Hi , 

I'm considering the VRS estate, and this model is on indent basis in our country, so there is no test drive available. 

Most of the time, my kids will be sitting behind, and i'm worried if the ride is going to be very harsh, since it is on standard 19" and low profile. 
Anyone can share their experience with me on ride quality? Will the DCC option help to improve? 
How about the NVH level ? Is it acceptable ?

 

thank you ! 

Greetings from New Zealand and an ex-Singaporean.  I had the opportunity to test drive the vRS Estate on both the 18" and 19" rim set ups and found that the road roar is pronounced and round town ride on the more aggressive rubber is firm but not uncomfortable if you are into performance cars.

 

However, the 18" set up is more liveable on a day to day basis as it is quieter or coarse tarmac and has a more pliant ride.  The handling is not greatly affected (if at all) by this option either, unless you are a real gung ho driver (and with kids in the car, I don't think you would be).

 

I did not have the chance to fiddle with the DCC equipped on the car with the 19" wheels, so can't comment on whether this would make a noticeable difference.

 

Of more concern would be the numerous infotainment and smart safety system glitches and the long delivery time frame.

I have had a VRS Combi/estate/wagon for 1 month, although it has been with the dealer for almost half of the time. In the 900kms I was able  to put on it so far I would say the road noise on freeways is a little more noticeable than I would like but acceptable.

I found the ride very comfortable. I have tried all of Comfort, Normal and Sport modes and I cannot say that in normal city or freeway driving I found much difference between them in ride quality. I expect the difference to be more pronounced in spirited driving on twisty roads.

I did worry about having the 19 inch low-profile tyres. They combine with the VRS here but I would not have chosen them. I would have preferred the 18 inch standard profile for their potentially better ride and lower likelihood of damage. Also I expect that replacement tyres would be somewhat cheaper.

 

My car has been in the dealer for infotainment system faults. My main misgivings about the car concern the infotainment system and the prospect of further software-related issues for the life of the car.

If I could get my money back - and I may still try to do that if they cannot fix my faults soon.

I would avoid the series 8 products of the VAG, since they all exhibit these kind of faults and have clumsy software-driven UIs, and buy a previous generation (series 7.5) Golf R wagon with around 20000kms for around the same money as this car cost me .

The 7.5 series still had real buttons and knobs  - like our 2015 Golf Alltrack Wagon with which we are very happy.

In fact I could just buy a low mileage Alltrack and save $25000.

 

Which is pity because I really like the Skoda if only it was problem-free.

 

Just now, DaveFromSydney said:

They combine with the VRS here

I meant to write "They come with the VRS here".

Maybe one day I will have enough points on this site to be allowed to edit my posts?

2 minutes ago, DaveFromSydney said:

Maybe one day I will have enough points on this site to be allowed to edit my posts?

See the ellipsis (...) top right of your post? Hover over it, and you get a green background, and a yellowish "edit" tool tip. Click on it and you get the options "edit", "report" and "share", at least for the first hour after making the posting. After this, you lose the "edit" option unless you have a Freedom membership.

That works - thank you.

But the period for me is a lot shorter than one hour.

 

I can edit my post from 9 minutes ago but not the one from 12 minutes ago.

 

Edited 29 June, 20214 yr by DaveFromSydney

I just drove from Newcastle to Kingscliff a solid 7 hour drive. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive experience too. Mostly used comfort mode. No issue with road noise, however I am moving up from a 2006 corolla so it feels amazing! The adaptive cruise worked very well as does the lane assist. Need to find some more interesting roads to drive now and test out the sport mode 😁

Wow, thanks for all the feedbacks! 

 

I read some other threads on software issues, but it was also mentioned that there was a firmware update release that fixed most of the issues? 
But this is a big concern for me then because i will not be buying directly from the Skoda authorized dealer, but through a car importer. 
Those 3rd party workshops will not have access to the firmware, and therefore unable to do such  updates i guess. 

I also read somewhere on OTA updates, is that possible or only for certain markets?
Can an owner update firmware by himself ? (i.e. purchase from Skoda website, load firmware to SD card, and update ?) 

My feeling is that it would be a big risk for you without the support of a Skoda shop.

Do people in Singapore often import cars directly?

What do they do for support? It probably pays to stick to the big brands that have a large enough local base to support a specialist workshop.

It's not usual for people to import cars themselves, but rather through a parallel importer. 
these dealers (parallel importers) get their source of vehicles from  dealers in other RHD countries (Mainly UK, Japan, Aus). 
They will package it with a warranty program from a local workshop, but not necessary a specialist workshop  
In general, they don't cover as much as a authorized dealer, and mostly only mechanical parts like engine, gearbox, driveshaft. 
Electrical issues are seldom covered in the warranty 
Reasons people still buy is because of cheaper cost and some models are not available via authorized dealer 
For the VRS, Skoda authorized agent only brings in the sedan version, not the combi, whereas i prefer the combi 

I've had mine now for around 2 months and 1400miles. The ride is actually far better than I was expecting and that's coming from a Kodiaq which was also on 19s but obviously far more sidewall.

Road noise is more of an issue than I thought but it's not unbearable.

My infotainment although not perfect isn't doing anything mega and certainly nothing at this time that would make me even contact the dealer.

My one main gripe with the car is the bloody awful fake noise it plays in anything other than eco mode. I set individual mode for all sport settings but noise off. Oh, and the lane keep assist is a pain.

Other than that I absolutely love the thing, can't stop washing it.

Edited 29 June, 20214 yr by GreenlineIIEstate
typo

As a driver I find it comfortable but for the kids in the back it's a different story!! Drove to a theme park a couple of weeks ago and half way there all I could hear

was what sounded like liquid being poured out of a jug - this ended up being a significant amount of sick all over the back seats of the car 

 

It was country/A roads pretty much all the way there so guess this was the contributing factor.

 

14 minutes ago, ItalianJob said:

As a driver I find it comfortable but for the kids in the back it's a different story!! Drove to a theme park a couple of weeks ago and half way there all I could hear

was what sounded like liquid being poured out of a jug - this ended up being a significant amount of sick all over the back seats of the car 

 

It was country/A roads pretty much all the way there so guess this was the contributing factor.

 

 

Strange you mention that. We took a test drive in an Octavia 1st edition SE estate. As a passenger in the front seat it was comfortable and fairly impressive.

 

When I took a back seat (nsr) for the second half, within a minute or two I started feel extremely nauseous, ultimately leading to the dreaded car sickness memory I suffered from as a small child.

 

Then it was due to a wallowy large car ( Ford Zephyr 6 mk3, live rear axle leaf springsl driven by my Dad who seemed to be forever correcting the steering whel right/left/right/left. In the Octavia I could detect it was gyrating, a circular sideways motion pitching left/right.

 

I almost threw up. Won't be buying that particular car.

Interesting. I haven't had anyone in the back yet in 900kms but hope to transport my grandchildren in there.

 

 

I have a VRS TSI with DCC, now with over 8000 km, and I can nothing but to recommend the DCC. For me there is quite a big difference between driving modes. I usually drive in Normal but switch to Comfort when driving on bad roads or on longer drives on the highway. My car doesn't have that fake sound in Comfort. Only in Normal and Sport.

11 hours ago, PTA1333 said:

It's not usual for people to import cars themselves, but rather through a parallel importer. 
these dealers (parallel importers) get their source of vehicles from  dealers in other RHD countries (Mainly UK, Japan, Aus). 
They will package it with a warranty program from a local workshop, but not necessary a specialist workshop  
In general, they don't cover as much as a authorized dealer, and mostly only mechanical parts like engine, gearbox, driveshaft. 
Electrical issues are seldom covered in the warranty 
Reasons people still buy is because of cheaper cost and some models are not available via authorized dealer 
For the VRS, Skoda authorized agent only brings in the sedan version, not the combi, whereas i prefer the combi 

Given the massive software issues currently plaguing all VAG products running the new style infotainment, you will be at a big risk for smaller, independent workshops having access to the supposed "fixes".

 

However, IIRC, VAG warranty is worldwide regardless of source of supply of the vehicle, so in theory, the authorised dealer in SIN should be able to update you as and when needed.  Whether or not they do it for free is another story - you could run this by VW Asia Pacific, if they still have their offices in SIN.

 

Also, I can't imagine the official dealer turning down your request for a special order unit.  Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi entertain such orders.  It will be up to you to make the decision as to whether the grey market source offers a considerable enough saving to offset the risk.