Skoda Laura AT - My experiences [YMMV]

[flyingspur]

I got a TD of the Laura A/T fairly easily at both Autobahn as well as Autograph,about five minutes of waiting, no issues as such...
Lag, there definitely is...but somehow my first experience with the DSG was fantastic...I absolutely love that gearbox, and have since then the experience has been even better, with the paddleshift-coupled DSG on the Passat.

[dockap]

Originally Posted by vkiran_2000

Hi all, forgot to link to the pics....Picasa Web Albums - Vishwa - Our new Skoda...

wow nice colour man thats my fav colour but evey time i buy a car i am so unlucky that either red is not in their colour choices or its not in the version i am buying or its not readily available congrats and enjoy your car

[vipul_bscity]

Originally Posted by vkiran_2000

Hi all,

Got the second Laura ambiente to be delivered in Bangalore. A red one at that !
It doen not have (all) the frills and goodies but I love the drive. The major plus points are:

1. Very "connected" driving experience. Feels sloid and sure footed.
2. SUperb ride quality. even on Bangalore roads.
3. Did a sprint on the Nandi expressway and found it as sure footed as the Accord (my runner up choice).
4. Superb gear shift. The short throw stick feels waaay better than many petrol cars.
5. Killer looks. I can see jaws drop visibly for the Corrida red beauty. I hope the eveil eye stays away and I can keep stratches and dents out for a while at least!

The nifty cubby holes and built quality is very positive. Overall, I have no gripes about this car till now.

Hi vkiran,

I have also got Red - Ambiente delivered on 17th Jan. I second all your saying.
- Certainly this car has got a killer looks, specially Red one.
- Very bold road presence.
- Steering feels very, I repeat very responsive and the gear shift is fun.
- Surely it sticks to the road like leech at any speed.
- Plus, probably, I can do Mumbai - Goa - Mumbai in one tankful OR may be only few liter more

I have dorn 1300 km as of not and wil soon post a drive report as of now.

Few quick things that I have notices and wanted to share
- Stock headlighs - somehow I dont find that bright enough 9 Even after putting it on high beam) How other owners feel ??
- ORVMS - should make it retractable. As the mirror can cost a bomb, its a good idea to fold when on crowded pedestrian road. I used this all the time in my Corolla.
- Rear leg room is ok (I found it more than Corolla and Civic somehow) BUT, as everyone know, the rear seats are bit upright and head rest feels that it should go more backwards.
- Driver side - drive confror is great, but somehow in city (Mumbai) I found the rear ride is bit bumpy, may be running with more air.

Rest all good fun to drive this car.

Thanks,
Vipul

[dockap]

yup rear seats are really uncomfortable even a hatch has more comfort than a laura in the rear
about the orvms my dad scrapped the left orvm against our gate and it cost 9,500 to replace(not the outside cover but the inside mirror and motor) i thought it was a bomb but after i heard that the merc e class orvm costs 1,25,000 i felt its really cheap

[androdev]

how did you manage to break the mirror without damaging the casing? no scratches also? do you know the cost of full ORVM unit, including casing?

btw, indian model's ORVM does not auto-dim. if you ever have to change again (hope not), might want to check out mirrors that auto-dim.

[dockap]

he was reversing out of the compound and the mirror scraped the gate post and turned the wrong way out beats me how the outside cover was intact it had a few scratches which vanished with rubbing compound and polish

[shuvc]

@androdev, IIRC, ACI mentions the ORVM cost to be around 14-15K.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by shuvc

@androdev, IIRC, ACI mentions the ORVM cost to be around 14-15K.

okay, thats not too bad.. i think the only thing that can hurt is if i bang my xenons :-)

i banged my rear-wheel-arch while reversing into a parking slot. it is my regular parking slot, but i was reversing from a different angle instead of the every day angle. so was careless and bang! TAFE bangalore did a lousy job, followed by a complaint, and then a fantastic job.

it has been a good car in this horrible bangalore traffic. have not seen a highway for a looong time, hope the turbo doesn't give up on me. the best part is it doesn't need lot of trips to the filling station. my other car corsa is quite the opposite. only now i understand why such a good car as corsa bombed here.

[vipul_bscity]

Hi Androdev,

I also have a Corsa 1.4 - Black. I can only say that its an awsome car. Sometime I feel the ride is far more good than more of the cars that I owned. Really good build car. In Pune and Mumbai (City) it gives me clseo to 10.5 Km/ lt average. On highways little over 12 Lm/lt. I felt bad when it has got discontinued in India.
I am even looking out a Corsa Sail (Without Boot one) just to keep and for runing errands. It feels very uncomfortable taking Laura to corner shop to get Ice cream sometimes

[androdev]

Originally Posted by vipul_bscity

Hi Androdev,

I also have a Corsa 1.4 - Black. I can only say that its an awsome car. Sometime I feel the ride is far more good than more of the cars that I owned. Really good build car. In Pune and Mumbai (City) it gives me clseo to 10.5 Km/ lt average. On highways little over 12 Lm/lt. I felt bad when it has got discontinued in India.

While my wife was carrying, she wanted to be driven only in corsa instead of laura/corolla. It soaks up the bad roads so well.

I am even looking out a Corsa Sail (Without Boot one) just to keep and for runing errands. It feels very uncomfortable taking Laura to corner shop to get Ice cream sometimes

I bought Laura so I can take it everywhere. Really. I use it for everything (and I am the errand boy in the house), because this is the first car to take out of the garage. Busy market streets are safer because everyone is cautious. All my scratches happened elsewhere, never in market streets. But yeah dead-lock situations are very risky because all vehicles will be converging into your car :-)

[abhinav.gupta88]

What exactly is a lane change indicator . I mean how does it differentiate from the normal indicators and how to use them?

[androdev]

tapping the indicator slightly makes three flashes. the indicator stalk doesn't change it's position. (something like how u would squirt washer fluid with wiper stalk but with much less force)

if you push the stalk a bit harder, it behaves like in other cars.

in cars without this feature, you will have to push and pull the indicator stalk to indicate lane change. with this feature, u just gently push (no pulling).

[smack_himanshu]

Originally Posted by vipul_bscity

Hi Androdev,

I also have a Corsa 1.4 - Black. I can only say that its an awsome car.

Its a great car.I have Corsa 1.4 - White. It gives around 12 - 13 Kmpl.
Got CNG fitted and i am so happy. It runs around 75 km in cng worth Rs 100 with speeds between 50 - 80 with AC on (city driving).
Would keep this CNG car forever.
CORSA rocks .