dieselV6

Relevant HVAC measurements are refrigerant pressure, compressor load (actual and requested), evaporator temperature and vent temperatures. You can deduce many airco problems from these. Refrigerant pressure measured prior to engine startup should be 5+ bars on a hot day, see my last post in this thread from sometime ago: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/503690-airco-refrigerant-pressure-climatronic-typical-values/ When running engine and compressor, after a while high side pressure should be above 10bar at 20degC ambient, and above 16bar at 30degC ambient. There are more exact tables and charts of temp vs pressure, do a search. Remember the sensor shows absolute pressure (0 is absolute vacuum), while most Internet charts show pressure above ambient, so 1 bar less. With temp set to low and airco fan running on full, evaporator temperature should be low several deg C, perhaps up to 10degC on a really hot day and stationary car with idling engine. Compressor load helps see that cooling is actually requested and that the compressor responds, and also useful if you overfill the system. One thing worth also checking in case of inconsistent behaviour is if the front airco fan (behind engine and airco radiators) switches on and works OK. if the fan or relay fails, cooling efficiency depends much more on whether the car is moving rather than just ambient temperature. There's a whole host of other potential issues, eg freezing water in the system, stuck expansion valve etc., but on a system that has worked well in the past, the above would be my starting point for diagnostics. HTH

The oil temps still sound a bit on the high side, but not much, probably ~5 deg C higher than I would expect. Oil cooler on these engines is disappointingly small. However, I decided not to fit external oil cooler because if it is impacted, engine loses oil, and some of the roads I drive on are shockingly poor. It is worth also double checking that the coolant mixture is not too rich in antifreeze. I avoid G13 as it really needs a silicate bag to lubricate water pump, and that's another bag of problems when the silicates burst out and block heater matrix. G12++ is my choice, currently use one made by Fuchs, numbers below are for G12++ It's water that's removing majority of the heat and 40% antifreeze is more than enough down to -27degC and up to over +140degC, if more range needed, 50% diluted G12++ works in -37degC / 145degC range. Preventing coolant boiling out is why ECU limits power above 135degC. in general, so long as coolant is relatively fresh, the more water in it, the better it carries the heat out, right down to about 35% G12++ content, after which point corrosion and lubrication might become an issue. So 40%-50% is best range IMHO. The difference in coolant heat capacity between 40% and 60% is about 7%, and if a car is filled with pure G12++ (some people mistakenly think undiluted coolant is best), the difference between 40% and 100% G12++ accounts for about 25% reduction in coolant heat capacity.

What's your oil temperature getting to at say 220-230km/h after 3-5 minutes of driving now that the shutters are removed? My numbers (Mk3 Octavia CUNA TDI 184bhp) are about 107degC - 109degC at 200km/h, about 115degC - 117degC at 215km/h in ca 20degC environment, and I got to 125deg C on one occasion driving at 230km/h before I started watching oil temperature... I try not to exceed 115degC, even though the engine can take more, the oil pump is belt driven ( and the belt is in the hot oil).

All this discussion makes me think yet again that there was nothing wrong with z-beam projectors convertible to flat-beam for driving abroad. For many years, this was standard Hella projector headlamp setup on most Mk1 and Mk2 Skodas (Octavia, Superb, Roomster). Frankly, in HID variant (or after upgrade halogen to HID, quite safe in a projector lamp), road illumination was good enough in any conditions when left on flat beam at all times, also in the UK. I'm speaking from 400k+ miles of experience of mostly night driving, including lots of high speed autobahn driving. But yet again, newer and bling is the enemy of good enough...

if you want new Skoda/VW parts at better prices than UK dealership, I have been using skoda-parts.com for many years . That door lock would have cost you about £220 incl delivery. Delivery is 3-5 days, service is very good (they reply quickly if you have doubt about part fitting or if part you want is not listed) and you can check parts ordered against the car's VIN. In addition to original Skoda parts, they often (but not always) also have far less expensive alternatives of good quality, e.g. Swedish or German made. As the shop is in Czechia, make sure parts are for RHD, this is also listed. If you know exactly what you want and do not mind occassional hassle, autodoc is also there, but they have a habit of listing many similar parts not all of which actually fit your particular car, so then you need to spend time on part manufacturer's website to confirm if the part fits. Still, often a good source of low price quality parts, but you need to know exactly what you are after. HTH

I have used Varioflex, usually removing all rear seats, in a Roomster, on average once a quarter over the 14 years, be it to take waste to recycling centre, kids to/from uni, or to bring in furniture / appliances. Every time I do, it saves at least another car drive, or hiring a van. There was also a period of 12 months around 2020 when I've been clearing out my parents house after my father passed away. My father was a bit of a hoarder, so it was about 20 trips to the recycling centre in a fully loaded Roomster with all rear seats removed, over a period of 6 months or so. With a bit of tarpaulin on the floor, no visible wear on the car because of these activities, so Varioflex works for me. Not to mention a small advantage of having a car with van-like space that does not need a van permit when showing up at a local recycling centre, saves on bureaucracy and possibly cost (have not looked into repeated van permits in detail). Another advantage nowadays is that when the car is used only by 2 people as a shopping trolley, the rear seats can be slid all the way forward resulting in significantly bigger boot for the weekly shopping. Frankly, yes, you could cover these needs with 2 sizes larger SUV (i.e. Kodiak, because I doubt Karoq with folded seats has high enough boot opening as well as loading space over the folded seats now there is no Varioflex), but it is much more convenient, far less expensive and better on the wear of the (otherwise folded and heavily loaded) seats. Basically, much like Octavia's vast boot for the car class, the Varioflex allows to use a smaller car for things you'd otherwise need a car 1-2 sizes larger. For me at least, this was part of long-term Skoda's value for money offering that is now largely gone from the range. I would have paid an extra grand for Varioflex, just to be able to cover peak loading scenario without the inconvenience of hiring another car every time I need the cargo space. Just my 2 pence.

Unless they will bring back the Varioflex seating, in my mind, the Karoq is already demised and no longer a viable new car purchase. But then, we have owned a Roomster for 14+ years

Removing Varioflex killed yet another prospective car for me in the Skoda range, now running out of choices there. As I have a Roomster and an Octavia, and consider downsizing to one car, a Karoq with Varioflex would have been a natural choice. As it stands, I'm increasingly looking at Mazda offerings, at least I can get normally aspirated engines as well as 6-cyl diesels in their range...

At present, large fuel tanks are only on cars too big for my purposes (don't fit in garages in places I can and prefer to have my car garaged). In the Skoda range, only the Superb and Kodiak are 58l+, everything else is at 50l or below, with new manual diesel Octavia 2.0 116bhp it is 45l only. Compare this to (admittedly vented) diesel fuel tank capacity of 64l for my wife's Roomster and Mk1 Octavia (55l base capacity + 9l extra fuel after venting). Bear in mind that for 80%+ motorway/autobahn driving I really do not need the extra fuel waste of an SUV, a hatchback/estate will do just fine for me, as it has for the last quarter century. What I'd like to see are smaller, non-SUV, manual gearbox, diesel cars like the Scala (50l fuel tank), but they're all petrol at the moment. Still, I can dream 🙃

My reasons for sticking to manual gearbox, despite (because of) having driven 500k+ miles in the past 25+ years: More reliable and durable gearbox that will last without repairs for 14+ years and 200k+ miles Far longer servicing interval, simple gearbox oil change every 6-7 years is enough in my experience, and can be easily DIYed Lighter weight car and lower fuel consumption Lower cost of the car No annoying redundant gear choice override when selecting DSG top gear and gently accelerating 60mph-70mph on motorway ( this I experienced on a couple post-2018 diesel Skodas I have driven, earlier DSG boxes were OK in this respect) In a diesel car, on motorway/autobahn, I really do not change gears all that often, and can recall quite a few overnight trips where I did under 100 gear changes in total over 1000+ miles / 14 hours. In summary, I will sooner give up on driving a diesel than I will on using manual gearbox. Just my 2 pence. (diesel vs petrol is another discussion, even with current price differential, cutting car fuel tank sizes over past 15 years did not help petrol range).

Funnily enough, same question in Roomster dept, same answer then https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/485738-best-non-hid-headlamp-solution/#findComment-5514787

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/485738-best-non-hid-headlamp-solution/#findComment-5514787 HTH

I can confirm that the original Skoda accessory Crystal 6J x15 wheel is the only alloy that Skoda Auto explicitly allowed for use with snow chains on Mk3 Octavia vRS, incl the ones with large brakes (340mm). The Crystal wheels come in black or silver. Tyres specified were 205/50/R17 for the vRS and 205/55/R17 (Scout size).

At this age of the car, if you have rear suspension alignment problem, it's worth looking at replacement of rear suspension beam bushes. Other possibilities include bent rear suspension beam if someone jacked up the car on the beam, or if the wheel hit a pothole. Parts needed are 2x 6R0501541A, "bonded rubber mounting", 2x N10409903 M12 bolt and 2x N10106402 M12 nut. They are easily replaceable and about £10-£15 each from major suppliers, but need to be pressed out/in using a set of large sockets and a long screw (though plenty of bush removal kits on ebay and similar at £20 upwards). Worth at least a thorough inspection IMHO. HTH.

For starters, the servicing interval keeps shortening over the past 20 years. Originally when they appeared, there were claims of DSG gearboxes being sealed for life, then it was 80k miles, then 40k miles, then you can see recommendations of doing it at least every 4 years. Currrent list of mileage based is here at TPS together with the key phrase "the increase in vehicles fitted with DSG gearboxes presents increased opportunities for workshops" 🙃 Compare this with any manual VW gearbox servicing, theoretically lifetime, in practice an oil change every 100k miles / 6 years, whichever shorter, is enough to keep it going for 200k+ miles / 12+ years. I have been using 6 years/100k miles interval on my cars for the past 25 years, all the way to ~220k miles on one of them, and past 12 year mark on a couple of them. Regarding DSG gearbox failures, they range from premature clutch wear ("clutch packs") through sensor and control electronics failures ("mechatronics") to in-cabin switchgear failures (e.g. gear lever switch). That is before the interaction between ageing engine torque and an automatic gearbox is taken into account, which was/is also an issue on older style automatic gearboxes, even the tiptronic ones (a lot of old Audi engines are chipped for extra torque just to restore smooth gearbox shifts and prevent dropping into lower gear when an older engine cannot produce sufficient torque and the gearbox insists on driving a gear lower). An example summary of multiple DQ200 DSG box autopsies is here. In summary, my opinion is that if one is happy with manual gearbox and intends to drive the car for more than 10 years / 100k miles, a DSG gearbox will be/is a disappointment from maintenance cost and hassle (of going to the dealer more often) point of view. Shame that car manufacturers are forcibly removing manual vs automatic gearbox choice or restricting it to low powered engines only, knowing full well this shortens the average lifetime of a car (in line with their accountant's wet dreams of disposable cars with 7-9 years hard restricted lifetime). Aside from loathsome attitude, it is also not very eco friendly design choice, as on average, most emissions of a car are in making its materials, production of components, assembly and utilisation/recycling, not the actual driving. Shortening the life of a car by various dubious means is probably far worse for the polar bears than driving a manual gearbox diesel 🙃