Being a :newbie: both to Briskoda and Skoda, I will probably be asking many silly newbie questions here in the future.

I am a norwegian, living in norway - the land of midnight sun, polar bears, and about 80

It's very handy, possibly more (with the right tyres) useful than 4wd once moving in snow...

I did a brief review of mine in snow, give me a min I'll try and find it...

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/showthread.php?t=593&highlight=snow

There ya go...

Octopus,

A warm welcome from a fellow "continental" - it seems you will have a car that some Briskoda members are dying to have...

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5826

Is it the 74 kW (100 hp) or 96 kW L&K (PD130) version? And in case of the first one, Comfort or Elegance?

And didn't Rob/Fabpreza own a 4x4 Tercel in his distinguished list of 4WD ownership experiences?

Yes, the ESP system comes as standard on the 1.8T Elegance and L&K models, and is optional on all other Comfort and Elegance models - in Holland for a whopping 690 euros. But you are still left with ABS/ASR/EDS. The EDS system (known in the UK as EDL) should do what you are describing, i.e. allocate power to individual wheels. ESP only optimizes all these individual systems. There should be a thread somewhere explaining the workings behind all these acronyms... Ian?

EDS \ EDL is only at the front, uses ABS on a single wheel to make the power go to the opposite wheel, very crude in operation and difficult to get it to work without using the 2wd trick - never had it come in using 4wd on mine...

I doubt his will have ASR, as reducing the power overall would not have much use (unless being plain hooligan) when the haldex is trying to send power as required.....

ESP uses individual brakes to apply a "turning force" on the axis of the vehicle, it uses the speed sensors in the ABS system to provide information, but does not use the ABS pulsing.....

(sure I remember doing an aconym special on all these... hang on.,.....)

It is an Elegance, but only 74KW version.

Where does the difference lie between the 100 and the 130 hp versions? After browsing over at tdiclub.com and other places, it seems to be very minor diffs, such as the nozzle size ...

So can I get 160HP out of this box, with some JABBA and some larger nozzles??

although I think I will wait some years, as it is prohibitely expensive to boost the HP here...

I doubt his will have ASR

Oh, it does. It's specified in the continental brochure...

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4592&highlight=EDL+ESP

This thread may be of use....

It is an Elegance' date=' but only 74KW version.

Where does the difference lie between the 100 and the 130 hp versions? After browsing over at tdiclub.com and other places, it seems to be very minor diffs, such as the nozzle size ...

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Yes, they are both PD units, but the diesel boys here will know the nitty-gritty...

2wd trick?

And reading what you wrote in a different post, it seems that you can do 2wd with your 4x4 ??

That sounds interesting.

So it seems that I won't have ESR, but will have ASR - which may or may not be very useful on a 4x4....

and having ESP retrofitted sounded like a no-go when speaking with my dealer.

Welcome, Octopus.

You asked about the default specification for UK models; the following is taken from the Skoda UK website:-

All Octavia models have ABS.

FWD versions in "Elegance", "L&K" and "vRS" trim also have ASR (Anti Slip Regime) and EDL (Electronic Differential Lock).

4X4 versions (now only available EDIT: in the UK as Estate/Combi) have ESP (Electronic Stability Program) instead of ASR and EDL.

(but EDL is still present on 4x4, just very very rarely used)

Tavia4x4:

With my Tercel in 4wd, I can manage to pull through a curve I would be slipping through, by giving some more gas.

Is this possible to do with the Octavia 4x4 too? Or should I just drive easier?

Yes, read my review in the snow, more gas and ESP can do its job better, getting you round a bend....

ESP braking on one corner is trying to turn the car, having power on the opposite corner helps this - imagine trying to take a top off a bottle with one finger, then with finger and thumb.

(and 4x4 owners don't drive "easier" )

Ian

Yes, read my review in the snow, more gas and ESP can do its job better, getting you round a bend....

ESP braking on one corner is trying to turn the car, having power on the opposite corner helps this - imagine trying to take a top off a bottle with one finger, then with finger and thumb.

Yes, the only problem with that is that I don't have ESP in this model.. and it seems pretty major tp have it retrofitted :/

(and 4x4 owners don't drive "easier" )

:drive1:

ah, yes, sorry, did not try it much with ESP turned off in the snow....

Umm, guessing, like in the very wet, that as long as you get some weight transfer it will push the rear out \ round a touch which could help....

Suggest a very large carpark with lots of snow and PLAYTIME

I can't wait to get the car...

But I must wait, as it was first registered in germany dec 21st 2001 - and if I wait till dec 21st this year, the "rebate" in the import tax is increased from 17% to 30% - which makes quite a difference, when the tax is about 6000

And didn't Rob/Fabpreza own a 4x4 Tercel in his distinguished list of 4WD ownership experiences?

Hello Octopus and welcome !

I owned two Tercel 4WD estates and really enjoyed driving them at the time. As you know, they had little power and no power steering even, but were excellent cars in snow. I once got through more than a 'foot of snow' in the UK (about 30cms) on standar All Seasons tyres using the EL gear.

As you say, time to move on now. Like everyone here who owns a 4x4, I am very happy with my Octavia and the work that Jabbasport did on it.

On the driving experience, on the 4x4 cars I have owned (quite a few now) they all grip best if you can get used to keeping the power held on gently. As the Octavia Haldex system is not a 50/50 front rear split, I also find (like others) that it works better if when you lose traction you accelerate a little bit more !

I hope you enjoy it and if there are any questions that we can all answer, please keep asking !

p.s. Any SNOW there yet - I hear that Lapland and Santa Claus have none :rainbowaf

On the driving experience, on the 4x4 cars I have owned (quite a few now) they all grip best if you can get used to keeping the power held on gently. As the Octavia Haldex system is not a 50/50 front rear split, I also find (like others) that it works better if when you lose traction you accelerate a little bit more !

I hope you enjoy it and if there are any questions that we can all answer, please keep asking !

p.s. Any SNOW there yet - I hear that Lapland and Santa Claus have none

Thanks for the input (from all of you!). Interesting point about accellerating when losing traction - totally against what I would do intuitively with my Tercel.

I would rather ease up till traction is regained. The Tercel excels in snowy conditions

But I really like the way the 1.9 TDI is to drive

regarding snow - we had a little a few weeks back, but it's been mild since. Today was below freezing tho, so we might have a white xmas.

I hope we have lots of snow and difficult driving - as I am spending loads of dough on this 4x4

I'm interested to know what the Norwegian version of mild weather is. If we had the same over here half the country would grind to a halt. Time to resurrect those M11 (?) threads from last new year?

Well, I guess we have colder winters than you do, for the most part.

But by mild, I mean above freezing

On the other hand, if we get a couple of feet of snow during the night, it means delays, accidents (especially if driving conditions have been good for some time) etc.. It will be a day slow to start, but we won't grind to a halt by a long shot.