Looking at getting an Octavia Elegance 2.0 TDI 150ps, going to have a look at one tonight with the missus and probably book in for a test drive for the weekend as my local dealers is in a really traffic heavy area so is useless on a weekday evening.

 

Kind of torn between going for the DSG or 4x4 version though. I think the DSG would be nice for lazy commuting especially in conjunction with the adaptive cruise control, also would save the clutch getting hammered by my girlfriend whilst she gets used to a new clutch! Although I guess the clutches on the Skoda/VW/Audi are going to be better than the Peugeot which went through its first within about 30k miles.

 

The 4x4 would be much better for towing heavy loads which would be useful as I've now got an allotment and need to move equipment down there, also for transporting logs as we have a wood burner. I guess also the 4x4 would be useful in winter as I've got stuck on my road a few times in the last few years even with winter tyres on my car due to a steep hill, thankfully the Peugeot 107 is easy to push!

 

Just wondering if anyone had any opinions from their cars on which way to go? Both would be nice but doesn't seem to be an option that's available, and also I guess would add another 1.5k to the cost.

 

I guess they both come with the same risks of expense if the DSG clutch goes or the haldex, which given that whatever I buy is going to be an 8 - 10 year investment I have to factor in reliability and costs.

Well, my personal preference is 4x4, I like the way all wheel drive cars drive. Plus Haldex is also relatively simple and more reliable than DSG. I've heard of very few haldex failures, compared to DSG issues.

 

The option for both should be available later this year, in the form of the new Scout.

+1 for 4x4. Personally DSG is of no interest for me. It adds losses and - what worst to me - prevents you from full control.

Not sure ACC is currently available, might be wrong but, it was off for while due to parts bin issues.

4 X 4 seems a lot of extra costs (car tax & fuel also) for the rare and few occasions you'd be pulling much more than a tonne which would seem to be where the 2WD starts having issues & when there's snow (forot the last two winters and look at the 20 year avg.)

Regards

T

Edited 3 March, 201412 yr by themanwithnoaim

Popped in to my local Skoda dealer today as it's near work, going to test drive a 150ps DSG on Sunday when the traffic isn't as bad. They don't have a 4x4 available so will have to try other dealers. I asked about the vRS and he said the waiting is 20+ weeks for those or around 12 weeks for the regular Octavia.

 

As for ACC, I realised that it doesn't appear to be an option in the January brochure, I'm sure I saw it before but having read on the forums it seems it was stopped which kind of sucks. I do a few trips a year to family in Scotland and a few euro trips and it sure would be useful for those longer journeys.

 

Is a new brochure due soon to cover the 2015 manufacturing year?

4x4 yes... if you must due to your hill near you that ice's over 10-15 days of the year.

 

DSG no...unless you can afford to realistically hit 40-46mpg (40 round town, 46 on motorway)

 

It is really lazy though!  But at this moment in time a DSG box is ONLY good on a petrol VAG car.

I'm not exactly an engineering whiz but I can't wrap my head around how a dual clutch drops the MPG so much? I can understand efficiency losses on the 4x4 system, but with the clutch surely once you're cruising in 6th gear thats got to be the same as 6th gear in the manual and pretty efficient?

I'm not exactly an engineering whiz but I can't wrap my head around how a dual clutch drops the MPG so much? I can understand efficiency losses on the 4x4 system, but with the clutch surely once you're cruising in 6th gear thats got to be the same as 6th gear in the manual and pretty efficient?

If they were the same ratio then they'd have nearsasdammit the same mpg but they're not the same.  DSG is approx 20% higher revving in 6th gear

That makes more sense and explains why the 7 gear that is on the petrols works better then. I would have thought they'd keep the ratios the same as the manual, but I guess the gearbox was probably originally designed for a different engine? I remember reading that the reason that they are still using that 6 gear is because the newer 7 gear can't handle the torque of the bigger engines?

DSG is approx 20% higher revving in 6th gear

Pretty sure that's been proved incorrect by someone on here?

Its using the same DQ250 box as the MK2 but unsure if there is a gear set difference between the MK2 and Mk3.

Can comfortably say the 5th gear on my manual MK3 2.0 TDI Elegance is about the same as 6th in my old MK2 vRS TDI DSG. 6th is ridiculously high....way below 2000rpm at 70 in 6th gear.

Edited 4 March, 201412 yr by pipsyp

Its using the same DQ250 box as the MK2 but unsure if there is a gear set difference between the MK2 and Mk3.

Can comfortably say the 5th gear on my manual MK3 2.0 TDI Elegance is about the same as 6th in my old MK2 vRS TDI DSG. 6th is ridiculously high....way below 2000rpm at 70 in 6th gear.

 

So the 6th gear on the manual is a real cruising gear then, does it still have some pull at that low an RPM or do you have to drop to 5th to overtake etc?

  DSG is approx 20% higher revving in 6th gear

 

Pretty sure that's been proved incorrect by someone on here?

 

Yep, more than once in fact.  6th is the same in the manual as the DSG, this has been proven by owners of both types of gearbox.

Who's a Lucky Boy then, Missus and a Girlfriend    

 

What ever you choose Enjoy

 

haha ... same person, missus when she's nagging me, girlfriend when she's nice

 

Tending more towards sticking with a manual given the Octavia doesn't have ACC anymore, DSG seems kind of pointless unless you have ACC to take advantage of it being able to do traffic for you.

Yep, more than once in fact.  6th is the same in the manual as the DSG, this has been proven by owners of both types of gearbox.

NO IT'S NOT.

 

https://media.skoda-auto.com/.../Octavia.../td_octavia_combi_diesel_en.p...%E2%80%8E

 

TOTALLY DIFFERENT RATIOS

 

Gear      Manual           DSG

  6            0.72              0.76

 

Fnl Drv  3.450/2.760   4.118/3.043

Edited 4 March, 201412 yr by Sheldon.Cooper

Now add the 4x4 ratios to that

Driven the 150 DSG and now own a 150 4x4.

 

The latter is the better car, particularly when it comes to ride and handling with having proper rear suspension, rather than the old tech beam set-up, plus traction from all four wheels.

 

 

TP

Something that takes away from the driving involvement or something that aids it... Hmm, tricky one AWD every time IMO.

Took the DSG for a test drive today, first time driving an Octavia and really enjoyed it. The car has plenty of grunt and doesn't feel like you're driving a big car, did have a few issues at roundabouts where the DSG was a bit stupid, for example slowing down for a roundabout and then it being clear so putting your foot down it scrambles to drop gears and then eventually shoots off, but it feels like a big lag and quite jerky. Same with setting off from traffic lights it's a bit jerky if you floor it like it isn't sure what to do.

 

Overall though I was really impressed with the Octavia, the only other one they have for demo is a 1.6 TDI manual which is a different clutch / gearbox combo to the 4x4 so isn't worth test driving to see what its like, I will have to get in touch with other dealers and see if they have a 4x4 to try.

 

Also he said currently the wait time is about 10 - 12 weeks for an Elegance, which is pretty good. He said the vRS is almost an unknown now and is about 6 months, so kinda glad I decided against a vRS.

Edited 9 March, 201412 yr by Shermo

Now add the 4x4 ratios to that

What exactly do you mean by that?

What exactly do you mean by that?

The 4x4 Octavia has different gear ratios to the standard 6 speed manual.

So the 6th gear on the manual is a real cruising gear then, does it still have some pull at that low an RPM or do you have to drop to 5th to overtake etc?

It pulls 6th well at speed but 5th is better for quick acceleration.

Sat in 5th at motorway speeds my mk3 pulls pretty much the same RPM as my mk2 170 CR DSG did in 6th; you could get away with never really using 6th if youre in no way bothered about the efficiency savings of cogging into 6th.

The 4x4 Octavia has different gear ratios to the standard 6 speed manual.

 

Interesting - I can certainly believe that although I would very much like to know what they are in comparison. Since you seem to know this for certain, can you enlighten us to what the differences are?

 

My guess would be that the lower gears are lower than standard. You run out of first incredibly quickly in the diesel 4x4 if you really put your foot down.

 

Top (6th) seems to deliver something in the region of 34mph/1000revs (IIRC) which is pretty high - I would be surprised if the non-4x4 is much higher than that.

Edited 10 March, 201412 yr by nickcoll

I don't know the exact ratios, thats why I'm asking

 

But I have seen them posted before and they are different. First is definitely shorter on the 4x4 than on the standard, I've driven both. Annoyingly so, until you get used to it. Great in the snow or offroad though

I don't know the exact ratios, thats why I'm asking

 

But I have seen them posted before and they are different. First is definitely shorter on the 4x4 than on the standard, I've driven both. Annoyingly so, until you get used to it. Great in the snow or offroad though

Probably the reason for the low 1st - plus the extra towing capacity of the 4x4 is probably helped by the lower 1st?