Love the idea of 184 4x4, can I live without Bi –Xeon?

 

Rob, I completely agree with kallekilponen. It's like night and day. You have to try it, if you're inclined to consider it.

 

The huge difference is in your safety, not the aesthetic.

 

The huge difference is in your safety, not the aesthetic.

But this also applies to the 4X4, against the two wheel drive vRS, especially given the location of Rob56.

Had a call from Skoda today, no scout demonstrators in Scotland so they will deliver a demonstrator to my home (from South England) for a 3 day test within the next two weeks.

 

Very impressed with the service.

The thing I wish my VRS had more than anything would be 4x4. If the Scout was available when I purchased mine, it would have been a close call.

 

The VRS does struggle in the wet or when the roads are cold and greasy.

 

VRS for the looks and handling, Scout for traction and less bumpy ride.

Hi Orville

 

Happy to report back after the' big test' on the scout's traction and handling, also the VRS is a contender so intend to give the scout a very (very) intensive work out.

 

Cheers

Rob

 

PS Love sleeper cars and the scout's faster 0 - 60 than the VRS

Hi Orville

Happy to report back after the' big test' on the scout's traction and handling, also the VRS is a contender so intend to give the scout a very (very) intensive work out.

Cheers

Rob

PS Love sleeper cars and the scout's faster 0 - 60 than the VRS

I forgot to say that I went TSI rather the TDI (close call) on my VRS, so a Scout is not faster than mine. Enjoy the test drives, both will be very good.

edit: I guess the Scout will still be faster to second gear, and I really do envy 4WD having owned several nippy 4x4's in the past.

Edited 23 January, 201511 yr by Orville

Hi Orville

 

The TSI is a very (very) good choice, sadly for contract  hire it's just too expensive for us ( ok I'm the owner, however, I've got to show an example ;(

 

Cheers

 

Rob

Love the idea of 184 4x4, can I live without Bi –Xeon?

I will NEVER buy a car without Xenon again: Unless you drive only on well lit roads or during the day, they are a must in my opinion. Halogens vs Xenon is basically like "being seen" and "seeing". It just feels much safer driving around and seeing the road, and with the adaptive headlights on the Octy that shines into the corner it should be even better than the Xenons on my Scirocco.

 

I can't specifically comment on the octy 4x4 vs the VRS. The only 4x4 I have driven regularly is my dads Yeti with the 2.0 TDI 140bhp. It's great fun in the snow as you just turn the steering wheel to where you wanna go and floor the accelerator, the car does the rest. But I have much more fun driving and sliding in my Scirocco or my wifes A3 TDI with only 100 bhp. Just feels more like driving. But then that's an SUV compared to a "sports coupe". And hey that's just me.

Better try both and decide for yourself. (edit: and also consider the roads and condition you will be driving. I'd assume that slippery weather for most of the year and/or rough roads will make the VRS a bit difficult to live with.)

Edited 23 January, 201511 yr by TomLux

The Bi-Xenon's on the VRS are great but I could easily live without them. With over 80% of my driving being in daylight hours I would swap them for 4WD any day of the week. I will argue that 4WD is the superior driving and safety aid. The Xenon's are of course much more visually appealing,

Xenon's are great, no question, I had them on my Mk2 Scout which was an ex-demo, so had been liberally specced by the dealership I bought from. But......

 

......they are expensive! Fine if you spec the car to keep for a long time, not so handy if you're planning to roll over your 3 year PCP and are speccing the car accordingly (i.e to maximise your get-out value against purchase price).

 

Sure a Xenon equipped car is more attractive used so should sell before a non-Xenon version, but it isn't any more expensive in the 3yo used market all other things being equal. So are brighter headlights worth £333 a year I asked myself? No, was the answer!

 

Niall

Its probably fair to say the scout is heavier and as such will have a slightly inferior power to weight ratio.

In every situation bar that requiring a bit more traction (i.e a standing start) id expect the vRS TDi to be that bit quicker all round.

Not to belittle the Scout as its cool you can have one with the 184 motor but its not the quicker all round vehicle.

The 4x4 will likely make it that bit easier to drive harder to a certain percentage in wet/damp/icy conditions but its lack of vRS specific spring/damper config and progressive steering will mean it will drive more like a standard Octavia and IMHO not as well as a vRS.

With over 80% of my driving being in daylight hours I would swap them for 4WD any day of the week.

Exactly. Rob has to evaluate what he will use more. Since I drive a lot in the dark, like on unlit motorways and B-roads when geting home from the in-laws, driving to work and getting home when it's dark(ish) during winter, etc. Xenons are essential. If you do most of your driving during the day and the little night driving on well-lit city roads the price may not be worth depending on how long the car ise meant to be used as Niall pointed out.

Edit: Orville, I see you are from London, which proves my point: you can see its lights on the ISS, I assume that the roads miust be well-lit as well then ;-)

Edited 24 January, 201511 yr by TomLux

Since I drive a lot in the dark, like on unlit motorways and B-roads when geting home from the in-laws, driving to work and getting home when it's dark(ish) during winter, etc. Xenons are essential.

I'm not sure 'essential' is quite right, nice to have, yes, but essential, definitely not.

 

I have xenon's on my Superb, and there's no doubt they are better than my wife's Octavia with halogen lights. The halogens in my wife's car are perfectly adequate for night time driving, and would no doubt be better with uprated bulbs. It's nicer to have xenons, but perfectly possible to drive without them.

 

We live in the countryside so mostly unlit 'B' and unclassified roads around us, but we also cover a lot of motorway miles.

You're correct TomLux. There are very few unlit roads where I live so Xenon's are more cosmetic than practical for me. On the odd occasion when I do travel down country roads at night they do work great.

Rob56, is an ex demonstrator a possibility, just read the spec on this one.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201501160213727/sort/default/model/octavia/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/postcode/sp12lw/make/skoda/keywords/scout/radius/1500/maximum-age/up_to_1_year_old/usedcars?logcode=p

I'm not sure 'essential' is quite right, nice to have, yes, but essential, definitely not.

For me personally they are, maybe its semantics about "essential". But when we reduce essential to the bare minimum there won't be much left in our nicely specced Octys ;-)

I see them as essential as they provide me with a larger sense of safety and comfort when I drive long hours in the dark. They are not essential in the way that I couldn't possibly drive without since I can do the trip just as well in my wifes Audi that has normal Halogen bulbs, but I feel less well doing it. For me they are just as "essential" than peoperly working screenwipers, ABS, ESP etc.

I think it largely depends on the market: In Belgium for example I see very few cars with Xenon (electricity seems to be cheap there since evrything is well-lit). In Luxembourg on the other hand most compact cars and above have Xenons. That's largely due to the standard of living and recently our motorways are (except for junctions) not lit anymore (we have the Greens in a government coalition).

You're correct TomLux. There are very few unlit roads where I live so Xenon's are more cosmetic than practical for me. On the odd occasion when I do travel down country roads at night they do work great.

So obviously for you it would be a waste of money, unless you'd really want it for the looks of the car.

You're correct TomLux. There are very few unlit roads where I live so Xenon's are more cosmetic than practical for me. On the odd occasion when I do travel down country roads at night they do work great.

All the streets near where i live were well lit until recently when the local councils decided to switch them off in all but the heart of towns and villages. Personally, i haven't had need for a 4x4 system in the 20+ years ive been driving. I wouldn't choose it on the off chance i might need it in the future, especially with the addition cost it brings (as a company car driver) and (imo) the less rewarding drive compared to a vrs.

Just had a call from Skoda, big day next Tuesday, they have arranged a test drive in both Scout and VRS.

 

So no messing, will order one of them by the end of next week!

After a mkII VRS TDI and a 320D I decided I wanted to test Skoda AWD (and too bad in Italy the Estate 184 isn't available)...

 

IMHO the Xenons are a must-have if you happen to drive often in the dusk/night.

 

And yesterday I was driving with some colleagues of mine. Same sense of necessity.

 

I would never spend such money for look only.

@Genoa1893.

Don't take this the wrong way but if I was getting a car to use where you live I'd want one with plenty of protection!

A Citroen Cactus springs to mind.

john999boy, you're sadly right

 

Lucky me, it's a company car so I keep saying I shouldn't pay too much attention to bodypaint imperfections...

 

But no, a Cactus is really too ugly..., leave me my "racing blue" Octy...!

1. Go TDi vRS
2. Remap it
3. Grab winter tyres for the bad months
4. Bin DSG (Personal preference)

Get the Scout. If they made an Octavia VRS TDi with 4wd I would have bought one. Instead I have a 170PS manual 4x4 Superb and am delighted with it.

I previously owned a 2.8 V6 Passat 4Motion and then a Legacy Spec B. Before that I had a V70 T5 which had 240bhp but on damp roads just wheel spun without trying. Before moving out to the sticks I had a Carlton 24v. Now that was a fun car.

So, if you like visiting your tyre dealer and enjoy wheelspin and power understeer in the wet get the VRS. If you want to use all the power any time buy the Scout. They look great as well.

The scout benefits from 4wd and improved traction but it will feel more ordinary in terms of dynamics to the vRS.

The vRS has model specific chassis tuning, Golf PP front brakes (which are epic by all accounts) and progressive steering which is not an option on any other Octavia.

Also from experience DSG adds to the TDI's low rev lethargacy (they do suffer some minor low rev lag), a manual car other than perhaps when up to speed will feel more urgent, particularly off the line...but thats just my opinion from having owned a Mk2 vRS CR with DSG....other than the fact it was very easy and relaxing to drive over long distances I found it a bit dim witted when I really wanted to drive the car and again IMHO no substitute for a manual....though my left leg probably no longer agrees with that sentiment haha

In summary, the Scout 184 will be very capable and will go point to point well in poor conditions but it is not a vRS and will not feel as dynamic or sporty to drive.....much in the same way a normal (and even sports suspended) Golf Mk7 is not as fun to drive as a GTI or GTD.

I don't know the progressive steering of the VRS, but I'm really happy of the steering capabilities of my ordinary Elegance 4x4. It is miles better than the old VRS TDI mkII.

 

IMHO the fwd has some intrinsic limitations, quite evident as soon as you try the AWD version.