Hi,

 

I am looking at a 2013 VRS Estate petrol which is for sale at a Skoda Dealer. The car was registered in July 2013 and was one of the first released to the Dealers as a demonstrator (there appears to be quite a few of them up and down the coutry for sale all race blue no options fitted).

 

Some questions I have...

 

1. Can Cruise Control be fitted? It was not factory fitted and I am surprised it is not standard. Various Dealers have told be different things regarding retro fit.

2. All the VRS cars I have seen have a 'eye' under the front number plate, this one doesn't. What is it?

3. What mpg/tank range can you expect to get with 95 / 99 ron?

4. I have noticed the estate is referred to as 'combi'. Where does this derive from?

 

Thanks,

Hi LeMans

Answers to your questions

1. Cruise control can be retro fitted by a dealer, a member has just had it done. Search the forum and you'll be able to find the thread. I think it cost around £350 all in.

2. The "eye" you've seen on some vrs cars is the radar sensor for the factory optional adaptive cruise control. Its currently unavailable as an option due to a supply parts shortage.

3. MPG - there are a few threads on this if you look around but the general consensus for a petrol vrs seems to be 30-35 mpg, more can be had on a longer run but much less if you press on!

4. Not sure where "combined" comes from, I think its simply what the estate is called on the continent.

Like Fewiw said. The radar also controls the 'Front Assist' option which primes and applies the brakes if it senses an obstruction.

 

A 'combi' is simply a continental term for an estate. There is a combi coupe too! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combi_coup%C3%A9

How important is cruise control to you ,I find I never use it in everyday in a driving mix of A,B and motorway journeys of less than 100 mile duration. Nice to have but not essential in my view.

 

I consider myself as a pretty average driver and consistently return 35 mpg with a mix of spirited and controlled driving style. If you consistently drive above the legal limit then you will see the figure drop to lower thirties of top twenties.

 

The car, in standard form is pretty well equipped for most people . Does the one you are considering come equipped with a spare?

Not including cruise as standard on an Octy vRS is pretty much a shootable offense in my humble opinion (I can have it as standard on a 10K MG3, plus the SE-spec Rapid / Fabia come with cruise).

 

Retrofit can be done - Buy the stalk, fit it and activate via Dealer (If you are buying the demo from a dealer, I would be haggling the retrofit as part of the deal as the stalk isn't that expensive)

Yes I did what you did, I bought a dealer ex demo car at Christmas. I had cruise control retrofitted a couple of months ago, and have had no problems. (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/288726-retrofitting-cruise-control/page-2)

 

MPG wise I'm getting around 29 -32 on my short daily journeys to work and back (approx 8 miles down country roads, I don't hang about, I used to have a clio 182 which used to get the same) 

 

I don't regret getting the ex demo car, it was like new when I got it, but with only 2500 miles on it. It saved me a good few thousand over buying it new, and I got to take it away within a few days. I also got a considerably better trade in for taking the demo car off them.

 

I originally was going to spec up quite a few options on a new car, and probably go for the white. But I'm glad I didn't bother now, as I'm not missing any of them, and really loving the blue.

 

Mine also came with a spare wheel. Which was nice.

 

If you see the thread I've linked to, theres some pictures of the instruction manual I took on how to fit the stalks.

Edited 24 March, 201412 yr by Mikebham

Here's the instructions:

 

http://s103.photobucket.com/user/Mikefroggatt/library/Octavia%203%20Cruise%20Control

Edited 24 March, 201412 yr by Mikebham

Mine's a similar July 13 demonstrator estate in Race Blue. My dealer won't fit cruise control until it is officially authorised by SUK as a retrofit, so Mikebham has been pretty lucky. However, if you can persuade dealer before you sign up he'll obviously have to meet your wishes. Good luck, as it's a great car.

 

One small point is that these early vRS builds didn't have the sound generator. That means the car is very quiet, which I happen to like, but you might not. Do you feel another retrofit coming on?

Yep, same here, no sound generator, its very quiet indeed, and with a kid on the way, that's perfect for me!

 

Judging from some of the threads on here they can cause some rattling issues anyway. Saying that, I would quite like to go out in one with it to hear it for myself. The only other retrofit I would have liked was variable boot floor, but apparently that isn't possible at all. So I made myself one out of some spare wood from when I did some flooring in my loft.

Thank you to everyone for all the replies.

The car has a full size spare.

I love my cruise control use it all the time.

Interesting about sound generator will need to check with dealer.

Car has 2,500 miles on it.

Any other useful info?

LeMans

Re the "full size spare", have a look at this thread (and others):

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/298692-vrs-space-saver-spare/

 

The usual vRS spare is 18" but is still a "skinny" one and so is classed as a temporary wheel should you need to fit it. Thus no more than 50 mph etc.

 

You will also find the wheel well will accept a full sized 18" wheel and tyre (just like the other four) but you can't then refit the jack kit if you want the boot floor to lie flat.

 

None of these things is a problem necessarily, but just be sure what you are getting.