whippersnapper

Get a 4.5 it seems a massive upgrade from an infotainment perspective let alone others and I haven’t read any issues at all reported on this forum with it.

I thought you could customise everything including radio presets, defaults screen settings, climate control etc.. we don’t have user profiles available here in NZ unfortunately so I’m stuck with seat and mirror position from the key which is better than nothing.

Just cleaned mine. You won’t be able to clean the inside of the rim with the covers on.

To be fair you do have swipe up to show the individual mode

Interesting. I find in ESC sport it’s pretty neutral and you definitely get some rotation in stock form

I have a Home Screen set that has the modes permanently on display so it’s one touch for me to sport or any other mode without going through them in sequence. If I’m using CarPlay with media the speedo widget shows me what’s playing and if navigation the rev counter widget shows the next direction. I agree the button is good (move hand to far left and then next button in without looking) but I do wish you could just hold it to go direct to sport like the Cupra mode in Cupra.

No but I assume you are right it’s just in the map. I agree on the mode button. I have found putting the mode widget in the main screen on the (I have air con controls on left, next driving modes and then the car icon and audio settings as I have the canton system and switch often from speech mode for podcasts to others for music) is very convenient as it’s then one touch to get to any mode without having to go through all of them.

Maybe because he said it has 95RON on the fuel flap

Economy is almost identical. Only you can say whether she would appreciate the extra performance and whether it’s worth whatever the premium is.

You will get less performance on 91 but the antiknock sensors should retard the ignition to minimise the risk of engine damage. Bottom line you should use the fuel grade specified by the manufacturer. 95 is useless if 91 is good enough but not the other way around.

Yes I agree totally. I wanted to like an RS Audi and tried the RS3 and RSQ3 but heaps of turbo lag made it feel pretty gutless unless you really got stuck into it which realistically you just don’t 90% of the time. I know some people argue the Octavia RS is too expensive but even as the price has risen over the years it strikes me as a performance bargain. I wasn’t even going to test drive an Octavia as I thought 245hp just wasn’t enough. The extra 20hp gives a noticeable zing at the top end and the other changes vs the gen4 are all positive (no sound generator, much bigger and faster screen etc…)

Just edited that comment as I wasn’t clear

Same when I had my 2006 BMW 325i. It’s a fairly obvious progression almost no-one checks oil regularly anyway. I did on my Subaru but it never used a drop 12 years but the Polo GTI with the twin charger is a different story 😂

The 4.5 doesn’t have a dipstick. The car will tell you if the oil is too low but also click the car icon and you can see the oil level with the engine off (but ignition on)

Just a random thought. What about electric seat heating could that trigger the ICE to start? Do you have them on or set to auto come on when the ambient temp is low? I would think unlikely because I assume you are Northern hemisphere so it’s warm out!

Of course per the manual but pretty much as long as you have mechanical sympathy, let the engine oil warm before working it and progressively increase the load and revs and vary them (don’t sit at a constant speed on the motorway for the first 600 miles) you’ll be fine.

Yes they look much better without and easier to clean.

I did the same looks much better although I’ve had it delivered that way. Took mine for its first real sporty drive on some of the roads I ride motorcycles on and was very impressed especially in ESP sport mode. You can get the back to rotate a little nicely quelling understeer when you’re having a play.

Thanks for all the expert info travs. I am very much a beginner in the whole field but enjoying it and how my car looks. After I applied the sealant the next time I applied the spray foam I thought there was something wrong as it mostly sheeted straight off the vertical surfaces instead of clinging and slowing succumbing to gravity then I realised oh it’s the sealant. If you wash the car frequently enough so it doesn’t become that dirty it isn’t that much effort to keep it looking new including things like keeping the brake calipers nice and red and free of ugly brake dust build up

your cleaning method is wha I use, snow cannon attachment for pressure washer. You are trying to minimise the chance of rubbing dirt across the paint and thus scratching it and then leaving water on it to make water stains afterwards. a good synthetic sealant used every few months helps with water beading. I love the large rapidly towel beach towel sized microfibre cloths for drying. For my wife's older car I've bought the stuff to do the decontamination which is a more complex multi step method as you describe.

I got my Octavia RS in February. I had never used ceramic coatings before or PPF. My research led me to realise that only PPF is actual protection but it is so expensive I can see what it really only makes sense in a Porsche etc.. Ceramic coatings mostly make the paint look better for longer with less wash maintenance needed to keep it shiny but doesn’t really provide any real protection. If you are giving to choose this you don’t want it done by the dealer but by a reputable supplier after delivery. I decided to make it a point to just wash the car well and frequently myself and buy into a system of good product including a synthetic sealant. So far so good and the paint looks better than when I picked the car up.

Yes no MPI, also evo4 is back to a metal sump instead of plastic. Major changes are switch from IHI to Garrett turbo, much here fuel pressure, refined variable valve timing and revised in head exhaust manifold for faster warmup and better efficiency

Well the Passat is essentially a Superb it was designed by Skoda. The new A6 is pretty awful inside

Don’t think you ca change source from the steering wheel. You can add shortcuts for the radio so it’s just a click if on a home screen or a pull down and click if you put it there