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Old 21st January 2012, 15:21   #46
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Congrats on the car Goutham ! Just wanted to ask why didn't you go for the Laura L&K 2.0 A/T when you liked the DSG so much ? you would have got a touch screen audio , steering mounted controls for sound and other aids , cruise control, ESP ( i'm not sure whether your car has it or not) , xenons , cornering headlights with washers etc. ,
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Old 21st January 2012, 19:57   #47
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by sajid33 View Post
Congrats on the car Goutham ! Just wanted to ask why didn't you go for the Laura L&K 2.0 A/T when you liked the DSG so much ? you would have got a touch screen audio , steering mounted controls for sound and other aids , cruise control, ESP ( i'm not sure whether your car has it or not) , xenons , cornering headlights with washers etc. ,
The L&K @23 lacs is 4 lacs more than the ambiente. And to be frank we were satisfied with the Ambiente itself, as we felt it was more VFM. To top it off skoda now offers DSG on all trims so Ambiente was really more than sufficient.
But i do agree the L&K has a very attractive feature list. Besides a few of these features like Coming home & leaving home lights, cornering function in fogs and others can be activated even on the ambiente trim as they use the same Hardware.
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Old 22nd January 2012, 15:42   #48
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

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Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post


So here's me talking about the DSG again. It looks like i am bloating about it, so here's the negatives of the DSG: There is no mention anywhere on the car, like a badge, that This is the DSG version. Thats the only fault I could find.
Well most of us know, the DSG is differentiated by the TDI badge. the badge in DSG variant has the " i " in TDi, colored red! also the exhaust pipes are straight, unlike the manual variant diesel which has bent pipes. so far these are the only distinguishing factors between a manual and DSG Laura. Nice choice! mine is white too! few shots..
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Old 22nd January 2012, 15:52   #49
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ayedongivadam View Post
I generally only shift to 'N'eutral if the wait period at a traffic light is over a minute or so and engage my handbrake. I and you shouldn't either, put the shifter into 'P'ark in traffic.

The selector lock is required to cycle through 'P' into 'R' and 'D' or vice versa, if not have it looked at. Moving from either mode into 'N' or switching from 'D' to 'S' is possible without depressing the lock.
P->(press lock)R->(no need to press lock)N/D->(press lock)S.
S->(no need to press lock)D->(no need to press lock)N->
(press lock)R->(press lock)P.

even when you don't press the lock button, your foot needs to be depressing the brake at all times, except for when in motion at speed above 10 KM/H
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Old 22nd January 2012, 22:07   #50
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead View Post
Well most of us know, the DSG is differentiated by the TDI badge. the badge in DSG variant has the " i " in TDi, colored red! also the exhaust pipes are straight, unlike the manual variant diesel which has bent pipes. so far these are the only distinguishing factors between a manual and DSG Laura. Nice choice! mine is white too! few shots..
Thanks for sharing that. I only knew about the tail pipes, did not know about the I in TDI. But a stylish DSG badge on the front grille like the "quattro","T-Jet". would have looked cool IMO.
She looks sweet in white. Even though it was laucnhed in 2009, the Laura is still a looker. And i see in your pics that you've got front mudflaps on. Did you get them from the dealer? It is very difficult to put them on. Even the tiniest screwdriver i've got can't fit into the recess between the tyre and the wall. And you need a pentalobe screwdriver for that.
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Old 22nd January 2012, 23:00   #51
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Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

The Laura's First ever outing. A small roadtrip to nanjangud, its about 160km. from Bangalore.

Left early in the morning to avoid traffic, and it was a truly phenomenal first long drive. Cruising speeds were just below 120, did manage to hit 150 on an empty stretch but then went back to safer speeds.

I had a very scary encounter with a dog crossing the road. It just hopped on to the road from the median and i was in the fast lane doing 120kph. I was about 25ft from the dog when i noticed it and luckily didn't slam the brakes but swerved to the left and then back. I don't know what would have happened if i had just stood on the brakes. Mind you it was pretty crowded with, people behind me driving fast too. Anyway no theatrics from the car, it just went on to the left lane then came back to the right. No squealing tyres, No alarming body roll. Damn dogs!!

Rest of the trip went by very smoothly. The roads were in excellent condition through out the journey. Some of the facts:

The Positives:
1) MFD was showing a consistent Average FE of 6.5l/100km. Not bad considering the speeds.

2) Ride was very comfortable with barely anything getting past the suspension and into the cabin.

3)Steering weighs up very accurately giving you a stable ride.

4) Overtaking is like cake walk. At any speed, any gear. Get a good line of sight, then pull right and give a sharp increase in throttle and in no time you're in front and doing this again.

The Negatives:
5) Lot of Road noise from the tyres, the engine is barely audible over it.

6) Very scary thing to do at these speeds is to open any one of the rear windows keeping all the others closed. Some weird reverberations thats so loud, that you feel that its' going to rip open the door.

7) As pointed out by the swanand, the rear parcel try makes quite a rattle and this is not just on bad roads but also at certain engine RPMs. quite annoying. Not sure what i can do to stop it.

8) I was in the back for a short part of the return trip while my dad was at the wheel. This was the first time i had sat so long in the back. I've got one major complaint, The Seats are VERY hard. Compared to the front row the rear is as though they are made of stone. Have to change the cushioning when the car goes in for leathers.

Since my iPhone was being used as a navigation tool. It ran out of juice in no time. (Tim cook and his team are still working on it - Work harder people) And so I had only taken three pics, at a rest stop, thinking i could take better ones later. So sorry folks couldn't get any pics. will take some the next time.

Here are two i had managed to click:

Kamat restaurant after ramnagar.
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Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home-img_0668.jpg.
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Old 23rd January 2012, 01:20   #52
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
Thanks for sharing that. I only knew about the tail pipes, did not know about the I in TDI. But a stylish DSG badge on the front grille like the "quattro","T-Jet". would have looked cool IMO.
She looks sweet in white. Even though it was laucnhed in 2009, the Laura is still a looker. And i see in your pics that you've got front mudflaps on. Did you get them from the dealer? It is very difficult to put them on. Even the tiniest screwdriver i've got can't fit into the recess between the tyre and the wall. And you need a pentalobe screwdriver for that.
completely agree on the badge on the front grill thing, but in case of Laura, only VRS badge looks cool. DSG badge would may be make it look tacky?
yes i got the mud flaps from Skoda itself at time of delivery. I fail to remember, costed me around 1500 INR. I have no clue about the fitting as Skoda did it in advance.
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Old 23rd January 2012, 12:46   #53
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

Nice observations-
Quote:
Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
The Laura's First ever outing. A small roadtrip to nanjangud, its about 160km. from Bangalore.

Some of the facts:

The Positives:

4) Overtaking is like cake walk. At any speed, any gear. Get a good line of sight, then pull right and give a sharp increase in throttle and in no time you're in front and doing this again.
Once you spend some more time driving the DSG and experiment with all the modes and the driving behaviour, you will realise how intuitive and smart the gearbox is. I have never ever seen the DSG in the wrong gear, the tiptronic is never ever used in my car, it is pointless to me, the 'box is smarter than me, for me D and S modes are all i need(atleast for TDI).

I am sure you are aware about the presence of a kickdown button at the end of Accelerator pedal's travel range, it works in all the modes including Tiptronic. If an overtake attempt ever goes wrong and all of a sudden you realise that need a burst of acceleration to complete the overtaking, mash the throttle till you feel you've pressed a button. Very helpful in manual Tiptronic mode.

Quote:
The Negatives:
5) Lot of Road noise from the tyres, the engine is barely audible over it.
The OE Goodyear NCT5 are crap, get some good rubber. My switch to Yokohama A Drive made my ride quieter. I recommend Yokohama db.


Quote:
8) I was in the back for a short part of the return trip while my dad was at the wheel. This was the first time i had sat so long in the back. I've got one major complaint, The Seats are VERY hard. Compared to the front row the rear is as though they are made of stone. Have to change the cushioning when the car goes in for leathers.
I have never used the rear seats in my car, but feedback from others say the rear seat is stiff. I find stiffness OK, but the backrest too upright.

Unlike most others, i like stiff seats, they are great for spending extended duration of time. I absolutely hate the saggy soft sofa like seats. My previous car- Elantra has even stiffer seats.(This comment is about seats in general, not about Laura's rear seats as i have not spent considerable amount of time there.)




Clicking a white car with reflections intact is a very difficult job. The result most of the times is blown highlights, like in this pic white is blown way off. Reducing exposure(EV) will give you much better results.

Last edited by .anshuman : 23rd January 2012 at 12:47.
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Old 24th January 2012, 13:03   #54
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

Quote:
Originally Posted by .anshuman View Post
I am sure you are aware about the presence of a kickdown button at the end of Accelerator pedal's travel range, it works in all the modes including Tiptronic. If an overtake attempt ever goes wrong and all of a sudden you realise that need a burst of acceleration to complete the overtaking, mash the throttle till you feel you've pressed a button. Very helpful in manual Tiptronic mode.
Wow, I wasnt aware of this. Is it only for TDi cars, or in general a DSG feature? Need to try this out in the Superb then.

Thanks for the info Anshuman.
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Old 24th January 2012, 13:08   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Wow, I wasnt aware of this. Is it only for TDi cars, or in general a DSG feature? Need to try this out in the Superb then.
Its a feature of the DSG and also most other auto trannys. Like anshuman explained, it overrides any mode you've put the gearbox in and gives you proper full throttle shifts and maximum acceleration. Like if you are in too high a gear or below the turbo region, it downshifts by one or two gears and then redlines the engine. pretty cool feature!
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Old 24th January 2012, 17:05   #56
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
features like Coming home & leaving home lights, cornering function in fogs and others can be activated even on the ambiente trim as they use the same Hardware.
cornering function in fogs? didn't get it bro , can you please elaborate ? My L&K has cornering headlights which moves as per the steering's position at speeds , but cornering in fogs ?
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Old 24th January 2012, 17:13   #57
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead View Post
Well most of us know, the DSG is differentiated by the TDI badge. the badge in DSG variant has the " i " in TDi, colored red! also the exhaust pipes are straight, unlike the manual variant diesel which has bent pipes. so far these are the only distinguishing factors between a manual and DSG Laura. Nice choice! mine is white too! few shots..
Adi bhai , my laura L&K's exhaust pipes are bent , and its a DSG , what's your opinion ?
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Old 24th January 2012, 17:20   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sajid33

cornering function in fogs? didn't get it bro , can you please elaborate ? My L&K has cornering headlights which moves as per the steering's position at speeds , but cornering in fogs ?
What you have in your l&k is the actual cornering(swivelling) headlamps. Cornering function in fogs is a simpler version. Depending on the steering direction(Clockwise or anti clockwise) the right or the left fog light comes on. in a smooth manner giving you the illusion of swivelling lights. This only works when you haven't turned on the fogs yourself. Its very basic compared to the actual cornering lamps though.
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Old 24th January 2012, 17:36   #59
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Re: Update: 400km. RoadTRIP!

Quote:
Originally Posted by .anshuman View Post
Nice observations-

Once you spend some more time driving the DSG and experiment with all the modes and the driving behaviour, you will realise how intuitive and smart the gearbox is. I have never ever seen the DSG in the wrong gear, the tiptronic is never ever used in my car, it is pointless to me, the 'box is smarter than me, for me D and S modes are all i need(atleast for TDI).
Exactly my words Anshuman bhai , every single word you wrote was straight out of my heart ! i have been using my car for more than two years now , but i don't remember any day i used the tiptronic , i personally find it uncomfortable to drive in tiptronic mode , the DSG is really really smart.
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Old 24th January 2012, 17:51   #60
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Re: Princess of the Czech: Skoda Laura DSG comes home

Quote:
Originally Posted by goutham_r View Post
What you have in your l&k is the actual cornering(swivelling) headlamps. Cornering function in fogs is a simpler version. Depending on the steering direction(Clockwise or anti clockwise) the right or the left fog light comes on. in a smooth manner giving you the illusion of swivelling lights. This only works when you haven't turned on the fogs yourself. Its very basic compared to the actual cornering lamps though.
now i get it Goutham , thanks for the info. one more thing , you might have noticed that the fogs have double bulbs , the inner bulb works as a fog lamp , but whats the other bulb for ? i remember i asked someone at skoda about it , he replied that those bulbs are not activated to use in India , i really found his reply confusing , but then i wiped the thoughts from my mind.

another thing , L&K has touch screen music system which is also found on Superb , it has one function in the setup menu, named ' Traffic Information ' , i still not understand what's that. can anyone please throw some light on it ??
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