mr.nik

So, there have been a couple of threads on here debating what phones are compatible with the rSAP bluetooth profile on the GSMIII phone unit optional extra.. I took delivery of such a unit in my new vRS in April 2010 and was dismayed to find it wouldn't pair with my Sony Ericsson W810i even though the brochure said compatible. I have written to skoda UK on the advice of my dealer to ask for them to resolve the issue of phones listed as compatible, and those not. Here's the upshot: I was contacted today and told that the information in the brochure was wrong and indeed, NO SONY PHONES are compatible (this tallies with a statement on this forum that came from Sony Ericsson themselves, though if you call them you'll get different answers depending on who you speak to...) At the current time, Skoda have sent a definitive list of compatible phones (sadly not dated) and offered me £150 towards buying a replacement phone handset from the list that is compatible (I can spend more if I pay the difference..) Finally, at last, it seems the facts are straight about the Sony phones.. as to what they have offered, feel free to comment if you wish. I could perhaps argue to return the bluetooth system and ask for a refund (under sale of goods act) - but that doesn't really help me get the fully integrated system I really want. (What I really want is the rumoured GSMIII+ system due any time now? which supports bluetooth headset profile)..

utterly brilliant in my opinion. Done just of 2.5k miles, totally love it, so easy and smooth to drive.. given the mix of driving I do (with a lot of M25 type commuting) it's perfect. no regrets at all..

yeah - same here.. it literally is only for the first one or two gear changes.. (just the oil working through?)

have you bought one yet? I had one in my last octy, took it out to get the GSMIII in my new model, and haven't put it on ebay yet cheers nik

Good info.. I ordered bluetooth (GSMIII on my 3 week old car) on the basis it would work with my sony W810i - and it doesn't.. I'm going to be calling Skoda UK this week to ask what they can do about mis-selling me 450 quid's worth of tech... one option might be to press them for an upgraded system... I can't for the life of me understand why an RSAP-only kit was ever specc'd - it's obvious it should be able to fall back to basic Hands Free... :-|

My Blackberry DOESN'T work with it....

you've just answered a question I posted in another thread.. What a crock of sh** rSAP is - whoever in their right minds thought it was a great idea to embed the phone in the car? This is like the stupid system SAAB did a while back where you had to put your SIM in the car.. :-( What sort of idiot thinks that's convenient? The handset market gives us all to pick handsets suitable for our needs - which in my case also means the data channel that I need to drive my tomtom traffic. I'm really narked about the way this kit works, as it's not really explained in the documentation and I've paid to have it in my new car and it's useless to me... :-( It must only cost about 10 quid in components to have a kit which can fall back to working as a bluetooth headset. Thankfully I had a parrot MKI9100 in my last car which i took out, so I could fit in this car I guess, but the whole point for me was to get rid of the extra kit. May just have to resort to doing handsfree on the tomtom, which is a bit crap to say the least... n

disagree... it depends on driving style. All it takes is a few overtakes (e.g. to pull past a truck you're sitting behind in the wet) or the need to put your foot down to slip into a closing gap and the MPG will drop - my last 170PD would return between 43 & 48 on the same journey (including motoroways) totally on driving style, probably with subtle differences that most passengers would not even notice....

shaun, having just swapped out a vrs PD i can tell you now it's totally down to how you drive. i thought mine was at fault returning 40 - 43, but it was down to "lazy" driving (i.e. more progressive). Easing off, it easily came back up to 48mpg. Also, top speed: Get over 75 and you'll see a marked drop. Keep it under 70 (of course, you would anyway) for the best returns. Drive 3-5mph under the speed limit and you may get over 50mph.. that was my experience anyway. nik

where did you find the C902 quoted as working fine? I've found no such thing, and indeed, my C902 won't pair. (I'm similarly disappointed like you).

I'll try and post a few pics.. I like the MDI + Ipod integration... it allows me to select artists, tracks etc. - seems ok to me... when i first plugged the ipod it it was already in "shuffle mode" (the ipod was) and the MDI just read it as-is and carried on playing it, with the ipod shuffling it. I've since used the shuffle function on the MDI and it seems to work ok as well.. Only had the car a few days so can't give you a complete analysis but no complaints so far. Why did I go for it? because a) I had the ipod with all my music on already I already have an itunes workflow for getting new songs and loading up the ipod and choosing the tracks I want and star-marking tracks etc. c) I can take the ipod with me when i leave the car. I'll use the SD for music I collect outside of that workflow (e.g. while away from itunes, or recordings from songwriters I meet etc. :-) ) Haven't played with sound settings on the ipod yet - e.g. whether you can use the equaliser on the ipod to improve sound quality etc. whether you can use the volume-levelling function etc.

So, having just taken delivery of my new 2010 FL vRS Octy with the bluetooth integration I'm gutted to discover it won't pair with my Sony Ericsson C902 (OK, ok, so it's not on the compatible list, but knowing how hairy bluetooth is, I thought there was a chance it could work - more fool me.. So - anyway - for those who want a quick recap, my research suggests the in-car system uses "rSAP" bluetooth protocol to access the phone SIM i.e. the car system itself acts as the phone, 'borrowing' the credentials of the SIM. This is all well and good and I could buy another handset that is compatible BUT what's occurred to me is that I use my current handset to 'tether' (using iPhone speak ) my TomTOm to get traffic data over 3G. My concern would be if the Bolero car system "takes over" the SIM (and I've read in some instances that it may set the phone in "flight mode" so that it doesn't also try to access the phone network) then my TomTom will no longer be able to access data over the handset (thus I'll lose real-time traffic info). Can anyone confirm if this is true? Can't see why it wouldn't be... So, I might shoot myself in the foot getting a handset that works with the Bolero bluetooth... Any thoughts?

I'm Sarge's brother mentioned above, and I totally agree with his comments been surprised at how good the MPG is in the DSG, I expected a bigger hit. I would say that most of the accessories that come as standard on the vRS are well worth it if you do lots of miles... I do - so things like cruise control, auto wipers, auto lights and of course the auto box are a great help for high-milers. But it's each to their own - it depends on your driving patterns, budget and desires for form vs. function. Have to say though, absolutely loving my 2nd vRS & the flexibility of the DSG. n

I can report the same issue with my C902 with the bluetooth kit in a March 2010 build octy

I've just taken delivery of my new octy vrs with Bluetooth/MDI and gutted to find that my SonyEricsson C902 does not work with it. The system reports "phone not compatible" and won't really attempt to do anything with it. Now, my phone is not on the official list (which is fairly small) so theoreticallty I can't be too upset, but naturally I am... Thing is - i was looking to get an iphone when the next version comes out, so I can probably live with this for now - but I'm going to check if my partner's iphone works with the current bolero. Will report back. However, i'm also intrigued to know if there is any hack or update can be done to either the phone or the bolero that introduces additional compatibility. cheers nik

I find this argument a little bogus. Irrespective of whether the software is owned or licensed - if I don't want to use it, i shouldn't be forced to! If I want to uninstall or not use Microsoft Office, I should be able to, even if I choose to continue with my license; and ideally I should be able to relinquish my license. The fact I am *licensed* to use something, as opposed to bought outright, shouldn't mean I am forced to use it. Now - I'm NOT saying that the car and the software should be necessarily separable - you could argue that the two have to be used together and should not be separable (clearly VAG do) - but I'm saying that a license model does not by definition lock you in....

I took the car for a quick run, just to check if performance was impaired and soon after the DPF light came on. Ran through the regeneration procedure (>2000RPM sustained for 10 - 15 mins) and then I got the full "get to workshop" failure and limp home mode :-( Looks like is was possibly down to DPF, i guess that might explain an airflow problem? Anyway - dealer has fixed it for me (for now)... I guess this is one issue with the remap - the car much more easily runs at lower revs, so I am barely running at >2000RPM for any length of time, even thought I do 3000 miles a month... (which includes M25, which has to be worst case scenario for the DPF)...

conversely, mine have been down quite a bit in the past and it hasn't gone off... :-(

The engine warning light on my octy vRS came on this morning. Nothing noticeably different about performance or behaviour, but obviously it's a concern. I have a BSR PPC remap. Using the PPC I've just read the fault codes, which came up as 0101 (then 0182 when I tried a second time). Does anyone know if this translation holds good? Fault code Eobd Airfuel1 P0101 Mass or Volume Air flow Circuit Range/Performance Problem P0182 Fuel Temperature Sensor A Circuit low Input is this a case of "get to the dealer pronto?" cheers nik

"calibration wipe"

I've had my octy vrs TD about a month and done 4k miles (car has done 13k) - most of the driving is a 100mile trip to the office (each way), taking in A roads, motorway, car park [M25], and single track lanes). It seems almost no matter how I drive it, it will deliver between 48 and 52mpg, unless of course I really give it some stick. It feels like there is a bit of a ceiling at 53.5mpg, but i haven't tried hard enough to overcome it to be sure yet. On a slightly related note, I had it valeted today and they had moved the driver's seat all the way forward. I didn't realise, and when I climbed in I managed to flip the accelerator and reve the engine, probably all the way to the rev limiter. When, I got in and drove away, I'm sure it felt even pokier! perhaps I unwittingly cleaned a load of gunk out?

you say you had to shorten the bonnet lever - how DO you open the bonnet with the mesh grille fitted?

i guess my follow up concern would be whether this interception also means the car no longer tracks its movement when GPS is not available (e.g. in a tunnel) - ok, not a great loss, and no worse than a portable satnav unit, but handy non-the-less... :confused: would be very keen to know who you got on - and if you can be bothered to take any pics, that would be nice too..

Thanks for that... I actually want to get some video cameras set up for track days etc. so the built-in screen would be perfect. The 'tv free adapter' looks a bit dubious - no explanation of how it works! but the video input box on ebay looks the business - any idea if installing it would mean losing the AUX-in from the jumbo box?

I've got the satnav option on my octy, with the jumbo box, thus the AUX input. But i notice on the aux screen there is an option to turn video input on or off... is there indeed a video input on the back of the unit, and can it be used? similarly - if I wanted to install a DVD sun-visor (fairly cheap on ebay) is there an power supply somewhere in the roof that can be easily tapped into?