24Lemons

My 2021 Octavia estate only ever felt ok with a full load of passengers/luggage. The torsion beam rear suspension always felt vague and loose no matter what tyre pressures I tried. In fact the vague and wallowy handling was one of the key reasons we got rid of it and ironically the Kodiaq we replaced it with feels much better to drive, with far less roll in the corners and less tendency to bounce over uneven roads.

That’s annoying. Had this been announced two months ago I would have ordered one rather than the 1.5tsi. Oh well.

Last night I collected my Tesco order from the click and collect. The engine was off for about 5 minutes and when I restarted it there was no life from the display. This meant that the parking camera and sensors weren’t on either. This morning it all seemed fine again!

It’s ok, I think it could be a shade heavier but that’s personal preference.

Ok I’ve been driving around this morning and I think that sport mode does make the steering feel a bit heavier than normal

To be honest it’s something I need to play with because I’ve only driven a short amount of time in sport mode.

Firstly regarding the standard LED headlights, I was very impressed. I drove a mix of dual carriageway and unlit country roads and I honestly can say they were on a par with the xenons in my old 3 series coupe. The top cut off of the beam is less abrupt as it is with xenons or my wife’s mini with led projector style lights and if I’m picky, I’d like a bit more throw in the centre of the road on low beam but on high beams the brightness and spread were very good. The lights were probably my biggest cause of anxiety while waiting for delivery but I was very pleasantly surprised by how good they were. I did try putting it in sport the other day and I can’t say I noticed any difference at all! Mind you I’m taking it pretty easy for now to run it in properly. On my old 3 series, the sport mode mainly seemed to affect the gear shifts (auto box) and maybe the throttle was a bit sharper but other than that the steering didn’t change. I wouldn’t say that the light steering is a problem however, I didn’t buy this car expecting it to be as sporty as my last one. I have noticed the dreaded kangaroo hop when pulling away from cold. I’ll keep an eye on that. I was a bit surprised to read in the manual that tailgate mounted bike racks can’t be used. I don’t really want to have to go out and buy a set of roof bars and a new rack. That’s a bit annoying!!

The ambient light strips don’t extend into the back of the car I’m afraid

Do you mean the ambient light strips? I don’t think so but I’ll go and have a look after dinner!

I still need to have a play with everything. Maybe I’ll sit in the darkened garage tomorrow and suss things out! As far as I can tel the led interior lights mainly consist of colour changeable ambient lighting. The reading lamps as far as I can see are much the same as any other that I have used. The Skoda logo projected on the floor is a bit of fun! Hard to say if it’s worth buying but I suppose it adds a nice ambience to the car

I finally got my hands on my new SE-L estate tsi 150 in Race blue yesterday. I haven’t driven it too far yet but early impressions are very positive. It’s very different to my old BMW 320d coupe but with a baby on the way and my BMW starting to develop issues I decided it was time to change. it’s very comfy to drive, steering feels very light which will take some getting used to. I haven’t found the lane keeping to be too intrusive yet. Gear changes are nice and smooth. I still think I would have preferred an auto but budget and availability ruled this out. the infotainment is very complicated but I suspect I just need to get used to it. I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of the standard speakers. The screens are bright and easy to read. I’ve always been sceptical about touch screens and for now the jury is out. The I-drive system was so intuitive to use. Im driving very carefully for now while I run it in and get used to everything but for the daily commute it feels like it has enough performance. It’s not as sporty to drive but I think it will be an ideal family run around. This car was already specced when I reserved it so I didn’t have any say in the options, it has the rear camera which is useful, this also includes the dynamic rear indicators which are quite cool. The tailgate is the standard manual one. I would have liked a power one but I’ve heard complaints from friends with dogs that they can be a pain. According to the handbook, you can’t mount a tailgate bike rack on this car which is annoying. I wonder if the big spoiler gets in the way. I also have the interior light pack which I haven’t had a chance to test out properly. The headlights are the standard non matrix ones, which I’d prefer but not for the price they charge. Not having driven at night yet, I don’t know how good the standard lights are yet. If you are still reading this and want to ask me any questions, I’ll do my best to help.

Thanks. It’s hard to see quite how that works. I was ideally looking for one that also protects the sides of the boot. We have one in another car but I think the mk4 is still too new as most companies I can find don’t list it as an option

Hi has anyone come across a decent boot liner for the new estate?

I’m looking forward to collecting my new Octavia SE-L 1.5 tsi in a few weeks and as it’s my first Skoda, I thought I’d sign up here. I have to say I was slightly concerned to read about the LED headlights being a bit sub par, the car I ordered was already specced and in build. The Matrix lights are a considerable amount more expensive so It’s unlikely I would have opted for them even if I had specced the car from scratch. My previous experience of LED lights have been from my wife’s 2015 Mini Cooper (I think they may be projector style) the lights are excellent and easily as good as the xenons on my current 2012 BMW 320d Bad headlights are one of my pet hates and I really hope I’m not going to be disappointed with the standard lights on my new car. I hope someone can offer some reassurance that the lights are of an acceptable standard. I can’t find any reviews online which mention the standard lights.