[StarrySky]

I had a chance to take the Karoq on a longer trip yesterday. Here are the stats for the trip from the MID. I did not check mileage by tankful-tankful method on this trip.


Out of the 237km distance for the trip, about 215kms were spent cruising at either 80km/h or 100km/h (both GPS indicated). I spent very little time in city and city traffic.

The stability on the highway was very good. There were 5 of us in the car and none of us had any issues with comfort in the car. With the trip lasting only about 75mins one-way, it wasn't probably long enough to assess the comfort on a long drive.

When I fueled up the car last time, the mileage on the MID was 18.9km/l and the mileage by tankful-tankful method was 15.8km/l. Based on that, the actual mileage for this trip was probably around 16km/l. With winter fuel in the tank, studded winter tires installed, rain for half the trip and temperatures around 7 degrees Celsius, I didn't have the ideal conditions to test the mileage. But still, I have to say I am a little bit disappointed with this figure. Perhaps, DPF regeneration was triggered during the trip, I am not sure. When it comes to the speed, there is a noticeable difference (as per MID) between the mileage at 80km/h compared to 100km/h.

The car was really dirty with all the rain, so I didn't want to embarrass the Karoq by clicking any pics

[Karvel]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

I had a chance to take the Karoq on a longer trip yesterday. Here are the stats for the trip from the MID. I did not check mileage by tankful-tankful method on this trip.
Attachment 1815094

When I fueled up the car last time, the mileage on the MID was 18.9km/l and the mileage by tankful-tankful method was 15.8km/l. Based on that, the actual mileage for this trip was probably around 16km/l.

Hi StarrySky, thanks for sharing the Karoq experience. We are yet to see this in India. Wishing you many more Happy Miles.

In the above post, you had mentioned that MID mileage vs tankful-tankful method has a difference. Was this specific to the trip you had or is this difference being noticed in overall mileage reading?. I own a Octavia and i do at times notice a 4-5% variance between the MID reading and the Skoda One app readings. This is more or less the same difference between MID and tankful-tankful method as well. Hence asking.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Karvel

Hi StarrySky, thanks for sharing the Karoq experience. We are yet to see this in India. Wishing you many more Happy Miles.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Karvel

In the above post, you had mentioned that MID mileage vs tankful-tankful method has a difference. Was this specific to the trip you had or is this difference being noticed in overall mileage reading?. I own a Octavia and i do at times notice a 4-5% variance between the MID reading and the Skoda One app readings. This is more or less the same difference between MID and tankful-tankful method as well. Hence asking.

The difference between MID mileage and actual tankful-tankful mileage is not specific to the trip or Karoq alone in my experience. It was the same with the Octavia I had before the Karoq. If you check the mileage update post I made in the previous page, my average mileage as per MID for those three instances was 19.53km/l, but the average tankful-tankful mileage for the same three instances was 17.53km/l. In winter, the difference grows bigger. I've learned to take the mileage figures from MID with a bucketful of salt.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Just asking, how does this Karoq feel, as compared to the old Yeti and the new Tiguan? Is it indeed more grown up and Tiguan-esque as reports would have us believe?

Here is a pic I took when opportunity presented itself at a mall I visited. The Yeti looks taller as per specs and it does look a bit taller in the pic.


Here's another comparison pic with a Duster. I didn't get the chance to take the picture in daylight. The parking spot next to the Duster is not mine and I almost always find it occupied. I took the picture when I found it empty.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Here is a pic I took when opportunity presented itself at a mall I visited. The Yeti looks taller as per specs and it does look a bit taller in the pic.
Attachment 1824208

Here's another comparison pic with a Duster. I didn't get the chance to take the picture in daylight. The parking spot next to the Duster is not mine and I almost always find it occupied. I took the picture when I found it empty.
Attachment 1824207

Useful to know this. So it looks like the Skoda chaps have moved to “middle of the road-conventional” from the quirky, in the matter of design.
The size/ proportions of the Karoq, from your pictures, show that it could be a lateral yet worthy change, from the Duster, Yeti breed.
Wonder when they are bringing this to India, if at all.

[StarrySky]

Here is another comparison picture with a Tiguan. The Tiguan is a little bit bigger. However, the parking spot of the Tiguan has a slight incline, so that also contributes to the height of the Tiguan in the picture.

[StarrySky]

Nature trumps technology!

Winter has brought a new set of challenges to the Lane Assist feature, some of which the technology has no answer for. I am not looking to blame the technology here, just highlighting some of its limitations. Hopefully, things will improve in the future versions.

Most of the time in the snow, you just follow the line the car ahead of you has taken (he hasn't gone off, so it's safe for me too ). This creates some new lanes, with snow between them becoming the lane markings. Problem is that the edges of these "lane markings" are not smooth or consistent, confusing the Adaptive Lane Guidance feature and it keeps turning on and off:


The "lane markings" formed as described above are usually not where the actual lane markings are. So we have situations like this where the actual lane marking is also visible. In the photo below, I want to be driving on top the actual lane marking on the right, as I don't want to put my left side wheels on the white stuff. Lane Assist thinks I am trying to cross the lane without indicating and tries to pull the car to the left.


The ultimate. No lane markings exactly where I want to see them the most - joining a main road. Very little technology can do here.


However, it's not all one way. Technology (ESC intervention) helped me the other day to keep the car on the road when I hit some black ice

[StarrySky]

In the Karoq, the front parking sensors are located within the honeycomb structure in the airdam. A couple of times in the last week, I had to drive while it was snowing and faced an issue due to this design. Snow tends to collect on or around the parking sensors (especially the two middle ones out of four). This blocks the sensors and they start giving out unnecessary beeps when I am moving slowly (eg: coming to a stop at a traffic signal). On the Octavia, the sensors are located on the vertical face of the bumper itself. It doesn't collect snow and the only times I faced any issue in the Octavia was when melting snow from higher up the bumper or front grille temporarily blocked the sensors for a few seconds at worst.

[prasadathani]

Great write-up and amazingly well put on the updates as well. Read your post with interest for these past few months. I currently drive a yeti and it has run 160,000 kms without facing any issues. Know for sure that my upgrade will be the Karoq which was supposed to be launched in the first quarter of 2019. However, I had emailed Autocar India regarding the delay in the launch of the Karoq and this was their response :

"Unfortunately, there has been a delay in the launch of the Karoq and it is unlikely to come before April 2020. The reason is that all manufacturers have to shift to BSVI emission compliant engines by then and hence it is not feasible to launch the Karoq now with a BSIV engine (which is the current industry standard) and then replace the engine within such a short time frame."

[StarrySky]

A few days back, I received a letter from Skoda regarding a recall for the Karoq.

My Finnish is not very good, but I gathered that there is some issue suspected with the rear seats and I need to take the car for an inspection. If any issue is detected with the seat, then a new one will be ordered. Checking from the web, I saw similar recall in the UK as well. I have booked a time for the inspection and I will update the thread once it is done.

Testerday, it was snowing in the morning when I was going to office and I got the ACC malfunction warning. I could not take a picture while I was driving, so I took one after I stopped:


The culprit:


It was a bit surprising because we have had much worse snowfall earlier this winter and the sensor was never blocked. There was lot of slush on the road and a car cut into my lane just before the warning appeared, so it could've been a case of that car spraying the sensor with some slush.

Otherwise, the car is running well and I recently passed the 7k mark on the odo.

Originally Posted by prasadathani

Great write-up and amazingly well put on the updates as well.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by prasadathani

I currently drive a yeti and it has run 160,000 kms without facing any issues. Know for sure that my upgrade will be the Karoq which was supposed to be launched in the first quarter of 2019. However, I had emailed Autocar India regarding the delay in the launch of the Karoq and this was their response :

I think Karoq would surely be a good upgrade from the Yeti. It's a pity that the Karoq's launch dates being pushed back. But I guess it is not surprising that Skoda has delayed the launch of Karoq due to the BS6 norms. If they launch with a BS6 engine now, they might price themselves out of the market.

[ajmat]

This is to do with the central passenger seat belt clasp. It can easily by released by the posterior of the passenger sitting along side.

[StarrySky]

A couple of days back, I took the Karoq to the service station for the inspection of the rear seats. Since it was mentioned in the recall letter that it would take about 45 mins to do the inspection, I booked the evening service option and reached the service center just before 5pm. Upon giving the car for inspection, I was informed that they would first do a quick check to see if my car already had the new parts, which would take around 15 mins. If it had the old parts, they would need to do a more detailed check to determine if the installed parts were good or needed replacement, which would take another 60-75mins. I decided to wait at the service station.

After about 15 mins, they informed me that my Karoq did not have the new parts and they would need to do a thorough inspection. It would take me about 30-40 mins to get home by bus and similar time to get back, so I decided to go to the local mall to spend an hour. I got back after around 75 mins, at which time the car was still not ready. I had to then wait at the service station for more than an hour to get the car back. I could've gone home and returned if I had known earlier Anyway, the good news was that the parts installed in my car did not show any problems, so I don't have to make another appointment for any replacements

And I found this at the showroom - the Karoq Sportline:


The photo doesn't do it justice due to multiple reflections, but it looked properly impressive in black color. According to the salesman, there is no change to engine or mechanicals. The car on display was a 1.5TSI DSG. There are styling differences and it comes with sports seats. There is complete lack of chrome in the exterior - around the front grille, the windows, even the roof rails and alloys are black. The black theme continues in the interior. I am not sure if the flat bottom steering wheel is part of standard equipment:


A look at the sports seats. I did not try them, but they don't appear too much different from the seats on my Karoq when it comes to side bolstering - but come without adjustable head restraints.

[StarrySky]

It's been a few months since I updated this thread. As the saying goes, no news is good news! During this time, the Karoq has completed one year with us (well, just over 13 months now to be precise). The odo now stands at over 12300 km. I was doing above 1000k a month, but 5 weeks of summer vacation in India has brought the average running per month down.

A couple of months after the last update, it was time to change to summer tires again. I had covered about 6100km in the Karoq on the winter tires during the time I had them. Here is the Karoq with the summer tires back on:


At long last, the Karoq also found a sibling in my office parking lot. Of course, my friend's Karoq has been there, but that is of a different color (don't call me racist ). My Karoq is the one on the right.


When I had the Octavia, there were so many white Octavia Combi's in the parking lot that sometimes I used to get confused where I had parked my car when it was time to go home - especially on those busy days when I used to just park it at the first place I could find in the morning and run to my desk. No such issues with the Karoq yet. I guess it will remain so, as a change in company car policy due to the WLTP has led to a situation where the better versions of the Karoq cannot be leased anymore.

Since the Karoq is on a flexible service schedule, I did not have to take the car for service when I completed an year. The service will come up at the end of 2 years or 30k running, whichever is earlier. With the odo at about 12300 km, the car shows that the next inspection is due in another 17800 km. This is a bit of a surprise, because with the Octavia, winter running brought down the kms remaining till the next service quite drastically - it used to drop by at least a factor of 2 compared to the kilometers actually run in winter.

Mileage through winter months was better than I expected. It did not drop below 12.5 km/l for a full tank of fuel. Now with higher temperatures in the summer, I am getting nearly 20 km/l with my normal commute. This is with the car always in "Normal" driving mode with 100% ACC set to 22C. In my normal usage I usually encounter some traffic in the morning when I go to work, but the trip back is usually devoid of any traffic bottlenecks. Then there are those shorter trips to drop and/or pick up kids from their hobby classes, shopping trips etc. The "Since refuelling" screen in MID usually shows an average speed of about 35-39 km/h when it is time to refuel.

After the last refill, I have started experimenting with "Eco" mode to check if it brings any FE gains. I have covered more than 250km since the last refill and it doesn't so far look like "Eco" mode brings any noticeable gains with my normal usage.

Today I got a bit of a scare when I was returning from work. I stopped at the signal near office expecting the auto hold to work as it normally does. But I found that it wasn't working. I didn't have to stop anywhere else till I reached home. I did some more experiments once I reached my parking, and no, it wasn't working. What's more, the electronic parking brake did not engage automatically when I put the car to P. I switched off the car, waited a couple minutes and tried again. No luck! I quickly had a coffee and set off to the service station. The Skoda A.S.S has a night service open till 10pm where I could go without prior appointment. I was hoping some technician would be free to check my car. I hadn't gone too far from home when it hit me - the "Auto Hold" button was turned off It sits adjacent to the Drive Mode Selection button and I must have hit it by mistake when trying to change the mode without taking my eyes off the road. I felt embarrassed with myself, but at least there was nothing wrong with the Karoq!!

Likes after completing one year:
- Ride
- Elevated driving position: I found it uncomfortable travelling in the sedans back home in India when I was on vacation
- Features galore!
- FE

Dislikes after completing one year:
- Nothing much really, other than reduced practicality compared to the Octavia Combi. The ski hatch is a definite miss, which means carrying long items when travelling with 4 on-board is impossible. It is also not possible to put or get them items in the boot without stopping and opening the trunk lid. Sure, I knew when I booked that the Karoq variant I booked lacked a ski hatch, but I guess I just didn't realize the extent to which I would miss it.

[StarrySky]

Autumn is here and the leaves have slowly started changing colour. I was at my son's hobby class yesterday and while I was waiting for him, I took the opportunity to click a couple of pictures.

[StarrySky]

Last weekend, we had to make an unplanned nearly 400-km round trip to drop a friend. We had a bit of snow as we were starting and more snow was predicted in an around our destination. I was yet to change to the winter tires. Temperatures were still forecast to be above freezing, so I was reasonably sure that there won't be ice on the roads, but you never know.

First day of snow for this winter:


The first day of snow also caused the adaptive cruise control to be disabled for certain periods of time, due to the sensor getting sprayed with snow. When adaptive cruise control doesn't work, any "normal" cruise control function is also unavailable. Having been used to ACC, I found driving on the highway a little bit difficult during rain and snow. I thought the relocation of the sensor from the lower part of the front bumper in the Octavia to the front grill in the Karoq would be a good thing. However, I had only 2-3 instances of radar blockage in nearly 40 months of using the Octavia. I have had more than that in about 15 months in the Karoq.

Here is the travel data from the trip:


Given that the MID usually overestimates the FE, I'm not quite sure if the highway FE is good or bad. Most of the trip was at three digit speeds, with temperatures around 2-3 degrees and rain/snow for most of the trip. I have also noted during my normal usage that instantaneous FE display on the Karoq is highest around 80km/h. Anything above 100km/h seems to affect the FE negatively. So perhaps, the FE for the trip shouldn't be too surprising. I didn't check the tankful-tankful FE for this trip, but when I refuelled the other day, the FE came out to be around 14.3km/l for the last tankful. So, the actual FE for the trip was somewhere in the 14-15km/l range. Unfortunately, I haven't made any highway trips in the best weather in summer. So I will still give the Karoq the benefit of the doubt.

I had an appointment to change to winter tires on Friday. The odo now stands at just under 15000km. The split between winter and summer tire running has been about 9000 (summer) and 6000 (winter).