excuse my ignorance but am I supposed to know when my octy hatch is in 4 wheel drive and am I correct in thinking that it changes as and when it needs.

No problem. There is no visual indication on the dash. Yes, the system detects wheel slip and engages the rear wheels as necessary. HTH

Also bear in mind that the 4wd system is "active" even when you disable the ESP.

if you boot it coming out of a junction with esp off on slightly greasy conditions then you will definitly know when the 4x4 engages

trust me on this

if you boot it coming out of a junction with esp off on slightly greasy conditions then you will definitly know when the 4x4 engages

trust me on this

I do trust you. In fact, it's why I made the edit to add the final comment about it working even (especially, perhaps?) with ESP off

...and that's why we love power oversteer :D

I think I experienced that whoosh thing!! a while back when I booted it out of a junction. Wasn't sure if it was turbo, 4x4 or both, was fine after I climbed back out of the rear seat. We don't have many hills in Norfolk but this car just flys up any incline, making me wonder if thats a 4x4 thing? Thanks for all the advice.

if it was dirt then 4x4, if tarmac then turbo. on a wet and quiet day try booting it at low speed in 1st or 2nd and giggle like a little school girl when the back end swings round. so funny, when tesco was closed the other day i went round a couple corners totally sideways, haven't smiled so much in a long while. never really done it before but it seemed quite controllable. wonder what it would be like if i didn't do it on purpose though. mst admit i tried the exact same thing with esp on and i got a slapped wrist and drove round the corners very sensibly thanks to the electronics

my mate starts to whine about electronics in cars when has a couple drinks, TC and ESP is for girls, learn to drive properly is all you can get from him. thing is he has never really pushed any car and never had it slide really or even had it gripping but scared himself ****less at the speed/angle. and he drives an impreza without a bloody turbo!! bet he would want the esp if he found himself spinning or going sideways.

if it was dirt then 4x4' date=' if tarmac then turbo. on a wet and quiet day try booting it at low speed in 1st or 2nd and giggle like a little school girl when the back end swings round. so funny, when tesco was closed the other day i went round a couple corners totally sideways, haven't smiled so much in a long while. never really done it before but it seemed quite controllable. wonder what it would be like if i didn't do it on purpose though.

[/quote']

Try that after a remap - 1st gear is *very* short and aggressive, flicks the tail out on a wet junction with ease... If you grab 2nd quick enough you can hold it in a slide \ drift, and it's very easy to balance.

I've driven over 60k in mine now and the balance of the car through fast tight bends is one of it's forte's, you can just add a touch of opp lock and power out of corners at quite ludicrous speeds....

As for ESP etc... well as long as I can leave it on when it's late, dark, I'm tired and I have the kids screaming in my ear, and I can turn it off when I want to play, then it's definately "a good thing".

Try that after a remap - 1st gear is *very* short and aggressive...

Ian, that has got to be the understatement of the year so far!

In the dry you quickly learn not to use any serious amount of throttle in 1st, as you immediately hit the redline and then get lurched forwards towards the windscreen!

Because of this, I tend to use first to simply "get rolling" then 2nd before giving it any serious throttle. I think this also ties in to the fact I'm still on my original clutch after 75k!

I do likewise, Ian. 1st is far too low for normal road use.

hopefully i should find out soon once jabbafacation is concluded

Bassman

As you asked a straightforward question, can I also give you some other advice about the 4x4 ?! :-

IF IT'S SNOWED, REMEMBER TO TURN OFF YOR ESP by pressing the button.

(A warning triangle comes up , which means its off)

excuse my ignorance but am I supposed to know when my octy hatch is in 4 wheel drive and am I correct in thinking that it changes as and when it needs.

the pink indicator lights in the wing mirrors flash ... hell freezes over and then the undead will rise!

..

i think the general idea is that you dont actually know when it does engage..

Bassman

As you asked a straightforward question' date=' can I also give you some other advice about the 4x4 ?! :-

IF IT'S SNOWED, REMEMBER TO TURN OFF YOR ESP by pressing the button.

(A warning triangle comes up , which means its off)[/quote']

Is there a consensus out there that switching ESP off is a good idea in the snow? I also saw in another thread that ESP can reduce power under hard acceleration and wondered if that's definitely the case, say you are at low revs in 2nd and then absolutely floor it, I often feel as if 2nd has died and then, just when the lorry is about to hit me, the engine suddenly wakes up and I'm clear. I've always put this down to massive turbo lag but if turning off ESP could help that would be great news.

Only time I drove my 4x4 on an icy road the understeer seemed really bad, but I've no other 4x4 experience to compare it to. In general my experience of the 4x4 Octavia has left me thinking that my next car will have to have a permanently-on 4-wheel drive so that I don't have to wait for the front wheels to slip for the back wheels to kick in.

Adam.

Ah Paul, ya hunka hunka burnin' lurve, you still winding up the 4x4 owners?

Is there a consensus out there that switching ESP off is a good idea in the snow? I also saw in another thread that ESP can reduce power under hard acceleration and wondered if that's definitely the case' date=' say you are at low revs in 2nd and then absolutely floor it, I often feel as if 2nd has died and then, just when the lorry is about to hit me, the engine suddenly wakes up and I'm clear. I've always put this down to massive turbo lag but if turning off ESP could help that would be great news.

Only time I drove my 4x4 on an icy road the understeer seemed really bad, but I've no other 4x4 experience to compare it to. In general my experience of the 4x4 Octavia has left me thinking that my next car will have to have a permanently-on 4-wheel drive so that I don't have to wait for the front wheels to slip for the back wheels to kick in.

Adam.[/quote']

Snow=ESP on unless you are in an empty carpark and playing.

Most of what you have asked is easily answered by driving it, many miles, in all sorts of conditions, just experiment and you'll learn to get the best from it.

Oh, and ignore Paul, he threw his RS in a ditch on an icy road, never mind snow.

anyone ever tried taking their 4X4s into a really boggy field and then just flooring it and spinning it?? GREAT FUN!!

Tried it with ESP on..... car held on and just kept on goin no matter what

ESP off...... got stuck!

Ian are you saying you are meant to know when the rears are doing something? I thought the whole point of the haldex was its transparency when not in use?

It was up a bank not in a ditch anyway!

i was rushing on my way to a date with your SWMBO IIRC

Ian are you saying you are meant to know when the rears are doing something? I thought the whole point of the haldex was its transparency when not in use?

No, I told him to drive it.... when I first had it I didn't really know when it was engaged, but given time you just "feel" where the power and weight is through a low grip bend. I can't (and won't) try and put that into writing as it could get the inexperienced into trouble... either in a hedge or with the law

No, I told him to drive it.... when I first had it I didn't really know when it was engaged, but given time you just "feel" where the power and weight is through a low grip bend. I can't (and won't) try and put that into writing as it could get the inexperienced into trouble... either in a hedge or with the law

I will just add

Having both a FWD Octy & a 4x4 to choose from I just know the 4x4 makes sense as far as ease of driving quickly goes

The FWD car only has 160 ish bhp but if you try & hurry it you often have the wheels spinning in the first 2 gears, the 4x4 has about 250 bhp & yet you just nail it & it goes

Snow=ESP on unless you are in an empty carpark and playing.

Sorry Ian, I totally disagree with you on this one.

My 4x4 Octavia was atrociously, opposite-lock-inducingly, what the hell is it doing now, BAD in snow and ice with the ESP on.

It was so bad on the M1 in 2-3 inches of rutted snow and ice at 35-40mph that I nearly lost it twice. The car was totally and utterly confused and as it was braking wheels in the ruts on the left side it meant that I was having to keep steering against the power reduction.

Then I switched the ESP OFF and made it home safely with no oppo-locking!

As this was the only 4x4 road car I'd had with ESP (now on my 14th 4x4 car) that has behaved so badly in snow you have to draw your own conclusions.

I've sold the Octavia now, but the handbook advised ESP OFF ALSO.

Regards

Rob

RE snow.. I drove it on country lanes and cobbled roads.. slowly.. and yes ESP does need some assistance, but must just be me that thinks opposite lock is fun?

You need to stay on the power through corners, but other than that I thought it worked really well!

RE snow.. I drove it on country lanes and cobbled roads.. slowly.. and yes ESP does need some assistance, but must just be me that thinks opposite lock is fun?

Ian - it was scarily bad on the M1 that day.

If my girlfriend had been driving (and I'm not pretending to be a great driver by any means!) and had been expecting the car to do its stuff to help her, I don't think she would have reacted in the same way. As the motorway was down to two lanes, I could easily have been sideways between two artics...

I actually wrote to Skoda customer services and also had the car checked over because it was *that* bad with ESP on. Please take it as a friendly warning all you 4x4 drivers out there. IF ITS BAD, ITS OFF!!!

Thanks for the advice everyone, I've already been having fun with and without ESP, just waiting for some snow in north Norfolk