I've recently purchased an Octy RS wagon in Australia.

The Australian cars do not come with the variable cargo compartment floor. Its not available as an option and Skoda Australia are either unable or unwilling to do a special purchase.

I use a wheelchair and a flat load floor would make loading and unloading the wheelchair a lot easier as it is awkward lifting it over the cargo compartment door sill.

It looks like one option is to have a similar system made for the car. To that end I'm looking for a lot of detail and photos.

I have read the existing thread Variable Boot Floor on this subject and have seen mannyo's very useful photos. I have also searched various other forums and also Skoda and VW web sites.

So far what I have gleaned from these sources is the following:

A. The variable floor option comes as three packages

- The side rails

- The floor panels

- A replacement floor mat for the existing cargo floor

B. The side rails consist of two parallel pieces, one for a border and one to support the floor panels. These are covered in material.

C. There are three floor panels. One (small one closest to the rear seat) looks like it is fixed while the other two are hinged and lift up. One has a handle in it.

D. The floor panels are quite thick. One poster said 25mm chipboard.

E. The whole thing is very heavy.

F. There are various turn rings that hold it together.

G. As well bringing the floor up to the level of the door sill, the system is also level with the back of the rear seat when the seat is folded.

H. The Golf Estate (n/a in Oz) has a similar system, but the side rails are different. Same for the Passat.

First of all, have I got these facts correct so far?

Now for specific questions. If you can answer or even better have or can take photos that would be great.

1. Can you still access the spare wheel with the variable floor in place or do you have to remove it first?

2. Does the front most variable floor panel rest on the steel cross member at the back of the rear seat?

3. When the rear seat is folded, is there a gap between the back of the seat and the variable floor? If yes, how wide?

4. Does the variable floor system have cross rails as well as the longtitudinal ones (e.g. out of sight just in front of the door sill or just behind the existing steel cross member maybe)?

5. How is the whole thing installed into the vehicle? Whereabouts?

6. When the hinged panels are vertical how are they held upright?

7. How many different configurations are there for the positions of the floor panels?

8. Are there any reinforcing beams of any sort underneath the floor panels? For example, the variable floor system in my Volvo was made out of 13mm marine ply but also had 25mmx25mm angle steel in strategic positions across each floor section. Lightweight but very strong...

9. Is the underside of the floor panels also covered in material?

10. Does the handle in rearmost hinged panel unlatch anything or is it simply a pull handle?

and finally...

11. If you have the variable floor system, is there anything you would do differently if you had designed it yourself?

Phew. :confused:

Thanks in advance. With sufficient information I'm sure that it would possible to fabricate this myself or have local car audio shop do it for me.

Just popping out to get some photos for you - back shortly

Just uploading some!!

Taking the questions in order

1. Yes you can get at the spare wheel

2.As far as I can see the VBF ends behind the cross member.

3. There is no gap between the folded seat and VBF

4. There do not appear to be any cross rails.

5. The whole unit seems to be fitted in and self supporting. I cannot see any fixings.

6. The hinged panels and either lay flat together

or stand in a slot in the side rail

7. Configurations are flat, folded right back or half folded - see pictures above

8. There are no reinforcing beams

9. Yes, the whole unit is covered in carpet to match the car, except for the underside, which is covered in black.

10. Just a lift up handle.

1. Can you still access the spare wheel with the variable floor in place or do you have to remove it first?

2. Does the front most variable floor panel rest on the steel cross member at the back of the rear seat?

3. When the rear seat is folded, is there a gap between the back of the seat and the variable floor? If yes, how wide?

4. Does the variable floor system have cross rails as well as the longtitudinal ones (e.g. out of sight just in front of the door sill or just behind the existing steel cross member maybe)?

5. How is the whole thing installed into the vehicle? Whereabouts?

6. When the hinged panels are vertical how are they held upright?

7. How many different configurations are there for the positions of the floor panels?

8. Are there any reinforcing beams of any sort underneath the floor panels? For example, the variable floor system in my Volvo was made out of 13mm marine ply but also had 25mmx25mm angle steel in strategic positions across each floor section. Lightweight but very strong...

9. Is the underside of the floor panels also covered in material?

10. Does the handle in rearmost hinged panel unlatch anything or is it simply a pull handle?

and finally...

11. If you have the variable floor system, is there anything you would do differently if you had designed it yourself?

1. You need to raise the variable floor (by folding it back), but you don't need to unscrew & remove it to access the spare.

2. No, it sits on a wooden support (like the side supports).

3. See picture below, it should be self-explanatory.

4. No.

5. The floor is located/retained by 2 screws into metal brackets at each side - see pictures below. These screws include the rings that retain the luggage net.

6. Gravity - they 'concertina' into a horizontal position - see pictures.

7. 2 - present or absent.

8. Nope, just sheets of chipboard/MDF, so they're quite heavy.

9. Yes.

10. Nope, its just a pull handle.

11. Its fine for my purposes, but I guess its quite heavy, so may be tricky to install/operate from a seated position.

I hope this (and the pics below) help, let me know if I can answer anything else.

DOH! Too slow.

Yours is cleaner than mine

Well, mine's only done 2Kmiles, and doesn't have to work for a living!!

Mine's on 38.5k, and definitely works for a living. Its usually covered in mud (outside too!)

Just to add my two penneth worth, I got it as standard in my L&K but thought that my dog's legs would slip into the gaps at either side near the back so took it out for safety. However, after looking at it, I found that if you just remove the sides, the top bit can be put back in by itself and actually sits nicely in the boot almost like a second floor with it raising slightly towards the seats.

As you can see in picture 5 of sammycarps post above, the dog guard also fits in place at the same time: the black bar onto the red loop is the rod of the guard or exactly the same if it isn't and is some other accessory.

I had worries about the dogs,but I have the Skoda soft boot liner, which levels it off enough

Yes, that's a dog guard in mine.

And Thanks to Obadiah for his first picture - I wondered where that strap came form - I found it loose under the boot floor earlier!

I opted for the waterproof boot liner so I didn't have to worry about my boxer messing up the lining.

I installed the variable boot system myself after having my octy for a few months, where mine seems to differ is that my estate has lugs that stick out of the floor, an L bracket sits over this attached to the variable floor side and a rather large chrome lock nut of sorts holds it down but still lets you use it as a lug, I'll get you some photos if need be?

Wow! What a response. I submitted my post midnight my time (Australian Eastern Summer Time) and wondered when I got home this evening whether there would be any replies...

So thanks to Obadiah and Sammycarp for all those photos.

It does seem that there are regional differences.

Below is a photo of my car's cargo compartment showing that the top of the the rear seat back when folded (photo 1) is approximately 30mm higher than the top of the cross beam, so unless I put my floor above that beam there is still going to be a step between the two.

Stripping back the lining on that cross beam (photo 2) and some of the side walls shows that are in fact pre-prepared mounting point screw holes in the cross beam (photo 3) where L shaped brackets could be screwed in to hold the rails in place. There are also pre-prepared cut-outs in the carpet lining (photo 4).

So it looks like the the forward end of the rails could be secured in place quite easily and the brackets would be well out of sight.

I'll get you some photos if need be?

That would be good, as I'm still a bit puzzled as to how the side rails remain fixed in position toward the rear of the car. There are no ready made screw holes behind the plastic lining of the door sill (and it took a fair bit of effort to find that out!)

Anway, the up shot is that with all the information that briskodians have provided I should be able to make a VBF reasonably easily. Whether it looks as good as the real thing remains to be seen...

By the way I took a look at a Passat wagon this afternoon. Very different. Although the floor folds up there is no real bottom compartment, just the wheel well. The floor panels are made of fibreglass, the hinges are gaffer tape and the carpet is simply taped around the edges of the fibreglass. Lightweight in more than meaning of the word.

Edit: Changed photos from attachments to URL's

Edited 27 November, 200817 yr by Ron3KL

From memory...(its raining, so I'm not going out to have a look at the moment)

That 30mm step in photo 1 is the thickness of the raised floor, so there's no real difference once its installed.

I believe that the side rails are kept in position by locating 'lugs' somewhere near the rear of the car, again that's from memeory, so I may be wrong...

If it dries up later, I'll pop out and have a look and try to get some more pics for you.