mccririck

It seemed to be a top spec model, had all the bells and whistles. Diesel like my mk3. The 6 speed gearbox is great, my mk3 has a 5 speed and at 70mph mine is at about 2200rpm. The mk4 with 6 speed was sitting at under 1700rpm at the same speed. Engine noise was a lot less apparent in the mk4. When I got back in my car I could really hear the difference. I think there's less road noise too. I did notice wind noise a bit but that's probably because there was less engine and road noise to muffle it. Didn't think much of the speakers in the mk4. There wasn't much body or weight to the sound. Found this a bit surprising. The touch screen is used to control almost everything. I'm not entirely convinced by this approach. In the day I had the car I couldn't find how to change the fan speed for the air blowers. There are now more options in the "Driving Mode" bit. Chassis can be normal or sport. Not sure exactly what this does. Seats were more comfortable in mk4. I liked the steering wheel and the general quality of the cabin materials in the mk4. May be because it was a top spec model. Handling very similar to the mk3 but I think the ride had improved a bit. May be in part thanks to the larger wheels/tyres. In general it felt a bit more premium and a more pleasant driving experience thanks to the lower cabin noise especially at speed. The only things I didn't like were the sound system (speakers) and the fact everything is through the touchscreen.

Damnit!

I believe the road noise is a bit less on the new model, though that could change at any point if they decide to cut costs.

Why does thew driving mode always revert to normal when the ignition goes on and off? Is there a way to keep it at a specific setting?

Anyone else notice the headlight lenses get dirty on the inside?

I find the electric window switches poorly placed. Too often I end up winding the back window down when I want to wind the driver window down. They're too close together and the back one is in a more accessible place.

What do you mean?

There's surely no harm in using FLAC if it can process FLAC. And storage media are big enough nowadays that you don't really need to use mp3 to save space.

That's probably down to them being mastered differently, some will have a lot of compression added and some will be more dynamic but therefore have a lower average volume.

Sometimes I wonder if the head of the VW group tells Skoda and Seat that their cars cant be as refined as VWs and Audis.

I dont see the point in converting to mp3 as the car can play flac.

Hmm, it was never a problem in my 2017 Seat Leon. I prefer just putting FLAC files in the USB as that's how I store my music on my computer. It works fine sometimes in the Skoda and other times the touch on the album art for scrolling doesn't work.

When I was driving a 2016 Ford Focus a few weeks ago I looked up reviews of it as I didn't like the steering. None of them seemed to critisise it.

Tyre noise can be affected by tyres but also suspension and soundproofing.

Each album is in its own folder. Most are individual track flac files with the odd MP3.

I agree. Someone I know had one for a few months for work and it looked great inside and out.

So you don't think a quieter cabin and improved styling are good?

The MK4 might have an improved suspension.

I find the navigation between albums a bit inconsistent. Sometimes you can swipe through the different albums on the stick with the album art, other times it doesn't let me do that and I don't understand why. Also sometimes only 3 albums show when I have over 50 on the stick. If I unplug and plug it in again they all show.

Has anyone compared road and engine noise with a Golf or an A3?

Yeah I'm puzzled by that, too. Needs more explanation.

Most cars have a grab trough moulded into the plastic.

I'm not a huge fan of the rubber handle to pull the boot shut.

Ah ok. what does the steering thing actually do?

I don't find the steering on mine notchy. I actually quite like it it's smooth and not too direct. I drove a Focus for a few weeks before I got the Octavia and didn't like the Focus steering. There was no real feeling of connection with the road and it was not as easy to judge lines. With the Octavia I found in the car settings you can select sports steering. There are three options for the steering and three for the engine mapping economy, normal and sports I think it is. I have engine normal and steering sports.