Kodiaq 2.0TDI 200hp First Experience

[AmarSirohi]

Over the last several months I have gratefully used the knowledge of people on this forum to assist me in the buying process here in Cyprus. Finally ordered my car in 11/2020 and got delivery last week on 02/02/2021. Considering that we are in Cyprus and an initial timeframe of 3 months minimum was given to us, this time of having the keys in our hand in around 10 weeks (with COVID prevailing still) is fantastic.

 

One thing that I will appreciate specifically is the assistance that was provided to us by our sales manager in Skoda. Car dealerships in Cyprus are known monsters to care as little as possible about prospective buyers/customers. Mainly because the whole industry is a nexus (one family owns several brands and there is zero competition i.e. no one else on the island will own a dealership of the same brand).

 

On to my experience:

 

MySKoda app: Before I went to collect the car I had setup the dreaded MySkoda app on my S9+. The reviews in Android play store and on every group/forum pointed towards one and only one supposed fact - The app is useless, does not work most times and do not waste your time. But considering that I had nothing to lose I decided to give it a go. To my surprise the installation of the app and initial setup (add a car) was pretty easy and finished in a jiffy. All I needed was the VIN for my car and voila, car added and waiting for activation for which I needed my car and two keys.

 

Delivery day: Went quite smooth. I had a checklist which I had written up and in about an hour's time I had verified all that I wanted to. Car was in great shape and we loved the color "Business Grey". The ad on 18" TRINITY anthracite wheels gave it a super look as the grey in the wheels went well with the overall colour. For those who are interested the car has the following features:

 

 

Now I still did not believe that the activation process waited by the MySkoda app will go through flawlessly. So in I went to my car, sat down with my two keys and did as the app asked me to. At some point I got a message "synchronizing profile" and you should have been that to see the face of the sales manager. He was almost sure this will not work . That is surely a vote to the confidence that Skoda employees have on their own app. Well the sync finished, app started showing my car and I could use all features immediately (except the features like lock/unlock which require specific activation by the dealer - will get this sorted next week). For those who might be interested I could even change my nickname (multiple times) and it correctly updated in the car each and every time.

 

Initial setup: First thing I did after we completed the delivery was to connect the infotainment using Wireless Android Auto. I must say worked like a charm. Connected to bluetooth, got message on infotainment to use AA, selected it and that is it. Now when I enter the car with my phone AA is connected (did not fail a single time) and I can use all AA apps without any problems (touch wood :)). Next came setting up the home screen (there are two pages) and the favourites pull down menu. This also was pretty straightforward...This is when I faced my first bug of the software although it is pretty minor - When I press the "home' button on the  infotainment unit, instead of going to the "first" page of the home screen menu, I land up at the "second" page. Until now have not found any workaround for this.

Now the only part of setup which I still want to do is to setup the Canton equalizer. If anyone has ready links to this then will appreciate you sharing.

 

Driving: As we are in the lockdown period, we have not driven much. The car has 120 odd Kms on it, mostly made up of city and bit of highway driving. The drive has been super smooth. Have not faced any lag (had read a lot about this and had even had a look at racechip just to remove the lag) on traffic lights or at round abouts during stop and go situations. Although this might as well be due to the fact that I am keeping the car at low revs (up to 2K) and I am not going to push the engine until at least 1500 Kms. When driving the sound insulation is excellent and I am sure that the acoustic front windows play a hand in this. You just do not hear anything (yes it is a bit exaggerated) from the outside world. At idle and without music playing, you can hear a bit of the engine sound though. Considering that this is our first diesel car and second car that we now bought  (First being a Passt 1.4 TSI in 2009) I am very impressed (always thought that the diesel sound will enter the cabin at driving speeds).

 

 Music:  We have the Canton system. Have not played with the equalizer. But as a start with its factory settings the sound quality is already very good. I like how I can select manually the "center" of the music area through the sound settings. Also the fact that I can select "surround" as an option. I believe given a bit of a tweek the sound quality will only improve.

 

So this is it folks! Wanted to share my initial experience with the car. If I missed a detail that you would like to know more about then feel free to comment and I will chime in where I can. As I grow with it will definitely share more. Also big thank you to everyone on this forum who helped me out during the decision making buying process. I hope I can repay in kind by helping others. If anyone who is shopping around now and has some questions, feel free to ask. I will try and help out if I have the feature in my car. And to everyone who are on the fence - I would say "BUY IT". This is a value for money car in every sense, so as long as you are fine with the dimensions and have decided on 5 vs 7 seats, then I do not see any other better options out there.

 

Safe Driving!!

 

 

Edited 8 February, 2021 by AmarSirohi

[SimonB68]

2 hours ago, AmarSirohi said:

When I press the "home' button on the  infotainment unit, instead of going to the "first" page of the home screen menu, I land up at the "second" page. Until now have not found any workaround for this.

 

This was discussed in another thread. Apparently you need to fill the second page with favourites.

[AmarSirohi]

9 minutes ago, SimonB68 said:

 

This was discussed in another thread. Apparently you need to fill the second page with favourites.

Yes indeed it was. I had started the thread, but despite following instructions this problem is not solved. Maybe a software update will fix it. If I get a positive response from the dealership then will report back on the thread about this topic.

Edited 8 February, 2021 by AmarSirohi

[linni]

4 hours ago, AmarSirohi said:

We have the Canton system. Have not played with the equalizer. But as a start with its factory settings the sound quality is already very good.

 

First days the Canton seemed waste of money to me, sound was awful. But as the speakers were "driving in" step by step, so after a while it wasn`t bad at all.

[AmarSirohi]

39 minutes ago, linni said:

First days the Canton seemed waste of money to me

Well I absolutely love it. The sound is crisp and clear. Fact that you can play around manually with the "center" is an excellent feature. When kids are sleeping in the back I can pull it all the way towards the front seats and kids can hardly hear a thing while I still get to listen to music at a decent volume. ProLogic surround sound is also good although I do not see much of a difference when I do use it.

[ZacDaMan72]

The sound system is like current BMW Harman Kardon systems - factory settings it sounds crap but once you get the settings dialled in it sounds good. Makes sense as the ŠKODA Canton system is just a brand engineered Harman product. 

Edited 8 February, 2021 by ZacDaMan72

[linni]

Sure you cannot trust out of the box settings, but I am saying it needs some time until speakers will be driven in.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, linni said:

Sure you cannot trust out of the box settings, but I am saying it needs some time until speakers will be driven in.

 

If we were talking about a high end hifi then yes, 'running them in' can help, but the speakers used in Skoda's are like most manufacturers - cheap as chips. Running them in won't make a slight bit of difference. To the best of my knowledge the Canton Speakers are the same as any other Kodiaq.

 

We have to be careful here because Canton in MY21 vehicles is a big improvement over the MY20. I don't know if they changed the amp or speakers ( doubt it ), but they have changed the head unit and software so the signal being fed to the amp has changed.

 

PS - ZacDaMan - well done, you're one of the few to acknowledge that Canton is just a rebranded Harmon Kardon, something other manufacturers will charge £££'s for.

 

It's rare that the speakers, even cheap speakers, are the issue, rather it's the signal being fed to them. I've listed to both MY20 ( MIB2 ) and MY 21 ( MIB3 ) systems and the latter definitely produces cleaner music. If you use Dolby Pro-logic II surround on certain tracks, the music will bounce around all over the place. There was little control on the older Canton software. It's really impressive for such a cheap upgrade. VW charge £775 for the same system in a Tiguan.

[Robert1664]

11 hours ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

The sound system is like current BMW Harman Kardon systems - factory settings it sounds crap but once you get the settings dialled in it sounds good. Makes sense as the ŠKODA Canton system is just a brand engineered Harman product. 

So save me some time, what settings should I use on the canton system

[AmarSirohi]

4 hours ago, Robert1664 said:

So save me some time, what settings should I use on the canton system

I searched and there is nothing that anyone has posted. Even though sound is very personal, I do believe that getting a starting point from other people based on their "personal" settings may give a head start. So I will try and setup something using RTA/pink noise.

[ZacDaMan72]

Surround on 4, subwoofer on 2, fader one 'click' back. This is what I find to be the best setting for my ears. MY21 cars have new sound software so I'll be taking one out for a spin soon.

 

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

Surround on 4, subwoofer on 2, fader one 'click' back. This is what I find to be the best setting for my ears. MY21 cars have new sound software so I'll be taking one out for a spin soon.

 

 

But that's the older Canton system, the MIB3 / MY21 the OP has is very different.   Treble / Mid / Bass - it's like something from the '80s 

Edited 9 February, 2021 by Guest

[ZacDaMan72]

27 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

 

But that's the older Canton system, the MIB3 / MY21 the OP has is very different.   Treble / Mid / Bass - it's like something from the '80s 

If you looked at who asked me for settings, they have a MY20 example.

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

If you looked at who asked me for settings, they have a MY20 example.

 

As you made no ref to the questioner, I thought you were replying to OPs question about setting up Canton.

 

 

 

 

 

[ZacDaMan72]

Fair enough, I thought it was pretty clear.

[jasoncmiles]

Always liked the Canton, it is definitely better than the standard audio for the price and does require adjusting the settings to get the best out of it. A good source makes a difference. I saw no difference in my speakers performance from day one to now with running in.

 

Suggest lag is not the issue with the diesel rather non linear throttle response which a pedal response box improves. May well be different now.

[linni]

5 hours ago, jasoncmiles said:

saw no difference in my speakers performance from day one to now with running in.

 

But I saw. I had Skoda Sound System in my Superb. When I rceived Kodiaq, the sound was pretty lame in the beginning, Superb had better sound no doubt about it.

But now Kodiaq`s Canton beats Superb`s Sound System from every angle. Easy to compare as my friend bought Superb from me an gives ma a lift from time to time.