[torque18]

hi

not exactly ralated to the thread but i was looking for a Laura 2.0 tdi (MT) official review by team-bhp. couldnt find one..do we have it?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by torque18

not exactly ralated to the thread but i was looking for a Laura 2.0 tdi (MT) official review by team-bhp. couldnt find one..do we have it?

Nope, we don't have an Official Review for that. Do search the Initial and Long Term sections, as other members might have posted their ownership reviews.

cya
R

[GTO]

Spent some time last night with the erstwhile Octavia vRS and, sorry to say, it completely & absolutely owns the Laura.

The steering of the Octavia is way, way superior to the Lauras (this factor is super important to me). It feels a lot more "raw", although still extremely stable, planted & European in nature. The Octavia just feels "tighter".

Equally matched in the engine area. The Laura might get the tech (direct-injection turbo), still the Octavia vRS is no pushover. The BHP difference is merely 10, and the Octy's power to weight is actually superior (because its lighter). Of course, the Laura has a 20% torque advantage. Either car has awesome after-market modification support, no difference there.

Looks wise, I much prefer the Octy to the Laura. The latter does look weird from some angles. The Laura vRS looks good overall, the Octavia is a timeless classic.

If I had to choose one to drive on my favourite road, my hands would always pick the Octavia vRS' keys.

Bottomline : The Laura vRS isn't in 2013 what the Octavia vRS was 10 years ago. Both remain the thinking driver's choice....the Octy was just more special.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by GTO

Spent some time last night with the erstwhile Octavia vRS and, sorry to say, it completely & absolutely owns the Laura.


Bottomline : The Laura vRS isn't in 2013 what the Octavia vRS was 10 years ago. Both remain the thinking driver's choice....the Octy was just more special.

What about right now?
40-70K run Octavia vRS are available for under 4 lacs now. They are 8-9 years old, but still retain the European feel. But a nearly 10 year old Skoda!! Is it reliable enough? As reliable as the Laura at least?

Also, would the parts be easily available off the shelf now?

How does the owner(of the one that you drove) feel about his pride and joy? Any recent Skoda hiccups?

It makes for the best enthusiast budget car now, I guess.

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by GTO

Spent some time last night with the erstwhile Octavia vRS and, sorry to say, it completely & absolutely owns the Laura.

Equally matched in the engine area. The Laura might get the tech (direct-injection turbo), still the Octavia vRS is no pushover. The BHP difference is merely 10, and the Octy's power to weight is actually superior (because its lighter). Of course, the Laura has a 20% torque advantage. Either car has awesome after-market modification support, no difference there.

If I had to choose one to drive on my favourite road, my hands would always pick the Octavia vRS' keys.

Both these machines are really different and unique in their own way. Drive these back to back and its hard to tell that one is an evolution from another. For some reason, I vaguely remember the kerb weight of Octavia to be higher than Laura and Laura had a better power to weight ratio. Let me try and get the details.

In general, somehow the cars of 10 years ago in the Indian scene has been superior to the ones available in these times. Again this is a relative theory, but the original Honda city vtech was so much better & let's not even talk about the zen. From an enthusiastic perspective, somehow we seem to have gone backwards in the Indian car scene.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

Both these machines are really different and unique in their own way. Drive these back to back and its hard to tell that one is an evolution from another. For some reason, I vaguely remember the kerb weight of Octavia to be higher than Laura and Laura had a better power to weight ratio. Let me try and get the details.

In general, somehow the cars of 10 years ago in the Indian scene has been superior to the ones available in these times. Again this is a relative theory, but the original Honda city vtech was so much better & let's not even talk about the zen. From an enthusiastic perspective, somehow we seem to have gone backwards in the Indian car scene.

One of the main differences between the two cars is the ride height. The Octy VRS had the same ride height as the European models, whereas for the FL Laura the ride height has been increased to cope with our roads. The Octy also had a pure hydraulic steering whereas the Laura gets an electro mechanical unit, as Skoda calls it. But of the two, the Laura vRS is easier to live with, isn't it?. It does scrape anywhere, its got a better rear seat, is more sorted out and reliable and don't flame me for saying this, is more fuel efficient.

That's the thing about the way cars have evolved over time. The pure driving machines are getting diluted with companies trying to please a wider audience. Enthusiasts can go get their cars modded

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by GTO

Spent some time last night with the erstwhile Octavia vRS and, sorry to say, it completely & absolutely owns the Laura.

The steering of the Octavia is way, way superior to the Lauras (this factor is super important to me). It feels a lot more "raw", although still extremely stable, planted & European in nature. The Octavia just feels "tighter".

.

+1000 to that.
And Octy is a beautiful car. So when they tried to improve it when designing Octy II (Laura), they had to spoil it...there was no other way

But, 2 consolation points for the Laura:
1. Ride quality - generally better, especially at low to moderate speeds
2. Engine - Not sure if it's due to GDI and variable valve or just better turbo tuning, the lag is less. With vRS, I got into "no torque zone" some times in the ghats (when going uphill and blocked by trucks thereby loosing momentum). Happens much less in the Laura.

Cheers!

[azeemhafiz]

Can anyone confirm if the Laura vRS comes in with the fancy AFS system? I know its mentioned in brochure (which I cant find anymore). I can see slight visibility increase in Xenon throw at higher speeds.

However, when I was driving my friends Superb, I found the fancy gimmicks (ok useful features) of the lights more visible. I could easily tell the projectors shifting beam more often in the superb than what I could on vRS.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

Can anyone confirm if the Laura vRS comes in with the fancy AFS system? I know its mentioned in brochure (which I cant find anymore). I can see slight visibility increase in Xenon throw at higher speeds.

However, when I was driving my friends Superb, I found the fancy gimmicks (ok useful features) of the lights more visible. I could easily tell the projectors shifting beam more often in the superb than what I could on vRS.

The Laura vRS has 'Xenon Adaptive Lighting'. I don't think its exactly the same (feature wise) as AFS:

At the front, the Xenon projectors have a cornering function; at lower speeds, it turns on the fog lights as you turn the steering wheel, but at higher speeds, the projector element itself moves. You’ll notice this when the car turns on, as the xenon self check not only does the customary up/down calibration – but also a left/right sweep. If you look at the TSI Ambition, you’d think it has Xenons too – but don’t be fooled, those are just halogen projectors!

cya
R

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

Can anyone confirm if the Laura vRS comes in with the fancy AFS system? I know its mentioned in brochure (which I cant find anymore). I can see slight visibility increase in Xenon throw at higher speeds.

However, when I was driving my friends Superb, I found the fancy gimmicks (ok useful features) of the lights more visible. I could easily tell the projectors shifting beam more often in the superb than what I could on vRS.

I believe the Laura has AFS1 while the Superb has AFS2. That may have made a difference. When and how did you feel the projectors beam shifting more in the Superb, in what conditions?

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I believe the Laura has AFS1 while the Superb has AFS2. That may have made a difference. When and how did you feel the projectors beam shifting more in the Superb, in what conditions?

That makes sense, for example when I started accelerating hard I could see the xenon's shift their position to be more focused and throw the projection outwards. I also noticed the lights do something fancy when there was a lot of oncoming light (from opposite lane traffic)

Pretty cool actually.

[sourav9385]

Hey fellas!

Has the Laura been discontinued? I can't seem to find it on Skoda India's website.
Also found this news item while googling for the Laura : Skoda Laura discontinued in India.

It's from Dec 27th, 2013. Any ideas? Seems like the Laura has been discontinued.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Hey fellas! Has the Laura been discontinued? I can't seem to find it on Skoda India's website. Also found this news item while googling for the Laura : Skoda Laura discontinued in India. It's from Dec 27th, 2013. Any ideas? Seems like the Laura has been discontinued. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, the Laura (or Octavia 2 as it's called abroad) has been replaced with the brand new Octavia.

[MonsterPatrol]

Can anyone help identify this headunit? I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out the settings. The rear cam says no device found, the gps says no map available and my phone's Bluetooth device is not able to pair with it. There's also a cord left unattached in the compartment in front of the gear stick.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by MonsterPatrol

Can anyone help identify this headunit? I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out the settings. The rear cam says no device found, the gps says no map available and my phone's Bluetooth device is not able to pair with it. There's also a cord left unattached in the compartment in front of the gear stick.

This is not a stock headunit. Most likely a replacement unit offered by CASKA/Megaaudio. Try looking up more info on these