SkOmk4

I had a Megane 2 for 15 years, indeed - the build quality was far better then compared to nowadays. I wouldn't say it was the quietest car I had, but it was a diesel - that might explain why. Had also an mk4 Megane for 2 years, also diesel - it was better soundproofed compared to the mk2, also slightly better materials inside here and there, but it was not as reliable as the mk2. Now back on topic, the mk4 Octavia, even with it's bigger diesel engine was quieter than the above-mentioned Megane(s) - which for me it meant that Skoda took greater care in isolating the engine-bay noise. (there's also some technical and soundproofing material evolution to be taken into account, since the Megane 2 was lauched in 2001 IIRC, and the M4 in 2016). Most of the noise I had in the cabin of Octavia was coming from the lower side, especially from the front - that's why I mentioned in my previous post the tires were noisy. And to support this idea, the noise (intensity and frequency) was changing with the tarmac texture. On the other hand, I added the optional soundproofing side windows, so most of the aerodynamic noise at high speed was kept outside.

Over the past (almost) 9 months I've had the twin-brother PHEV, I found that after 10-14 days of EV drive exclusively, the car decides to start the ICE. Normally I drive in EV Monday-to-Friday and have some longer trips over the weekend in hybrid mode, such that over the entire next week I'm "safe" to run EV only. However, I noticed that extreme temps (cold or hot) and the use of preconditioning (heating or cooling the car) sometimes makes the ICE start by itself even sooner than 10 days since it was last used.

I never said I had a set of tyres that made it impossible to notice the difference between loud and quiet tarmac, did I? 😁 I only said that the Blizzak made a huge difference in terms of cabin noise, compared to the factory-fitted GYs. I could still hear the difference between loud and quiet, but both surfaces were less noisy than they were with the summer GY. I'm talking about the same roads, same driver, same car load and same tyre pressure to be more precise. I wasn't methodical enough to make some cabin noise measurements, but I was not planning to convince others that there's a significant cabin noise difference between the two sets.

I also posted more than one year ago my own experience with the GoodYear that were factory fitted - they were awful in terms of cabin noise! I could have told whenever the asphalt texture/quality was changing along my trip, even if I would have drove with my eyes closed! However, as soon as I changed the summer tire set to the winter one - based on Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, I had a totally different car! Quiet as a feather! IIRC the noise rating on the summer GY is better than the one of the Blizzak, but in real life, on this particular car - it was the other way around.

No, I'm saying the exact opposite: standard suspension on Octavia is set to be softer - therefore if you drive faster around the corners you'll feel it has a tendency to oscillate/float outside the curve, and on straight lines over high speed bumps it will normally feel a bit "as a boat over the waves" - as you described in your first post. If your driving style is calm - then there's no problem. If you're usually hard on the accelerator - get the stiffer suspension, or the DCC one.

The Search Function on this (and any other) Forum is so useful when used!!!

There are at least 4 topics on the Facelift of Octavia... However, AFAIK Skoda didn't announce anything about an iV (PHEV) version for the FL - unlike it's platform and group siblings (Golf, Formentor) that do offer the new PHEV (1.5 TSI + 20 kWh battery) for their facelifts. Do you have a link for that piece of info, or is it just a rumor?

Indeed, the standard suspension on Octavia is comfort-oriented, if you like pushing the car on curves or winding mountain roads it may feel a bit floaty, or boat-like. If you hate that behavior AFAIK you have two options: get the DCC, or get the sportier suspension option which is also about 15 mm lower than standard IIRC.

Thanks! I understood the effect, but I'd love to know the cause of it. Since I have the same system (on a different car, though) I'd like to know where the leak/loss occurs. I know the car will still run on ICE, but I'm a daily EV user...

Could you please give some details on this problem that seems to be "standard" for the PHEV cooling?

It seems to be Fuse #19 ("emergency call") in the dash panel. It's also a good idea to check for your car version - the image below is for the 2022 model: https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

Just make sure the rear passengers are using their seatbelts!!! 😉

Following the relevant story of @Edela and the symptoms that you describe, I'd ask the Skoda service for a shock test. That shouldn't be too complicated or too expensive. I requested such a test on one of my previous cars (it was noise related, not car instability), the dealership said it couldn't be the shock-absorbers. I insisted, and mentioned I would pay for the test if the shocks are in order, and they should pay for it if they were faulty... Surprise: it was one of the front shocks!

It's most likely related to the suspension setup of the Octavia - it is more "comfort" oriented than what you might be used to from the previously owned A3. This "jumpy" behavior that you describe (to the right or to the left - depending on which side the road is bent or curved), is one of the few reasons (but not the main one) I moved away from Octavia which is otherwise a lovely car. If you really love the car and want to keep it, but you can't live with the "floaty-behavior", you might look into suspension replacement with a stiffer one. There's at least one topic around here on suspension-mods.

Check the fuse list/diagram - both inside the car and the engine bay... It seems to me that the one controlling the central locking has nothing to do with the charging flap. https://digital-manual.skoda-auto.com/w/en_GB/show/6894308d6886e761eceb2387115c9635_9_en_GB?ct=b5c5b826cda76c9eac1445256d1e739f_1_en_GB#titled1462769e158737 However, one might try to "reset" the charging system by pulling out fuse #3 in the engine compartment - see attached. (not sure if that's wise to do or not) There's also fuse #28 in the dashboard, but it's specifically mentioned "The fuse may only be replaced by a specialist garage", so I wouldn't play with that...

FYI... https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005657167650.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005481017324.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm One might find several different such kits; choose carefully.

Check out the first several posts of this topic:

Those 21(+/-1) seconds from Start to Audio playing is an eternity... But it also depends on the Audio source - if it's Phone or USB you should also add the time needed by the MiB to access that source. I found that it may vary A LOT between different engine starts. Radio should be the "benchmark" for such time comparisons. Do you reset the system once in a while? Usually it becomes a bit more responsive after reset.

I'm still trying to understand what's the car the OP has problems with... (probably I'm missing something)

Ok, that was actually my first question after reading your first post: Have you tried with a different phone? Check if your AA is up-to-date... Over the past 10 days, I've received 2 AA updates (on Android 14); 1st update made AA slightly unresponsive, 2nd one kind of fixed the issue.

This version of VAG PHEV is only able to charge at 3 kW max, and with the "reduced charging" option activated it will even go down to 1 kW. Indeed, the user should check the socket (and circuit) power rating, but without grounding it's a no-go...

That must be the reason. AFAIK the "home charger" needs a functional grounding circuit in order to work.

I have the very same engine and transmission on Formentor PHEV, and never had the feeling that the car goes into higher revs than what I was asking via the accelerator. It happened a few times that it went to higher revs than I was expecting, but it was exclusively my fault: I was in S and I was downshifting (manually); once I resumed the acceleration, I wasn't paying attention that the car stays in M. However, you can easily avoid the high revs using the paddle shifter - I do that sometimes. I only feel that for the "crawling" setting - I find it to be quite jerky sometimes, depending on traffic. When you're stuck in crowded traffic at very low pace, foot not even on the accelerator and the car barely moving, sometimes there's some "clunk-clunk" noise coming from the transmission (or the e-motor) that you can also feel in the car-body. I think that's caused by the car quickly oscillating between regen and traction - as it's unsure what to do at that slow moving pace. That could be surely optimized; I sometimes "force" the gearbox into M1 to avoid that behavior...

Ok, since it's available for Golf 8 for some time and I have it on my Formentor for about 2 months now, I was assuming it was also released for Octavia - though I never checked...