Boom....I've joined the 280PS petrolheads.

Ordered L&K 4x4 hatch.

Fingers crossed this time

 

How long you have to wait ?

How long you have to wait ?

Looking at 14 weeks Nick. 66 plate.

Sorry lost the thread on this - I'm having trouble getting convenience closure to work on the sunroof (I.e. it won't do it!) even though I have reset it as per the manual. Any thoughts? Thanks.

The recall is to disable the sunroof convenience closing as we cannot be trusted with that particular toy. I don't know if someone was killed or seriously injured in Australia where the sunroof issue started.

Anyone developed an exhaust type vibration / rattle at about 1900rpm. Mostly noticeable on the overrun. Just started today. Can hear it with the windows up but I like the windows down for obvious 280 reasons ;-)

Anyone developed an exhaust type vibration / rattle at about 1900rpm.

No.

 

But much to my shame I did manage to turn into a 280 owning spoiled brat last week.

The 280 was back with the dealer to have door trim replaced and the washer jets fixed (service recall).

As they weren't sure from the outset if it would be a two hour or two day job I was given a basic Fabia 1.4 diesel courtesy car.

Now I don't want to decry the Fabia but, when the repairs ran into the third day, there I was crying and whimpering down the phone, begging to get my 280 back.

Surprising how you take things for granted until you haven't got them anymore!

Just to add a bit of meat to the post... Sounds like it's originating from the front / mid of the car.... I'll just leave the windows up and stick the zircon on for a couple of days... If it persists I'll get it sorted :-)

.... back with the dealer to have door trim replaced ...

 

Obviously not a 280-specific thing, but:

 

That’s interesting; I wonder if it’s a common problem. A few weeks ago a piece of the faux-chrome trims just above the window on one of the rear doors on my car decided it wanted to stick out badly (possibly caused by a car wash).

 

The part has been ‘on order’ with no sign of when it might appear. Given the indefinite wait, I decided I just couldn’t live with that super-cheap look and to stick the trim down with super glue. That seems to have done the job, though perhaps at the cost of damaging the rubber door seal? We’ll see.

 

Last time I had a courtesy car from the dealer it was a Rapid with some small diesel engine or other. Must say I was impressed how it went forever on a tank; otherwise thoroughly boring, of course. Life’s too short

Just changed my order spec and gone for Phoenix Anthracite 19s, hope I've done right.

My indecision is final

Edited 7 June, 20169 yr by philpix

That’s interesting; I wonder if it’s a common problem.

Not a 280 issue which is why I posted it in the Build Quality thread and others have since mentioned the same thing.

In my case it was caused by the rubber seal on the driver door just barely catching the rubber seal on the rear door. I'd noticed this from new but didn't think it was a problem. After seven months the chrome trim embedded in the rear door seal decided it had had enough of that and popped out. It was easy enough to push back in but having once popped it then did it every time I opened the door. I ensured the mechanics at the dealership saw it for themselves the following day and booked it in for two weeks later. I then put a single drop of superglue behind the trim and that stopped it popping out.

The chrome and rubber on both doors has now been replaced.

 

The Fabia was not a bad car which is why I didn't want to decry it, especially when you think I could have had three of them for the cost of my 280.

My major criticism would be the engine noise and lights. The 1.4 is a very clackety diesel and the Superb's LED DRLs alone give more illumination at night than this Fabia's dipped beam.

3 things would stop me buying a 280, in this order:

 

1/ its only a 4 pot

2/ it will be worth next to nothing at 5 years old (if you can sell it)

3/ I do 20+K miles a year!

Just noticed this. I can't disagree with your points, however diesel is now the target for the NO2 brigade.

I doubt that you will be allowed to drive an oil burner in most major cities soon.

Obviously not a 280-specific thing, but:

 

That’s interesting; I wonder if it’s a common problem. A few weeks ago a piece of the faux-chrome trims just above the window on one of the rear doors on my car decided it wanted to stick out badly (possibly caused by a car wash).

 

The part has been ‘on order’ with no sign of when it might appear. Given the indefinite wait, I decided I just couldn’t live with that super-cheap look and to stick the trim down with super glue. That seems to have done the job, though perhaps at the cost of damaging the rubber door seal? We’ll see.

 

Last time I had a courtesy car from the dealer it was a Rapid with some small diesel engine or other. Must say I was impressed how it went forever on a tank; otherwise thoroughly boring, of course. Life’s too short

Interesting to read this. Only last week I spotted a Superb for sale on Autotrader with the same trim sticking out, couldn't believe they would publish such a photo. Obviously an issue with this trim.

Well, I'm officially completely flummoxed...

 

I occasionally try something different (by that I probably actually mean "stupid") just to see how the car responds.

I read Nick's "Eco trip" thread and was surprised at the 23 mpg he was reporting. The worst I've been able to get it down to is about 26 mpg when I'm pushing it, whilst low 30s is the norm when in Driving Miss Daisy mode (a rare event for me).

So this evening I decided to see how it would fare if I really pushed it to extreme.

I drove to my favourite 10 mile route. All derestricted with short straights, tight bends and very undulating.

As I approached it the maxi dot was showing an average 28.2 mpg from the start of the journey which was all within 30 limits.

Switching to Sport Mode and then using only the paddles I red-lined up and down through the gears, totally ignoring the (bloomin' annoyin') gear change advice.

God, what a lovely uncomplaining sound that engine makes!

Hah, I thought, that should drop the mpg like a lead balloon. Maybe I'll get it below 20 mpg?

WTF - mpg just kept creeping up! When I reached the end of the derestricted roads and chilled out the maxi dot had risen to an indicated average 36.4 mpg???

I've never seen it go that high!

What have Škoda produced here? The harder you drive it the better it performs?

Well, I'm officially completely flummoxed...

 

I occasionally try something different (by that I probably actually mean "stupid") just to see how the car responds.

I read Nick's "Eco trip" thread and was surprised at the 23 mpg he was reporting. The worst I've been able to get it down to is about 26 mpg when I'm pushing it, whilst low 30s is the norm when in Driving Miss Daisy mode (a rare event for me).

So this evening I decided to see how it would fare if I really pushed it to extreme.

I drove to my favourite 10 mile route. All derestricted with short straights, tight bends and very undulating.

As I approached it the maxi dot was showing an average 28.2 mpg from the start of the journey which was all within 30 limits.

Switching to Sport Mode and then using only the paddles I red-lined up and down through the gears, totally ignoring the (bloomin' annoyin') gear change advice.

God, what a lovely uncomplaining sound that engine makes!

52490459.jpg

Hah, I thought, that should drop the mpg like a lead balloon. Maybe I'll get it below 20 mpg?

WTF - mpg just kept creeping up! When I reached the end of the derestricted roads and chilled out the maxi dot had risen to an indicated average 36.4 mpg???

I've never seen it go that high!

spock-illogical.jpg

What have Škoda produced here? The harder you drive it the better it performs?

 

Sorry to stick my beak in with my lowly 220ps...  I have, however, seen much the same thing on mine. In contrast to yourself, being in the city I really try to save fuel during daily driving. We do a lot of short local runs due to being disabled, so it's nice to save fuel where we can in order to have 'free fuel' to 'waste' on the derestricted roads later. No point burning extra fuel for the sake of it when you're stuck at 30mph on urban roads for ten minutes. I tend to see 25mpg in the city centre (that really is stop-start nose to tail though), but more usually average mid 30s just pottering about. It's into the 40s on the longer runs, but they're rare for us. Over a full tank with mostly short, local runs we get about 31 to 32 mpg.

 

I am about to take my next AD test (RoSPA this time) and have been really pushing to get myself absolutely fine tuned to the weight distribution, balance and responsiveness of the car and drivetrain. I was getting sick of the slightly slow witted DSG (for this type of driving) so I threw it into S on Sunday, just as you did, and used the paddles. Instantly things improved. As useful and generally nice as D mode is, it's absolutely useless for twisty roads and carrying speed through corners or roundabouts. The car is just in too high a gear and using too little revs to really grip into the tarmac and carry the car at speed under proper balance without body roll and throwing the passengers into the doors. Conversely, in sport & manual mode, I could drop to 2nd as I ended the speed phase, then bite the car hard into the tarmac with acceleration sense just in time to push it hard through the corner and pile on the speed as the steering straightened. No body roll or huge slip angle in sight. Much better!

 

We have a nice twisty route (sounds similar to yours) we have been using for this, which usually takes about 10 minutes or so each way and offers some nice overtaking opportunities in the day, especially off the right handers. I spent over an hour absolutely hammering practicing this road on Sunday, making full use of the road (i.e. 'driving to the conditions' / pressing on) in sport with most gear changes being red line jobbies. As soon as I got to the end of the road it was a U turn and back the other way, then rinse and repeat. I got the A to B time down sub 8 minutes with the much better handling and corner exit speeds in manual mode, and the engine - as you say - just absolutely howls with delight. The point of my ramble is that, just like you, at the end my observer laughed and said 'Jeez I bet you spent some bloody petrol today'. I flicked the Columbus to the Car screen and I'd done 38mpg since start - the best in ages. Not that I actually care about the MPG/petrol cost but due to curiosity I did work it out at £11 for a whole morning's hooning plus a mock test route run (an extra 1.5 hours). My diesels were never that economical!

 

On the way back home the car just sailed along like butter, very loose and torquey with a sense of urgency and willingness to respond. It hasn't felt that good ever, and it had got up to 40mpg by the time I pulled up home. Like you I was absolutely bamboozled. Obviously physics says the more you press the loud pedal, the more air and fuel you pull in and the more petrol you burn (ergo less MPG). However it does seem that these TSIs like a bit of stick to keep running at their best. Mine especially, with all its town miles, no doubt enjoyed blowing out the proverbial cobwebs and loosening up again. Maybe it's something to do with the fuel tables, or similar? By that I mean maybe with lots of gentle running they tend to run rich? I don't know. But I can definitely agree with your findings and was/am equally as confused. Sorry for the long post but the devil is usually in the details in cases like this.

My little run was the antithesis of AD standards. A one-off never to be repeated. I deliberately used the not-recommendable belt & braces method - pedal to the metal and heavy on the brakes (come to think of it, isn't that called the Clarkson method?).

My police instructors/examiners would be turning in their graves (except, AFAIK, they're still alive and hopefully not reading this!).

So, for me, a failed experiment to see how badly I could drop the consumption.

Nice to see my unexpected results are vindicated.

I am about to take my next AD test...

Good luck with your AD test, Derv.

Edited 9 June, 20169 yr by BillyJim

My little run was the antithesis of AD standards. A one-off never to be repeated. I deliberately used the not-recommendable belt & braces method - peddle to the metal and heavy on the brakes (come to think of it, isn't that called the Clarkson method?).

My police instructors/examiners would be turning in their graves (except, AFAIK, they're still alive and hopefully not reading this!).

So, for me, a failed experiment to see how badly I could drop the consumption.

Nice to see my unexpected results are vindicated.

 

 

Good luck with your AD test, Derv.

 

Hopefully they don't lurk here, for your sake... It'd be interesting to see whether anyone else has noticed the same. I often also find that when pootling along on A roads, dropping a gear or two manually (eg to get some responsiveness when traffic temporarily builds up, or whatever) has the MPG counter going up one or two. I've often pulled funny faces and told my wife that it doesn't make sense. To be fair my previous car - a Mazda 6 2.0 NA with 6 speed manual - used to act the same way. Maybe higher engine speed and less throttle just balances out at lower overall consumption than low revs and more throttle for the same given road speed. I dunno.

 

Thanks very much!

Just tried this and after the 8 mile drive to J6 M25 the car did not go above 20mpg, also did not get any higher than 4th gear.

Then on the motorway at eighty it was still in 5th!, never changed up to 6th, mpg went up to 25 eventually but then got bored with the noise and clicked it back into D, by the time I got back from Heathrow it was showing 30mpg.

So I do not know how you guys drive but it sure ain't like what I do.

Edited 9 June, 20169 yr by philsmith

I must be doing something wrong ( or right ??? !! ) to only be getting 23.6mpg on local runs when other are getting 31 to 32 lol !! Maybe enjoying it too much ???

I must be doing something wrong ( or right ??? !! ) to only be getting 23.6mpg on local runs when other are getting 31 to 32 lol !! Maybe enjoying it too much ???

 

Give it me for a week, I'll sort it out.

I must be doing something wrong ( or right ??? !! ) to only be getting 23.6mpg on local runs when other are getting 31 to 32 lol !! Maybe enjoying it too much ???

 

Probably, Nick. You do ride them hard.

 

Don't forget though, my local run is nothing like BillyJim's local run, which is nothing like your local run... It's so variable it's ridiculous to make comparisons. My brother scoffs and rolls his eyes when he hears my car gives 30mpg to a tank and averages mid 30s "around town". He tells me his deathly boring rattly 2.0 HDI Citroen C4 does 'more' than that, but forgets to factor in the fact I live in a major city and he lives in a rural village. My 'local runs' are the complete opposite of his, and in fact I drove a very similar 2.0 diesel recently for two weeks, and it was even less economical than the 2.0 TSI (to the order of 25mpg instead of 30+mpg)! I wouldn't worry unduly. Not that you are, I'm sure.

Give it me for a week, I'll sort it out.

 

That's what the Milkman said about my Mrs but it didn't work ....

I'm curious to know what fuels you 280ers are using and why. Does higher octane for instance make a difference?

That's what the Milkman said about my Mrs but it didn't work ....

Sometimes a week isn't enough............

 

It took me a year to decide that fiancee's 1 & 3 weren't right for the job! 

No, 2 was great, but sadly passed away after 30 years of marriage, & I've been with No. 4 for 6 years, it seems to be working so far..............

 

DC

Why do Skoda & VW quote 280 ps & 300 ps (Golf R)for what appears to be the same engine?

 

A quick peek under the bonnets, (thanks Prykey & HKP) showed that they share the same make & model of turbo, so do they have different mapping, do the exhaust systems have an effect or is it political?

 

ISTR that when we had our various Skoda's remapped the before figure was the same as the equivalent GTi Golf rather than Skoda's brochure figure, so are Skoda being conservative, to keep themselves in the pecking order?

 

Have any of you 280 owners considered a dyno run, assuming you can find an AWD duno?

 

 

TIA for any info, DC 

I'm curious to know what fuels you 280ers are using and why. Does higher octane for instance make a difference?

 

If I can I use Tesco 99, otherwise Sainsbury's Super or Shell V-Power (In that order) out of choice as thats how the garages are located close to home, if I'm really running low I have both Esso and BP much close to me than the other 3.

 

I've not tested it scientifically however I always feel that the MPG and performance is better with Tesco 99.

 

Looking forward to trying some Shell V-Power 100 in Germany next month though

I use the highest rating I can... Usually 97 from local Texaco... Never used 95 in it. ON2. Yeah it must be a slightly different map. I would be interested in getting mine on a dyno but is their a problem with it been 4x4.... .?

Their were rumours that the engines had not been detuned and were pushing the same power out as the R.

We need a test subject :-)

 

Edited to say maybe I should have read your post properly DC re 4x4 !

Edited 12 June, 20169 yr by Nick_H