Škoda Laura - A Class of its Own!

[Insane Devil]

Hey all...!

Wishing u all a very happy new year from my side,

Coming to the topic, Today afternoon i had gone to see the Laura. I couldnt Test Drive it coz the official launch in HYD is on 6th JAN, so they aint giving TD till then.


LOOKS:
First look at the vehicle, from the front side, was awesome! Laura has grace! and looks pretty Masculine! The front grill, bumper bonet and headlights, all looked very muscular, and the height of the bonet is good, looks "pouncing" kinda... and one very good touch is that the have rounded the corners of the car from the front. i.e in other Cars the corners are like an L bend, in this, the front becomes narrower coming from the front door to the headlights. so while taking the car out from a tight spot and all, u wont scrap ur corners. very nice thing.

Interiors:
Looks luxurious, the screen for the Audio and Park Distance Controller is awesome, and that gives a good appeal to the dash. The AC knobs and etc are also all well placed and very good in functioning. The dials are good, and brightly litup! I sat in a silver color car, and the interiors were all BLACK, and that made the interior look less roomy, the ligther colors are always better.

Rear leg room is ample, no worriez at all, but worry comes when 3 ppl sitting in the back row. Believe me, the middle seat is horrible! its only good for a kiddo, coz an adult cant be comfortable as the hand rest portion is quiet protruding, hence good only for short drives, also the Head room is very less for the middle seat person as there is a overhead light, which again brings down the roof a bit. this leads to a very very comfortable side seatings! if 2 ppl are only sitting in the back row, they wil be very comfortable. plush seats and all!

EQUIPMENTS:
Well, loaded to the top with Equipments.
1. ABS and all,
2. 6 AIRBAGS ( The FIRST LOT (make 2005) will get 8 AIRBAGS).
3. Tiptronic and Automatic DSG Gearbox
4. Park Distance Controller. - amazing! the screen in the dash shows the 4 sides of the car.
5. Automatic Headlights - they light up automatically when it gets dark, in tunnels and evenings.
6. Tyre Pressure Monitoring - well have to read manual as to how this works. (This might not be in 2nd lot.)
7.Trip Computer showing Averages, Current Consumption, Range, etc.
8. Electronic Stability Program
9. Indicators on Side Rear View Mirrors
10. Spot lights kinda thing also on the Side Rear View Mirrors - looks cool
11. 6-CD Changer Audio System built in-dash. (wish they had made it detachable!
12. 12 Speaker System ( included Subwoofer, Tweeters, also has Amplifier, dint see the sub thou)
13. Sun Glass holder above the Front Door.
14. Fully Automatic Glass Sun/Moon Roof (i never got whatz a Moon roof yet!)
15. Dual Zone Climate control is great! - my wife wants it warmer, and i want it colder.
16. Water Spray Jets to clean Headlights - When wud i ever use it? its not an SUV that it wud go offroading!
17. Rain Sensing Windshield Wipers! - thats nice!
18.

and a lot of lil nic-nacks!


I somehow found it "not expensive" compared to the Accord, Camry and Sonata. See, if u say all these cars are very expensive and not worth the price, that doesnt make sense. when these cars ARE priced at these levels, then gotta compare them among these itself. When u compare the Features, Technology and Quality , the LAURA is one awesome car!
The only let down with the LAURA is that it doesnt "look" like an all new car and looks more like an elder brother of the Octavia. but believe me, the front end is smashing!

Boot space is like whale's tummy! guyz, its HUGE! and that is something we wud hardly be using.

this is all i gotta say guys, only abt how it looks and stuff.

Once i take the Test Drive, i will surely update it here.

till then, happy reading, and have a great time!

asta lavista!

[Insane Devil]

whoa! no comments yet! umm, ppl aint lookin or ppl aint active enough to write ?

[tifosikrishna]

hi, a very well written review. if you notice, the intial reaction from many of the bhpians were that it looks too similar to octavia and the skoda india has screwed up with the pricing. but off late, after realising the whole gamut of features it comes with, i think opinion is slowly changing in favour of laura.

[navin]

What about leg room? if the rear leg room is anything close to the accord it might have a better chance. most people in the 15L+ range are chauffered.

[zenx]

Nice sumup.
On a related note ....
Are old Octavias giong to get cheaper ? Do they have plans to make keeping one cheaper (spares, labour costs) ?

[goldie_malhotra]

14. Fully Automatic Glass Sun/Moon Roof (i never got whatz a Moon roof yet!)

The only use I know of is on karva chauth - a-la the Optra ad

[jkdas]

First thing I thought when I read the thread title was... he bought it! wow :P

and whats thsi moon roof? can someone enlighten.

and #16 is needed if you travel a lot and if you kill a loooot of insects at night

and what do you mean by second lot?

and Navin, he said the legroom is adequate for TWO people.

[amit]

Spot lights kinda thing also on the Side Rear View Mirrors

These are used to light up the door area as you approach the car on a dark night. Very kool indeed.

Fully Automatic Glass Sun/Moon Roof

Just wondering, if the sunroof has 14 settings like VW gives in western countries? When you go for the test drive, find out if the car has spot lighting like the new Jetta. In night, the gear area in Jetta's is lit up in deep red lighting. Looks way to kool. And of course, let us know the DSG. I am sure it will floor you.

[extreme_torque]

I wud buy a Honda Accord anyday coz except for a few xtra's, Accord has everything that the laura has and more... its more roomier and its a honda remember. Skoda has screwed up big time with the pricing of Laura.... even at the same price as Accord i wud have given it a thought but its even more expensive..... Sorry i aint interested!

[Floyd de Souza]

I think they want to make it "exclusive". Spend a few lacs more and go in for the Superb...which is real VFM in that segment. Almost S class space for < C class money and equivalent build quality.

[Insane Devil]

well well, suddenly a gush of replies nice going fellas! okie lemme answer ur doubts to the extent i can..

1. Leg Room is very good, its very roomy, definately more than the Octavia, but around the same as the Accord. I dint mean to give an impression that the Leg room is enough for only 2 ppl, i mean that the Seating is made in such a way that the middle person, will not be comfortable, not due to Legroom, but due to the Back Rest which is a bit improper, the backrest is the Centre Arm Rest.

2. Yes the Sunroof has around 14 Settings. its like a rotating knob. rotate it to the end and it opens up totally, i didnt try the mid settings

3. Lights near the Gear Area... hmm... well i doubt it is there... but in case it is, it wud be visible in the night only, as in the day it wud be too lighted inside to notice that.

4. Floyd De Souza: Compared to the Laura, the Superb aint no VFM! except the Extra LEG SPACE and an Umbrella on the left rear door, and the V6 Diesel Engine, the Laura is better in all aspects. About the Engine..well, in the City traffic, being Automatic, i wud rather prefer a descently powered engine, rather than a fuel guzzler V6.

5.First lot = 2005 Manufacture, comes with 8 Airbags!
Second Lot= 2006 Manufacture, will come with only 6 Airbags, Tyre Pressure Monitor might be omitted.

6. Current Octavias will definately be continued for a long time to come. Spare Parts of the Laura are supposed to be cheaper than the Octavias. All Skoda Parts prices might come down as now the world base for Skoda Spares Production is in Aurangabad. (Aurangabad is it? or Ahmedabad?)

I hope i have answered most of ur doubts, if not do let me know more of ur Q in specific, and will reply.

[Beemer]

Hey ID ,nice first impressions ..
However ,i beg to differ from you on few points ... the 4th and the 6th in particular .

The Laura is one Excellent vehicle but you cant compare it to a Superb .. Its like comparing a E class to a C class . Both of them belongs to different class . The superb is in a league of its own ...

By no means , the Spare parts of Laura to be cheaper than those of Octavias .. Its unheard of and to me its not possible ...

[rangaraj]

This may sound controversial to you skoda owners (especially those who ave bought the Laura), but all around the world, the unofficial positioning of the Skoda is a poor man's VW. If Skoda's pricing is as it is, i wonder what VW will do with their fleet ;-)..

[Insane Devil]

Well Beemer, before sitting in the Laura, i had a hour long test drive of my uncle's Superb (Petrol), and believe me, the only things that is there in the Superb which aint there in the Laura are Umbrella and the extra Legspace. if not, the Laura is far more advanced than the Superb.

While in the matter of C and E classes, the E has lot lot lot more features and quality and matter compared to the C. the C is in no way advanced to the E class in single feature... Hence my comparision.

[tsk1979]

Laura is for poor little rich boys