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Old 20th January 2015, 00:48   #1351
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Skoda Octavia : Official Review

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Originally Posted by Haren View Post
Any advice on good quality cabin and trunk mats?

Go for the rubber mat for the trunk, costs about 3000₹ from the dealer and 3D mats for the interior which are available online or in a good accessories shop.

On another topic, can you pls tell me if all the bulbs in the tail light of your car are leds? Or just the main bulb and brake lights? Is the turn indicator and reverse light LED too?

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I noticed that unlike the Superb, the internal sun roof cover is a transparent one in Octavia. I am wondering how far does it help in blocking the sun rays particularly in the cities like Ahmedabad where mercury soars in Summers.
It does a good job. The glass itself is quite well tinted and thick. Hence a lot of heat is rejected. The air conditioner does fairly well to put up with Amdavadi heat! Read 46-47 degrees Celsius.

Last edited by adi_petrolhead : 20th January 2015 at 00:55.
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Old 20th January 2015, 08:10   #1352
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

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Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead View Post
On another topic, can you pls tell me if all the bulbs in the tail light of your car are leds? Or just the main bulb and brake lights? Is the turn indicator and reverse light LED too?
Thanks for the mat advice.

I dont think the turn and the reverse lights are LEDs. Other than visual inspection and the time they take to light up, is there any way you can tell?
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Old 20th January 2015, 12:15   #1353
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Thanks for the mat advice.



I dont think the turn and the reverse lights are LEDs. Other than visual inspection and the time they take to light up, is there any way you can tell?

As you said, regarding the time to light up, halogen bulbs will fade in and fade out, where as LED will be more instant on/off.
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Old 20th January 2015, 15:04   #1354
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

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Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead View Post
It does a good job. The glass itself is quite well tinted and thick. Hence a lot of heat is rejected. The air conditioner does fairly well to put up with Amdavadi heat! Read 46-47 degrees Celsius.
Thanks Adi for sharing that. It has been only a month since I have booked the car. I guess the wait is going to be very frustrating...
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Old 21st January 2015, 14:21   #1355
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

In the latest conversation with Skoda India and the dealer, I received the following response today:

Dear Mr. Wadhwa

Greetings from Skoda Auto!!

This is with reference to your concern raised to our management, regarding issue of Extended Warranty for your new Octavia.

We wish to inform you extended warranty for new Octavia currently is under development. Once same is released in market, our dealer M/s Torque Auto, Ahmedabad shall contact you immediately.
Mr. **arme** (General Manager Service), Contact no. ********** shall be in touch with and keep you informed.

We appreciate for your patience due to this delay.

If you need any assistance in future, please feel free to contact the undersigned.

Assuring you our best support at all times.

Thank you

Regards,

Anoop Gupta
Area Manager - Aftersales

ŠKODA AUTO INDIA, Pvt. Ltd | 5th Floor, Orchid Business Park | Sohna Road
Gurgaon 122 002 | Haryana | India
Tel: 9015915444
anoop.gupta@Skoda-auto.co.in
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Old 21st January 2015, 22:44   #1356
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

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I too was inclined towards 1.8 TSi, I thought on paper it was the car to have. 7 speed DSG, TSI engine churning 180 horses (claimed**) and multi-link suspension. Upon driving the car, like stated, I was underwhelmed. On the contrary when I drove the Polo TSi, much less powerful engine, I was "over" whelmed. So its all about perspective. If you are buying mainly caz of TSI hype, power, and driving pleasure. I suggest STOP! take a look, have a test drive of diesel and petrol and then decide.
Hi Aseem, sorry to seek clarity a good while later and this is just for my better understanding since you have pin pointed something that I can do with a broader parallel perspective, that was a useful insight, so when you state you enjoyed the Polo Tsi more than the Octavia Tsi, correct me, but I guess what you mean is the hype/expectation vs thrill/power application, and that in the Polo the 1.2 Tsi is better matched with the DQ200, and what you are referring to is the power delivery and not bringing in picture the handling superiority of the Octavia. Can you please elaborate the characteristics you noted. Thank you.
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Old 22nd January 2015, 14:30   #1357
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

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Originally Posted by s_pphilip View Post
Hi Aseem, sorry to seek clarity a good while later and this is just for my better understanding since you have pin pointed something that I can do with a broader parallel perspective, that was a useful insight, so when you state you enjoyed the Polo Tsi more than the Octavia Tsi, correct me, but I guess what you mean is the hype/expectation vs thrill/power application, and that in the Polo the 1.2 Tsi is better matched with the DQ200, and what you are referring to is the power delivery and not bringing in picture the handling superiority of the Octavia. Can you please elaborate the characteristics you noted. Thank you.
You are correct, I am not comparing handling or brakes as Polo fares poorly in both aspects vis-a-vis Octavia. I am talking about pure exhilaration, that is speed, the engine noise (much more sportier then Octavia).

So if you want to drive pedal to metal, Polo is more fun. On day to day power delivery Octi is far better and mature. However I personally found Octavia Diesel (with the torque available low down revs) to be more fun and practical then the TSI. Thats just my observation and thought process. No offence meant to anyone.
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Old 23rd January 2015, 09:05   #1358
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Originally Posted by aseem View Post
You are correct, I am not comparing handling or brakes as Polo fares poorly in both aspects vis-a-vis Octavia. I am talking about pure exhilaration, that is speed, the engine noise (much more sportier then Octavia).



So if you want to drive pedal to metal, Polo is more fun. On day to day power delivery Octi is far better and mature. However I personally found Octavia Diesel (with the torque available low down revs) to be more fun and practical then the TSI.

Yes the Octavia is a bit of a thing to drive in heavy traffic, zip-zap-zoom nature is the Polo's forte for sure. But I have never felt the need for more power or never felt that the car didn't respond to my input of the accelerator pedal. It pounces literally ahead and swallows long trucks and busses in matter of seconds. To top it off, with enthusiastic driving on highway if the car returns 14-15 km/l, what more can one ask for? After driving the Octavia when I went to test drive the Polo TSI, I was familiar with the gearbox, and it is much more smoother compared to one on the Octys, but the power delivery is not 'thrust-worthy' as in the Octys too. Octavia pulls off the line much more cleaner, linear, and 20-100 in rolling traffic takes hardly 5 seconds!! You can see tiny specs of traffic in your IRVM after that. I am not biased towards the Octavia, in fact I am waiting now for the new generation GT TSI that will come out next year and I will book it in an instant. That said, Octavia is much more matured, and the features are really a bang for your buck. Since I bought the car, it has now become at least 1.5-1.8 lacs more expensive, but I believe discounts would be on offer too. Latest information is that they have discontinued the active variant and the new price list contains only ambition and elegance variants.
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Old 27th January 2015, 13:11   #1359
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

Took the car out for the first long trip last weekend, almost a month after taking delivery and using only for office commute. Bangalore-Trichy-Bangalore totaling 780Kms. Here are my impressions from the drive.

• Significantly less fatigue compared to my SX4 – both for me and the passengers.
• Used only the ‘D’ mode. Yet, whenever I wanted to overtake there was more than sufficient power available on tap, albeit with a very minor lag. Once I got used to this lag, I could plan my passing moves easily. The butter-smooth 1.8TSI is indeed grin-inducing. It just doesn’t seem to relent on the acceleration. Braking is confidence inspiring. The passing indicators are very convenient.
• Headlights are a dream. The entire front is clearly and uniformly illuminated. I used high beam on some stretches and it really helps light up the road. Of course, I used the dipper when there was oncoming traffic, but I think some drivers on my lane found the high beam too bright on their rear views. Sorry dudes ! Interestingly, when oncoming vehicles had their high beam on, they seemed to oblige more to my high-low request indication than on earlier drives. The curve projectors work great to light up the turns. You don’t realize how helpful they are until you really observe their operation and compare to other cars. Also the auto-dimmers on the rear and side mirrors help reduce eye fatigue to a great extent.
• With some spans of spirited driving, some 2-lane roads with lots of truck traffic, the car managed 15Kmpl for the onward 390Kms and about 14.8Kmpl for the return trip.
• Air-conditioning was adequate for my needs (I prefer moderate cooling, though). Mom complained from back seat once about insufficient air flow.
• Automatic wipers seem to work. Some of the owners mentioned arbitrary performance in this area. I did not feel it, but there was only a light rain on the way.
• Was very careful over speed bumps. Managed to scrape only once about a kilometer close to home! Thanks to the underbody protection, I hope it was only some scratches to the plastic.

Can’t wait to take it out again on another highway trip .

-h.
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Old 29th January 2015, 13:15   #1360
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Was very careful over speed bumps. Managed to scrape only once about a kilometer close to home! Thanks to the underbody protection, I hope it was only some scratches to the plastic.

It's always the front portion of the bumper that scrapes, and that too if you are doing high speeds. The ground clearance of the car is 140 mm with standard tyres, I have never scraped the bumpers, may be because mostly I travel alone, and very less luggage, but you might want to check the tyre pressure in your car. I maintain it 32 psi all around for all types of loads. How much do you maintain on your car?
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Old 29th January 2015, 13:33   #1361
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

It's not the front bumper. I know this because the dreaded noise comes when the speed bump is between the wheels. Speed was not the issue for me since I was almost inching forward at the time. Tyre pressure was 35-36 (as per the recommendations on the plate). There were 5 folks and good amount of luggage. On regular commute days, I maintain 33-34.

I must remind myself to go cross-ways on those nasty bumps!
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Old 29th January 2015, 22:27   #1362
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Originally Posted by Haren View Post
It's not the front bumper. I know this because the dreaded noise comes when the speed bump is between the wheels. Speed was not the issue for me since I was almost inching forward at the time. Tyre pressure was 35-36 (as per the recommendations on the plate). There were 5 folks and good amount of luggage. On regular commute days, I maintain 33-34.



I must remind myself to go cross-ways on those nasty bumps!

Spot on. It's indeed a scary noise when it does occur at times. But I stand correct regarding the ground clearance, it is 155 mm and not 140 mm, I got confused with the EU specs. Going cross way works always.
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Old 30th January 2015, 18:33   #1363
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Got an email from the local dealership here

"
Dear sir,

We would like to inform you that we have allocated New Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI CR AT color C. Beige today from Skoda India and there is a price of Rs.2381000/-On Road for MY 2014 model.

Kindly confirm so that we will order the same.

Regards,
"

Now I wonder why are they still offering a MY 14 year car when we are well past one month in the new year.

Obviously the usual threats of a price increase did come with the wait for the new car.

Does anyone have a clue about that?
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Old 30th January 2015, 20:28   #1364
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re: Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)

Guys. Does any one have information about the Mirror Link update on the bolero system for the Octavia?
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Old 31st January 2015, 01:09   #1365
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Guys. Does any one have information about the Mirror Link update on the bolero system for the Octavia?
Current hardware doesn't support Mirror Link. May be MY 15 models might have the hardware.
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