Help - which engine / transmission

[Speedman]

Hi, when I order my car I had the same decision as you to make - L & K or SEL Exec with extras. I went with the SEL as I didn't want leather and added lots of options (KESSY, Canton, Ambient Lighting Park Assist, Panoramic roof - some of which wouldn't have been on a L & K anyway). I went for the alacantra on the SEL and haveing been given a L & K with ventilated leather for a week as a courtesy car when mine was in the garage I definitely made the right decision.  I found the leather seats even with the leather to be more sweaty and also the seat felt harder. Having driven the L & K for the week, the only addition from this that I didn't get on my car that I would consider if I was ordering again would be the dynamic chassis control.

 

On the engine/gearbox I went for the 190DSG - I know people say there is not much difference but when I test drive both there was a difference and if you can afford the 190 I can ever see regretting having more power. I have also fitted a pedalbox to mine - allows you to have a much more responsive throttle without needing to use sport mode which holds gears for too long some of the time. The DSG and the adaptive cruise control work very well together. After 7k miles I am very happy at having chosen the DSG.

 

[darius]

I think leather is a personal choice. Must have for me. I have leather heated seat in my Octavia and would not go back.  Less need for cooling in Scotland :-) 

 

What do you think re the ad-blue. Seems others have had issues with it messing up sometimes. 

[Participant]

As much as I like the feel of alcantara, it just never feels as premium as full leather to me. Leather's a must in a car like this, if only because all the luxury exec cars that it aims to compete are almost always spec'd with leather. The perception is that leather = luxury and I want to capitalise on this when I sell the car.

 

Deleting leather when it's standard on SEL upwards feels odd for this reason, even though I own a Golf with alcantara seats and they're very good.

[Mickey43]

3 hours ago, darius said:

I think leather is a personal choice. Must have for me. I have leather heated seat in my Octavia and would not go back.  Less need for cooling in Scotland :-) 

 

What do you think re the ad-blue. Seems others have had issues with it messing up sometimes. 

This is the first car I've ever had with ad-blue.  

 

Got a message on the car info system a while back saying "fill up ad-blue- 1500 miles left" or something like that.  Let it drop to below 1000 then went and bought a 10 litre drum of adblue out of Halfords (£14 but you might get it cheaper elsewhere).  Took the cap off, hooked up the connector and filled it up.  Easy as that.  You put the ignition on for a few seconds to allow the system to reset then the indicator went back up to 8000 mile range or so.    

 

As long as you dont have any issues with sensors etc giving false readings it really is a nothing task and very cheap.  

 

I was told always to wear gloves when filling it up though, as if it gets on your hands it can apparently be unpleasant!

[Scherpa]

Everyone who talks about leather upholstery should know that there is a very small part of the upholstery made of animal leather. Usually, no animal leather is actually used, but the car manufacturers call it leather. In reality, you are using synthetic leather or leatherette as it is often called.
I work in the industry so I know what I'm talking about but I do not know what Skoda uses but would be very surprised if there is more than 20% animal leather. 

Upholstery made of real leather usually comes as an option with significant price tag or is available in exclusive car brand.

[Participant]

27 minutes ago, Scherpa said:

Everyone who talks about leather upholstery should know that there is a very small part of the upholstery made of animal leather. Usually, no animal leather is actually used, but the car manufacturers call it leather. In reality, you are using synthetic leather or leatherette as it is often called.
I work in the industry so I know what I'm talking about but I do not know what Skoda uses but would be very surprised if there is more than 20% animal leather. 

Upholstery made of real leather usually comes as an option with significant price tag or is available in exclusive car brand.

 

There are too many qualifications and variables required to the above statement to render it useful. 

 

"there is a very small part of the upholstery made of animal leather" - totally depends on manufacturer, trim level, what part of the trim you're talking about, etc. The statement is too vague to be of any use.

 

"Upholstery made of real leather usually comes as an option with significant price tag" - again, depends on brand, model, and trim. Also depends what you define as 'upholstery'.

 

In the case of the Skoda Superb, I don't know what your 20% is a percentage of. The seats? Everything it claims to be leather? All upholstery?

 

Finally, most things in the car industry are about perception rather than reality, so I'd argue that even if it was all faux leather / leatherette, it still looks better than alcantara, as current fashions and values dictate that 'leather' (real or fake) is perceived to be luxurious.

 

I guess as someone that 'works in the industry', you're as adept at truisms, masking reality, and meaningless claims as the rest of them!

 

Final point; I'd be very surprised if the seat base and backrest of the Skoda Superb were not 100% animal skin, in whatever form allows them to claim it as leather according to current legisliation.

Edited 29 June, 2017 by Participant

[Gerrycan]

4 hours ago, Participant said:

 

Final point; I'd be very surprised if the seat base and backrest of the Skoda Superb were not 100% animal skin, in whatever form allows them to claim it as leather according to current legisliation.

Legislation or not, @Scherpa is right.

Skoda produce too many cars at a lower price level to be able to use high proportions of leather. If you cannot tell the difference then they have done a good job but if you get in an expensive car fitted with quality leather seats the difference is obvious.

I have leather furniture at home but 'pleather' (plastic leather) is not a good fit in cars Australian summer temperatures as far as I am concerned so I always go for fabric and the Skoda fabric wears extremely well in my experience.

Edited 29 June, 2017 by Gerrycan

[IJWS15]

11 hours ago, Scherpa said:

Everyone who talks about leather upholstery should know that there is a very small part of the upholstery made of animal leather. Usually, no animal leather is actually used, but the car manufacturers call it leather. In reality, you are using synthetic leather or leatherette as it is often called.
I work in the industry so I know what I'm talking about but I do not know what Skoda uses but would be very surprised if there is more than 20% animal leather. 

Upholstery made of real leather usually comes as an option with significant price tag or is available in exclusive car brand.

 

Anyone remember vinyl seats - that is imitation leather, alcantara isn't leather but the smooth faced parts of the seat are leather.

 

I had a Honda Accord with leather interior.  The staining was coming through from the back after 120k / 4 years so not especially long life.

 

When it is 30 degrees and the car has been parked in the sun you do not get into the car unless the aircon has been running for 10 minutes, especially wearing shorts (or for the ladies a short dress).

 

In winter the heated seats take an age to warm up compared to cloth or alcantara.

 

You have to feed it and the stuff that works has an awful smell.

 

If you look at Audi and BMW they have several grades of leather, some 000s more than others.  I would guess that Skoda are using Audi's entry level leather.

 

Leather is an old mans seat material (OK i'm 57) but I avoid it now, Alcantara doesn't have leather's problems.

[penguin17]

The 'leather' in the lower end VAG cars, Skoda, SEAT and VW's is questionable.  I've found that the VAG cars I've had with leather, most recently a SEAT Leon FR, was only lower grade leather on the bit's where my back and bum touched.  Everything else was of a similar vinyl to the '1/2 leather sports seats' in the mk2 vRS.   Pretty poor to charge the best part of £1k when surely the contents of my recycling bin seem to have been used in the manufacturing process.  

 

It's not about actual quality, it's about the perception of quality.   We're still stuck with the 1950's mentality that leather interior = a wing bar arm chair, cognac, cigars and smoking jackets.  In reality it's more like 'plastics by Fisher Price'.  Mercedes marketing department have even managed to come up with  'Artico man made leather' and still manage to keep a straight face whilst adding a few 00's to the cars price.  Genius. 

 

Anyway, I'm impressed with the Alcantara seats in the Sportline.  It's my first time   Had a cold snap shortly after taking delivery and although the heated seats were a treat they didn't seem as much as a 'necessity' as a cold morning with leather seats.   

[darius]

The leather debate is all very interesting so will be useful to others however in my case my current 05 Octy has leather seats, I'm happy with them and would not go back. 

 

Hot temps are not a problem in Scotland apart from the random couple of days between June and Aug where the temp may just get up to mid/high 20s (the overall record is just over 30).  Its 11 degrees just now #summer.

[freelunch]

+1 on the Alcantara. And +1 on 220ps and DSG. 

[darius]

7 minutes ago, freelunch said:

+1 on the Alcantara. And +1 on 220ps and DSG. 

 

How do you find the 220 on engine braking.

[skidpan]

Mercedes use a product they call "Artico leather" as standard on what seems to be most of their cars. Look in the small print and it confirms its plastic. "Real Leather" is about another £1200 on top but only the bits your arse and back contact are "real" leather.

 

Rode in an "E" class the other week that had Artico seats. Totally horrid. You needed velcro on your arse to try and avoid sliding about.

 

One car we looked at before we bought the Superb was a Merc and the "leather" was the one thing that struck it off the list. Mercedes claim that plastic seats are fine these days since all cars have A/C. Well they are correct there but as a kid I remeber getting into a car with plastic seats on a hot day and almost getting the skin burn't off the back of my legs.

[freelunch]

@darius Well, it does the job. I use it often in town on slow downhill runs to keep to the speed limit, just flicking the left paddle. The auto won't let the gear engage if the revs are too high, so that's nice. 

 

When I was learning the car, I flicked the wrong paddle once and the engine braking hauls you down quite quickly. Mind, I switched back right quick.

 

To be honest, this is the first automatic I've driven since '83, so I've not much to compare it to. 

[Gerrycan]

2 hours ago, skidpan said:

Rode in an "E" class the other week that had Artico seats. Totally horrid. You needed velcro on your arse to try and avoid sliding about.

 

as a kid I remeber getting into a car with plastic seats on a hot day and almost getting the skin burn't off the back of my legs.

Don't apply velcro to your arse, try wearing trousers, or is that how you got your pseudonym?

 

I well remember those plastic seats, hot days, shorts (you weren't allowed to wear long trousers to primary school in those days even in winter), and burnt legs.

 

My brother-in-law in the UK has a 1980s Rolls Royce and THAT has leather seats, and they still smell fabulous.

 

@darius checkout the Suberb 'leather' you might find it is inferior to your existing Octavia. There have been complaints about the leather seats in the Octavia Mk3

 

[simhub]

@darius If you're wondering, the DSG will change down a couple of gears if you trail the brakes going downhill.  It's still worth having the paddles though, I do sometimes paddle down another gear on a steep hill.

 

My last car was a diesel DSG and I found the engine braking a bit annoying.  It would change down through the gears as you slowed to a stop, and the increase in engine braking with each gear change meant I kept stopping short of where I wanted to be.  I find the petrol+DSG much easier.

[Rainmaker]

On the Superb only the bit you sit on is real leather, the rest is fake. I thought that was common knowledge. The DSG suits the 220 but I'd much rather have had the manual 6 speed like the VRS. Alcantara seats for me. 

[darius]

Final decision and button pushed.

 

L&K 190 TDI - 2 wheel drive version - black leather  / business gray

- Reversing camera

- Flappy paddles

- Waste Bin

- Rear seat release

- Heated washers

- Phone box with wireless charging & WIFI 

- Variable boot floor / space saver wheel

 

- 5 year warranty

- 2 year servicing (thrown in)

 

List - £36,760 + £630 for the warranty 

OTR Price  £28356 inc carwow discount and £4000 scrappage on my old 2005 Octavia

 

Hated the petrol when I test drove it  - liked the 190.