HI, I'm about to order another new one and I'm torn between the Elegance and the L&K, 140 or the 170, hatch with DSG, which one would you go for and why? Also has anyone got any experience of the enhanced stereo with the equaliser and 10 speakers over the standard Columbus, is there much of an improvement  in the sound quality for the extra money? Sometimes I feel that the bass could be improved a bit and was wondering  if the upgrade actually delivers in that dept. at all as it still seems to have the same size of main door speaker so I would expect that the mid range might be a little clearer and that is about it, or am I wrong?

Edited 9 July, 201312 yr by Graham Butcher

In the standard set up the door speaker will be a 2 way speaker. In the upgrade, because there is a seperate midrange speaker, the door unit is a dedicated bass unit. They are also higher quality speakers and they are amplified.

I have it in my Octavia and its brilliant.

i would go for l&k because they are better equipped than elegance 

In the standard set up the door speaker will be a 2 way speaker. In the upgrade, because there is a seperate midrange speaker, the door unit is a dedicated bass unit. They are also higher quality speakers and they are amplified.

I have it in my Octavia and its brilliant.

Does the door card suffer from vibration and rattles when the bass is a bit heavy?

i would go for l&k because they are better equipped than elegance 

About the only thing I can see is that the leather on the seats is different and have the L&K motive sewn in and the logo is on the bright scuff plates on the sills and the logo appears by the wheel arches. Are there extra bits not listed on the specification, I have solar sunroof, heated windscreen, heated washer jets, front parking sensors and heated rear seats added onto my current Elegance.

Does the door card suffer from vibration and rattles when the bass is a bit heavy?

Not that I have noticed.

About the only thing I can see is that the leather on the seats is different and have the L&K motive sewn in and the logo is on the bright scuff plates on the sills and the logo appears by the wheel arches. Are there extra bits not listed on the specification, I have solar sunroof, heated windscreen, heated washer jets, front parking sensors and heated rear seats added onto my current Elegance.

And TV

You didn't mention self park, TV, heated rear seats, heated ventilated front seats, the list goes on. I was looking for a DSG estate with a sunroof. The L&K we bought was a demonstrator and worth the slight premium over Elegances available. I am happy with the sound of the Columbus after much fiddling but it can be too bassy for me on some tracks. Mine has the iPod interface which is great.

I love the wheels but live in fear of SWMBO kerbing them, or worse me doing it and the satisfaction she would enjoy! The ride seems OK to me generally on the 18 inch wheels but I am very conscious of pot holes.

Mine is also 4x4 as it happened to be specked that way.

In finishing I must also admit thatI love my cars to have toys :-)

Difficult decision. I would look at how tricky the wheels are to clean and have a good look at the colour of the leather in real life. The toys spec list on the L&K fantastic.I will be changing mine in about 18 months and i will be in the same predicament!!

I do not love bass so my answer may not be the one you want.

There is more than enough bass! I had to turn the higher frequencies up to suit my taste. Overall I think the sound system is great but I have only heard the L&K system.

I enjoy seeing the extra speakers in the doors, I have had one occasion where something I had put in the door pocket resonated with the bass. (easily cured by removing)

I wish mine had hill hold, I had assumed that auto's did not roll back so didn't expect it would be an issue.

I also do not have heated windscreen though this does not bother me.

Also do not have electric boot, would have been nice to demonstrate to friends but worth the money??

 

I would not have bought a leather seat car full stop, the air cooled seats on the L&k remove the downside of leather and the effect of the fans is noticeable if a little noisy on high. (you cant move air without creating noise)

 

The panoramic roof is fantastic, you can have the roof open with the blind closed. The only downside is that the blind control which is on the ceiling has to be held in which takes a little time due to how long the thing is, however the sunroof and blind can be controlled with the key fob too and can be set to automatically close when it rains (car locked)

 

TV, I was keen to have this just in case they do switch off analogue radio whilst I own the car (intend to keep till death (car or me)) so this means I would still have dab radio broadcasts. I imagine being stuck on a motorway hold up four hours would bring the tv into its own.Just needs a loo. lol

The panoramic roof is fantastic, you can have the roof open with the blind closed. The only downside is that the blind control which is on the ceiling has to be held in which takes a little time due to how long the thing is, however the sunroof and blind can be controlled with the key fob too and can be set to automatically close when it rains (car locked)

 

Not on mine - just a single press opens or closes the blind now - found out by accident as I thought I had to hold the button - that used to annoy me too. 

 

I do not use the rain feature as I often came back to the car and the blind had closed.  I added the roof option to make the car light and airy.

 

Like the fact that it can be closed via the key fob.

I hate sunroofs so the Elegance for me. If only I could have a L & K without the sunroof

Residuals. L&K keeps up to 12 per cent more value according to Glass, Parkers and others. You'll more than get your money back if you keep it more than two years. Plus the benefit of all the gizmology. Nuff said...

Not on mine - just a single press opens or closes the blind now - found out by accident as I thought I had to hold the button - that used to annoy me too. 

 

I do not use the rain feature as I often came back to the car and the blind had closed.  I added the roof option to make the car light and airy.

 

Like the fact that it can be closed via the key fob.

Retracted, I must have been pressing it for too long. Thankyou..now there is no downside

Guys, thanks for the comments, very useful. Yes I forgot about the self park, not that it is important to me after many years of driving far larger things like buses and lorries, parking a car seems so easy. I have all the sensors now on my current car and park it with ease just be using the mirrors and the parking sensors tell me when I get close to anything.

 

I have almost ruled out the estate as the BIK hike will far outweigh the advantages if any I'll get over the hatch which is almost as good as an estate in the load carrying dept. It goes without saying that I would also load up on the toys and had short listed all the options that I currently have, to be added onto the new car either as extras on the elegance, or as standard on the L&K. I'm looking at the following, solar sunroof, front parking sensors, heated windscreen and washer jets, heated seats, full set of textile mats and the wood pack.  I was going to add to this list the ventilated seats, paddle shift, considering the upgraded stereo and was not convinced that the TV tuner would make it through on the UK spec cars. The keyless system does not appeal to me, much prefer to lock manually etc. (know its locked then) also not to sure about the Brown Dash or the Piano Black inserts, so may go with wood again. Anyone got any photos of the dash with the black inserts?

 

I just want to see one and hear that stereo compared to the standard one fitted to my elegance. My dealer still has not called to tell that they either have a brochure (just downloaded the latest one) or even a demonstrator in yet, in fact I was 2 weeks ago and the lady salesperson was not even aware that was a new face lifted version coming out this month. She lost a points there on product knowledge alone. 

Residuals. L&K keeps up to 12 per cent more value according to Glass, Parkers and others. You'll more than get your money back if you keep it more than two years. Plus the benefit of all the gizmology. Nuff said...

That helps because if this true then the company lease monthly bill should be lower then my current car because after 3 years the residual will be higher. :sun:

Residuals. L&K keeps up to 12 per cent more value according to Glass, Parkers and others. You'll more than get your money back if you keep it more than two years. Plus the benefit of all the gizmology. Nuff said...

Also, if you add several options to the Elegance that are standard on the L&K, you won't get much back, if anything, for them at part exchange time as the dealers go by the book value for the model you're selling.

The extra kit in the L&K is certainly worth it. I bought a 4 month old L&K with auto dimming mirrors, motorised boot lid, heated windscreen and heated washer jets.

I was looking at Elegance models but the L&K won it for me. In this weather the sunroof has been open most of the time. I hadn't thought how useful it would be.

The other thing is that because the L&K also comes with a pre installed amp and extra speakers it just saves on having to retro fitting these items. I must admit though I have had speaker vibration in the rear door speakers which went back to the dealers to be fixed. All they did was pack the doors out. This hasn't fixed the problem...

The one thing that I do miss is not having the DAB integration. I had a Passat as a hire car for a few days and that had DAB. The car would flip between dab and fm automatically. I haven't found an aftermarket unit that can do this yet.

Probably would also recommend the MDI

I have the Brown L&K 4x4 combi and I think the photos in the brochure doesn't do it justice!

If you live any where near South Bristol then you are more than welcome to take a look.

if you have an L&k then you do have dab radio.

It is a tv channel like any other, it even say dab radio when you select one of them.

 

Myself I don't use MDI , hard disc or cd, all music is streamed direct from my windows phone, only one device to keep up to date too.

Trim level is a personal choice though if what Brocky says is correct having the L&k would seem to make sense. It was a similar thing with my vRS as that will loose less money than the lower spec'd octy I had before. Engine wise you may find the 170 is just as good if not better on the fuel and the extra ps and nm should mean a more rewarding drive.

if you have an L&k then you do have dab radio.

It is a tv channel like any other, it even say dab radio when you select one of them.

Myself I don't use MDI , hard disc or cd, all music is streamed direct from my windows phone, only one device to keep up to date too.

Technically it isn't really DAB. this is actually DVB-T which is radio over TV. They are the same channels that are delivered to you domestic TV. DAB is a different delivery method. If you look at the Skoda Brochure the DAB add on is available for £200.

Also as I mentioned the DAB module should fall back to FM if the signal isn't strong enough. I work on the mendips and the DAB signal is patchy.

Haven't had much experience with the Windows Phone but I have connected my IPhone via Bluetooth Audio and whilst the sound quality is good it doesn't give me the option to navigate to different playlists, albums or Artists where the MDI does.

Well, I have the DSG 170 Elegance, Hatch with 10 speaker system as an extra option. I cannot compare with other Skoda's sounds but the bass and sound quality is fantastic on this system. The 170 PSI DSG is fast responsive and very economical for such a swift car. I ALWAYS average over 50 MPG combined and I do a fair bit of London driving. My record on a 150 mile trip was 68 MPG. at an average speed of 65 mph.

Can you get the leather in another colour other than brown on a L&K?

 

I think it looks pish unless the car is Brown,Gold,Silver or white,

 

I like Ivory in a dark metallic colour myself L&K MK1 was good, Edition 100 was the nutz.

Can you get the leather in another colour other than brown on a L&K?

I think it looks pish unless the car is Brown,Gold,Silver or white,

I like Ivory in a dark metallic colour myself L&K MK1 was good, Edition 100 was the nutz.

Yes you can get the L&K in ivory too. Looks well with a dark exterior colour. The dash, door panels, steering wheel and gearstick will be a light brown on all L&Ks but compliments the ivory IMO.

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I was considering the elegance, when I put in one or two extras the difference in price was about £1000. The L&K gave me more than the add ins so for me it was no brainer. Had it 4 months now and do not regret going for the L&K. The sound system is excellent, the leather seats top quality, the logo is pressed not sewn into the leather. I thought ventilated seats my not get used but they do and give a very welcome coolness around the seat ( really do like it ). The TV is useful when waiting for family whilst on my "unpaid taxi trips" :0)

The decals do look add something to the look of the car, one has started to come away and replaced under warranty. I must of used all the toys apart from the park assist, we'll twice to show off.

Had a call from the dealer least week Skoda has put a notice out saying some L&K's have been sent out with items missing.... So I now have a set of footrests for the back seat passengers. Still does not come with warning triangle in the UK so dealer sorted some out for me with high vis jackets ( nice of them ).

I chose the ivory leather ans it goes weary we'll writhe brown dash and black paintwork.

Hope this May have helped Graham and as you will have guessed, very please with my choice. Whatever you choose I am sure you will enjoy it

John

I was considering the elegance, when I put in one or two extras the difference in price was about £1000. The L&K gave me more than the add ins so for me it was no brainer. Had it 4 months now and do not regret going for the L&K. The sound system is excellent, the leather seats top quality, the logo is pressed not sewn into the leather. I thought ventilated seats my not get used but they do and give a very welcome coolness around the seat ( really do like it ). The TV is useful when waiting for family whilst on my "unpaid taxi trips" :0)

The decals do look add something to the look of the car, one has started to come away and replaced under warranty. I must of used all the toys apart from the park assist, we'll twice to show off.

Had a call from the dealer least week Skoda has put a notice out saying some L&K's have been sent out with items missing.... So I now have a set of footrests for the back seat passengers. Still does not come with warning triangle in the UK so dealer sorted some out for me with high vis jackets ( nice of them ).

I chose the ivory leather ans it goes weary we'll writhe brown dash and black paintwork.

Hope this May have helped Graham and as you will have guessed, very please with my choice. Whatever you choose I am sure you will enjoy it

John

 

 

Now I'm jealous, vented seats yum yum.