A6 vs Octavia

[Crassus]

7 hours ago, Rodge said:

It's bad enough that all Octavias come with with a huge transmission tunnel just so a few of them can be fitted with four wheel drive.

That's funny but true. I am in the market for a 1.5 Octavia estate but have been shocked by how bare bones most of them are. I am struggling to find any with front parking sensors or reversing camera. Likely course of action is buying one without either and retrofitting. 

 

Yes, I am aware I can factory order. 

Edited 20 July, 2018 by Crassus

[shyVRS245]

15 hours ago, TonyTonic said:

I have but it's difficult when it's not back to back.

 

All things being equal I would imagine the Superb to be more refined but I just want to know if the difference is huge to justify the price difference.

Having covered 16,000 miles in a 16plate Superb before trading it in for my FL Octavia there are a lot of small differnces. Superb has hydraulic bonnet strut, under bonnet insulation and much more sound insulation, plus more soft texture rubber/plastic in it's interior which justifies the refinement differences. Regarding price my 1.4Tsi SE Superb with over £2,000 of options was still £5,000 less than my VRS245 which has £1,700 of options. Superb was quieter, more comfortable, bigger fuel tank (hence range was over 700 miles not 440 miles), huge rear legroom and massive boot. The Octy is noisier, faster,uses more fuel, handles better, brakes better,still very roomy for rear seat passengers and has the biggest boot in it's class. In a word the Octy is more FUN, whereas the Superb is great at cruising up and down the motorway, it's a SUPREME MILE MUNCHER!

[logiclee]

10 hours ago, Rodge said:

It's bad enough that all Octavias come with with a huge transmission tunnel just so a few of them can be fitted with four wheel drive.

 

The A4' is far worse.

 

The Octavias gearbox is in the engine bay, the A4's gearbox is between the driver and passenger.

 

Look at these two photos. The Octavia's pedals are inline with the seats, the A4's are offset to the right. 

 

Every A4/A5 I've driven has given me backache due to the pedal position caused by the longitudinal transmission and the lack of room for your legs and feet.

 

Edited 20 July, 2018 by logiclee

[dunc69]

20 minutes ago, logiclee said:

 

The A4' is far worse.

 

The Octavias gearbox is in the engine bay, the A4's gearbox is between the driver and passenger.

 

Look at these two photos. The Octavia's pedals are inline with the seats, the A4's are offset to the right. 

 

Every A4/A5 I've driven has given me backache due to the pedal position caused by the longitudinal transmission and the lack of room for your legs and feet.

 

Really interesting!

 

I found the 330D similar. My left leg felt pushed to the right. I felt enclosed / claustrophobic. Octy much roomier in the driving seat. 

 

Also got the tape measure out. Octy loads roomier in the rear legroom and boot than the 3-series estate. 

[TonyTonic]

26 minutes ago, logiclee said:

 

The A4' is far worse.

 

The Octavias gearbox is in the engine bay, the A4's gearbox is between the driver and passenger.

 

Look at these two photos. The Octavia's pedals are inline with the seats, the A4's are offset to the right. 

 

Every A4/A5 I've driven has given me backache due to the pedal position caused by the longitudinal transmission and the lack of room for your legs and feet.

 

 

 

Is this just for the RHD cars , i.e. are they aligned properly in LHD's?

 

Thanks

[shyVRS245]

29 minutes ago, TonyTonic said:

 

 

Is this just for the RHD cars , i.e. are they aligned properly in LHD's?

 

Thanks

Yes or the American customers would complain a lot!

[logiclee]

41 minutes ago, TonyTonic said:

 

 

Is this just for the RHD cars , i.e. are they aligned properly in LHD's?

 

Thanks

 

LHD cars are certainly not as bad. BMW's are the same the right hand footwells are definitely smaller.

[Jaco2k]

49 minutes ago, TonyTonic said:

 

 

Is this just for the RHD cars , i.e. are they aligned properly in LHD's?

 

Thanks

 

Likely not - I sat last week on the new class-C Mercedes and it was ridiculous.

The center console was so wide that the same adjectives used about the A4 apply... Claustrophobic for sure.

I had to sit sideways and you have to cross the leg over to reach the brake, which puts strain in the back.

I would never own a new class-C based on the problems I just described with the driving position.

BTW, LHD cars are actually much more affected, since it pushes the brake and gas pedals much further to the side, meaning you need to really stretch your right leg to reach the brake pedal.

In these wide center console cars, the gas pedal is usually almost centered and the brake is to the left.

Don't even want to imagine the situation on a manual...

Edited 20 July, 2018 by Jaco2k

[Jaco2k]

8 minutes ago, logiclee said:

 

LHD cars are certainly not as bad. BMW's are the same the right hand footwells are definitely smaller.

 

They are worse, actually - read my previous post.

 

Think of the pedal arrangement on RHD vs LHD: on RHD you got the console, the "dead pedal" (for auto cars) and then brake and gas (which are both away from console).

On LHD you have the console and right next to it there is the gas, followed by brake and both are unavoidably pushed outside...

[logiclee]

1 hour ago, dunc69 said:

Really interesting!

 

I found the 330D similar. My left leg felt pushed to the right. I felt enclosed / claustrophobic. Octy much roomier in the driving seat. 

 

Also got the tape measure out. Octy loads roomier in the rear legroom and boot than the 3-series estate. 

 

Yep my wife had a 1 series (F Series) for three years. It was an auto which was bearable but the manuals were a nightmare pedals really offset.

 

See where the pedals are here clutch pedal is almost central

 

 

LHD models seem better, it's a wider footwell.

 

 

Edited 20 July, 2018 by logiclee

[Rodge]

6 hours ago, Crassus said:

That's funny but true. I am in the market for a 1.5 Octavia estate but have been shocked by how bare bones most of them are. I am struggling to find any with front parking sensors or reversing camera. Likely course of action is buying one without either and retrofitting.

I think that might in part be down to the fact that the Octavia is better equipped as standard than the equivalent Golf or Focus, and partly due to Skodas often being bought by more value concious consumers who don't necessarily want to shell out on stuff they don't really need, amongst other reasons.

The only things I wanted to add to the standard SE spec were mats, mud-flaps, multi-function steering wheel and spare wheel. And SmartLink

Edited 20 July, 2018 by Rodge
Forgot about Android Auto.

[Crassus]

19 hours ago, TonyTonic said:

All things being equal I would imagine the Superb to be more refined but I just want to know if the difference is huge to justify the price difference.

 

A few members have already replied, but don't forget that adaptive dampers is an option. Spec them, part leather seats and 16 inch alloys and the Octavia should be superbly comfortable without you needing to spend the premium on the Superb, unless you want a bigger car. 

 

16 minutes ago, Rodge said:

I think that might in part be down to the fact that the Octavia is better equipped as standard than the equivalent Golf or Focus, and partly due to Skodas often being bought by more value concious consumers who don't necessarily want to shell out on stuff they don't really need, amongst other reasons.

The only things I wanted to add to the standard SE spec were mats, mud-flaps, multi-function steering wheel and spare wheel.

 

You are absolutely right. After all, the beauty of Skoda is the ability to great brilliant tech and powertrain without paying for things you don't want or can live without.

[logiclee]

6 minutes ago, Rodge said:

I think that might in part be down to the fact that the Octavia is better equipped as standard than the equivalent Golf or Focus, and partly due to Skodas often being bought by more value concious consumers who don't necessarily want to shell out on stuff they don't really need, amongst other reasons.

The only things I wanted to add to the standard SE spec were mats, mud-flaps, multi-function steering wheel and spare wheel.

 

You do come across a well specced version occasionally but they are certainly not common.

 

The Doctor that bought my daily driver had the Elegance spec then added Xenons with black cornering fogs, Columbus Nav, Intelligent Self Park, Winter Pack, Spare Wheel and Metallic paint. That's around £4k of options which is unusual for a private Skoda buyer.

[Crassus]

4 hours ago, logiclee said:

The Doctor that bought my daily driver had the Elegance spec then added Xenons with black cornering fogs, Columbus Nav, Intelligent Self Park, Winter Pack, Spare Wheel and Metallic paint. That's around £4k of options which is unusual for a private Skoda buyer.

 

That is very unusual. Heavily speccing a Skoda is usually not a good idea as you can quickly creep up to the price of a VW which have much stronger resale value. This is off course irrelevant if you plan to keep the car longer than 4-5 years.

[logiclee]

2 hours ago, Crassus said:

 

That is very unusual. Heavily speccing a Skoda is usually not a good idea as you can quickly creep up to the price of a VW which have much stronger resale value. This is off course irrelevant if you plan to keep the car longer than 4-5 years.

 

He kept it less than 3 years and 20k miles then bought another Octavia, exactly the same spec and even the same colour.

 

Amazing the info you can find out with a bit of googling/facebook.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Rodge said:

I think that might in part be down to the fact that the Octavia is better equipped as standard than the equivalent Golf or Focus, and partly due to Skodas often being bought by more value concious consumers who don't necessarily want to shell out on stuff they don't really need, amongst other reasons.

 

Not in my exprience. Golf a tad more expensive (not by much these days) to buy new but comes better equipped. If you just take the most popular UK market SE model, Golf will come with Adaptive cruise, auto headlights, front parking sensors, power fold and heated door mirrors. You also get things like flat load bay which Skoda will charge extra for. Overall I've always thought the Golf is a better value car - you should get that price difference + more when it comes to selling.

 

The Octavia's only real advantage is it's a bigger car and much cheaper if buying used.

Edited 20 July, 2018 by Guest

[TonyTonic]

Compared to the A6, the Seat Leon ST seems to also be a lot shorter and wheelbase shorter. Is this because the Audi has such a long bonnet and it doesn't reflect that much in the interior space?

Edited 26 July, 2018 by TonyTonic

[logiclee]

3 hours ago, TonyTonic said:

Compared to the A6, the Seat Leon ST seems to also be a lot shorter and wheelbase shorter. Is this because the Audi has such a long bonnet and it doesn't reflect that much in the interior space?

 

A6 is a longer car.

 

Leon ST wheelbase 2631

Octavia wheelbase 2686 (Why the Octavia has more rear legroom than the Golf/Leon)

A6 wheelbase 2912

 

The longitudinal layout on the A4/6 lends itself to longer wheelbase as it's easier to push the front wheels forward towards the extremity but the need for a longer bonnet and large transmission tunnel eats into the cabin space 

[Rodge]

When I park next to my boss's 5 series, the size of the cabin looks very similar, but the bonnet is more than twice as long. I don't know how you safely pull out of side roads with that much car sticking out in front of you.

[TonyTonic]

2 minutes ago, Rodge said:

When I park next to my boss's 5 series, the size of the cabin looks very similar, but the bonnet is more than twice as long. I don't know how you safely pull out of side roads with that much car sticking out in front of you.

In your Octavia? Twice as long? sounds very long indeed