[vikrantshete]

I had bought the Octavia 1.8 TSI style variant in May 2019. I have been on a long drive from Pune to Hyderabad which was about 1100 ~1200 Km to and fro but always wanted to go on a longer road trip.

November is a pleasant month to visit Chennai and Pondicherry. We diced to visit Tirupati along the way. I went with my family. We were three people, me and my parents, occupying the car. So we started from Pune on a Friday evening and reached Solapur in about four hours. After resting for the night we stated the trip next day.

Day 1: Solapur to Hyderabad
The last time I had driven from Solapur to Hyderabad the road near Solapur was under construction and in a really bad shape. This time most of the road was ready. So it wasn't much of a problem. Surprisingly event after taking the Octavia though the rough patches of missing road with truck tyre depressions the underbelly did not scrape even once. (I was careful not to scrape the engine bottom though.) Once you cross the Maharashtra border the road is a breeze to drive. We took multiple halts on the way and finally reached Hyderabad at about 8:00 PM after starting at about 10:00 AM. If you don't stop you can easily do it in six hours. We had dinner at the most famous Santosh Dhaba and called it a day.

Day 2: Hyderabad to Tirupati
We had a South Indian breakfast in a nearby restaurant and left for Tirupati as soon as we could. The road from Hyderabad to Tirupati is one of the best roads in India that I have ever driven on. Once you get past the traffic you can really floor the pedal. Tough the road is not as wide as expressways it's mostly empty and once you reach Andhra there is hardly anyone on the road. The road is so smooth that you won't even hear the tyre noise. My average speed for the journey was 70Km/h. (That's higher than the avg speed most people get on Mumbai Pune Expressway).

Day 3: Tirupati Darshan and Off to Chennai
I wasn't much interested in standing in the queue and would be happy to see the temple premise but since my parents wanted to get the Darshan they had to wake up at 4:00 AM to get the tokens for temple visit. We started at about 8:45AM and took the car up the hill to Tirumala. (Security check is time consuming. They take all your luggage out for scanning). While my parents were in the temple queue for three hours I explored the temple campus and walked a few KM in Tirumala. It's a naturally beautiful place. After the temple was done we visited the rock garden in the evening and left for Chennai from there. The strange part was that along the road the police had put barricades every few Km so that you have to take your car zig zag through them. That slowed us down. Otherwise the road was good. Ended the day with dinner in the famous Sangeetha restaurant.

Day 4: Chennai local
Started the day with breakfast in Ratna cafe. Then visited the Santhoms Cathedral (St. Thomas Cathedral) which is a very peaceful place. Also visited the St. George Fort which has an interesting museum. Then we had lunch and after that visited the Marina beach followed by the Pondy bazaar for shopping before ending the day.

Day 5: Chennai to Pondicherry
Had a breakfast at Murugan Idli, close to our stay, which by far is the best Idly I have ever had. Then left for Pondicherry via the ECR. Along the way we took a halt at Mahabalipuram beach side temple which was just too hot in the overhead sun. The temple was closed for renovation but I could manage to take some pictures from outside.
Finally reached Pondicherry in the afternoon. The road was good all the way through. A co-traveller in his Fortuner managed to keep up with my 140+ speeds. I wonder how stable Fortuner is at those speeds. Maybe the road was flat enough. I had booked a stay in White town which is close to the Promenade beach. We visited the Sacred Heart Church and then went to the Promenade beach in the evening. After dinner at Dilhiwale 6 dropped my parents back to the shopping area surrounding our hotel and I went off for a night walk in the French town.

Day 6: Pondicherry to Pichavarm
I had planned to wake up early to go to the beach to watch the sun rise but I felt too tired in the morning so skipped the plan. For later we had a plan to see Pondicherry local but the weather was quite pleasant and the sunlight was mild due to foggy sky. So we thought it would be good to visit the mangrove forests in Pichavaram near Chidambaram which is 65Km from Pondicherry. So we visited the Arvind ashram and then left for the mangrove forests. It takes about one and a half hour to reach there but it is worth the travel. And again I did not find any potholes in the road. We opted for a traditional rowed boat to float around in the mangroves. Motorboat is too fast for my taste. Floating through those mangroves is a must do. Since the weather was pleasant we didn't have any issue with humidity. The slow boat ride through dense trees and shallow (hardly two feet deep) water was a memorable experience. On the way back we visited the paradise beach which was full of fishermen. It was almost dark when we reached the beach. Spent few minutes there and went back to Promenade beach near our hotel for the evening.

Day 7: Local Pondicherry
This day I woke up and went to the beach to get a view of the rising sun. The sun rose from behind the fog and it was already bright. Then wen to Auroville after breakfast. The road to Auroville has a lot of surrounding trees. I didn't know earlier or else we could have stayed night somewhere near Auroville. It feels so clam and connected to nature. Inside Auroville one has to walk a Kilometre or two inside the man made garden that it is. It is a beautiful walk. Then we had lunch and visited the Auroville beach. The sea waves are turbulent and its fun to stand at the edge of the water. Then we visited the serenity beach which I feel was the best beach I saw in Pondicherry. Wrapped up the day with some shopping and dinner.

Day 8: Pondicherry to Bangalore
This was the worst road of the trip. Multiple rough patches, potholes and state transport bus driver driving as if trying to race! Particularly overtaking in potholes. It took six and half hours for roughly 310Km. Stayed in Koramngla. Saw around, had dinner at Gramin restaurant and back to bed.

Day 9: Bangalore to Pune
This was the longest continuous stretch in the whole trip. We covered 865Km in a day. The road was fast enough so could maintain an average speed of 65Km/hr till Pune. (It was 69Km/hr till Belgavi). After leaving Bangalore about 100Km or so you'll find quite an empty road with fencing on both sides. It was good enough to almost max out Octavia. Took a total for 15 and half hours to reach Pune (travel time being 13 hours.). I would still say Hyderabad - Tirupati is the better road for driving.

Overall the journey was extremely comfortable. Octavia with that multilink suspension is a great car to drive. So far I have done almost 11700 Km and its been a great car to own. You can check out some picture of the journey in the attachments below. Since my parents are not much into making videos and photos and I was driving I could not make any videos.

[Jaygojer]

Originally Posted by vishy76

The last issue is most likely the thermostat which has failed. It leaks coolant onto its own electrical couplers causing a short and triggering the EPC. Since the thermostat isn't working either, the engine starts to overheat and the ECU restricts performance by limiting revs to 4000.

I don't mean to scare you but the thermostat assembly is around Rs. 50K. It's surely on the expensive side. As for the jerks, ask the service centre to thoroughly investigate if they have messed up in installing the new mechatronics module. Do a DSG adaptation reset just Incase but if the problem persists, it's quite obvious you have to open the GB up again and check.

Same for the headlamps. Hook it up to a Diagnostics machine and see if the AFS throws up error codes through the BCM. That's your best bet. Else it might just be a loose contact.

Cheers,
Ananth

Took a quick look and it doesn't seem like there's a leak. The coolant levels are intact too.
On the way to Tafe. Will share an update later

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Jaygojer

Took a quick look and it doesn't seem like there's a leak. The coolant levels are intact too.
On the way to Tafe. Will share an update later

Hope it works out quickly and to your benefit. Your car is just out of EW, so don't budge with a polite but firm stand that they must extend the benefits regardless of technicalities.

Usually they DO accommodate but be firm anyway! My EW is also expiring next month so I'll be joining the tribe of 'Nervous EW-expired Skoda Owners'

[satish_appasani]

Originally Posted by RohanDheman

Yes. I am using a dash cam that has been hardwired. Got the hardwire kit from Ali express and tapped it with the ignition switch fuse from what I remember. Been a while since I installed it and it seems to be working perfectly fine.

Will installing fuse tap to hardwire dashcam tamper my warranty?

[anoop cheeran]

Originally Posted by Jaygojer

I'm having some strange problems and any help in this regard would be appreciated:
1. Had my mechatronics replaced a few months back.
Sorry forgot to mention that my car is a 1.8tsi and driven in Bangalore

Thundering typhoons!! What to do with Skoda I don't know. Heart vs head and all that!! I am a happy Rapid owner with my 6 year old TDI Elegance that serves me well but which am thinking is now time to move over from. The ever shrinking Bangalore road space concerns made me book a D-AT Seltos. Safe option, may be a boring one too. Then comes along Onyx. And after spending hours and hours and hours pouring through DSG threads here, I finally think these troubles are all from days of yonder, heck, will bite the bullet and will go for Onyx (maybe carry an extra battery on long drives, just in case ). But then hey presto, gets to see your above post - 1.8 TSi, mechatronics failure, circa 2019.
Pls keep us posted and good luck to you.

Honestly guys. Is it a given that DSG will fail at some point or the other? Crawl speeds of 2-5 km often for 15-20 minutes on daily commutes, at a stretch, is guaranteed in Bangalore roads for next 5 years minimum with all the metro construction going on. Does it makes sense to go for DSG with DQ200 under those situations? Careful driving is a given.

Even the 2020 Octy 1.5 TSi will retain DQ200, right? Is going for DSG Octavia 1.8 TSi just a heart (warranty will cover, car will stay in service center for few days type) decision or is there a counterpoint that there are 10 owners with no DSG worries for every 1 owner who reports a failure and of car being towed?

[RohanDheman]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

Will installing fuse tap to hardwire dashcam tamper my warranty?

No. You don't splice any wires at all. The car has been for 2 services since the installation and the dealership has never raised any issues.

Edit: on the contrary after the last service; I have had the following replaced under warranty

- compressor and valve
- start stop button
- scroller buttons on the steering

So go ahead and do the install!

Cheers
Rohan

[satish_appasani]

Originally Posted by RohanDheman

No. You don't splice any wires at all. The car has been for 2 services since the installation and the dealership has never raised any issues.

Edit: on the contrary after the last service; I have had the following replaced under warranty

- compressor and valve
- start stop button
- scroller buttons on the steering

So go ahead and do the install!

Cheers
Rohan

Can you please the link to the hardwire kit you use? My friend got me a Xaiomi 1S dashcam from Hongkong.
Link to the camera: https://mistore.pk/products/mi-dashcam-1s

[RohanDheman]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

Can you please the link to the hardwire kit you use? My friend got me a Xaiomi 1S dashcam from Hongkong.
Link to the camera: https://mistore.pk/products/mi-dashcam-1s

There you go. You may choose the connector pin as per your camera.


Rs. 497.58 16％ Off | Arpenkin Dash cam Hardwire Kit Hard wire kit Micro Mini USB 12V to 5V Power Adapter Cord Cable Compatible with Car Dash Camera

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/eJFDDKnq

[Durango Dude]

After reading a lot about the Octy 1.8TSi AT and drooling over it on the Skoda India website did a TD this noon after a hectic morning session at work. I expected to be blown away by the car. I asked TD of the Onyx edition but got an L&K, instead, for the TD. The sales staff were very patient and courteous as I was attending to clients, they waited for almost 30-45 mins at my place. I immediately jumped into the driver's seat. The steering was super light and as expected I switched on the wiper. The car was spacious and seating was low set as compared to my City but comparable to the Elantra which I had. The traffic was chocablock, couldn't extend her legs at all. But the speed is pretty much masked and insulation, NVH is good. Bump absorption is just average. I felt comfortable driving the car and ergonomics was spot on. This car costs almost ₹ 32 L OTR (Octy L&K, 1.8 TSI AT). Double what the City costs. Is it worth it? I think not. Even the Onyx is ₹ 25 L OTR. There was a rattling door pad (that people have talked of) frankly within such a quiet cabin it was irritating. There was no sense of urgency when I prodded the gas pedal. May be I expected to be blown away, but I wasn't.

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

There was no sense of urgency when I prodded the gas pedal.

That is definitely not right in my case. Maybe you expected turbo-kick like a diesel but there is definitely urgency when you press the pedal, even in Drive mode for me.

Maybe what they say is true about adapting to driver and the dsg wasn't used to sudden or hard acceleration. That would be my guess.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

May be I expected to be blown away, but I wasn't.

Then avoid at all costs. Not worth double the City if it doesn't immediately appeal to you.

[SLK]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Then avoid at all costs. Not worth double the City if it doesn't immediately appeal to you.

True, avoid if it immediately doesn't make you feel that Honda city is overpriced at half the price of this thing!

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by SLK

True, avoid if it immediately doesn't make you feel that Honda city is overpriced at half the price of this thing!

Haha , nice one SLK! I've been drooling on this for a long time, say from more than a decade. Learnt something new, today: never drool on something too long. May be it was the traffic and the mindset I was in.

Originally Posted by AnandB

That is definitely not right in my case. Maybe you expected turbo-kick like a diesel but there is definitely urgency when you press the pedal, even in Drive mode for me.

Maybe what they say is true about adapting to driver and the dsg wasn't used to sudden or hard acceleration. That would be my guess.

The build of speed was more linear than spiky! Any how that's the way I like it. Mods: Excuse, kindly merge this with the above reply. Sorry for the double post.

[itwasntme]

Was jobless, alone & happy late one night so bought a twin set of paddle shifter extensions off Aliexpress for $12. Reached yesterday in 25 days via Yanwen Line & Speedpost.

Results below, looks 'different in my humble opinion - maybe the finely chiselled metal looks out of place amongst the high grade plastic. Just a change though. Cannot wait to try it on Hebbal flyover on Monday ;-)

Please excuse the unavoidable skin display :-)

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

There was no sense of urgency when I prodded the gas pedal. May be I expected to be blown away, but I wasn't.

The Octavia 1.8TSI DSG is smooth, fast and entertaining. If however you expect to be blown away, then neither this 1.8TSI nor it's bigger brother the 2.0TSI in the erstwhile vRS would cut the mustard.