Update on six years of ownership - 3.6 awd estate

[Wile7]

Hi chaps and chapesses,

 

It’s been a while since my last post but I have been trawling the forum to keep up to date.

 

I have a 3.6 superb estate, bought used in 2014 (2010 car) when we moved to Switzerland with work. The car has been brilliant. It’s now on 169,000 kms and running a dream. Just had all oils and filters (gearbox, diffs, engine, fuel) changed, new plugs, cabin filters and summer rims put back on. Oils and annual check I do every 10,000kms but a full service not been looked at since 98000 kms. 

 

I had some work done on the timing chain/gearbox at around that time. A plastic chain tensioner ‘failed’ so I replaced everything plus a motronic gearbix issue came to the fore. The saga is on here somewhere.

 

Long story short, after a protracted three year fight I got all my money back from the garage who basically f*cked up diagnosis but had new chains, pulleys, water pump and motronic unit (plus rebuilt gearbox which actually was fine...) for free.

 

Car lives in St Moritiz in Swiss Alps currently. Three years of up to minus 28C to plus 30c temps and metres of snow, it has not missed a beat. The awd system brilliant, passing many teslas and heavy suv’s stuck in snow drifts on my daily 15km commute to work. Only issue is the lowered stance which does mean I carve out channels in the snow at times

 

One failed light unit (60chf - £45?), paint degradation on front roof line (above windscreen - might wrap the car next and change colour...) and a fight with a dear that got trapped between my car and a snow drift (antler scars on paint) are only issues. Twice gearbox has gone into ‘safe mode’ at cold temperatures (minus 25C or colder) but a quick reset (depressed throttle/key black art) resolves the issue. Even auto hatch struts and TV/DAB radio still function perfectly. Speakers in doors a bit tinny though...upgrade at some point. Oh, and driver door pull gone all soft and gooey - new ones from Aliexpress for £12 a pair 👍🏻

 

The car does regular bi-monthly flights to Toulouse in France and back (covid paperwork done online) which is a 2500km round trip and a delight. Car is hammered as an estate but on the twisties with uprated bilstein struts/springs and brembo discs with greenstuff pads, handles delightfully. Embrack power upgrade (280-300 bhp? Not dynoed) gives more than enough oomph for what I need. 6sp dsg a delight on the paddles.

 

So, leasing long gone (its mine!). Car sublime for the money. Quick, comfortable, spacious and 25/27 mpg still - only gripes is that exhaust still good despite all salt and chemicals around here. I want to ‘upgrade’ to a supersprint or something but only when original exhaust expires...

 

So there you are. The Skoda Superb 3.6 estate. A fantastic car. A good companion to my wife's 2004 Subaru legacy outback (402,000 kms and still going strong). Stay safe people.

 

Dave (Wile7)

Edited 8 May, 2021 by Wile7

[Danny 57]

Do you have much snow in the winter. 🤣

[SkeidaFin]

Can I get a link to the door pull parts you got from aliexpress? Cheers! Enjoy your Superb, I know I will :p

[S28]

I've got one in Australia and also love it. 125000Km now. Only issue being a AC compressor. Not many 3.6l here.

 

I did put in a rear camera a few years ago.

[Wile7]

 

Edited 15 May, 2021 by Wile7

[Wile7]

On 09/05/2021 at 21:16, SkeidaFin said:

Can I get a link to the door pull parts you got from aliexpress? Cheers! Enjoy your Superb, I know I will :p

CHF 37.68 | HengFei ar accessories for Skoda SUPERB Car Door inside handrail box Door handle Armrest
https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0UL7HL

[ethel]

Hi Dave,

 

That's all very encouraging and good to hear.

 

I'm almost 3 years into ownership of my example and am planning on holding onto it for the long term given its rarity and sleeper fun factor.

 

Knowing that you've enjoyed yours as Skoda intended and that it's still going strong is really encouraging.

 

Regarding the tuning package you have on the car, is that a Swiss dealer-fit thing? Was there any mechanical work required to liberate that extra amount of bhp?

 

I've been looking around at the remap market in the name of a bit of research and it seems that to get a decent amount of extra oomph out of the naturally-aspirated engine a stage 2 with free-r-flowing intake/exhaust componentry is needed.

 

Obviously, it's a lot less easy to get the quick gains possible with forced induction but I wondered what was included in your upgrade and how they achieved what is quite an impressive improvement?

 

Thanks!

 

(Another) Dave.

Edited 24 May, 2021 by ethel

[Wile7]

Hi Dave! Apologies for delayed reply 😬🤷‍♂️

 

The tuning was by Swiss Skoda dealer Embrach (www.embrach.ch) and was done from new. Sachs shocks and KE springs. K&N filter and some upgraded arb bushes plus a freer flowing manifold exhaust.

 

No chip I don’t think  (none for 3.6 I believe) just a remap. Only chip mod you can get is a throttle enhancer (sharper response). I am still saving for a free flow exhaust and that should liberate some bhp.

 

A top end rebuild (cans etc.) abd a modded ecu can get you Passat R36 plus power (320 bhp +). You can also go full Porsche spec (its the sane lump as the Cayenne and early Panameras) which could be a giggle…but expensive!! That would push you towards 360bhp+). 

 

I think 🤔🤪😬🤷‍♂️

 

Dave

[ethel]

Hey Dave,

 

Thanks for that - all good food for thought. 
 

I think that in the first instance I’d be keen to tighten the suspension up a bit to try and give it a little more of a ‘sport’ setup, so will look into the mods performed on your example. It’s really not bad in already-lowered-from-the-factory form and I realise it’s a big old thing, but a bit more positivity wouldn’t go amiss. 

Revo do an interesting Stage 1 remap which liberates another 15-20 more hp for not too drastic an outlay which might be an interesting ‘toe in the water’ exercise. That said, it’s not slow, not by a long shot but you do get used to it after a while and sometimes more is..fun.. 😉

 

thanks again, much appreciated 👍🏻
 

Dave.