[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by Ravich

On the other minor issue ( stalling at very low speed)- either I have grown used to the car or running in has solved the problem( more likely the former). Havent experienced this now. In fact car is driveability in the city is fantastic - front seat leg support, position , visibility and steering are all excellent.
Overall - so far outstanding. Touchwood.

Ok but didnt they mention that the Laura must be driven in the first gear when at speeds lower than 20 Kmph. I was told so during the test drive. Driving it at 2nd gear at lower speeds could damage the clutch. This is so only in the newer Lauras(According to the executive)

[Ravich]

Originally Posted by stanjohn123

Ok but didnt they mention that the Laura must be driven in the first gear when at speeds lower than 20 Kmph. I was told so during the test drive. Driving it at 2nd gear at lower speeds could damage the clutch. This is so only in the newer Lauras(According to the executive)

Well, in the TD , the sales person /driver kept saying "dont ride the clutch" almost annoying me as I am one of those fanatical about taking the foot off the clutch except when changing gears. I can guess this might be the reason ! The manual actually says - you should be in first gear only as long as a few lengths of a car. Did not find any threads in Skoda Octavia Europe refering to clutch problems in the manual six speed Some reference to DSG problems was there.

In stop and go traffic, I tend to use the first in any case - so hopefully I will survive the 3 years without too much clutch wear.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by don_carmaster

Hey Ravi Congrats on your buy<(know its a bit late but still.!!)

My Uncle has the Laura Ambiente TSi Silver colour and i must admit its looks are just stunning!
He recently had a hit by a nincompoop ,driving a lancer ! The skoda lost one of its reverse sensor heads and a scratch scraping some paint with a small dent on the bumper ,but the lancer had lost-
1.Fog lamps(left one)
2.Head light(again left one)
3.The front bumper lost its place and hanged!
4.Front grille,and
5.A nasty dent on the bonnet
This shows the quality of skoda monsters!!
It was due to a chain reaction! but the skoda didnt hit the front so a, Broken chain reaction!

Keep revvin'
Regards

The front of any car will always take way more damage than the rear of any car! The rears are super stiff and fronts are really hard and designed to crumple.

However it goes without saying that the Laura build quality is simply amazing.

[rxpaul]

Congrats Ravich on your black TSI. I recently first serviced my Octy TPI and was pleasantly surprised by the good service at Asset Motors, Pune. I was present during the Oil & Oil filter change. Also the rear right shock showed a small leak and was replaced free. Overall experience good.

[Berj79]

@ravich which fuel u filling in the laura? i useto fill Speed97 but its is no more..

[Ravich]

Originally Posted by Berj79

@ravich which fuel u filling in the laura? i useto fill Speed97 but its is no more..

Regular unleaded (91 RON I guess). Not even Speed. The manual clearly recommends 95 RON or 91 RON if 95 is not available.
As you probably know yourself, publicly available reports on VW TSI say that ECU +knock sensors will detune to lower Octane. Slight performance degradation may result.
I am told 93 RON (?) is available in Indian Oil. But I have always been a bit skeptical of Indian oil. But I will check the availability and price.

Heres an extract from VW tech glossary

"The knock sensor prevents damaging spontaneous ignition. The knocking effect is created by acyclic uncontrolled combustion, which produces extreme temperatures in the cylinder. These high heat quantities place a severe strain on engine components such as the pistons, valves and cylinder head, and can lead to damage. The knock sensor registers the body-borne sound of the engine and converts it into electrical pulses. The engine control unit cross-checks the measured pulses against the stored specification values and intervenes to control the engine, fuel injection and ignition as necessary, before the combustion reaches the knock limit. The knock sensor performs an additional function in evaluating fuel quality. The higher the octane number (RON), the more knock-proof is the fuel. This means 98 RON Super Plus grade fuel ignites at a higher temperature than normal 95 RON gas. If only a lower quality of fuel is available, the engine control unit automatically corrects the ignition timing based on the information from the knock sensor. This prevents damage to the engine.
"

[hvishwanathan]

Congrats Ravich,on your purchase. BLACK looks wonderful on this beast. Can you share pictures of the interiors ? Contemplating between the silver and arctic breeze color. Cant maintain the black :(

Are the interiors same in terms of the color combination irrespective of the external color of the vehicle or does it differ in contrast to the external color of the vehicle ? I want to know this to decide on shade of seat covers.

Cheers...

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Ravich

On the other minor issue ( stalling at very low speed)- either I have grown used to the car or running in has solved the problem( more likely the former). Havent experienced this now. In fact car is driveability in the city is fantastic - front seat leg support, position , visibility and steering are all excellent.

Mine is Laura diesel MT, and it needs to be shifted down to 1st gear at low speeds. Who ever drove my car had this stalling problem at lower speeds because most people are used to doing those speeds in 2nd gear. Sometimes they help the clutch in 2nd gear and I hate it when people do that to my car :-)

[Sn1p3r]

@Ravich: Did you try the Shell premium? I think it should be available in Bombay. Also Reliance should have some real petrol. What is the difference in output as per the manual with and without 95.

[Ravich]

Originally Posted by hvishwanathan

Congrats Ravich,on your purchase. BLACK looks wonderful on this beast. Can you share pictures of the interiors ? Contemplating between the silver and arctic breeze color. Cant maintain the black :(

Are the interiors same in terms of the color combination irrespective of the external color of the vehicle or does it differ in contrast to the external color of the vehicle ? I want to know this to decide on shade of seat covers.

Cheers...

Have a look at an Arctic Breeze car before deciding . The metallic finish seemed a little lustre less. The interiors are the same irrespective of the exterior color.
I am going in for Stanley Satin Oyster leather which ( personal opinion) seems to go well with the interior plastics (beige). This is a " safe " color .
I should get this done today by 6pm . Will post some interior shots if that helps you. The stock fabric looks good but gets dirty very quickly.

[Ravich]

Originally Posted by Sn1p3r

@Ravich: Did you try the Shell premium? I think it should be available in Bombay. Also Reliance should have some real petrol. What is the difference in output as per the manual with and without 95.

Willl find out if Reliance has 95 Octane... The manual does not specify any derating for 91 RON.. But it clears says it can be used. It also advises against using additives.

Shell premium - I did not even know there is an outlet in Mumbai :-)

[Ravich]

Originally Posted by Ravich

As you probably know yourself, publicly available reports on VW TSI say that ECU +knock sensors will detune to lower Octane. Slight performance degradation may result.

"

I wonder if ECU detuning to adjust for 91 octanes degrades FE significantly. I find the trips today off (lower FE) by 30 % or more . 11.3 l/100km for the same route I seemed to get closer to 9 l/100 km. May be my odo distance is still very low to be statistically significant.

Does anyone know if engine temperature would be higher with a lower octane fuel under similar conditions of driving.

[ImmortalZ]

Slightly. But not to that degree. Engine temperature will be the same once it has adjusted.

[Berj79]

Originally Posted by Ravich

Regular unleaded (91 RON I guess). Not even Speed. The manual clearly recommends 95 RON or 91 RON if 95 is not available.
As you probably know yourself, publicly available reports on VW TSI say that ECU +knock sensors will detune to lower Octane. Slight performance degradation may result.
I am told 93 RON (?) is available in Indian Oil. But I have always been a bit skeptical of Indian oil. But I will check the availability and price.

Heres an extract from VW tech glossary

"The knock sensor prevents damaging spontaneous ignition. The knocking effect is created by acyclic uncontrolled combustion, which produces extreme temperatures in the cylinder. These high heat quantities place a severe strain on engine components such as the pistons, valves and cylinder head, and can lead to damage. The knock sensor registers the body-borne sound of the engine and converts it into electrical pulses. The engine control unit cross-checks the measured pulses against the stored specification values and intervenes to control the engine, fuel injection and ignition as necessary, before the combustion reaches the knock limit. The knock sensor performs an additional function in evaluating fuel quality. The higher the octane number (RON), the more knock-proof is the fuel. This means 98 RON Super Plus grade fuel ignites at a higher temperature than normal 95 RON gas. If only a lower quality of fuel is available, the engine control unit automatically corrects the ignition timing based on the information from the knock sensor. This prevents damage to the engine.
"

agree with the knock sensors, i have driven my car with speed97 & regular unleaded fuel, the power increase with speed97 is just awesome, trust me i m really bummed they discontinued speed97, now with regular unleaded petrol i can feel the drop in performance after a full tank & i m ready to pay even more for speed97 now

[sajid33]

Originally Posted by Ravich

Thanks. 95K discount in Mumbai. Plus the usual mud flaps, mats, mirror locks, teflon.

95K !!!! Thats a whooping discount ! , I just got 20K for my Laura L&K 2.0 A/T !! . how on earth could it be possible my friend ??? please explain if you could .
thanx