[Chinni]

Originally Posted by audioholic

In the Kushaq you open the door and sit at the same level like how you do on a high chair, slightly lower.. In the Slavia you open the door and sit like how you sit on a couch. Thats Basically the difference between the two cars.

True, but it is not just the sitting height. After opening the door stretching the leg into the car and shifting your body inside before sitting is a big strain for the aged. So also egress, after opening the door, planting one foot on the ground which is a bit away from the seat and then lifting the body up from the low seat with feet away from the seat is a big strain.

[Vibhav-Van]

Originally Posted by yaleen

How are the OEM tyres? Are they good to use over long term or do we need to replace them on delivery to better rubbers?

My car came with Ceat SecuraDrive tyres. I upgraded to Continental UC6 in the stock size itself. Tyre dealer agreed for a buy-back of those Ceat tyres, resulting in a 11K expense from for all 4 tyres. Conti UC6 feels like the best alternative to Michelin Primacy - Comfortable, silent and very grippy. I suffered a puncture in the first week itself, where a screw pierced straight into the tread. I don't think that's a reflection on the tyre quality though, since it was a pretty sharp one.

Originally Posted by yaleen

Any recommendations on any other modifications like lights, accessories like mats which are worthy?

I opted for sunshades on all windows. They're expensive but the quality feels worth it. I also went in for horn change (to the usual skoda windtone horn) at 1500 rupees or so. Also opted for the sporty steel pedals for a modest 500 rupees.

Originally Posted by yaleen

We will get a Sept manufacted car for a 2L discount. Did the 1.5 DSG get AC fix which needs to be applied to this car?

Discount seems good. I got a Oct manufactured car last month with a 1.8L discount. (including extended warranty, service package, HDFC offer, etc). Not sure about the AC fix. While the AC is certainly not a bone chiller like a Ford, it is not a dealbreaker either. I just ensure the temperature is set to 19 or 20 and the cabin is cool and comfy even on a hot day.

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by Vibhav-Van

I also went in for horn change (to the usual skoda windtone horn) at 1500 rupees or so. Also opted for the sporty steel pedals for a modest 500 rupees.

Please tell from where you got the horn upgrade and pedals. If you did from a Škoda ASC, then does the horn upgrade keep the warranty intact?

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

Please tell from where you got the horn upgrade and pedals. If you did from a Škoda ASC, then does the horn upgrade keep the warranty intact?

The horn is an official accessory sold by ŠKODA, just get it done from the dealer, my cousin who has a Kushaq had got so many of the accessories from this catalog. Many of them are considerably cheap too

[Vibhav-Van]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

Please tell from where you got the horn upgrade and pedals. If you did from a Škoda ASC, then does the horn upgrade keep the warranty intact?

Yep, all these were from the dealer as part of Skoda's official accessories, as mentioned above by yesyeswe as well.

The horn is a direct plug-n-play to the same coupler, so no issues as such.

[dr.aviansh]

Sent this Email to Škoda India.

Their response was rather pathetic. They engaged the dealer who serviced my car, whose Service Advisor called up only to request not to put up on TeamBHP. Only after realising this is just baloney and also mailing Škoda India to not fire the SA, I'm putting my complaints which are as follows :

Hello.


I, Dr Aviansh Chanana, purchased a Skoda Slavia 1.0 Ambition AT last month and have successfully completed 2k kms.
I do enjoy driving this car a lot due to the powerful engine and the responsive yet light steering but there are a few things that this model needs improvement upon.

1.) The Seats lack any kind of lumbar support. The lumbar area isn't as supportive as in Honda City which has the best seats in this segment. Some additional foaming if can be installed may provide the support which is currently lacking. Otherwise This leads to back pain on long journeys and hence needs improvement. A comparison with the current Honda City shall throw more light to what I'm saying. Even Maruti Ciaz has better front seats.

2.) The front suspension is stiff. Having driven a Rapid and Fabia before, I can say Slavia lacks the plushness of ride Quality you expect while buying a European Car. Minor imperfections and broken patches due bother you despite being in an entry level luxury car like Slavia.
In my opinion Fiat Linea and Skoda Rapid were the best when came to a perfect balance between ride and handling. Currently i'd say Maruti Ciaz has the most absorbent suspension. Since Indian Roads are terribly maintained, this current front suspension tuning isn't the best for Indian Cities and Highways.

3.)Constant Electrical Niggles due to poor R&D (these words are as per a Skoda mechanic).

My observations regarding the same :
-Rear Camera fails to load at times
-Instrument Cluster does not light up at times (especially when the headlights are off) even at night, but sometimes lights up during the day when it's not required.
-Wiper speed is surprisingly slow even on maximum setting. The sweeps are nowhere as fast as on any indian car. Its a major safety and visibility concern.
-Power Window doesn't work at times, despite the software update.
-AC cooling isn't adequate despite the software update and it's only March right now. Even when you press the Temperature or Fan speed adjustment for more than a second, it reaches the topmost or bottom-most setting. I think that action should take an input of atleast 2 seconds before getting executed.
-1.0 AT is unnecessary eager to downshift even on non-sport mode. Aggressive downshifts are appreciated only on 'S' mode not 'D' mode. A minor coding shall help you tune this.
-The creep mode is also very aggressive in both D and R gears. The car just takes off like an aircraft even you're in traffic jam or while parking. Very difficult for a semi skilled driver.

-Auto Start stop always gets activated by Default. No memory to what it was set previously.
-Headlights in the Active/Ambition variant must have be brighter. You may offer a set of similar powered, whiter set of bulbs as paid accessory.

I have owned a Honda City and a Verna as well and as per my knowledge if Skoda works on these shortcomings it will easily be the benchmark in the segment. Being a well wisher of Skoda, I'd suggest you to work upon them and address these issues. You guys have worked on the customer care and dealership experience by leaps and bounds in the 2.0 plan.

But People have already become paranoid while buying a Slavia because of the infamous EPC issues in Kushaq, so only constant improvements and minor recalls will make people believe in Skoda's durability that once the Octavia portrayed.

Though by profession I happen to be a doctor but I also blog on cars on TeamBHP under the username dr.aviansh. So I believe my observations have some weightage.

So if any further feedback is required, I'd be happy to provide.

Dr. Aviansh Chanana

[audioholic]

Did another quick group drive to Mangaluru with some Bhpians and friends and enjoyed the drive as usual. Had a chance to also be a passenger on the front seat for quite a bit of time since I had my friend Paragsachania at the wheel and I could experience the ride quality from a passengers perspective. The stiffer suspension and 55mm profile tyres have a pretty harsh ride on sudden undulations, and apart from this, the car is just bliss.

We also got the highest FE this time at 15.5kmpl going to Mangaluru and 13.8 on the way back even though I thrashed the car a fair bit and was doing good speeds. Normally during my Kolar drives I hardly manage to get above 12.5 and in my last Chikmagalur drive as well it wasnt much . But this time the onward journey was very early in the morning which meant I could consistently cruise all the way till Hassan with CC set between 100-120. While cruising, the experience is just awesome with a very planted ride and precise steering all the times. Both me and Parag got to enjoy the ghats on either way as well since at that time there was hardly traffic and the road quality was good majorly. At the sea level the throttle response gets even better and will fly off even with light throttle inputs.

Car is just a few kms short of hitting the 10000 mark, which is fast for my standards considering I am no longer commuting daily(compared to my earlier cars) and we have the Crysta also raking up distance quite soon. Will compile a 10k kms report soon but until then, some parting shots:

[amit1agrawal]

Last Thursday morning at 7.50 am, my Slaiva met with an accident. I had stopped behind a BMTC bus on the left lane & when I looked in the RVM I saw a bike approaching fast at about 40 kmph. Thoughts were running fast in my mind that either he is going to avoid the car at the last minute or crash directly into it. The very next moment, I heard a loud noise. He had fallen down after rear-ending the car on the right side. A lady with her teenage daughter in a scooter coming behind him also fell down. I got down helped the guy pick himself up and made him sit on the footpath & offered him water. He had hurt his right leg as he fell on the right side. The woman picked herself up and went on her way; fortunately, she wasn't hurt. My car's bumper has got slightly misaligned, got cracked at two places plus paint has come off below the tail light. The panel above the tail light has got a dent also but the paint is still intact. There were lots of paint marks on the bumper and the car looked really bad but after cleaning them off it's looking okayish.
The bike fellow is a rapido employee & was in a rush to pick up a customer. He provided his insurance copy plus I have taken his bike photos. There are some damages to his bike too but nothing major. I spoke to him yesterday & he is having leg pain but otherwise, he is doing fine. I would say he was fortunate that being early morning the traffic was thin & no big vehicle was behind him. I find these delivery bikes & taxis a menace on the road with they being pushed to provide unrealistic delivery times.
The bumper did hold very well despite the speed at which the bike crashed into it. I didn't feel an iota of jerk inside the car as I think the bumper absorbed all the impact. VW/Skoda cars are still made strong IMO. Getting the twin-channel dashcam installed is the Prio1 agenda on my list now.

There is a small dent above the tail light. As this is a running panel all the way to A-pillar, getting it fixed would likely mean removing tail lights, doors, etc for denting & painting. Should I get it done & risk losing the factory fit and finish?

Post-accident


After cleaning up the marks


Small Dent on the rear quarter panel.

[jaysonline]

I wonder if anyone has any internal news on if a Monte Carlo or RS version of Slavia is in the pipeline ?
Are they offering 10 inch screen and sub-woofer at all now?

[Warwick07]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

Please tell from where you got the horn upgrade and pedals. If you did from a Škoda ASC, then does the horn upgrade keep the warranty intact?

Hey Aviansh , I’ve gotten a horn upgrade and foot pedal replacement done at a Škoda ASC , I’ve attached images with part numbers for your reference. Thanks to BHPian Audioholic’s comprehensive updates

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by Warwick07

Hey Aviansh , I’ve gotten a horn upgrade and foot pedal replacement done at a Škoda ASC , I’ve attached images with part numbers for your reference. Thanks to BHPian Audioholic’s comprehensive updates

Hey thanks for notifying. I hope you have compared the power output of the stock horn and the accessories one, because afaik these are only mentioned in Kushaq's accessory list and not Slavia's.

Secondly, please share a pic of the pedals as well and do let me know if there's a change in the pedal effort because i have a bad knee.

Thanks in advance.

[Sandeep500]

Hi, we have recently bought Škoda Slavia with 1.0 tsi engine. I am quite happy with the car and it’s performance. Got a tankful of normal petrol filled after the delivery at nearest petrol pump. I would like to know if being a high compression engine it needs premium petrol or normal unleaded petrol good enough. Thanks in advance.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Sandeep500

Hi, we have recently bought Škoda Slavia with 1.0 tsi engine. I am quite happy with the car and it’s performance. Got a tankful of normal petrol filled after the delivery at nearest petrol pump. I would like to know if being a high compression engine it needs premium petrol or normal unleaded petrol good enough. Thanks in advance.

Yes, its better to stick to XP95 and use 91 only in emergency. 95 is also important if you are pushing the car and driving hard now and then. 91 is for sedate driving only.

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

Hey thanks for notifying. I hope you have compared the power output of the stock horn and the accessories one, because afaik these are only mentioned in Kushaq's accessory list and not Slavia's.

Secondly, please share a pic of the pedals as well and do let me know if there's a change in the pedal effort

The trumpet horns I got installed from Skoda are pretty loud compared to the stock horns. The part is same for Slavia and Kushaq and it's considered as an accessory only.

The pedal caps don't increase pedal effort in any way not sure why you feel so. It just sits on the existing pedals in place of the rubber caps.

[dr.aviansh]

I got the chrome strip from STYLE installed in my car for which the taillights were removed. After that day i started noticing that the dicky lights are brighter than the taillights. Is it in my car only or that's how they're supposed to be?

Pls compare with your cars and share pics.

Thanks.

[ashivas89]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

I got the chrome strip from STYLE installed in my car for which the taillights were removed.

I am curious. What chrome strip installation needed the removal of the tail lights?