Hi

Having had my metal grey Octavia Vrs TDI for just over a fortnight I thought I'd share a few of my of my thoughts about early days of ownership..First of all the positives..How it looks especially in estate form..Stunning.Overall the build quality seems to have improved over the Mk 2 with the doors feeling nice and weighty.Love the full length sunroof and heated seats.

Now for the not so good..Firstly the ride quality which seems far too harsh compared to my FL Vrs although the trade off is very sure footed handling.My main gripe though is the steering which takes on a vague feeling almost like its on ice then it squirms about a bit then thankfully settles down although when it happens it's rather disconcerting.This seems to occur at about 40-50 mph on mixed road surfaces.The car has Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted.The other area of concern is the fuel economy or lack of it...34 mpg is all it can average over 400 miles..hoping this will improve as the miles notch up.The only other real annoyance are the speedo markings..no 30-50-70 markings...unforgivable Skoda !

MPG should get better, see my fully link in my sig for actual calculated figures.

Vague steering is likely a result of electronic power steering rather than the hydraulic of old (it's a common complaint on many new cars), that said, I agree the OEM tyres are also not great!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MPG should get better, see my fully link in my sig for actual calculated figures.

Vague steering is likely a result of electronic power steering rather than the hydraulic of old (it's a common complaint on many new cars), that said, I agree the OEM tyres are also not great!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But he's comparing it the mkii which also has electric power steering..... With OPs points on harsh ride and gauge steering he needs to be checking the transport blocks have been removed from the suspension....

Hi

Having had my metal grey Octavia Vrs TDI for just over a fortnight I thought I'd share a few of my of my thoughts about early days of ownership..First of all the positives..How it looks especially in estate form..Stunning.Overall the build quality seems to have improved over the Mk 2 with the doors feeling nice and weighty.Love the full length sunroof and heated seats.

Now for the not so good..Firstly the ride quality which seems far too harsh compared to my FL Vrs although the trade off is very sure footed handling.My main gripe though is the steering which takes on a vague feeling almost like its on ice then it squirms about a bit then thankfully settles down although when it happens it's rather disconcerting.This seems to occur at about 40-50 mph on mixed road surfaces.The car has Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted.The other area of concern is the fuel economy or lack of it...34 mpg is all it can average over 400 miles..hoping this will improve as the miles notch up.The only other real annoyance are the speedo markings..no 30-50-70 markings...unforgivable Skoda !

 

As per Neily's post, check the blocks are not there. Also check tyre pressures. Squirming?  Could be lane assist maybe????  Worth checking it's switched off then go and try again.

 

Not a perfect solution, but you can set the speed to come up on the maxidot display if the lack of intermediate numbers bothers you.  

I find it can sometimes take several thousand miles to get used to how a new car feels and drives so give it some time. A bit like wearing in a new pair of shoes.

Hopefully the 34 mpg will increase as it does seem a bit low, obviously depends how you drive, where you drive etc. Both my wife (2014 Octavia 1.6 DSG) and myself (2013 Superb Greenline) are used to 60+ mpg so 34mpg sounds terrible to me, but then they aren't performance related cars unlike your VRS. Others on here with DSG VRS TDI's have reported quite good mpg, 50+ so give it some time, and do a brim to brim check to see how accurate the maxidot readout is. 

As others have mentioned a bit of experimental tyre pressure adjustment may make a difference so give it a go. I agree about the speedo markings but you get used to it. If any car maker asked 10 people what they would alter they'd get 10 different answers.

Enjoy your new VRS.

I agree about the tyres, in just damp conditions I am wary of them. Most cars seem to miss out the UK important speedo markings of 30,50,70. My maxi dot us always on the speed readouts as its easier to see, and I certainly don't want to see the mpg reading......The ride is harsher than my mk2,but that was an L&k. It felt as if the body was going to fall off the wheels when going fast round bends. The Vrs is obviously harsher, but I find it fine except in town over bad roads, but not overly so or the other half would have told me so by now.......

When I took my new 1.8TSi DSG estate L&K for a spin yesterday on some twisty A roads I found that with the Lane Assist turned on I was getting regular twitches on the steering wheel as it did it's job. Initially I thought it might have been some icy roads but as soon as I turned off the Lane Assist the car felt much better.

 

In future I think I will only turn on the Lane Assist when I am on long motorway drives particularly in France and Spain as it will help when getting tired although I also have the fatigue assist option as well which I think shudders the steering wheel. 

Thanks for the suggestion Smeghead re Lane assist..just been out for a drive with lane assist disabled and no more twitching and vagueness through the steering wheel..think as Sussexvet suggests I think I'll leave it disabled for regular day to day driving...another bonus is that I saw nearly 44 mpg on a 10 mile run...much better !

Thanks for the suggestion Smeghead re Lane assist..just been out for a drive with lane assist disabled and no more twitching and vagueness through the steering wheel..think as Sussexvet suggests I think I'll leave it disabled for regular day to day driving...another bonus is that I saw nearly 44 mpg on a 10 mile run...much better !

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - check in the infotainment setup (you can't do it on the maxidot) that adaptive lane assist is disabled.  The normal lane assist is pretty nice (IMHO) when you get used to it, but with 'adaptive' turned on it's bloody awful (again, IMHO).

 

As for the mpg - it all depends on how you drive it... I've had 60+ mpg from a 30-mile drive along 'A' and 'B' roads (Swindon > Gloucester), and today I've been to Shropshire and back along the M5/M6, but it only returned 40mpg (admittedly, my right foot wasn't in 'eco' mode - I had the MiL sat next to me and I wanted her out the car asap  ).

I've said it before and I'll say it again - check in the infotainment setup (you can't do it on the maxidot) that adaptive lane assist is disabled.  The normal lane assist is pretty nice (IMHO) when you get used to it, but with 'adaptive' turned on it's bloody awful (again, IMHO).

 

As for the mpg - it all depends on how you drive it... I've had 60+ mpg from a 30-mile drive along 'A' and 'B' roads (Swindon > Gloucester), and today I've been to Shropshire and back along the M5/M6, but it only returned 40mpg (admittedly, my right foot wasn't in 'eco' mode - I had the MiL sat next to me and I wanted her out the car asap  ).

 

With my MiL sat next to me anything other and right foot 'eco' mode results in a significant increase in the number of "Whoa's" coming from the passenger seat when you get within 40 feet of another vehicle!

MiL = Front Assist

My MiL is ok, I dunno what you guys are on about, when she was younger, she was much better **** than the misses.

Had estate version for 6 months from new now. My first ever Skoda. My impression is that the build quality is ok but nothing bulletproof. The trim fell off one of the rear door handles after just a few weeks. A dealer told me the Mk2 was superior in this regard but I haven't driven one so don't know.

 

I guess due to the weight saving measures?

I know it's not an Octavia but my Rapid isn't up to the usual Skoda quality. Just a sea of thin plastic and niggly problems. Before this I had a MK2 Octavia tdi from new (2006) until last year. Never had any warranty work and never failed on anything. Always serviced every 10K. The best car Skoda ever made was the MK2

These new ones are certainly not built very well.

I got a MKIII as a courtesy car when my MKII was in for a service. Put me off getting one as a replacement. Thought it was cheap, nasty and engineered down to a budget.

TBF the whole premise behind VAGs creation and adoption of the MQB Platform was to reduce production costs and increased margins. This on the most part resulted in the use of thinner/cheaper materials that have also had the knock-on effect of reduced weight...a positive outcome of what is arguably a slightly negative change.

How they have tried to balance this is by loading the cars with alot more tech and standard kit as they are saving so much on the design and build process that throwing toys on doesnt hurt their margins much. Also the car us being sold at higher retail prices than the Mk2 but still usefully cheaper than a Mk7 Golf so its win win for Skoda.

Whilst overall its a better designed and equipped car than my Mk2 was I think the cheaper materials used have led to the Mk3 feeling a little less robust...almost slightly tinny by comparision.

There are things with the Mk2 I noticed...heavier doors with a better closing action, harder more robust lower dash/door plastics, leather trim panels in the door trims, better closing mechanism for the torneau cover to name a few. I also found the infotainment (whilst obviously less advanced) easier and more intuitive to use.

I thought the steering was really twitchy when I first started driving my new Elegance, especially on the motorway I found I was continuously making micro adjustments, but this has now settled down.

I have also changed the wheels and therefore the tyres which are now Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance.

Drives a dream now.

I got a MKIII as a courtesy car when my MKII was in for a service. Put me off getting one as a replacement. Thought it was cheap, nasty and engineered down to a budget.

 

So justr like your mkII and every other mass produced car then.....

So justr like your mkII and every other mass produced car then.....

Perhaps, but it felt blatantly obvious in the MK III, particularly in the very half-arsed RHD conversion.

There's another thread on here where a vRS has notchy steering and Bridgestone tyres: so assuming that you haven't got lane assist on by accident, a change of tyres may sort the problem out for you - if expensively.