bad, at least after just 9000 miles. Almost made up my mind now though, to plod on with the 17" Bridgestones and then go straight to new 16" steel wheels + Goodyear AW Gen3s in summer 2022.

As the sun was shining yesterday, went for a 30min drive around Epping Forest & beyond, with a view to getting out and stretching our legs & feeding the ducks - but it was so busy we just carried on driving. It's fairly hilly + a few traffic lights en route, but little traffic. Hardly steady driving on 50% narrow winding roads but 41mpg actual in 1.0 DSG.

Done 9,000 miles so far in 18 months, so by that reckoning I'd have to put up with these originals for nearly 5 years - not likely. I've 2 spare Bosch sets in boxes, the rubber blade would likely perish on the 2nd well before fitting in 8-9 year's time. My thinking is to change the wipers over when I re-shoe with AW tyres on 16" wheels in a sort of mid-life upgrade - should turn the car into a Jaguar. No mention of poorly wiped patch in line of view then, as some have noted even with the Bosch replacements?

Yes the Yeti ride was rubbery firm, almost dodgem car like, but at the time I bought mine, say 6years ago, I tried 4 other cars. The VW Golf SV definitely had a better ride & was overall favourite, but long delivery period. I recall 2 others were clearly worse. Didn't like much about the Ford C-Max - ride worse, dashboard & general cabin feel, but it was a noisy 1.6 diesel manual with iffy gearbox. BMW Active Tourer Sports suspension 1.6 manual diesel with low profile tyres, ride even worse than Ford, horrid steering, daft having sports suspension with such a slow noisy engine, but couldn't try a non sports petrol auto version. Citroen C4 softish ride but didn't handle ridges and broken sufaces particularly well, strange semi-auto box. The steering feel of the 2 VAG cars, interior ambience & both nicer to drive than t'others.

Ken, re the change from 19" to 16" wheels for winter, you presumably are only using the 16" wheels in winter, when as discussed in earler thread & illustrated with charts, cars are thirstier due to lower air temperatures. Although you say there's no improvement in economy, is the economy signifantly worse? If not, that reduction ion wheel size would still indicate significant theoretical improvement. This is all complicated by the fact, as reported here elsewhere, that summer tyres are generally of stiffer ECO construction these days, whereas AW & winter tyres have to use softer compounds & so I would have thought, be a bit less ECO. Shy's observation & experience about wheel size and thus higher profile tyres, did surprise me, though. I would have thought the extra flexibility in higher profile tyres equals more resistance to movement & so worse economy. Maybe the tyre width as opposed to profile is the significant factor.

Checking on the numbers of components in the Caffyn box for my car, it also could be the same as the parts in the official Skoda box - 5 bulbs & 17 fuses, as the Trans City Skoda Parts Man told me. It will cost me a litre or two of fuel to go round there & so maybe little overall cost difference, not that I was feeling bad about paying £2 more - well not too bad. I've got to go round sometime anyway, as they want to check my fuse-blowing electric tyre pump - the reason I started thinking about fuses in the first place. In the meantime, my set of 100 fuses has arrived from Amazon, complete with a little yellow plastic fuse puller tool, which I'll probably soon lose.

Thanks CJJE, they also do a lamp & fuse set for non-LED headlamp cars, but it's only £2 cheaper than the official Skoda set, which I had decided to order befgore seeing your link. I'll do a comparison when I eventually collect these - won't be for a while yet, as we're staying put at home until get the jab, as the new Covid variant is all around here. https://seat-skoda.caffynsparts.co.uk/parts/skoda-parts/skoda-karoq/servicing-and-maintenance-skoda-karoq/skoda-karoq-spare-bulb-set/

Thanks, shyVRS - so tyres are a significant part of the overall unsprung weight and with 16" wheels, would likely be the dominant part, located near the circumference, which in itself might be significant. Also, there might not then be much weight difference overall, between 16" and 19" wheel/tyre combinations.

Thanks, that is very interesting. I've been told more than once, the purpose of alloy wheels is to reduce unsprung weight, so clearly balony. Does that make alloys little more than a fashion accessory then? With smaller diameter wheels and higher profile tyres, steel wheels with hub caps can look quite smart as on modern London Taxis, and maybe could look good on the Karoq too. They would probably look daft in larger sizes with low profile tyres though, certainly different. Another large part of the unsprung weight is the actual tyre weight and this is reduced in lower profile tyres so partially compensating for the larger wheel, except that low profile tyres often come in wider sizes. Now, where do I find the weight of a typical tyre for a Karoq 16" wheel & also for a 19" wheel?

I meant to add that the spares man at the dealer said that Skoda stipulate that the 16" wheels aren't suitable for the manual 1.0, but OK for the DSG. Strange - he didn't know why & I can't think of a reason.

Apologies for wandering a bit off the topic of this thread, but I refer to Carlstons entry and mention of Alcar 6Jx16 ET43 5/112 57.1 steel rims for about £40 each. I phoned the local Skoda dealer about something else but also asked the price of pukka alloy 16" wheels, there are 2 kinds & the 5 spoke type is available also in black - these cost a lot more @ £156 each & maybe I'll look seriously at those Alcars. At that price could get one as a spare too + maybe another in case one gets damaged. I wonder if they are much heavier than the alloys. There has been talk that some of these 3rd party wheels aren't the best quality, but some better than others, so I'll see if there are other comments about the Alcars. The Skoda steel wheels are are supposed to be good though, but forgot to ask their price today.

According to tyre test reviews, all weather tyres are invariably quieter than summer tyres and better riding (winter tyres even more so). The Michelin Cross-climate out of all the AW choices, is the closest to a summer tyre handling if the best grip on dry roads in summer is the emphasis. They do seem quite popular here on Karoqs. They have XL sidewalls - extra robust, but less compliant. Recent reviews tend to show it is one of the noisiest of AW tyres and others are better in the cold, so I'm looking elsewhere as I'm very fussy about road noise and ride. I'm seriously thinking next year of changing my 17" Turanza shod Karoq to the recent well reviewed, good all round Goodyear 4 Seasons generation 3 on 16" wheels. One contributor here has pointed out that the narrower 6J rim size of the 16" wheel further improves ride & I suspect noise too (apologies, can't recall his name or find link - has interesting things to say on such matters). One thread on AW tyres from the tyre section, but there are several recent relevant threads in that section too.

Yes thanks, I'm now almost certain, I recall after changing the 12v cigar lighter socket yellow fuse this last time, it was a standard blade fuse - like I suspect all the fuses in that main fusebox behind the front passenger storage box.

Thanks for the replies. I thought I'd phone the local Skoda dealer to confirm and they put me through to the parts department, where they checked against my car reg, a MY19 1.0 SE tech DSG. They believe that there are in fact 3 fuse types - the standard blade, mini blade and at least one micro mini blade. I also asked if there are any other locations as well as behind the passenger storage/glove box. Turns out there are 4 altogether. One in the Central Electronics Box in the engine bay + some near the battery and also some driver's side behind the small dash storage compartment. Unsure about the last one, I thought that was the location for LHD cars and that the passenger side one was a fudge for RHD cars, but maybe I'm wrong. What at first seemed a good idea, I could have ordered a box of spare bulbs (5) + fuses (17) but £62 did seem a bit pricey and Skoda [rices are generally going up Friday. I'll just get that box of 100 standard blade fuses for now & investigate spare bulbs & other fuse types in due course.

As for Klamath & further to my separate recent fuse topic, I only discovered a very slow puncture in front RHS tyre, due to that TPMS and this led to me realising the electric pump provided with the car causes the cigar lighter fuse to blow. The helpful local Walthamstow Skoda dealer suggests I take the pump in for them to look at - it can be a fault in the plug - but looks OK. I shall in due course, but not going anywhere just now as the very good .gov.uk interactive coloured UK map shows this new Covid variant is growing alarmingly around here. 2nd time round after being wised up, I was careful not to insert the plug at an angle as otherwise I'm told this can blow the fuse - but fuse still blew. I've a 2nd older pump to keep the tyre inflated, until I feel it's safer even to get the tyre fixed.

Having had the cigar lighter fuse blown twice - turns out to be the electric tyre pump supplied with the car - I decided it's about time I bought some spares. I thought I'd kept the last blown fuse, but can't find it now & would rather avoid the rigmarole of dismantling the passenger side storage box to check on the type. So, can anyone tell me for sure, the type of fuses used in the Karoq (1.0 SE Tech DSG) please? Are they standard blade https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CR34KTC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A1RNAZCC5RJPND&psc=1 or mini blade https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CR1MTMY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A1RNAZCC5RJPND&th=1

Before I get round to even thinking about replacing my 16month old Karoq with a hybrid or EV, Apple may have something interesting to offer. No doubt this will be amongst many attractive choices by then - (I'll look at Skoda of course). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/22/apple-plans-self-driving-car-in-2024-with-next-level-battery-technology Yet another 'exciting' new battery technology as well. I've just heard on Bloomberg that Tesla have their doubts about the whole idea, but they would, wouldn't they. Off topic alert - I must say that as a lifelong PC user I'm suddenly thinking that maybe in a year's time, my allegiance may change and the laptop could be replaced by one of the new Apple M1 powered machines. These achieve new performance standards from a somewhat modest ARM heart, by incorporating much more of the system in one chip. Back on topic - that concept of doing more with less, is why I went for a 1.0 Karoq, rather than a larger engine.

Tuono01, I held back on asking until now, in the wake of so many subsequent messages about where best to put all-weather tyrers etc., but I'm particularly interested if you've any thoughts on ride comfort and road noise when changing to Bridgestone Weather Control tyres. Maybe as you only fitted them to the front on your Galaxy, you can't really tell very much. You refer to the good grip (also important of course) and I suspect grip/composure on rough roads / broken surfaces has possibly some links with ride quality as a softer tyre, other things being equal, probably aids both. Out of interest SurreyJohn here 3rd message down, though liked the way they gripped in poor weather found them a bit noiser on rough roads, but in 4th message said to be quiet & the recent tyrereviews all-weather test rated them fairly well for noise & VG for comfort.

Actually Carlton, now I think about it further, this seems familiar & I'm going over old ground. You covered the wheel width/tyre size matching in detail in a previous thread, so maybe no more to be said. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/478086-wheel-compatibility/

Thanks, I'd forgotten that. I see the 215/55R17 standard Karoq tyre uses a 7J wheel, even though the tyre width is still 215. So that 6J width on top of the slightly higher tyre profile with 16" wheels should lead to a noticeable ride improvement, though no doubt suffering a modest reduction in steering response. Appeals to me. Though many like the sharp handling of the Yeti, I did always find the Yeti steering feedback of some road surfaces a little tiring, particularly on longer distance drives.