Philip

Skoda made no mention of petrol or diesel, but I have a feeling the Scout Paramedic was the 2.0 PD

Been a lot of heavy rain here and flooded roads. Was wondering how deep Skoda say the Octavia Scout can wade in water. Emailed Skoda info a few days ago and got a helpful phone call today... they don't know... but I said the Octavia Scout Paramedic was advertised as able to negotiate flooded roads etc. there must be specs somewhere, so they agreed to try and find out. I was suprised that they phoned back after an hour or so. Here's the official Skoda line on Scout wading... The rule of 50 At 40 kph 10cm = 50 At 30 kph 20cm = 50 At 20 kph 30cm = 50 At 10 kph 40cm Max depth Pretty good think! Must see how this compares to other soft roaders

I have had both Mk1 Octavia 4x4 and Mk2 Scout. From last winter on ice (Mk2) I was disappointed at how long it took the car to bring drive to the rear and the edl to keep wheelspin in check! Now this is just an observation and I am on the Dunlop tyres in the Scout but had BF Goodrich G-Force tyres on the Mk1 which were much better in wet or wintery conditions. The great thing with haldex is you are mostly driving in fwd and therefore fuel consumption is not hit as much as a torsen diff quattro say. I had a Audi 100 quattro before the octavia and with the locking rear diff it was MUCH better in snow and ice. The 2.0 diesel doesn't have the power to engage 4x4 in most conditions, I now drive for economy mostly and enjoy keeping the average 50 + mpg in the Scout. The 1.8T in the Mk1 could get off from a standstill in the wet as good as most, you would feel the 1/4 turn of the front wheels before the back kicked in and you were off......... I remember getting the Mk1 stuck on a sandy beach, each time I tried to pull away the front wheels started to turn, digged in and I stalled. The solution was loads of revs and keep the power on until that first 1/4 turn brought the power to the back as well and I drove out 4 wheels scrabbling for grip! For day to day use the Octavia is a great car, the 4x4 gives you that bit extra in wet, muddy or snow conditions. To get the most from the 4x4 ability I would choose a tyre other than the dunlops that are original equipment. By the way the BF Goodrich G-Force may be great for grip but my mpg fell from 34 average to 30! in the Mk1 4x4.

One of my wheels was really bad with corrosion seeping in up the spoke from perhaps damage from a tyre change or kerb. The rest are spots on the middle parts of the spokes. Car is 2 1/2 years old and has had two tyres replaced, one because of a nail the other through wear. I just use water and a car cleaning brush on the wheels.

Just a note to all you Scout owners. I know peeling lacquer on the alloy wheels is a bit of a problem many of you have experienced. Well I had mine in at a Skoda dealer for work today and asked them to check the wheels because of this problem. They have agreed all 4 will be replaced on warranty! So I would get yours checked while your cars still in warranty!

JiiÄssä they are brochure quality pics. Enjoy!

Same colour as mine so I have to say I LIKE IT! MPG will get better, also a lot is how you drive it. I used to get around 44 mpg but now with a bit of effort I am getting 50 mpg+ average. Mine was second hand so I didn't get to choose the spec but xenons would have been nice.

Yes wheels on my Scout are going the same way, yet to speak to dealer about them.

Here's another

OK so it is not a vRS

Being 6'5" I find the seats perfect, but that's just the point, how can one seat (even with adjustment) fit everyone! I struggle to get clothing to fit most of the time. It may be possible to swap the seats out of another VW group car but dealers aren't interested in such modification and its not what you want to have to do with a new car.

Did those using the socks on the 4x4 or Scout put on just a pair at the front or on all four wheels. Anyone tried them in mud / wet grass?

Well mines been fine. I would change the tyres if you plan to take it onto mud and across fields, seems the best option is to get a second set of 16" steel wheels with winter / AT tyres. Everything else is just well specced Octavia, maybe a bit dull but from a driving point of view great. The sensible option is probably a 4x4, but after hankering for an Allroad for years I couldn't resist the Scout! Question is would you go for the tinted glass and cruise control anyway?

Ok my mistake, the picture shows from edge of wheel each side, if you look the other cars are much narrower, they have put in the wrong measurement (or wrong picture), probably not much difference then to the Octavia which is only 1769mm (I guess excl. mirrors)

Wow just looked at the external dimensions on Skoda.co.uk and I can't believe the new Superb is over 2m wide. That's more than most medium vans!! Wouldn't fit through the traffic calming (anti truck) pinch gaps around here. Have any owners found this width a problem? Can't leave much space to open the doors in a car park!

I have the same roof bars (skoda/thule) that I used with my Mk1 estate if that is any use?

I think the point with these type of projects is to create something unique. Yes there are other vehicles that may do similar but its not the same as building your own. I often thought about this with the Mk1 as I had a vRS but switched to a 4x4 as it was more usable in everyday conditions. Many remapped Mk1 4x4s are basically vRS 4x4. How about a Scout petrol FSI as the starting point...... A remapped 2.0 4x4 or Scout can't be far of diesel vRS performance anyway. I've jst lowered my Scout (on the computer) to see how it looks.

Ok some more driving on ice today, something not right with my traction control! Car booked into dealers for Thursday. Tried moving off with esp on and then off, no difference, loads of wheelspin and 4x4 engaging eventually, not right! Never had this problem with my Mk1 4x4.

Choosing tyres is always hard. I'm still on what came with it, on my Mk1 4x4 I changed to BF Goodrich G-Force tyres, they were much better for grip especially in the wet, and suprisingly for a summer tyre not too bad in snow! Those tyres reduced my fuel consumption by at least 3 mpg so worked out quite expensive! One of the reasons to have a Scout (or any 4x4) is that you can go a lot further on 'normal' tyres yet still have the good road grip for most of the time when conditions are less extreme. If I want off road performance I just change vehicle...

Yes works sort of but I don't think the cross axel diff lock (brakes through traction control) work in the same way. I need to do some serious testing, just had a few outings on the snow so far. The other day I tried to back up a driveway in the snow and got nowhere. Turned round and drove straight up, so something different. Watched the video I took the other day and yes back wheels spinning in reverse but on there own, front stationary, could only see one side of car so don't know what was happening on the other side. Not tried with esp off yet!

With the Dunlop SP Sport (standard fit) I have found snow grip to be really poor. Also I have discovered that the traction control / 4x4 sensor does NOT work in reverse! This could have big implications trying to back out of a ditch for example. I really struggled for traction on this wet snow!

I test drove an older Allroad before purchasing the Scout. In the same price bracket the newer Skoda seemed to make a lot more sense, but if money was no object I'd take the Audi. The funniest thing was the Audi salesman (first day in job) knew nothing about the car and when I had finished checking all the features I realized all the Skoda was missing was height adjustment on the suspension! Check this out too: YouTube - OCTAVIA SCOUT AUDI ALLROAD

I have to take issue with gregozedobe's comment about handling. One of the reasons I have a 4x4 is ever since my first Quattro I realized how much better the handling of a 4x4 road car is over a 2 wheel drive. I briefly had a MK1 VRs but changed it for a 4x4 soon after. I also go to military shows but usually in my ex-swiss army Pinzgauer as I show that from time to time. I am sure if the ONLY reason 4x4 is needed / wanted is to escape the occasional muddy field there will probably be enough military hardware around to pull you out. Unless of course you reenact medieval battles then you'll have to relay on the horses. Skoda 4x4s are great and very capable cars, you would not know most of the time that they are 4x4 but push on in the wet, drive in snow or slush or that muddy field and they are well worth the extra. Trim levels on all the 4x4 models are pretty good as standard too. Have fun in whatever you choose.

I no longer use West End despite it being really close. I bought my first Skoda from them which had not had its pre-sale checks done, they then replaced the coil packs as part of a Skoda recall when one of them gave up. It turned out they only replaced one as over time all the others failed! They broke my hub while doing a wheel bearing. I did pop in recently to see what deal they would offer as I was trading up. I left laughing at the fact they wanted more for a secondhand car on their forecourt than a new one costs! I would avoid this dealer