Filled the car up this morning (ouch - over £80) and realised it had done almost 4k, you only see the cumulative figure when the ignition is off.
It is doing everything expected, not run in yet but very economical on the motorway, not so good in stop start. Glad I did not go for the 1.6
Nice quiet ride, goes when I want it to and so far 2 of the 6 fills have been at over 800 miles and a third was showing over 200 miles range when filled because I had a long run that day. Weird that a 2 litre diesel frequently shows the sum of miles done on tank and anticipated range to be around 1000 miles. . . . . ., will have to put my slippers on for a fortnight and see if it will really do it - maybe when it is run in. Best economy is around 61mpg and average to date 57.3. Would have been better had the roadworks on the M42 not caused chaos on the roads around a couple of weeks ago. Can't complain at almost 10p a mile for fuel. Neighbour had one a couple of years ago and he described his as having phenomenal economy.
DAB radio - wasn't sure of the benefit but it is good, although I have not experienced it on the M6 south of Tebay where FM usually expires. Big benefit over the radio in the Octavia is that when the engine starts, or when you cancel a traffic announcement the radio stays on instead of going silent for a few seconds. It also comes with leads for Ipod and USB which annoyed my son whose Audi does not, I don't have an Ipod so have loaned him that one while I use a USB stick.
It really does have a full size alloy spare and
Annoying bit is that the windscreen (inside) seems to get dirty very quickly, or I havn't got it properly clean yet - will have another go this weekend. Is this a characteristic of heated screens?
Current challenge is to find a cable route from the centre of the dash to the fuses beside the drivers door so I can hard wire the sat nav.
Now (not car related) how do I change the dictionary in Firefox from US to UK.
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>> Now (not car related) how do I change the dictionary in Firefox from US to
>> UK.
Type a mis-spelt word ('colour'?) so it is underlined, right-click, and you should get a 'Languages' option in the menu.
Sounds like a nice motor.
Last edited by: Focus on Thu 2 Aug 12 at 08:38
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Dirty screen is usually a new plastics thing - stuff goes on evaporating out of the mouldings for several months and then condenses on the nearest cool surface, where it becomes a magnet for any stray moisture inside the car. Tesco sells white microfibre cloths, which l'Es doesn't like but which are better than cotton for getting the muck off; worth keeping one in the door pocket for this purpose.
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>> Dirty screen is usually a new plastics thing - stuff goes on evaporating out of
>> the mouldings for several months and then condenses on the nearest cool surface, where it
>> becomes a magnet for any stray moisture inside the car. Tesco sells white microfibre cloths,
>> which l'Es doesn't like but which are better than cotton for getting the muck off;
>> worth keeping one in the door pocket for this purpose.
>>
I have the same problem on the BMW. Now I understand why. After a month, the inside of my windscreen looks like a chainsmoker has been driving the car.
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>> you only see the cumulative figure when the ignition is off.
Only if you leave the cruise control on. But maybe you use cruise control more often than I do. Mine is off (stalk pushed back) most of the time and turned on when needed.
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Windscreen gets dirty. I recall i bought a new Passat 52 reg and the same. Also when misted you could clearly see the rubber sucker imprints on the screen. The suckers that the factory use to place windscreen on vehicle. It was one of many warranty faults on the vehicle. I had the windscreen changed..
I also sat in a friends golf the other day and the very same thing was happening.
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That's very impressive fuel economy for what is quite a big car!
Which version of the VAG 2 litre diesel is it?
(rtj70 has the decently quick 170 PS engine, IIRC. I have the one with the 140 PS lawnmower engine - but it's adequate for my simple needs *smile*)
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It is the 140, more than adequate.
Far more economical than the 1.6 I tried at Christmas, I thought that one might have had poor economy because it was not run in but this one was better with only 50 miles on the clock.
Looks like the 1.6 in this car is only economical on test route.
Last edited by: IJWS14 on Fri 3 Aug 12 at 08:31
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140 lawnmower engine! C'mon, in reality, on our roads, with our traffic conditions, does anyone REALLY need more than a 140 Diesel? I know I'm getting old but it really wasn't that long a go that a 130 hp 2 litre petrol was looking good. I've recently driven a couple of litre diesels and whilst aspects of performance are quite seductive I can't see what advantage I'd gain to have one as my private car over my own lawnmower 140.
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>> ..... but it really wasn't that long a go that a 130 hp 2 litre petrol was looking good.
Still looking good on the uncrowded roads of Lincolnshire.
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>> Filled the car up this morning (ouch - over £80) and realised it had done
>> almost 4k,
Not bad for 4000 miles.
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The VAG 140PS engine in my car was adequate. But the 170PS is much more flexible - it accelerates a lot better than the 140PS in all gears. If you're happy to accelerate slowly all the time then no point in the 170PS. Top speed is irrelevant.
The downside of being able to accelerate more quickly at times - you do and that reduces mpg. My choice I guess.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 3 Aug 12 at 10:09
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>> The VAG 140PS engine in my car was adequate. But the 170PS is much more
>> flexible - it accelerates a lot better than the 140PS in all gears. If you're
>> happy to accelerate slowly all the time then no point in the 170PS. Top speed
>> is irrelevant.
It's interesting how different manufacturers tune their diesels differently to achieve the various outputs. I drove a non ED 320d the other day, which is almost 20 PS up on my car at 181PS. There is no perceptible difference in performance until you get up to about 4000 RPM, where mine starts to run out of puff, and the non-ED just keeps going until the limiter cuts in. The extra power is all at the top end.
The 140 and 170 VAG CRs have different torque figures, and I suspect feel quite different from the off. If you drove a 163 and 181 320d under 4000 RPM, you wouldn't know which engine was which.
Which is nice when you have the lower powered one :-)
Last edited by: DP on Fri 3 Aug 12 at 10:35
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Having driven a myriad of Diesels of all sizes I can't see that the 170 offers me much over the 140. The torque figure is near identical (as makes no difference) and the extra power is only available at the top of the rev range. Acceleration is seductive, but I just don't encounter real world conditions today where it makes any difference. A litre bike is a different matter of course.. I'm with DP, drive them both under 3000 rpm, which I mostly do, and there's little practical difference. Without wishing to start a new thread, the vast majority of drivers would increase their car's performance massively by taking a little light tuition. All too frequently the Skoda's off into the distance because other drivers can't read the road, select the right gear, sit too close behind, haven't yet worked out how to balance the car and take a corner etc etc
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>> the vast majority of drivers would increase their car's
>> performance massively by taking a little light tuition. All too frequently the Skoda's off into
>> the distance because other drivers can't read the road, select the right gear, sit too
>> close behind, haven't yet worked out how to balance the car and take a corner
>> etc etc
Or perhaps they just don't want to maintain rapid progress. People certainly drive slower these days, probably as a result of the amount of traffic on the roads, fear of being banned or getting a ticket, price of fuel e.t.c
But I agree that there seems to be less driving skill on the roads and it seems to be more prevalent as the playstation generation take over and they're cocooned from the actual physical sensations in a modern car.
Last edited by: corax on Fri 3 Aug 12 at 12:10
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Hold on folks! I seem to have caught flak for describing the VAG 140 PS as a "lawnmower" engine.
Whilst my remark was very TIC, of course, let me say that I have mitigating circumstances for feeling that it is underpowered. These are:
1) I have a CVT gearbox, and that makes any engine feel slower than it really is.
2) I'm used to BMW engines. Anybody else's equivalent engines feel slow after that.
Though I am (very) laid back in my driving these days, there are a few times that I do need power to FEEL SAFE - such as merging with traffic. My car doesn't have the zip that I am used to, but I accept that this is probably the fault of the (Cough . . spit!) CVT gearbox.
Apologies for any offence caused. None was intended, I promise.
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I'd have to be ever so delicate to be offended about my choice of car/engine! I might have to take the Briggs and Stratton sticker off the mower and put it on the boot of the Skoda now. There's just no dignity left.
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Volkswagen Passat - 4000 miles and two months with a Passat - Focusless
