Oh and Matt jaguar skills was bloody awesome.

Now i can see why you like the sound generator  

LOL LOL LOL well variety is the spice of life and all that

 

JJ would you prefer to borrow my Essential Einaudi album instead?

LOL LOL LOL well variety is the spice of life and all that

 

JJ would you prefer to borrow my Essential Einaudi album instead?

Ludovico Einaudi? Just got him up on Youtube. Never heard of him before.

Im not a classical person, but that is nice music. Lovely piano playing. Should go quite nicely with the understated ambience of the Octavia (well perhaps not the vRS).

Wouldnt play it that often, but it would definitely get an airing now and again.

I have a very varied collection of music lol my itunes can be rather random!

 

So what music do you enjoy while in your dressing gown and slippers? :P

I have a very varied collection of music lol my itunes can be rather random!

 

So what music do you enjoy while in your dressing gown and slippers? :p

No dressing gown here!

Music wise- Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Eva Cassidy, Ruth Moody

I got a fair bit of Dire straits & fleetwood mac grew up listening to them as my dad was a fan lol. No Bronski Beat tho?

 

BTW Rumours (Remastered) sounds awesome on the canton

Everything sounds awesome on cantons, I got 4 X IC865 in my refitted kitchen hooked upto a Sonos, 99.5% of the worlds entire music library at my finger tips, makes the 16 week wait for car easier.

Regards

T

Ive found the standard speakers just fine, once set up better, thanks to Mr Gooseberry Mat!

Oh bugger. Ive managed to scratch the alloys already

Is there anything you can protect them with that will stop them corroding? Just in case the scratch does lead to them corroding.

Ive heard of this stuff that protects them from brake dust etc, and makes cleaning easier, but will that protect them from corrosion once scratched?

No idea on that one but I hang my head in shame and admit to curbing mine in a panic not once but twice (two diff occasions in the dark in a strange place after I had stopped then another car came along and I thought I was too far out in the road)

 

Anyways, Im probs going to wait until spring (or end of winter anyway) and get them refurbed properly.

No idea on that one but I hang my head in shame and admit to curbing mine in a panic not once but twice (two diff occasions in the dark in a strange place after I had stopped then another car came along and I thought I was too far out in the road)

 

Anyways, Im probs going to wait until spring (or end of winter anyway) and get them refurbed properly.

Help. Looks like the 2 softy Southerners are in need of alloy help!

Admittedly mine isnt bad, but i know how easily it is for them to start corroding underneath the protective lacquer

There are a few mobile alloy refurb guys around our way I believe..... 

Help. Looks like the 2 softy Southerners are in need of alloy help!

Admittedly mine isnt bad, but i know how easily it is for them to start corroding underneath the protective lacquer

Sorry to hear about your scrapes, I'm so ocd about parallel parking, usually end up about a foot away from the kerb! I did have a bad scrape with the Superb, and as it was a lease car, before returning it I managed to fill, prime and spray the damaged wheel. I used isopon metalik filler and spray primer from Halfords but for the top coat and lacquer, I used Wurth, German Alloy Wheel Paint spray, perfect for blending with the standard bright silver alloy colour. You need to take your time and build up the layers slowly though, and if your diy skills are not up to scratch, £70 per corner by a professional is probably money well spent.

I wasnt parking either time :( I had pulled over and was waiting / lost.

 

Im def paying for a pro to do it lol. (not saying my DIY skillz arent good enough mind! But I've not done it before so I dont know lol)

Matt can do mine!! lol

When his father is out the country mind

So I decided a comparison was in order- as my old car is sitting on the drive doing nothing (dad buys it, but hasnt driven it yet), i thought id take it for a spin today. It needs a bit of a run now and again. 

Now im used to the Octy, I thought it would provide a good time to compare.

 

So we have a brand new Octy (the proper version, not the vRS  ), and an '06 plate Focus Saloon. Bearing in mind the Focus around that time was meant to have no equal.

Now i can admit when i was wrong, so first things first. I was exagerating over the ease of use of the cruise control on the Focus. I actually had to think about it before using it, and I suddenly realised it wasnt quite as natural as i kept saying previously. In fact, the Skoda system is probably better placed i think. I know, thats a massive come down, but ive only just realised it. I was obviously far too used to it before. Sorry Neily, I know that is now one less reason to call me a Skoda hater   

 

Now I have only just realised how annoying the clutch and changing gear was on the Ford. I just cant explain it. I just couldnt change gear smoothly. The clutch seemed horrible as well. I suppose a lot of that goes down to age of the cars, but the Octy is a revelation.

 

Now lets look at where the Focus is better. Comfort of the seats and suspension. As soon as i sat in the Focus again, it was like sinking back into the most comfortable sofa around. The Octy seats are too hard. Only thing i did notice was the seats on the Focus seem quite narrow compared to the Octy. But overall so much more comfortable.

Suspension is definitely better on the Focus as well.

 

Now, people have kept on about how much fun the Focus is to drive (and i have to an extent). Made it out to be the bees knees. Well im not so sure. The Octy is extremely fun to drive, and i suddenly realised yesterday, that the body hardly roles when going round bends with a bit of speed, and she is very very stable on pretty much all roads. Today it suddenly struck home how much the Focus roles, and not just on bends. If there is a dip in the road, the body lulls down into it. Now id always known it could be a bit of a bouncy ride going down a fast A road, or something, but it never bothered me. Think i must have been used to it. Coming from the Octy though, I all of a sudden realised how extremely annoying it was.

 

There is a small chicane i quite often traverse, and loved going round it at full line speedof 60. Wouldnt have attempted any more than that in the Focus though, because of the body role. It really does feel fast. Went round it at 60 in the Octy for the first time yesterday, and the body hardly moved, and it never felt fast. Because of this, i found myself sneaking slightly over 60. Id probably take it faster as well. The small chicane is also a bit up and down, and has dips in the road. But you just wouldnt know it in the Octy.

 

Now i could understand the body roll on the Focus if the suspension was dream like. But it isnt. Its better than the Octy, yes, but nothing outstanding.

I wonder if the poor suspension on the Octy is a trade off for having such a steady car? If so, I could possibly live with it.

 

Next, we go onto noise. Could a petrol be louder than a diesel? Oh yes, most definitely. Everything about the Octy is much quieter. Well, unless you go over a not too nice a join in the road!!

 

Now i know the Focus is 8yrs old nearly, but is it really 'A superb blend of keen handling and ride comfort'? Im not so sure it was even then. Certainly now, it isnt a patch on the Octy if you take everything combined. Is the Octy more fun to drive? Yes, overall it is. The only thing the Focus had going for it, on most roads, was the fact the steering had more feel to it (even compared to the Octy steering in sport mode). However ive noticed this doesnt make as much difference as i first thought, and the trade off for this is a car that is more difficult to steer at slow speed, and this is very obvious.

 

So:

Which vehicle has the better handling: The Octy. Im afraid the Focus has too much body roll. Sort of shoots down those that say the Focus is a peach, and Skoda produce cars that arent that much fun to drive. 

Which vehicle has the better ride and refinement: Well on bad roads, the Octys bad suspension means it is probably a tie. But on good roads, then the Octy wins fairly easily. The tendency for the Focus to lull in dips does not help its cause.

Which car would you rather take on a long motorway journey: Well, the comfort of the seats means the Octy isnt quite running away with this one. Also the bad suspension marks it down in this category as well, as joins in the motorway become quite pronounced in places when going 70 plus MPH. However, the overall quietness of the Octy means it does just come out on top. Not by a lot though. Amazingly a long motorway journey is where the steering on the Focus is a real benefit, so that at long last scores the Focus a few brownie points.

As for overall winner: Well, its quite obvious really.

 

It would be interesting to see what the current Focus is like compared to the 06 version. However the fact it is now far too small, and has a god dam awful interior, means the Octy already wins. The only Ford that i can imagine is better than the Octy, is the Mondeo.

 

All that, from the worlds no. 1 Skoda hater. Not bad hey     

Edited 14 January, 201412 yr by JungleJames

 

So we have a brand new Octy (the proper pansy version, not the vRS  ),    

 

Fixed that for you :P

Fixed that for you :p

If mine is a pansy, yours isnt much better.

Suggest you try the 5000hp Skoda. Now thats a real Skoda