I have had my 13 plate vRS Estate for almost 8 months and the car just keeps impressing me.

 

Recently we have been on a family road trip from Southampton (via Dover) to Maarssenbroek, Netherlands.

The car was rammed full, two small children in the back and the wife nag-i-gating up front.

The trip was comfortably and the Columbus never put a foot wrong. The outside temperature while travelling hit a maximum of 35 deg C but the cabin was kept cool.

 

My only complaint was after 4 hours of constant driving abroad my bottom was starting to go numb, the sunset glass doesn't offer the same level of sun protection as my previous Seat and my arm was a little toasty and candy white really shows up the insect remains stuck to the front!

 

Most impressive was the fuel consumption.

 

I filled the car up with BP Ultimate diesel at Dover and managed to do a whopping 580 miles, mostly motorway and always sticking to the speed limits.

 

Returning to Dover, the car reported an average of 59.something mpg (since last fuelling) and having a range of 65 miles. I filled the car up again at the BP garage and only managed to get 44 litres (stopped after first click)

 

This really is the best practical car I have owned and has to be the ultimate family car!

I think that seat problem is across the board because my Yeti has a similar effect...but then again I have a boney arze.

Get windows tinted like i did even though having sunset. Did the front ones with 20% darkness perfect in terms of view from inside at night and enough to eliminate suns penetration

Get windows tinted like i did even though having sunset. Did the front ones with 20% darkness perfect in terms of view from inside at night and enough to eliminate suns penetration

Though illegal in the UK and therefore at risk of being made to remove them at the roadside by the police

I would not recommend getting any sort of tint on the front screen because a) it is illegal ok during the day but would be a major safety factor at night c) should not be necessary as there is already a mild tint in the wind screen and the plastic in the laminate glass already provides a high level of uv protection anyway.

Having said that i have found that if my arms have already been exposed to the sun outside the car then they are sensitive to the infra red that gets through. Even heavy protection sunscreen does not help then but a long sleeve shirt seems to work.

I have no idea what sort of protection Sunset glass is supposed to provide but We were talked into purchasing an aftermarket tint when we bought the car and it is effective at stopping th sun but I am less enthusiastic at the effect on night vision.

In Australia it is possible to get an 'Australilian cancer council' approved clear tint that claims to stop all uv without affecting night vision. Not cheap but that might be a possibility.

I am currently in the UK and have not really seen the sun for the past week since I have been here

I have had my 13 plate vRS Estate for almost 8 months and the car just keeps impressing me.

 

Recently we have been on a family road trip from Southampton (via Dover) to Maarssenbroek, Netherlands.

The car was rammed full, two small children in the back and the wife nag-i-gating up front.

The trip was comfortably and the Columbus never put a foot wrong. The outside temperature while travelling hit a maximum of 35 deg C but the cabin was kept cool.

 

My only complaint was after 4 hours of constant driving abroad my bottom was starting to go numb, the sunset glass doesn't offer the same level of sun protection as my previous Seat and my arm was a little toasty and candy white really shows up the insect remains stuck to the front!

 

Most impressive was the fuel consumption.

 

I filled the car up with BP Ultimate diesel at Dover and managed to do a whopping 580 miles, mostly motorway and always sticking to the speed limits.

 

Returning to Dover, the car reported an average of 59.something mpg (since last fuelling) and having a range of 65 miles. I filled the car up again at the BP garage and only managed to get 44 litres (stopped after first click)

 

This really is the best practical car I have owned and has to be the ultimate fa(mily car!

I'm punting around the Costa Blanca in a rental 1.6 TDi Octy 3 & that can just get into the  61/62 mpg bracket, but the long-term figure is 55'ish. It's quite a new car, less than 3k kMs so it needs more mileage before it's free'd off.

Not impressed with the performance at all,it needs to be rowed along all the time, ( 5 , but then it's speed manual, not enough ratios, all too widely spaced, & I hate shifting with my right hand, but then it's been 25 years since I've driven a LHD manual!

 

We've had test drives in Octy 3's before, but all vRS's, diesels + petrols, & both manual & DSG & the extra grunt (+ more useful toys...) really does make the driving experience much better.

 

I'm driving from Dover to Hamburg later this year so I'll pass through NL, (130 k/mh is now the motorway limit?) it will seem familiar 'cos my ex. in-laws are Dutch & I've spent many happy hours in motorway traffic-jams......

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip, a much better Octy experience than ours, I'll bet..

 

DC 

I would not recommend getting any sort of tint on the front screen because a) it is illegal ok during the day but would be a major safety factor at night c) should not be necessary as there is already a mild tint in the wind screen and the plastic in the laminate glass already provides a high level of uv protection anyway.

Having said that i have found that if my arms have already been exposed to the sun outside the car then they are sensitive to the infra red that gets through. Even heavy protection sunscreen does not help then but a long sleeve shirt seems to work.

I have no idea what sort of protection Sunset glass is supposed to provide but We were talked into purchasing an aftermarket tint when we bought the car and it is effective at stopping th sun but I am less enthusiastic at the effect on night vision.

In Australia it is possible to get an 'Australilian cancer council' approved clear tint that claims to stop all uv without affecting night vision. Not cheap but that might be a possibility.

I am currently in the UK and have not really seen the sun for the past week since I have been here

 

 

a week? you'll need more than a week to see the sun over here, mind you it's put in an appearance this morning, first time in weeks and we're forecast to hit a peak of 15 degrees, not bad for mid summer :-)