Hi all,

 

We're looking at buying one a Skoda Octavia Estate (2017) 1.0 TSI (115ps) SE DSG 5dr. (description is what is up online). My layman brain says its a 1 litre, petrol, automatic Octavia estate. We currently drive a 58 plate 1.6l manual Zarifa so it's a bit of a tank.

 

We test drove the Octavia yesterday on a relatively flat test route and were really impressed by the kick it had and you'd have never guessed it was a 1 litre engine with how quickly we gained speed when it started going up the gears. We did go up and down a slightly steep hill and it seemed to cope with it. We also put cruise control on in a 30 mph zone as it headed up a long steady incline (including speed bumps) and it again seemed to cope and stay at 30mph with no apparent struggling of the engine.

We mostly city drive so wanted the auto to help save our ankles when it came to the stop/start of traffic and the clutch on a manual gearbox. We also want it for the hoped economy on fuel etc. It just means that we're not massively familiar with how autos are or with how the engine size affects things these days with the advances of engines. We're still stuck in the dark ages where a 1litre engine was slow as hell so with it kicking in so quickly yesterday, it really surprised us!

 

We had a few queries and were wondering if anyone could offer any advice.

1) when pulling away at the roundabout from a full stop, it was a little sluggish to respond - is this the 1 litre engine at play or the fact that we're not used to an automatic gearbox?

2) we are surrounded by hills where we live. Quite steep hills at times, which come winter time obviously get affected by ice and snow. 1) Will we struggle to get up these hills in general with this particular car or is there enough torque to get up comfortably? 2) will we struggle in inclement weather i.e. ice and snow to get up the hills.

 

Many thanks

2 hours ago, ncw said:

We mostly city drive so wanted the auto to help save our ankles when it came to the stop/start of traffic and the clutch on a manual gearbox. We also want it for the hoped economy on fuel etc. It just means that we're not massively familiar with how autos are or with how the engine size affects things these days with the advances of engines. We're still stuck in the dark ages where a 1litre engine was slow as hell so with it kicking in so quickly yesterday, it really surprised us!

 

We had a few queries and were wondering if anyone could offer any advice.

1) when pulling away at the roundabout from a full stop, it was a little sluggish to respond - is this the 1 litre engine at play or the fact that we're not used to an automatic gearbox?

2) we are surrounded by hills where we live. Quite steep hills at times, which come winter time obviously get affected by ice and snow. 1) Will we struggle to get up these hills in general with this particular car or is there enough torque to get up comfortably? 2) will we struggle in inclement weather i.e. ice and snow to get up the hills.

 

Many thanks

 

1: Pulling away from roundabout almost certainly down to DSG. The 1.0tsi manual is no speedster but it's defo OK at pulling away from a standstill, in fact with torque on these engines coming in quite low in the rev range ( almost diesel-like ) it's ideal for around town, it's only when you're already at speed then want to take off say to overtake that the 1.0tsi struggles.

 

DSG's in general have an issue if pulling away fast and appear to hesitate. Plently of info of this on the web.

 

2: If surrounded by hills where you live then exactly the opposite is true of what you think. The 1.0tsi isn't at it's best in normal conditions so for that reason alone I'd suggest not buying one. But when it does come to the more extreme winter conditions, you'll find the 1.0tsi performs well because you want to keep revs low. The last thing you want in snow is a powerful car.

 

As for ice in a hilly area, avoid driving would be my advice. 

 

 

I have a 1.0 SE technology (manual) and I'm not sure if it has traction cotrol at all. If it has, there certainly isn't a switch to turn it on or off. Other cars I've know that you cannot switch the TC off just refuse to go if it detects wheel spin.

 

As for economy, I tend to do at least 17 miles on a mixture of A-roads and motorway and I can often achieve 60 MPG. For all I know the fuel economy might be aweful if it's only used for short, hilly city drives.

For winter & ice, just get decent all season or winter tyres.

1 hour ago, Bouncypete said:

I have a 1.0 SE technology (manual) and I'm not sure if it has traction cotrol at all. If it has, there certainly isn't a switch to turn it on or off. Other cars I've know that you cannot switch the TC off just refuse to go if it detects wheel spin.

 

As for economy, I tend to do at least 17 miles on a mixture of A-roads and motorway and I can often achieve 60 MPG. For all I know the fuel economy might be aweful if it's only used for short, hilly city drives.

Yes it will have traction control and ESP, it was mandatory fitment to every vehicle built from 2010 onwards. it can either be switchable or non switchable.

1 hour ago, Bouncypete said:

I have a 1.0 SE technology (manual) and I'm not sure if it has traction control at all. If it has, there certainly isn't a switch to turn it on or off.

 

Are you sure? The current specification of the SE Technology suggests it is equipped with ESC (Electronic Stability Control) which includes traction control (ASR)...

 

On current UK car the traction control switch is no longer by the gearstick 

The performance of the 1.0tsi Octavia will be good (especially compared to your Zafira) due to its relatively low weight and turbo assisted performance. The turbo assisted  torque (200Nm) is the equivalent to that from a 2 Litre naturally aspirated engine and from far lower revs.

I think one of our Finnish contributor occasionally circuit races his in their winter. As others have already said excessive power is not required for winter conditions but suitable tyres for snow/ice are essential (not really my thing as I've only driven to the snow once so the then kids could see it for the first time) 

Open road cruising at the speed limit is easy and very economical, but town driving and successive short trips will affect consumption as it will on any car. It will still be better than the Zafira though  

Be aware that the 7 speed DSG on small VW engines does have a potted reliability for reliability but there are still many in this forum who report large mileages with no issues so there is an element of luck involved. Personally I prefer manuals.

 

That is all pretty obvious but there is one aspect ( not a biggie) with the small VW turbo engines that gets overlooked and that is the remarkably low levels of engine braking available.

While this contributes to the vehicles very good consumption and is not a problem on the flat, I find that even low gradients require constant brake use, far more than on any other car I have driven. That is what brakes are designed for but they will wear quite quickly as the OEM pads and disks are not particularly hard wearing.

 

We drive a  manual1.4tsi Octavia and I have experienced  a loan manual 1.0tsi Fabia and I think they are really exceptional engines.

 

Edited 4 November, 20196 yr by Gerrycan

13 hours ago, Kental said:

On current UK car the traction control switch is no longer by the gearstick 

Photos of the inside of the car we're looking at would be the same as this. I've had a look through to see if there's a traction one as per the other icons and couldn't see anything.

There is some confusion here guys.

 

The OP is buying an SE, my response on the location of the ESC / ASR was to a more recent question on the SE Technology.

 

Two different models, and two different specifications.

 

However, all the literature from Skoda suggests that all their UK variants of the MkIII Octavia are equipped with ESC, but as confirmed the button on the S and SE is absent...

 

 

This might simply suggest that it can't be turned off and on, it is default 'ON' at all times.

 

Even the higher spec SE L is missing the button and presumably means Skoda now don't allow the driver to adjust the effectiveness of the ESC...

 

 

The exert from the manual in my previous post above mentioning the button was from the latest manual too (07/2019).

 

Perhaps someone could check to see if the option is available via the infotainment system instead, maybe Skoda simply omitted the button given that it is adjustable via the central screen and menu's instead...

 

 

Edited 5 November, 20196 yr by silver1011

My 2015 Elegance doesn't have the ASR button, but the option to change the ESC setting (between ESC ON and ASR OFF) does appear in the infotainment system.

 

However, by changing the coding of byte 29 of the ABS from 02 to 09 I now have the same ESC options as the vRS (ESC ON, ASR OFF, ESC Sport) in the infotainment system.

This is why these forums are so good. I'd have never found how to disable the traction control myself.

My experience of 3 months with a 1.0 manual loaner:

It’s a brilliant engine for what it is. If you like a the feel of power on acceleration, it feels slightly lacking, but even with a heavy foot you will be hard pressed to burn through lots of fuel.

 

780km with a little reserve on motorway driving and 670km city driving out of a full tank is very good for me (last car I averaged 8.3l/100km but it was a sporty 1.6 NA).

 

Maybe, with a full trunk and 5 adults, you will feel the power a bit lacking going up a steep hill, but for 90% of the time it’s a great price of engineering. 

You just have to match your gears to when boost comes on (1500 rpm). Has a sporty rasp too on acceleration like most 3 cylinders.

 

Also, as mentioned above, you can deactivate traction control in the car settings. You will notice how the car manages power delivery when pushing through corners vs off (it cuts the power a bit if too much lean to stay on the safe side), and discover the full potential of this engine if you want to drive like a hooligan (hypothetically speaking of course...). 

 

I also noticed vs my 1.5 the suspension felt a bit softer, probably due to the lighter engine (still on the firm side on things, but comfortable).

 

Handling is also nice and neutral and better than expected (vs excellent swift sport)

 

Definitely a shortlister (to use car wow vocab) if you want good economy with decent power and great practicality for the money and finish.

Edited 8 November, 20196 yr by superchiwawa