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Hi DSL, So far it seems everyone is running at ECO / Fully Laden (or even a bit above) pressures for everyday use (including me) then....

So I realised that a lot of people work in the new fangled "bar" scale so to help (mainly me when I come to look back at this) I have included my inflation sticker together with a handy psi to Bar conversion table. See for my R18 tyres they are suggesting 2.1Bar (30.4psi) for normal. That seems crazy low to me. Even for ECO for the R18 they are suggesting only 2.5Bar (36.2psi) and for fully laden they are suggesting the same 2.5Bar. Does anyone know what the 6ap figure is meant to be - I assume this is "atmospheric pressure" and I kind of assumed that 1BAR was 1 6ap at sea level?? the fully laden for my R18 is supposed to be 2.6 BAR and 2.7 "6ap". Is this a special figure for high altitude locations??? A bit of googling tells me that 1 atm (I assume that is what they mean by "6ap") = 1.01325 bar = 100kPa I don't really get how then derive the 6ap figures - I assume this is of no relevance to me 🙂

Hi peps1 I hope I got this right - 2.5bar normal (36.26PSI) and 2.6bar (37.71PSI) fully loaded. Do you get a lot of wheelspin or is your Karoq a 4x4 with different size tyres to 215/50R18 92W? 🙂

My impression (and it is only my personal impression from my own dealings with one specific franchise with 100's of garages across the whole car manufacturer spectrum) is that some (and only some) "Skoda Service Departments" are a more than a little clueless about their own cars, make it up as they go along, lie, feign ignorance and then make it look like its your fault when they get it wrong. Thier VAG group training seems wholly inadequate. Whatever option gives them the most profit is the right one in thier eyes (in those serice departments that are suffering the "VAG blight" of indifference that I allude to. Some service departments are definately NOT like that but some most certainly are. Those are the ones that should be managed out of the franchise network by VAG but alas they are not. Then again, when they report up the food chain to a mother-ship that doesn't care anough to give us a permenat hardware fix on "Kangaroo-ing" on their most popular 1.5TSi engine (but rather try to fix whatever the problem is with Software "fudges") and are okay with cheating the system aka "Dieselgate" and only paying out for their mistakes in those countries where they are forced by a court to do so (i.e. not in the UK) then, what do you expect? They have no honour and they really don't care about you or your car. That's the truth. They sell in such large quantity that 10% of unhappy customers (which equates to many tens of thousands) just doesn't dent their profits enough to change. Sadly they are all the same though - is their a good car manufacturer left in the world today? Most of the ones that were good are owned by only a handful of giants like VAG now. 🙂

I just wanted to start off a thread to see what other folk set their pressures on their 18" alloy wheels on their Karoq to. I know there is an ECO pressure and a Normal pressure and a "Full load" pressure and I was interested to know what folk settle on for normal driving. I'm interested in pressures for the stock 18" wheels (215/50R18) - otherwise it will get very messy 🙂 I have a 2WD 1.5TSI DSG and my tyres and pressures are: Bridgstone Turanza T001 215/50R18 92W 35PSI all round My Observations: This is between the ECO pressure and the Normal pressure ratings (label inside the fuel flap). I do find a bit of wheelspin in the wet which is why I did not go up to full ECO pressures on the rating label but at lower (normal/unladen driving mode) pressures I find the tyres make more noise (roar) and the whole car a bit more "wallowy" over uneven surfaces. This is my compromise. Before anyone points out....... I appreciate its only a 2WD with a small and light engine/front end and an eager DSG box so its to be expected (the spinning front wheels if its pushed to hard too quickly). It just takes a little time to adapt to it but once adapted (in the mind and right foot) its just fine. I came from a Tiguan with Sports suspension 4WD and a 2.0L diesel lump and an old fashioned Auto box and I much prefer the Karoq with its slight wallowing suspension over the crash and bang of the sports suspension of the Tiguan "Sport"🙂. Not so keen on the less grip aspect of course but I knew that at time of purchase. The 11Yo Tiguan (same car shape/chassis/size) as the current Karoq was way to firm and it was not a pleasure for the passengers in the rear or when driving on anything other than a billiard table smooth road). It did stick to the road much better of course (the multi-link rear suspension probably helped there too as well as the 4WD and stiffer setup) and I could throw it around corners at alarming speeds and it never lost its footing once. Horses for courses - I'm not complaining. I hated the phantom gear change feeling (after setting off as the haldex shifted from 50:50 to 20:80) so that made me never want Haldex 4WD again (as well as the £1K plus bill when the drivesharft seals went and the constant bills for Oil in here and Oil in there and the lower MPG etc.). Cheers, Paul

Wait until the front assist decides to do an emergency stop for you because of a stray blade of grass. Then you'll know how much control we have all started to lose. Then think forward to self driving cars and say Noooooooo not on my lifetime pleeeeease.

Not forgotten, just don't care I suspect. Hoping you'll forget I expect. Get them to supply and fit something for you for free. Examples..... Front and rear Mudflaps or perhaps sill guards or perhaps a rubber boot liner or better still all of them. Plus.... A tank of fuel. 😁

It works whenever the engine is on and then just reverts to normal blow cool air when its in stop mode however - if its only for a few seconds at the lights then the air is still quite cool for 15-20 seconds while the AC coolant matrix uses up its latent "coolness". any longer and the air starts to come through at ambient. The Stop Start will not cut in if the sensors detect that the cabin temperature is too far away from the temperature you have selected and likewise for the heating in the winter. If its way of what you ask for then it keeps teh engine running. There are also many other factors that determine if it will kick-in or not - some of them obvious and some of them only known to the programmers. Quite often it will not kick-in and the message on the entertainment screen does not always give the full information as to why. Sometimes it does but often it will say something like "Electrical consumption too high" even when you have the AC off, the battery is fully charged, nothing is plugged in, the lights are off (apart from hte DRL's) and such like.

I agree Scot5. We all need to be careful how we respond to others on this forum (and all forums whatever the subject). I myself have been frustrated from time-to-time by some of the replies I have recieved on my own posts and read on others posts but I am learing to ignore some of people who have wound me up in the past (and I am not calling out any one person before anyone gets on their defensive high horses). Some people just have a certain way of talking/writing to others - some are "polite and helpful", some can come acrosss as "not very poilite (but often still helpful)" and some are just "downright annoying and rude". Just because someone is experiencing a "feature" or "noise" or other unusual thing the other forum members should not assume that the person is being stupid or can't drive or such like. Many of us have been driving for many years and are posting because what we are seeing does not match our expereince of previous cars. Telling someone they are not driving properly or telling someone that they need to change the way they drive is not really helpful to anyone apart from the most novice driver. People who post replies like these need to take a little longer to think about what they are saying and how it might come across and perhaps word their replies in a more friendly and constructive manner. Having said all of that - for me - my new (to me) 1.5 DSG gearbox is not like the old planetary Auto boxes of old (coming from one of those in a Tiguan for 10 years and a C-class merc for 9 years before that). In the old style Auto I learned to anticipate what I wanted the box to do about 1 second before I wanted it to do it and adjusted my driving style accordingly. I let the torque converter worry about the smoothness and iron out the annoyances at the trade off for a sloppy drive. I also knew that I could floor the accelerator and it was slow enough to react that I could cancel the operation without the risk if stoving the car in. Going to a DSG was a bit of a shock. The first time I drove it I treated it like the old auto box I just traded in and nearly rammed it into the kerb on the other side of a junction when I floored it . Since then I took (and an still taking) some time to learn all of the characterisitics of my DSG box. Some are great for me and some characteristics of the old style box I preferred. DSG for me is generally not as smooth for me (in some scenarios) and have a different characterisitic when lifting off gas and driving around at speeds where the box shifts a lot between 4th and 5th in my limited experience. On the plus side they are really quick to react and when you find their sweet spot are a joy. On the other plus side - I try to drive the wifes 1.0L Manual Fabia in stop start traffic and changing around from 2nd to 3rd and occasionally to 1st is not a pleasant expereince. People who think driving a DSG is jerky should try one of those in stop start traffic I can tell you. It puts bunny hopping into a new league. If I compare to my old Auto - no its not as smooth - if I compare it to the wife's Fabia manual then it is smoother than a smooth thing. Back on to the original subject now - I agree Rusteele that the pedal is too high for me as well and it can be made a lot worse depending on your leg length and where you have the seat and steering wheel positioned. I takes me weeks (and I mean weeks) to tweak the seat and wheel in a new car (fore and aft and the height position to put my legs into a position where it does not affect me too much and where I can use the arm rest to the left and the windowsill for my elbows the way I like). If not done already then this would be worth trying in addition to everything else. It may put you in a position where you feel a bit strange / uncomforatble to begin with but it might be a solution once you get used to the slightly odd seat positioning and steering wheel position compared to the other cars you have or have come from. It worked for me anyway, Just saying 🙂 Paul

Maybe you could get back to them and explain that they have not properly understood the issue. From their reply it seems they think you are complaining about a place or road etc. missing from the map. This is not the case (as we know) but its more a case of the names are just not dispalyed for any village under a certain size at a particular (probably all) zoom levels. They just didn't get that at all. If you explain that the villages are there in the database (i.e. you can search for a village in the address section) and then also show them an image of the older maps showing the village names and the newer maps not showing the village names at all then they might actually get what the real problem is. I have the new maps still installed on my unit so if you want I can pop over an image of a certain area "not showing the village names" and you could then so the same with your older maps showing all the village names. For comparison you could also send them an image showing all the village names of similarly sized villages in France or somewhere where it is working correctly. you could also clarify with them that is is in fact "Here" maps they are talking about and show them that the data is on the master map as above. If you guide them slowly through the actual problem then they will eventually understand it and will then be able to pass on the "actual" problem to the developers. they will then have a chance (the developers) to address the issue, if not now then at the next map update. I'm sure they will - they just don't yet actually get what the problem is. The MapCreator program they talk about is for anothr thing entirely. that is to correct the names of roads or inform the mappers that a road junction is wrong etc. it is not to get all the smaller places show up on the map. Wrong tool for the wrong issue. Cheers, Paul

Also, MapCreator is a product of "Here" maps. If you go over to Here maps at https://mapcreator.here.com/ and look at the maps - voila - the villages are all there. Assuming it is "Here" they are talking about then its not the maps its the conversion of the maps to the VW format that is the problem. Probably a blasted entry in an XML file to toggle village names on / off or something as simple and daft as that. The XML file could be on the SD card we all have or it could be on the application that VAG map folk use to generate teh maps from the master map. This is the here map of a random place in the UK. notice all the lovely little villages:

"Simply don't care" Skoda that is not me

🙂

something odd is going on in the background. A few weeks ago noticed the new maps were available on VW site so downloaded (from both VW site and Skoda site) the new maps. On VW I chose the larger European Countries Bundle 1 (1st one) and it was called: Discovermedia2_EU_AS_1430_V12 apparently Updated: : 11/7/19 according to the file description?!?!? A few weeks later it seemed that the Skoda portal had been updated to 2020/2021 maps so I looked at their maps. The latest file on the skoda site was (for the ECEA1 map) was called STD2_1420......... So a bit behind VW still even though just updated by Skoda and even though the VW site said it was a map from 11/7/19. Today I checked and the VW one was the same (1430) with the same 11/7/19 date but the Skoda one is now called STD2_1410_EU_A1_202022.zip So all the maps on Skoda were 1420 and are now 1410 - maybe they rolled back because of an error in the 1420???? Still doesn't explain why the VW maps are 1430 though and allegedly from 2019. for me.. Its the VW 1430 map I am using (as it was the higher number (1430) and that is one for me without village names. No idea if the 1420 or the 1410 maps are also village-less?? Go Figure 🙂

just to round off my own thread (apologies I posted this in another thread too but) ... Just had my 1st service (only 4500 miles on the clock) and they confirmed that it was filled up with VW504. At the service I did also get them to switch over from Variable service reginme to fixed time and distance so I don't know if that would have made them use one particular oil or 'tother. The invoice also states 5W30 4.7 litres. Cheers, Paul

Just had my 1st service (only 4500 miles on the clock) and they confirmed that it was filled up with VW504. At the service I did also get them to switch over from Variable service reginme to fixed time and distance so I don't know if that would have made them use one particular oil or 'tother. The invoice also states 5W30 4.7 litres. Cheers, Paul

Hi, Mine doesn't have traffic assist and is DSG and it does this (I do have dynamic cruise control though - or whatever they call it) but today I did not have it turned on at all. Took a drive today and it did it several times in a slow moving traffic queue. Quite good actually - some thought has gone into that little feature 🙂 Never noticed before as I usually disable Stop/Start and also, if it is active (and I fancy saving some emmissions at the expense engine bearing life and wearing out the starter motor / battery before it needs to be worn out), I twiddle the steering wheel maybe 1/2 second before the radar realises the car in front is moving so it never needed to kick in previously.

Who knows indeed 🙂 Whoever does it screwed up this time around!

Let us all know what they say 🙂 I thought the map data was supplied by "Here we go" (or whatever they're called).

Hi, mines just the same. Bit rubbish isn't it! Latest maps from VW website. Paul

Problem is that when you live in the sticks (as I do) there is often only 1 dealer "convenient" and naming and shaming might bite the hand that feeds so to speak.

I know this is an obvious thing to say but try another service centre the next time you have an issue or want your car serviced (best stick with them for another round though of course). I had some "attitude" issues at my local garage (not returning calls when trying to book in a service and not acknowleging my online booking either) so I hit them where it hurts and booked it in to another garage. I then sent a message on the dealership facebook page telling them of my displeasure and I had a call back from the "Brand Manager" at the garage in question. He was in fact the franchise overall manager/owner and was quite upset at what had happened and said he was going to have a quiet word with the team involved. I would not want to be them. The only way to make them improve is to hurt them financially. Even if a warranty job - they get paid by Skoda so taking it elsewhere does hurt them. you have to make sure the right people know of their loss though.

When I was 17 I added a twin air horn to my sports car and thought it was really cool. It was a citroen LNA11E. I felt good at the time - best days of my life and all that. I would add that I didn't actually buy the car - it was given to me by my dad 😎 This seems a bit like that. What were the marketing folk at VAG thinking.

Does that mean I can take out the playing card I put in the spokes then. Takes me back to my youth 🙂 Bit naff of Skoda to be frank.

That's truly appaling. If the dealer doesn't immediately act on that and fix the problem then I would be asking to talk to the dealer principal (head man at that garage) and ask him about their complaints escalation process. I would also be talking to the head office for that dealership franchise.