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Old 4th January 2012, 13:41   #91
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
I have bought the Top end Skoda Luara L&K a month back and to be honest I am not really happy with the ride quality. I had an optra magnum diesel before the Laura and have a civic at home as well.
This is surprising but since you say it could be in the mind, I would suggest you drive a few other Lauras to confirm if your car is behaving the way the other Lauras are.

That said, the Civic certainly rides softer than the Laura but then its ability to handle is compromised alongwith its ability to take bad roads without bottoming out. The Magnum too is not as good a handler as the Laura due to its comparatively softer suspension.

The best option for you would be compare a few other Lauras and then decide.
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Old 4th January 2012, 13:50   #92
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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This is surprising but since you say it could be in the mind, I would suggest you drive a few other Lauras to confirm if your car is behaving the way the other Lauras are.
Thanks Devdath. Would it be a good idea to reduce the tyre pressure to 30 psi as against the recommended pressure of 32 psi?

The feeling that I get while driving or while sitting at the back is that some bit of vibration is constantly being transmitted from the tryres to the seat

Does the Laura have a firm suspension setting to give it a better handling capability?
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Old 4th January 2012, 14:13   #93
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
Thanks Devdath. Would it be a good idea to reduce the tyre pressure to 30 psi as against the recommended pressure of 32 psi?
Does the Laura have a firm suspension setting to give it a better handling capability?
I would not recommend you make any changes till you drive a few other Lauras or sit in them to compare.

Also, Skodas are excellent high speed handlers and the ride quality improves with speed which is one of the reasons you might feel the rear seat slightly bumpy at low speeds.

You have a highway locomotive in the Laura, enjoy it to the fullest.
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Old 4th January 2012, 14:20   #94
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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You have a highway locomotive in the Laura, enjoy it to the fullest.
Could not agree with you more on this -- took the Laura on a weekend trip to Chandigarh a few days back and at higher speeds it just feels so much under control

Maybe I am asking for too much!
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Old 4th January 2012, 16:14   #95
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
Thanks Devdath. Would it be a good idea to reduce the tyre pressure to 30 psi as against the recommended pressure of 32 psi?

The feeling that I get while driving or while sitting at the back is that some bit of vibration is constantly being transmitted from the tryres to the seat

Does the Laura have a firm suspension setting to give it a better handling capability?
If I may step in here. The Laura surely is more stiffly sprung than the Civic or the Optra. As devdath rightly mentioned this helps it to be a better handler. I have similar tyre size on my Laura TSI as well, but I opted to switch to Michelin Primacy LC which are softer tyres and hence helped to improve the ride to some extent. I keep 30 psi when riding inside the city and take it up to 33 or 34 on the highway depending on the load I am carrying. The stiff suspension does hurt the slow speed ride and things improve when speeds pick up. This is a typical nature of most Euro cars. The prev gen Laura had even stiffer suspension which has been softened in the facelift version.
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Old 4th January 2012, 16:30   #96
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by Santoshbhat View Post
I have similar tyre size on my Laura TSI as well, but I opted to switch to Michelin Primacy LC which are softer tyres and hence helped to improve the ride to some extent. I keep 30 psi when riding inside the city and take it up to 33 or 34 on the highway depending on the load I am carrying.
You know Santosh, the Laura TSI is a relatively lighter car when compared with the TDI. So you may not be actually deviating much from the recommended pressure by keeping 30 PSI. While for me, my fear is that for a slightly better ride (I am really not sure how much difference would a couple of points make) I might be reducing the tyre life.

Although I must say, the faster I get rid of the Good Years the better for me
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Old 4th January 2012, 17:59   #97
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
You know Santosh, the Laura TSI is a relatively lighter car when compared with the TDI. So you may not be actually deviating much from the recommended pressure by keeping 30 PSI. While for me, my fear is that for a slightly better ride (I am really not sure how much difference would a couple of points make) I might be reducing the tyre life.

Although I must say, the faster I get rid of the Good Years the better for me
Yes it is lighter by about 100 kgs I guess. A couple of points should not hurt the tyre life either. You have bought the top most variant, stop worrying about tyre life!

The TSI engine is very silent and I was not happy with the noise the Goodyears were making. The tyre noise was very pronounced inside the silent cabin. So I decided to switch to 16" PLC's immediately after taking delivery. I am pretty much satisfied with the result.
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Old 4th January 2012, 18:09   #98
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Yes it is lighter by about 100 kgs I guess. A couple of points should not hurt the tyre life either. You have bought the top most variant, stop worrying about tyre life!
A valid argument I must admit. Let me try keeping the tyre pressure to 30 PSI and see if there is a marked difference.

Also was wondering if the suspension setting of the entire Laura range is the same or does it vary between Petrol / Diesel / RS / Auto models as well?

Just in case Skoda thought the L&K buyer wants a sporty ride
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Old 4th January 2012, 18:32   #99
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
Also was wondering if the suspension setting of the entire Laura range is the same or does it vary between Petrol / Diesel / RS / Auto models as well?

Just in case Skoda thought the L&K buyer wants a sporty ride
I believe the suspension setting is standard across all variants except RS. The RS is believed to have different spring settings which make it a little more stiffer than the others. To reduce the body roll a bit while cornering etc...
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Old 4th January 2012, 18:35   #100
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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Originally Posted by ferrari_driver View Post
Thanks Devdath. Would it be a good idea to reduce the tyre pressure to 30 psi as against the recommended pressure of 32 psi?

The feeling that I get while driving or while sitting at the back is that some bit of vibration is constantly being transmitted from the tryres to the seat

Does the Laura have a firm suspension setting to give it a better handling capability?
I know what you mean about the bit of vibration being transmitted to the seats. And yes it does slightly decrease when you bring the pressure down to 30 psi but you're still better of keeping it at 32...
But surprisingly it has gotten better with time in my case. But now what irritates me is one annoying clicking noise i get from the seat belt clips on the back seats!
But only harshest critic would call this a flaw. The car is total winner...Hope you enjoy it
And super choice on going for the L&k.

Last edited by vinj14 : 4th January 2012 at 18:38.
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Old 4th January 2012, 22:48   #101
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Re: Skoda Laura : Ride Quality

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But only harshest critic would call this a flaw. The car is total winner...Hope you enjoy it
And super choice on going for the L&k.
Thanks Vinj14 -- it surely bowled me over with the gadgets. Automatic lights and rain sensing wipers and a really good sound system. Also over the years, I have begun to realize the importance of safety so having 8 airbags was an added attraction.

Hope the service and spare part nightmare spares me
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Old 12th January 2012, 14:58   #102
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re: Luxury personified : Skoda laura TDI AT Elegance EDIT: Now sold!

Hi Guys,
I have now been driving my Laura with a reduced tyre pressure of 30 PSI in all tyres and I must say that I feel the ride is much better. Although, I am willing to admit that it could be largely a figment of my imagination as I pointed out in my earlier posts.

However, I recently found out that thre was a 2-3 inch long screw in my rear left tyre that was causing the air pressure to drop by 2-3 PSI in 1-2 weeks. It made me wonder if the Tyre Pressure Monitor works only when the air leak is significant and not gradual.

Has anyone experienced similar problem before. Also the horn in such a terrific car is like Sachin Tendulkar having a femining voice
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Old 16th January 2012, 18:19   #103
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re: Luxury personified : Skoda laura TDI AT Elegance EDIT: Now sold!

After completing 6 months with the car the only drawback i can report is the odd rattle from the boot and the vibration entering the cabin on bad roads. Now im considering dynamat for the wheel wells and the trunk floor to solve this issue. I would like your opinions and suggestion on this as i have zero knowledge on noise dampening!
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Old 19th February 2012, 23:40   #104
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re: Luxury personified : Skoda laura TDI AT Elegance EDIT: Now sold!

I just stumbled upon your thread, and read through the mods you've done. Simply superb! Even i was thinking of doing a similar mod on my 2 week old Polo, but i thought changing the steering wheel will be both tough and prohibitively expensive. Good to learn otherwise

Kudos to you to try this on your brand new car, and for sharing it with us
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Old 2nd March 2012, 19:08   #105
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re: Luxury personified : Skoda laura TDI AT Elegance EDIT: Now sold!

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Originally Posted by vinj14 View Post
After completing 6 months with the car the only drawback i can report is the odd rattle from the boot and the vibration entering the cabin on bad roads. Now im considering dynamat for the wheel wells and the trunk floor to solve this issue. I would like your opinions and suggestion on this as i have zero knowledge on noise dampening!
Its a bit late, but I also had a rattle from the boot. The lock was not closing firmly, a few knocks at the service center and its fine now.

You can check if you have the same problem by trying to press a few times on the boot after its closed, if you hear clicks (or something like that) then you have the same problem.
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