I’ve just picked up a late 2014 FL Superb Estate 2.0tdi 140 DSG elegance to replace a B7 Passat which didn’t have enough rear space for the extended rear facing child seats my wife has decided we need.

 

A few queries hopefully someone can help me with:

• the DSG down-shifts in drive/normal use seem slow and more akin to a conventional auto than a dual clutch auto. Is this normal? Seems as fast as I’d expect in sport when driving a bit faster but lazy when in Drive.
• When crawling uphill in traffic at ~5mph in Drive (the Dartford bridge in this case) it slips the clutch in 2nd rather than using first! Seems strange. Moving the selector over to manual and you can select first fine. Again is this normal?
• Does anyone know what size front discs this will have, and whether 16” wheels fit over? The 225/40R18s don’t really suit the compliant suspension.
• It has had the EA189 software update, fuel consumption for a journey of 5miles cross country, 50miles empty motorway cruise at 78mph, 10mph A road is 42mpg on the trip.  A very gentle 20miles cross country A/B roads yesterday saw 46mpg.  Bit lower than I was expecting, but does this sound about right?  

 

Thanks

Hugh

Edited 22 January, 20188 yr by HughGabriel

My views DSG changes not as smooth as I expected 

 

In crawling traffic I use sport mode to keep gear changes to a minimum 

 

I have 205/55/16 Octy winters on my 2011 combi no problem. Maybe some models have larger brakes like L&K. Even 312mm disks with 16 wheels is fine from the Fabia days. 

 

I am just about getting 49mpg on motorways, tank to tank analysis. Tuning box never made much difference maybe a few mpg. 96 miles each way to work a day. 90% motorway.  

56 minutes ago, HughGabriel said:

 

I’ve just picked up a late 2014 FL Superb Estate 2.0tdi 140 DSG elegance to replace a B7 Passat which didn’t have enough rear space for the extended rear facing child seats my wife has decided we need.

 

A few queries hopefully someone can help me with:

• the DSG down-shifts in drive/normal use seem slow and more akin to a conventional auto than a dual clutch auto. Is this normal? Seems as fast as I’d expect in sport when driving a bit faster but lazy when in Drive.
• When crawling uphill in traffic at ~5mph in Drive (the Dartford bridge in this case) it slips the clutch in 2nd rather than using first! Seems strange. Moving the selector over to manual and you can select first fine. Again is this normal?
• Does anyone know what size front discs this will have, and whether 16” wheels fit over? The 225/40R18s don’t really suit the compliant suspension.
• It has had the EA189 software update, fuel consumption for a journey of 5miles cross country, 50miles empty motorway cruise at 78mph, 10mph A road is 42mpg on the trip.  A very gentle 20miles cross country A/B roads yesterday saw 46mpg.  Bit lower than I was expecting, but does this sound about right?  

 

Thanks

Hugh

 

Having had a collision in the last year with my son in the back, I can't say enough good things about extended rear-facing child seats. My wife and I had whiplash and some bruising, the child was completely unharmed. Well worth it as a safety feature.

 

Your observations on the DSG are normal behaviour. Drive is quite lazy, and very quick to change up to the highest possible gear for your road speed. If I'm driving at low speeds for any length of time (e.g. supermarket car park, slow moving traffic) I'll stick it in Sport to avoid the clutch slippage. It's something I do almost without thinking now.

 

Front disks are 312 mm and yes 16" wheels will fit. I've attached the table of type-approved wheel/tyre combinations at the end of this post.

 

Fuel consumption in the DSG models is not as good as it is in the manual car. Mine has yet to have the update so I can't comment on your figures. They're perhaps a little low, but I'm not sure what your driving style is.

 

The MFD on these cars is also generally wrong, and tends to report fuel economy that is better than actual. On my car ('12 without update) the error is about 15 %. You can check how far out it is by doing a brim to brim calculation. Reset MFD 2 memory when you fill up. When you fill up again at the end of the tank, note the average economy from MFD 2: this will be what the computer thinks you averaged for the tank. You can compare this to the actual economy for the tank and get an idea of the discrepancy.

 

There is an update bulletin issued by Skoda in May 2017 concerning the position of the EGR line on the intake. Some people have reported that having this work carried out along with cleaning out the ASV assembly improved their economy and power quite a bit, including owners whose cars have had the 23R6 update performed. The bulletin is TPI 2047723/1: you could check with a Skoda dealer if this has been done or not.

 

A final note on the 23R6 update: you get a 2 year warranty on emissions related engine components (EGR, DPF, etc) so if you encounter any issues related to those components be sure to press your case with Skoda. Experience from owners here who have claimed against this warranty seems to be generally positive.

 

 

That's very helpful thank you.  

I'm glad the DSG behaviour is normal.  I haven't got any evidence that it has had an gearbox oil change so I'll get that done for peace of mind.

Thanks for the tyre and wheel sizes, scuppers my plan to use my current Golf wheels (16x6.5 ET51) on this as the width and offset are quite different.  

.  

Unusually my wife filled the car last week so I didn't get to check brim-brim against miles.  Our Passat which had the 2.0CR 170 engine the trip read about 9% high before I corrected it with VCDS; but my Golf with the same engine as this (but manual 'box) reads perfectly.  Once I've done a few tanks and know how accurate this is I will correct it too.  I'll see if it has had the 23R6 update and if not get it booked in.  

 

I'm intending to speak to a couple of the reputable tuning firms and see if they have been able to identify what the EA189 changes and whether they think it is likely to have any adverse effect on reliability long term.  If so and they can do something about it then a remap might be on the cards.

14 minutes ago, HughGabriel said:

That's very helpful thank you.  

I'm glad the DSG behaviour is normal.  I haven't got any evidence that it has had an gearbox oil change so I'll get that done for peace of mind.

Thanks for the tyre and wheel sizes, scuppers my plan to use my current Golf wheels (16x6.5 ET51) on this as the width and offset are quite different.  

.  

Unusually my wife filled the car last week so I didn't get to check brim-brim against miles.  Our Passat which had the 2.0CR 170 engine the trip read about 9% high before I corrected it with VCDS; but my Golf with the same engine as this (but manual 'box) reads perfectly.  Once I've done a few tanks and know how accurate this is I will correct it too.  I'll see if it has had the 23R6 update and if not get it booked in.  

 

I'm intending to speak to a couple of the reputable tuning firms and see if they have been able to identify what the EA189 changes and whether they think it is likely to have any adverse effect on reliability long term.  If so and they can do something about it then a remap might be on the cards.

For clarity, the 23R6 update is the EA189 emissions fix: 23R6 is the code name assigned to it by VAG.

 

From my own correspondence with VAG on the topic, EGR usage is increased and soot generation increases, resulting in more frequent DPF regeneration. The injection pattern/timing is also changed though they claim no increase in injected quantity during the combustion cycle. The problem is that they haven't disclosed the fine details of how these things have been changed so it's hard to tell what the long term effects might be.

 

I suspect the increased soot generation may be a deliberate strategy since the DPF uses NOx generated during the combustion cycle to oxidise the soot during passive and active regeneration.

Edited 22 January, 20188 yr by chimaera

1 hour ago, chimaera said:

For clarity, the 23R6 update is the EA189 emissions fix: 23R6 is the code name assigned to it by VAG.

 

Thanks for clarifying I had mistaken it as another name for the TPI2047723/1 bulletin.

@HughGabriel avoid fix like the plague - reverse it if done already.

 

And remap/chip it.

@jafo thanks!  Spoke to my insurer DirectLine today and they can’t cover me for a remap, so just the rollback for me.  Will get it booked in with AWTuning who are a Shark dealer.  Renewal isn’t until end of November so will have to wait for the remap.

 

Also spoke to AMDtuning (who I have used on previous cars) and as they adapt the software live on the rolling road their remap does not remove the VAG fix.  The Shark system of developing a generic map for each engine and applying it has the benefit that (as the map on which it is based has not had the fix) you end up with a car without the fix if you have one of their remaps.  

+1 for the roll back of the emissions software, probably the single best thing you can to ensure mechanical longevity (along with frequent oil changes - 10K / 12 months).

9 hours ago, chimaera said:

There is an update bulletin issued by Skoda in May 2017 concerning the position of the EGR line on the intake. Some people have reported that having this work carried out along with cleaning out the ASV assembly improved their economy and power quite a bit, including owners whose cars have had the 23R6 update performed. The bulletin is TPI 2047723/1: you could check with a Skoda dealer if this has been done or not.

What MY cars and engines are affected by this bulletin ?

15 hours ago, gav_is_con said:

What MY cars and engines are affected by this bulletin ?

It's not that clear, but likely to be all 2.0 EA189 engines fitted to the Superb 2. Your dealer should be able to confirm whether it affects you or not.

On 22/01/2018 at 10:49, HughGabriel said:

 

I’ve just picked up a late 2014 FL Superb Estate 2.0tdi 140 DSG elegance to replace a B7 Passat which didn’t have enough rear space for the extended rear facing child seats my wife has decided we need.

 

A few queries hopefully someone can help me with:

• the DSG down-shifts in drive/normal use seem slow and more akin to a conventional auto than a dual clutch auto. Is this normal? Seems as fast as I’d expect in sport when driving a bit faster but lazy when in Drive.
• When crawling uphill in traffic at ~5mph in Drive (the Dartford bridge in this case) it slips the clutch in 2nd rather than using first! Seems strange. Moving the selector over to manual and you can select first fine. Again is this normal?
• Does anyone know what size front discs this will have, and whether 16” wheels fit over? The 225/40R18s don’t really suit the compliant suspension.
• It has had the EA189 software update, fuel consumption for a journey of 5miles cross country, 50miles empty motorway cruise at 78mph, 10mph A road is 42mpg on the trip.  A very gentle 20miles cross country A/B roads yesterday saw 46mpg.  Bit lower than I was expecting, but does this sound about right?  

 

Thanks

Hugh

 

You've made a good choice with regard to the car seat. We had a forward facing one, the safest one we could get, but realized later that the rearward facing ones are much much safer. If we have another baby we'll be buying rearward facing. That's what they have in the US and it's what will eventually be mandatory in the UK but it's crazy it's not mandatory already. Children die every year in car crashes in the UK or sustain horrific injuries, and many would be avoided if people just fitted rearward facing seats. The other good thing, and one of the main reasons why we bought our Superb recently is that it does very well in car safety generally, and being a good size and weight makes a big difference for safety too. Might never be an issue, we drove our last car, another safe car for 6 years without an accident, but you never know. It can and does happen to anyone. If it happens to you then there will be a good chance that you and your kid will be fine because of your choices. The other great news is that Superb is a very good car in lots of other ways too, so hopefully you'll get on well with it.

 

Haven't read other people's responses yet but the DSG is supposed to downshift much slower than it up-shifts. It up-shifts at 8 milliseconds and downshifts at 600 milliseconds (can't remember why).

 

I've not tried pulling away on a hill, but mine also likes to pull away in second unless the car is totally stationary. It's annoying.

 

I'm not sure on fuel consumption, I am still working mine out on it's first full tank, but I estimate that it's going to be a lot lower than I was expecting/hoping. My car has also had the fix (previous owner). I suspect this may be a factor but of course I can't be sure. I think I am going to get something between 25-30 MPG. Lots of short trips, and half that time on old tyres with alignment out, due an oil change, including DSG and Haldex, but second half, all sorted. Obviously it's DSG and 4x4 which makes things worse for economy, but I still think this is lower than it should be. That being the case I'll be getting the "fix" rolled back and hoping MPG improves.

 

I'll probably be getting the "fix" rolled back whatever. Spoke to a local place today who are a TopGear agent but it sounds like it would be overpriced with them. 

 

Edited 23 January, 20188 yr by snowathlete