Beauty of the Beast Skoda Octavia RS - 57000 km review

Mpower · 24th June 2008, 17:30

Car's looking sexy. What do you think about blacking out the chrome on the front grille? (as seen in T-bhp homepage)

ajmat · 24th June 2008, 17:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Nice birthday gift to yourself! Though I still cant understand how your rear brake pads wore out faster than the front.

unless the front pair are the second set!

The Wolf · 24th June 2008, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Nice birthday gift to yourself! Though I still cant understand how your rear brake pads wore out faster than the front.

The front might be a second set or the brake distribution is rear biased, requires tweaking to 50-50 setup!

Ajmat, bumped into this thread today, brilliant write up, feels like my personal experience...and yeah, least to mention old mans AK47 and photography, absolute stunner!!!

And yeah, congrats...hope u get the best outta your vRS

ajmat · 5th July 2008, 11:14

Fitted a replacement K&N sometime back.

The drivability of the car improved though I will not say that there is a power increase.

Today I fitted Bosch super4 plugs, Removed cover and you had had to remove yet another vacuum system to get at the number 4 plug.

Carefully lifted the coil packs and somewhere 6 ft below are the plugs. I got them out okay but fitting them in was crazy as the spanner bit would not come out so had to remove plug. Finally found a way by removing the rubber bit in the box spanner when refitting, whew!

Fired he up and engine revved to 1500 rpm. Took it for a short drive, by then the ECU had adapted. Car's smoothness is transformed, can't wait for an empty road. Today is saturday and Bangalore is at it's worst.

Watch this space!

vinayvtec · 5th July 2008, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmat

Fired he up and engine revved to 1500 rpm. Took it for a short drive, by then the ECU had adapted. Car's smoothness is transformed, can't wait for an empty road. Today is saturday and Bangalore is at it's worst.

Watch this space!

WOW!! Ajit has started tuning his AK47. I am sure you might have already planned what extra you need under hood. I have subscribed this thread, waiting to see what more plans you have for your AK47.

I was noticing the change in signature “I love the whoosh, but I miss the bellowing” so any plans of getting after market Headers and exhaust for your AK 47

ajmat · 13th August 2008, 15:18

Sunday - quick drive from UB City - find weather humid and AC not able to cope, hell it is not working

Monday, disgusted with the A/c and mentally finding a time slot to give car in, at Marathahalli, I hear and see the coolant warning flash, I see a little steam and move to the side. Morning rush and everyone curses. Proper bonnet open and wonder what to do , checking fan fuses means opening the drivers door. Not a good idea.

Car - hisses and spew coolant and cools down after 10 min. I give it a go and it starts, I get onto the ORR and stop. fuses are okay. I drive on and reach office. Car is fine. Check manual which indicates that the a/c shuts down if overheating detected. Run VAG-COM - no fault code.

Spend my day in depression and decide to leave early to avoid peak traffic. I drive like a priest, so much so, I actually get 12km/ltr. Hit the jam on Richmond Road and car is about to boil and I park in time.

The fans ain't working! Call Skoda on their "help line" and say my car is overheating and fan is not working.

"Saar, your water pump is gone, three day job and parts need to be ordered, around Rs 12000"

Heartattack, I call the old man for a shot of verbal Single Malt. He says Mumbai car, not used much so connections corroded. Also call Mad Monkey who is also not convinced.

Trawl of Briskoda points to water pump. Later realise, earlier Vrs had palstic impellers that broke.

Tuesday - drive car to my airport road office, early morning, no problem. Complete two hours of work and set off to the dealer. Horror of horrors - airport road is jammed due to some BDA evictions. RReach Marathahalli and hisssssssss, I sssssstop and ssssswitch off. Traffic is thick so this holds off stopping the traffic flow. I then manage to turn left at the junction and stop. The boiling is about to begin. Prop bonnet up and wait for five minutes.

Start her up and get on the highway. She is back to normal so "bully to the water pump issue". Reach KRpuram which is miraculously clear and enter through the town and reach the dealer before the boiling starts.

Service advisors are being pulled left right and centre. After 30 min, one advisor gets assigned, I tell him the fans are not working and ac is out. Checks car in and I order a Meru back

4.30 - sir, car is ready, wiring fault. We topped your A/c. Bottom line, the fault was small so we needed to make money so we toped up the a/c

Fetched car this morning. They cleaned it up and gave me a Rs 955 bill. No mention of the overheating/ fan defect for A/c top up. They drove the car for 20km so it obviously will not overheat.

Fans were working on start up from cold

Am relieved! My faith in vinayak motors as a dealer and not a stealer is re-affirmed. It helps to be specific on the problem.

BTW - auto fare from KR Puram to Airport Road = Rs 150, Meru Cab costed Rs 180, call it Rs 200
I pay more for an honest ride

whatcanthisbe · 13th August 2008, 22:37

man just read the review today, great review, the more i read about the rs the more i feel like buying one ... must resist

evo · 14th August 2008, 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmat

....
BTW - auto fare from KR Puram to Airport Road = Rs 150, Meru Cab costed Rs 180, call it Rs 200
I pay more for an honest ride

haha! thats a brilliant philosophy!

Unfortunately in Kolkata, when you have a Skoda, you pay more for a dishonest ride(that JIA AUTO takes you on!)

ajmat · 14th August 2008, 19:39

I forgot, re-registration is complete and I got a nice no XX00 without any effort. Took 3.5 months as the Mumbai RTO need to reconfimr the NOC etc. The RTO checkers can take a hike!

Mpower · 14th August 2008, 20:54

Oops, overheating takes a toll on the life of the head gasket. Keep an eye on it.

normally_crazy · 14th August 2008, 20:56

Congratulations Ajmat. now your car officially belongs to Bengaluru.

ajmat · 14th August 2008, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mpower

Oops, overheating takes a toll on the life of the head gasket. Keep an eye on it.

I know, luckily, I caught the boiling in time

ajmat · 2nd September 2008, 20:12

Some updates, it happened again the following weekend, go with old man and leave car. We go and pay condolences to a friend of ours who lost their child. Return - nothing wrong saar.

I take it home and douse it with WD 40. Two days later, go to E City, rain is heavy and the trucks are throwing it up. Get to Koramangala and discover, a/c shut down and ...oh not again. Stop in Koramangala before the temperature rises as I had an appointment. Get the car home stopping before the needle goes beyond 90. Look at all connections. This time, based on another Briskoda trawl, i look at the fuse box above the battery and find a fuse burnt and fuse box slightly melted. NC's problem also. Change the fuse and it works. What is happening, is that moisture is forming around the battery leading to electrical tracking, when it gets bad, it shorts.

I spray WD40 all over. Last Thurs went to Ranga shankara. On my return, I drive through 250 mteres of 7 inch deep water. I am home dry. Phew

ajmat · 2nd September 2008, 20:24

After dropping my mother back home after an aborted train journey, return home to find the boot jammed. Next day, tap around the lock, no luck. Tap into Briskoda to find an emergency lever below the lock jamb covered by a lid. Only way to get there, was to fold the rear seats, crawl past the sub Push up the luggage shelf, lever it out. Prise open the access lid, and click the orange lever and headbutt the hatch open. They think of every contingency!

Tried WD40 around the locks, a lot of light tapping but came to naught. Went in for a strong coffee and a look see in the Haynes. Came out and removed the the tailgate panel. It comes out and put back like a bit piece of lego. Studied the lock mechanism, tapped the motor - nothing. Removed the motor, tapped it, doused it in WD40 - nothing. Remaining mechanisms work. Decided either having the hatch being always open as I had a golf game for the weekend. Also since it was to work and back, car is parked next to security both places and I make a pretence of locking the boot. Now permanently locked

Rang the dealer, who had no idea about the part, gave him the number and he promised to revert. I somehow did not expect too much. Rang a UK dealer who quoted 37 pounds + shipping.

Today rang my dealer who said, "Part is despatched saar!"

"How much? "

"Rs 6000"

"Gulp, I said, I wanted only the motor"

"Sorry sir, we can only give you a whole subassembly"

Hmmmm, went back to the car. Removed panel, two screws and the motor was out. Took it in.

Beauty of the Beast Skoda Octavia RS - 57000 km review-dsc00011.jpg

It looked as if it could be opened. It was a snapfit lug job. I had nothing to lose. I used a long nose plier to push the lugs from the retainer. Hey presto! it came apart cleanly. The motor is moulded in but the geared rack came out. I merely looked at it, put it in and twirled the motor which looked clean. Everything worked.

Beauty of the Beast Skoda Octavia RS - 57000 km review-dsc00012.jpg

Snapped it together. Went back to the car and connected and "phatak". the motor turned and the rack moved. It was dark so am yet to fit it up. Till morning, and tomorrow is a holiday!

v1p3r · 3rd September 2008, 01:14

No offense, but don't you miss the Vtec?

24th June 2008, 17:30	#46
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,730 Times View My Garage	Car's looking sexy. What do you think about blacking out the chrome on the front grille? (as seen in T-bhp homepage)
	() Thanks

5th July 2008, 11:14	#49
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,863 Thanked: 27,973 Times View My Garage	A few tweaks and a leak Fitted a replacement K&N sometime back. The drivability of the car improved though I will not say that there is a power increase. Today I fitted Bosch super4 plugs, Removed cover and you had had to remove yet another vacuum system to get at the number 4 plug. Carefully lifted the coil packs and somewhere 6 ft below are the plugs. I got them out okay but fitting them in was crazy as the spanner bit would not come out so had to remove plug. Finally found a way by removing the rubber bit in the box spanner when refitting, whew! Fired he up and engine revved to 1500 rpm. Took it for a short drive, by then the ECU had adapted. Car's smoothness is transformed, can't wait for an empty road. Today is saturday and Bangalore is at it's worst. Watch this space!
	() Thanks

13th August 2008, 15:18	#51
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,863 Thanked: 27,973 Times View My Garage	Sunday - quick drive from UB City - find weather humid and AC not able to cope, hell it is not working Monday, disgusted with the A/c and mentally finding a time slot to give car in, at Marathahalli, I hear and see the coolant warning flash, I see a little steam and move to the side. Morning rush and everyone curses. Proper bonnet open and wonder what to do , checking fan fuses means opening the drivers door. Not a good idea. Car - hisses and spew coolant and cools down after 10 min. I give it a go and it starts, I get onto the ORR and stop. fuses are okay. I drive on and reach office. Car is fine. Check manual which indicates that the a/c shuts down if overheating detected. Run VAG-COM - no fault code. Spend my day in depression and decide to leave early to avoid peak traffic. I drive like a priest, so much so, I actually get 12km/ltr. Hit the jam on Richmond Road and car is about to boil and I park in time. The fans ain't working! Call Skoda on their "help line" and say my car is overheating and fan is not working. "Saar, your water pump is gone, three day job and parts need to be ordered, around Rs 12000" Heartattack, I call the old man for a shot of verbal Single Malt. He says Mumbai car, not used much so connections corroded. Also call Mad Monkey who is also not convinced. Trawl of Briskoda points to water pump. Later realise, earlier Vrs had palstic impellers that broke. Tuesday - drive car to my airport road office, early morning, no problem. Complete two hours of work and set off to the dealer. Horror of horrors - airport road is jammed due to some BDA evictions. RReach Marathahalli and hisssssssss, I sssssstop and ssssswitch off. Traffic is thick so this holds off stopping the traffic flow. I then manage to turn left at the junction and stop. The boiling is about to begin. Prop bonnet up and wait for five minutes. Start her up and get on the highway. She is back to normal so "bully to the water pump issue". Reach KRpuram which is miraculously clear and enter through the town and reach the dealer before the boiling starts. Service advisors are being pulled left right and centre. After 30 min, one advisor gets assigned, I tell him the fans are not working and ac is out. Checks car in and I order a Meru back 4.30 - sir, car is ready, wiring fault. We topped your A/c. Bottom line, the fault was small so we needed to make money so we toped up the a/c Fetched car this morning. They cleaned it up and gave me a Rs 955 bill. No mention of the overheating/ fan defect for A/c top up. They drove the car for 20km so it obviously will not overheat. Fans were working on start up from cold Am relieved! My faith in vinayak motors as a dealer and not a stealer is re-affirmed. It helps to be specific on the problem. BTW - auto fare from KR Puram to Airport Road = Rs 150, Meru Cab costed Rs 180, call it Rs 200 I pay more for an honest ride Last edited by ajmat : 13th August 2008 at 15:20.
	() Thanks

13th August 2008, 22:37	#52
whatcanthisbe BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: http://www.wandering-online.com Posts: 499 Thanked: 6 Times	man just read the review today, great review, the more i read about the rs the more i feel like buying one ... must resist
	() Thanks

14th August 2008, 19:39	#54
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,863 Thanked: 27,973 Times View My Garage	I forgot, re-registration is complete and I got a nice no XX00 without any effort. Took 3.5 months as the Mumbai RTO need to reconfimr the NOC etc. The RTO checkers can take a hike!
	() Thanks

14th August 2008, 20:54	#55
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,730 Times View My Garage	Oops, overheating takes a toll on the life of the head gasket. Keep an eye on it.
	() Thanks

14th August 2008, 20:56	#56
normally_crazy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,369 Thanked: 528 Times View My Garage	Congratulations Ajmat. now your car officially belongs to Bengaluru.
	() Thanks

2nd September 2008, 20:12	#58
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,863 Thanked: 27,973 Times View My Garage	Some updates, it happened again the following weekend, go with old man and leave car. We go and pay condolences to a friend of ours who lost their child. Return - nothing wrong saar. I take it home and douse it with WD 40. Two days later, go to E City, rain is heavy and the trucks are throwing it up. Get to Koramangala and discover, a/c shut down and ...oh not again. Stop in Koramangala before the temperature rises as I had an appointment. Get the car home stopping before the needle goes beyond 90. Look at all connections. This time, based on another Briskoda trawl, i look at the fuse box above the battery and find a fuse burnt and fuse box slightly melted. NC's problem also. Change the fuse and it works. What is happening, is that moisture is forming around the battery leading to electrical tracking, when it gets bad, it shorts. I spray WD40 all over. Last Thurs went to Ranga shankara. On my return, I drive through 250 mteres of 7 inch deep water. I am home dry. Phew
	() Thanks

2nd September 2008, 20:24	#59
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,863 Thanked: 27,973 Times View My Garage	A shut, open, open out and now shut case After dropping my mother back home after an aborted train journey, return home to find the boot jammed. Next day, tap around the lock, no luck. Tap into Briskoda to find an emergency lever below the lock jamb covered by a lid. Only way to get there, was to fold the rear seats, crawl past the sub Push up the luggage shelf, lever it out. Prise open the access lid, and click the orange lever and headbutt the hatch open. They think of every contingency! Tried WD40 around the locks, a lot of light tapping but came to naught. Went in for a strong coffee and a look see in the Haynes. Came out and removed the the tailgate panel. It comes out and put back like a bit piece of lego. Studied the lock mechanism, tapped the motor - nothing. Removed the motor, tapped it, doused it in WD40 - nothing. Remaining mechanisms work. Decided either having the hatch being always open as I had a golf game for the weekend. Also since it was to work and back, car is parked next to security both places and I make a pretence of locking the boot. Now permanently locked Rang the dealer, who had no idea about the part, gave him the number and he promised to revert. I somehow did not expect too much. Rang a UK dealer who quoted 37 pounds + shipping. Today rang my dealer who said, "Part is despatched saar!" "How much? " "Rs 6000" "Gulp, I said, I wanted only the motor" "Sorry sir, we can only give you a whole subassembly" Hmmmm, went back to the car. Removed panel, two screws and the motor was out. Took it in. It looked as if it could be opened. It was a snapfit lug job. I had nothing to lose. I used a long nose plier to push the lugs from the retainer. Hey presto! it came apart cleanly. The motor is moulded in but the geared rack came out. I merely looked at it, put it in and twirled the motor which looked clean. Everything worked. Snapped it together. Went back to the car and connected and "phatak". the motor turned and the rack moved. It was dark so am yet to fit it up. Till morning, and tomorrow is a holiday! Last edited by ajmat : 2nd September 2008 at 20:50.
	() Thanks

3rd September 2008, 01:14	#60
v1p3r Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: BLR / DXB / LON Posts: 5,334 Thanked: 6,896 Times View My Garage	No offense, but don't you miss the Vtec?
	() Thanks