Team-BHP - Skoda Superb - A tryst with destiny

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Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 2999622)

The MRP printed was 975/- per litre and I got it at 950/-. The shop keeper offered me the 4 litre pack of the same for just 2800/- (MRP 3800/-), that's nearly 1 litre oil FREE with 3 litre. That is a substantial saving from the one offered at the authorised dealership and also of a better quality than the one used by them. Now the big question is will they allow me to procure the oil on my own and use it in my car when it's time for the 1st service some month's down the line.

Hi,

Congrats and IMO that's the way to go.

I bought a 4 L can of Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 for Rs.3600. During my second service at Europa, I am dead sure they poured less than adequate quantity as the low oil warning light came on within 5000km after the service (this lamp did not glow "ever" between first and second service, as the first service was done at another dealer and I was watching him as he poured the oil). So apart from higher price per liter, the Skoda dealers also "steal" the oil. And even if you are smart enough to ask them to show the oil level using dip stick before you sign the gate pass, they have ensured that that car has already run a few feet and the engine temperature is near optimum which means the oil level at the dip stick has risen. The only (tedius) way to catch them red handed is to go and pick up the car early in the morning and ask them to check the dip stick in your presence when engine is switch off overnight...

BTW, you procured 4L for 2800, which Rs.700/L. Wowclap:.

With regards to upgrading the standard 61 AH battery in the Superb with a 77 AH one seeing the additional load that this carries if every electrical is kept on, I read a good article about the upgrade and its compatibility with the revolutionary CANBUS system on these cars -

Quote:

It's fine to upgrade to a 77AH battery without any issues from the 61AH one.

What you will find is as follows:
- You may have manually open and close all windows to reset the pinch protection. Simply hold down the button until the window rolls right down, then pull up until the window closes completely This lets the controller learn the force to use to close the windows. If this force is exceeded, the window will reverse to protect the glass and prevent injuries.

- Your power steering light will come on orange. This will go away when you have made a few steering manoevres.

- Your ESP light or ABS light may come on. This should go off after you have driven a few hundred metres.

Regarding smart charging:
- Yes like all modern cars, the Superb car has a multi-stage charger. After starting, the alternator voltage is held at about 14.4v to replace the energy lost when starting. When the current falls off, the voltage is dropped to around 13.6 volts to keep the battery 'topped up'. If you have a stop-start system or the new-ish power-recovery system it may work a little differently.

Why is a multi-stage charger better?
For a traditional alternator and solid state regulator, they usually held the voltage at around 13.8 volts. For your typical lead-acid (LA) or lead-acid-calcium (LAC) battery, this meant that the battery was only ever charged to about 75% of it's total capacity. As you can only discharge a LA or LAC battery to around 50% before it is irreparably damaged, the battery only ever was able to supply 25% of it's total capacity. For a 70Ah battery, this means it could only ever supply 17Ah. This meant that the battery was around 2-3 times the size it actually needed to be.

With the proliferation of cheap microprocessors, cars started to get a bit smarter with their charging. By supplying a higher voltage and therefore a higher current to charge the battery, the battery can be quickly charged to around 80% full. The float voltage 13.6 volts, which is lower than the traditional C20 voltage of 13.8-14 volts, can then finish charging the battery to 100%. We therefore go from a 25% useful battery to almost 50%. The battery itself can then be smaller as we can use more of the capacity.

The lower float voltage prolongs battery life and reduces gassing where the battery produces lots of hydrogen and in the process loses water. The reduction in gassing means that the battery can be sealed without blowing out the pressure vents, which again reduces water loss.

Further prolonging battery life is the CAN bus style cars, which turn things off after a time. Examples are the radio and interior lighting which are shut off after around 10 minutes of being idle. Totally discharging the battery damages it so by shutting off consumers after a while we prolong battery life. In the case where the car is idling but the alternator is not able to produce enough current to run all consumers and charge the battery, the car can also go into 'load management' mode where non-essential items such as the radio, PTC electric heater and seat heaters are shut off to ensure that the battery is not discharged and there is sufficient energy to run important items like headlights and the engine computer. These items are turned back on when the engine speed increases, allowing the alternator to supply more current. Load management usually only has to kick in after a cold start in very cold weather after a long glow plug cycle.

What's coming:
Li-Ion and Li-Po batteries like what's in your phone or laptop are already very popular in motorcycle circles, are around 1/4 the size of lead acids and less than 1/4 of the weight yet contain the same amount of energy. The life of a well-treated LA battery is around double that of a Li-Ion battery, but in practice, no one treats their batteries properly so the lifetime is the same, the cost is the same and the weight reduction is significant. I'd expect to see these commonly in car-sizes soon, especially with the push for weight reduction to reduce emissions.

Hope that clears the doubts regarding the battery in many Superb owners.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile

dKaile are you planning to change your battery set up?

If you change the battery to a higher capacity one, the only thing that will be impacted is the time it takes to (re)charge it fully. So it really should not be a big deal unless the usage of the car is extremely low so much so that it does not give the alternator an opportunity to recharge it fully.

BTW, I have read about the impacts of fully discharging of the regular lead acid batteries, but does not look that damaging in real life. I had my Tucson's battery "fully" discharged as one of the cabin lamps was left ON and the car was unused for a week. When I wanted to use the car after this, central locking did not work, only single door could be opened, instrument cluster lamps did not glow, nothing would sound or move. We took the battery out and hooked to a charger for 2 days and 1 night (the amaron dealer said all cells are fully dead and specific gravity needs to be fully restored so 1 day is not enough). But with that, it's now fully charged and has been working like a charm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ishlinea7260 (Post 2999864)

dKaile are you planning to change your battery set up?

No such plans. The stock Varta battery is working absolutely OK now after the initial hiccup discussed a few pages back. The battery should be good to last at least 3 years by my reckoning.

Skoda Superb Production Video!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=jk9jbNZzKj4

Enjoy!!:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain (Post 3005236)

Skoda Superb Production Video!!

Sambhav, I had already posted this video in April in this post - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2750062

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3005561)

Sambhav, I had already posted this video in April in this post - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2750062

My bad.. Was wondering how you missed the video, obviously you din't stupid:

On another note, in your car does the passenger side mirror close completely but the driver side mirror stays more angled? Its more noticeable if you look at them from the rear of the car. I talked about this to the service manager during the 1st free checkup and all the other Superb's at the center had the very same side mirror adjustment. Just confirming from u!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain (Post 3005757)

On another note, in your car does the passenger side mirror close completely but the driver side mirror stays more angled?

Yes, there is a 'slightest' of difference if noticed closely.

One more thing Dkaile, do all doors unlock from the driver side lock/unlock button on the door after locking it in your car? Because it doesn't in mine. I can unlock all doors from the passenger side button but not from the driver side button. Is this a fault in my car Or is this due to these cars being LHD and layout isn't changed when converting this to our RHD style?

please: could you check in your car?

Thanks in advance!!:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain (Post 3006393)

do all doors unlock from the driver side lock/unlock button on the door after locking it in your car?

Yes, they do. Kindly check whether you have enabled this feature through the MID as there is a setting for this. Also ensure that Travel Mode is off through MID.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3006646)

Yes, they do. Kindly check whether you have enabled this feature through the MID as there is a setting for this. Also ensure that Travel Mode is off through MID.

I tried finding the setting for it but couldn't. All i could find was the central locking setting which was set for driver door only, changed it to all doors.
But could not find the setting specific to unlocking of all doors from driver side button. Could you please point me to the exact setting? And the travel mode was set to off on the MID.

Thanks Again!!:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain (Post 3007662)

It is under Settings-Convenience-Central Locking-Door Unlocking-tick all doors; Also under Automatic tick both Lock and Unlock; Also tick All under Window Op. Also ensure that Rain Closing and ATA confirm is ticked under Convenience;

All these settings are for the Elegance trim. The Ambition trim does have not have these detailed settings and they need to approach the ASC for these to be enabled at their end through VAG.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3007816)

I have checked all these settings as you have said and they are exactly as they should be. My car is the Elegance trim so no need to enable it through VAG.
Now what should i do? Take it to service center is all that is left i guess and hope they can solve it..Do you think the button is faulty or some inside wiring? All doors are getting locked but are not unlocking from the driver side button and the passenger side button is working perfectly.

PS :- I forgot to tell you that i had refreshed the convenience setting to factory default..

Quote:

Originally Posted by sambhav.jain (Post 3007823)

What is the MY (Model Year) of your car from VIN decoding? Mine is 2012. You need to get it checked out at the ASC. Mine is locking and unlocking from both doors.