Hi all,

 

Were there any trim levels of the Superb that had the flappy paddles as standard as part of the DSG set up, or were they always an option?

 

I have decided that a Superb is my next choice of car, it's now just about finding the right one.  Prices seem to have sky rocketed in 6 months, so I am not just going to buy one for the sake of it, but in a position to pull the trigger when the right one comes available.  For reference, back in Jan/Feb time this year, i was offered a 69 plate 272 Superb at just under £25k from a Skoda dealer (was working out around £388 a month) - i passed on it and now it seems similar cars are £4-5k more!

I don't know about more recent years but they were an option on the 2016 L&K spec. I'd imagine that they've always been an option though.

yes - it seems they are few and far between. it appears they are on most of the 272 models, but they aren't on an L&K and an SEL one i found and like the look of.  They aren't a deal breaker (virtual dash, canton and heated seats are what i am looking for as a minimum), but nice to have the option - otherwise i guess its a flick of the gear stick in order to go up and down gears if you want to?

My pre facelift sportline 280 has the flappy paddles. I've messed around with them a few times, but I can count on one hand the times I've used them for a reason over the four years I've had car. Its easier to just flick the gearstick to sport and let that take over. 

If the car did not come with them, I would not miss them at all.

I use them literally on every journey in fact it would be a deal breaker for me personally.

Yeah I also use them on a lot of my journeys and wouldn’t want to be without them. Not always necessary but very useful to have them for pushing along up twisty hills to avoid it either hanging onto gears at high revs in sport or constantly having no torque until it shifts down again from 5th or 6th! In manual can shift around 3k and be in the right range all the time plus it feels like you’re driving an f1 car then! 🤩

Also on a list of potential mods (like fitting vc, heated seats etc) it’s about the easiest - just change the wheel for a like for like one with the paddles and no coding required so it’s not the be all and end all if you can’t find one with it out the factory

Ideally would like to get a steering wheel the paddle shift, does anyone the part number?  Ideally the flat bottom one!

Oh yes, definitely get a wheel with a flat bottom… cos road cars steering wheels are supposed to have that… 🙄
When you can turn lock-to-lock in 180 degrees, like an F1 or rally car, they make sense. When your road cars wheel turns lock-to-lock in 450 degrees’ish (complete guess) from the centre in either direction, I’ve found it to be a bloody nuisance as you turn the wheel, as your palm searches for something that inexplicably, ain’t there. 

1 hour ago, numskull said:

Oh yes, definitely get a wheel with a flat bottom… cos road cars steering wheels are supposed to have that… 🙄
When you can turn lock-to-lock in 180 degrees, like an F1 or rally car, they make sense. When your road cars wheel turns lock-to-lock in 450 degrees’ish (complete guess) from the centre in either direction, I’ve found it to be a bloody nuisance as you turn the wheel, as your palm searches for something that inexplicably, ain’t there. 

For me a flat bottom wheel makes it so much easier to get in and out - folk used to take the p*ss out of our Toyota Yaris with a FBW but for old folk, best thing ever.

 

Currently running around in a Juke - terrible vehicle for access into the drivers seat - needs a FBW.

 

 

I think on the list of options I would love one to have are:

virtual dash (must)

heated and electric front seats (must)

rear camera (must, as the car is soo bloody long)

canton (semi must)

paddles (semi must)

rear wiper (semi must)

heated rear seats (nice to have but no deal breaker)

automatic boot close (nice to have but no deal breaker)

 

found a nice L&K superb - not from a skoda dealer though, but no paddles 

Ours has all those options, apart from the auto boot close from inside the car, but you can close it with the key fob when you goto put the trolley back at Aldi and, of course, the virtual dash… it just has a real one. Now, I can normally justify myself into spend on most things, but I just can’t on the retro fit of that as the benefits do not outweigh the outlay. Oh yes, it has ventilated front seats too; the way our weather is going, believe me when I say you should add those to your (must) list.

 

9 hours ago, Berisford said:

For me a flat bottom wheel makes it so much easier to get in and out - folk used to take the p*ss out of our Toyota Yaris with a FBW but for old folk, best thing ever.

 

Currently running around in a Juke - terrible vehicle for access into the drivers seat - needs a FBW.

 

 

If you have electric seats with memory on a Superb, via VCDS/OBD11 one can set the drivers seat to easy exit/entry which reverses the drivers seat base by around 5” (see, I did that conversion for us baby boomer imperial old folk!) and also uprights the seat back for you automatically once you switch off the ignition, thus making exiting and entering the car far easier than having a flat tyre wheel. You can also set a seat memory button to lower the seat. I set button #3 to do this. 
The manufacturers marketeers added these cos they thought they look “cool”. Whilst they actually serve a purpose in your case (as long as you remember to centre the wheel with at the flat bottom at… er… the bottom, I’m guessing?) their actual purpose they were originally designed to help with is irrelevant in any road car.  Its a bit like go faster stripes from the ‘70’s/‘80’s, twin exit add-on exhaust ends and shoving bonnet vents on a fuel injected car, IMO they just look daft…🤦🏻‍♂️

14 hours ago, sheriffwoody said:

I think on the list of options I would love one to have are:

virtual dash (must)

heated and electric front seats (must)

rear camera (must, as the car is soo bloody long)

canton (semi must)

paddles (semi must)

rear wiper (semi must)

heated rear seats (nice to have but no deal breaker)

automatic boot close (nice to have but no deal breaker)

 

found a nice L&K superb - not from a skoda dealer though, but no paddles 

 

there is actually an SEL model literally down the road from me in a Seat dealership - i am impressed with how much kit that has (virtual dash, electric heated front seats etc) - but doesn't have a camera.  The sales guy said they use a company that can fit a rear/reverse camera for about £250, but no idea how good that will be or not.

@numskull that's the reality of cars these days. Car ownership is as much emotional as practical. People just want the fripperies otherwise we would all be driving a Prius or Dacia. 

 

That is why S-line, Sportline, AMG-line, M-sport et al exist too. Having stiffer suspension and lower profile tyres reduces comfort but people like the look. It's a lot of about the image nowadays. 

20 hours ago, Awesam said:

Ideally would like to get a steering wheel the paddle shift, does anyone the part number?  Ideally the flat bottom one!

 

How about this one in alcantara! Says suitable to 2018 - not sure about after that though - certainly fits my 2017 nicely. Keeping my leather one as spare so sadly can't do a deal.

 

Part Number: 565064241AGCW

 

https://www.theskodashop.co.uk/products/skoda-three-spoke-sports-steering-wheel-alcantara

21 minutes ago, Just said:

 

How about this one in alcantara! Says suitable to 2018 - not sure about after that though - certainly fits my 2017 nicely. Keeping my leather one as spare so sadly can't do a deal.

 

Part Number: 565064241AGCW

 

https://www.theskodashop.co.uk/products/skoda-three-spoke-sports-steering-wheel-alcantara

I'm assuming thats a generic pic as can't i see the paddle shifts!

 

thats nice though.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

If your car doesn't have the paddles, you can just change the steering wheel to one with paddles and they'll work out of the box, with no software coding changes on the car needed.

On 22/09/2021 at 14:30, Awesam said:

I'm assuming thats a generic pic as can't i see the paddle shifts!

 

thats nice though.

 

Yes, although the pic isn’t very clear, as long as you order the one with DSG, it should come with paddles.

 

I only knew the alcantara version existed because there was one fitted to a Superb being reviewed a while back on Bob Flavins YouTube channel in Ireland. 

 

Funnily enough, the local Skoda parts guy said he couldn’t see any historic uk orders for the part, with the exception of a dealer in Ireland, so possibly the same one...he wasn’t convinced it would arrive even.

 

The parts reference seems to suggest that the same wheel also fits variants of Octavia and even Fabia.

 

Came from Czech in about 3 weeks, hasn’t worn noticeably in the year it’s been on, keeps a steady temperature so pleasant in the winter.

 

I’ll try to remember to post some pics.

My '66 plate 280 L&K has paddles. Not sure if they were std as I purchased the car used at 25k miles - it's just ticked over to £50k & still going great. I use the paddles & sport mode to manually change down when approaching roundabouts or lights. Can't say I'd miss them if they weren't there but I have now got used to them. 

We have just acquired a 19 plate Karoq Edition - wife's car. It too has paddles & I was trying to explain to my wife what they do & how to use. I shouldn't have bothered, she was more interested what colours options there were for the ambient lighting!😒