whippersnapper

It definitely isn’t every 2 years in NZ. I want to say 45,000km but don’t quote me. I have the prepaid servicing for 5 years. It’s included in that but not in the 3 year one from memory

No soundakator on the 4.5

We are talking about the 4.5 which appears to not have the same electronic gremlins as the 4

Agreed. The reality is that most of the time you are doing something hum drum in your car. When I drove a whole bunch of VAG cars back to back I could really feel how agricultural the RS3 DSG was in city traffic compared to then DQ381. It really didn’t surprise me once I learned afterwards that it’s a VW transporter gearbox!

Theft risk is obviously location dependent. I wouldn’t have thought an RS would be a targeted vehicle as to most people it’s just a Skoda. The car already has an immobiliser and an alarm standard. I guess it depends on whether you are garaging the car or parking it on the street?

I was feeling a bit tired after a Coastguard volunteer duty this weekend so I decided to drive the RS to the motorcycle meetup for lunch rather than ride the motorcycle. I took my own route but included some of the twisty roads I like riding on and boy the RS is still a very fine drivers car given how otherwise practical it is. In Sport mode with ESC sport selected it was fabulous and the combination of strong torque, VAQ diff and that revvy 4.5 engine tune made for swift entertaining progress but never at a speed that was getting ridiculous or anti social. I do think that, probably because the car is relatively light, 265hp seems about right for the road. Punchy enough to feel brisk but not so fast that you end up at license loosing speeds in seconds or with performance you can never access. The ESC sport just helps quell understeer and even allows a bit of rotation which you can settle instantly by applying throttle. Very satisfying. Put back into comfort mode on the motorway back home and turn the stereo on I was all smiles. What a great, great car.

I would assume so, you can do this in the settings on the Octavia

Weird I find the seats extremely comfortable but have the suedia ones

Yes it’s true. The facelift removed the actuator (there are no fake sounds) and added a sports exhaust which sounds quite good for a stock system (bearing in mind EA888s don’t really ever sound very good). There is a subtle pop on the overrun in sports mode

Can you clarify? 1) Is this what was once only in the RS3 and Golf R 2) If it's not now in the facelift S3, performance Cupra Formentor and Sports Tourer models what is? Because they certainly claim a torque splitting rear differential. 3) Who is "us" ?

Maybe we are talking about different things? I’m talking about the torque splitter rear diff first seen on the GolfR and RS3. In the recent facelift this is is fitted to the S3 ad various Formentors snd Leon Sport tourers

In the facelift the rs3 and golf r only diff was added to a bunch of other models

couldn't agree more. My car mostly burbles around the burbs. Only occasionally does it get used in any anger and then in Sport mode with ESC in Sport mode it is a fun, brisk sporting car. I would't want anything quicker and most things more capable on a back road would be noticeably worse as a car to drive around town in ancient fit stuff into the back of it.

Not sure what you are referring to but RS3, S3, Formentor VZ / VZ5, Leon Sporttourer and Golf R hav the same rear diff

I certainly didn’t buy it for standing starts. I’ve used the launch control once just to try it out. It is a surprisingly brisk car once rolling though. And that was the point I was making the Superb is in the low to mid 5s for the standing start but the Octavia is faster once rolling so it isn’t that bad. Helped by being relatively light for a modern car and wihout all the driveline losses. Just goes to show how little stats on a piece of paper can mean at times. The problem I have on my motorcycles is just how damn quick they are to the point where you can hardly even enjoy them in a sporting manner on the road. The Octavia you can drive hardish without being at warp speed in an instant.