Octavia wagon vs Passat Wagon

[rathalian]

Hi Folks,

I'm interested in either a 2008 Passat Wagon (125kw TDI) and am also looking at the latest Octavia wagon (either 125kw TDI or 1.8TFSI both DSG)


We've taken the 2008 Passat out and the previous model Octavia (200 however found the Passat to be quieter onroad. We've yet to take the new Octavia out.

Has anyone had much experience as either an owner of both or has tested them both extensively?

Also is there much road noise difference between the RS and normal Octavias?

[K1W1]

One of the areas where money is saved in the Skoda range appears to be soundproofing. In my experience they all have higher road noise levels than the equivalent VW or Audi product. It's really a case of whether you are comfortable with it or not as noise tolerance varies.

[triode12]

Tyres can also make a difference to NVH levels. I'd check if this was the case first.

[Antiplastix]

One of my work mates has a TDI Passat wagon and the motor noise is intrusive compared to the TSI motor, but thats like comparing apples and oranges.

[woofy]

This might be pointing out the obvious, but you do know that the Passat wagon equivalent is the Superb wagon which is either due soon....or is out...I can't remember which anymore. I did see one in Geelong a month ago, but suspect it was a dealer one.

[PROJET - L]

I've come from a Passat TDI sedan to an Ocatvia TSi Wagon.
Sedans are much quieter but I thought the noise levels in the Octavia to be acceptable.
I test drove both the TDI and the TSi and the petrol is much much quieter.
The engine is really smooth and silent compared to both the Octavia Diesel and the PD TDI engine the Passat has.
In regard to the tyres I have driven a petrol with both Bridgestone and the Conti Sport Contact and the Bridgestone were far quieter. Dealer indicated that he had clinched a deal by changing the Conti's to the Bridgestones.
I wasn't too fussed as I will ge upgrading this in the near future.
Can't say if the RS is any different ( I doubt there would be much change ).

To sum up there is less sound proofing in an Octavia (but I don't think it is any less than a Jetta), than a Passat. Tyres help a lot with road noise.
And Petrol is serene compared to the TDI's

Hope this helps.

[Jake02]

When I was up in Coffs Harbour last, I drove a family friend's Passat 125TDI wagon and compared it to my RS TFSI. TBH I didn't really hear that much of a difference, maybe because the Passat was a diesel. If I were one to do many highway kms road-noise would be a thing to me, but otherwise not really, and it's not like the Skoda is that much worse than the Passat (and as someone mentioned, the Octavia is equivalent to the Jetta - VW acquired the Skoda NVH package for the Jetta after the Octavia was launched).

On the RS vs normal Octavias, I bought mine when the RS was petrol-only, but I can tell you that it is nosier because the exhaust is bigger and the tyre package is too. Otherwise it isn't.

RE Octavia vs Passat, I'd definitely go for the Octavia. Not because I already own one, but because I see the Octavia as much better value (even though the used Passat you might find is optioned up), and you can possibly option-up the Octavia (or if it's an RS...) to a price that the Passat will be. Otherwise the quality, space, reliability, preformance/handling and running costs are pretty much the same. I also like new car smell

[spellbound]

When i was moving out of the liberty 3.0r wagon , the choice for me was passat or RS wagon tfsi, couldn,t justify the AWD 6 so the diesel was option with the necessary extras pumped up the price of the passat way over $50k .

However a nicely depreciated 08 model around $40k with low klix would be nice, as the are the best looking wagon on the market .

Noise wise i noticed the RS was louder than the liberty , yes i have conti's , but its from the back the most noise comes , not from front tyres , i suspect as already stated that the insulation in the rear wheel arches is light on , i have thought about about adding extra , but you seem to forget it after 10k.

What convinced me was that the RS was fully loaded inc sunroof , glad to get off that cream leather in the liberty , cleaning nightmare , and the great handling of the RS was the closest to the liberty , much better economy too, definately drove better in country than the passat tdi , probably the awd 6 would give it curry .

Nice choice to make , both good cars , i think it will come down to the handling choice, so get out on a B road when doing test drives , that will be the decider.

[rathalian]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I was aware the Passat is built on a different platform however these two cars share some common features, in particular for me the DSG gearbox (I love them)

I dropped into one of the Canberra VW dealerships today and saw the 2010 Passat packages, great shame to see they dropped the 2.0 TFSI and 103KW TDI although the price of the 125kw TDI has dropped albeit @ 51k IMHO given competition they are struggling.

I live in Canberra and have found every visit to both of our VW dealerships (aka Skoda) to be painful. The level of service in at the Honda dealership was second to none, however the VW dealers seem to be lumped with an attitude not becoming the $ I want to spend.

I'm happy to shop around OZ and would love to get some feedback (or pointers to a forum thread) re some solid dealers to liaise with remotely when purchasing either an Octavia or Passat (the verdict is still out)

[aslsw]

I agree, Honda was good too. Funny, I was looking at the Accord and he's trying to sell me a Jazz!

My original plan was to look at a Golf (my brother-in-law has an R32 that I have driven in Switzerland) but no chance of getting anyone to see me (including the salesman eating his hamburger at his desk). But completely different story at Skoda a couple of doors up. No pressure, lots of test drives (all day, overnight) - their service totally sold my wife who hadn't heard of Skoda. They even put me in touch with another owner so that I could get an independent view.

I can't speak too highly of Lennock Skoda.

[rathalian]

aslsw - where did you end up taking the Skoda (I assume Octavia) out for a test run and what where your thoughts re on road handling/feedback/comfort etc?

[Spook]

Question: would the Golf wagon be comparable to the Octavia wagon? Any particular reason for not including it in the comparison?

[gregozedobe]

aslsw - where did you end up taking the Skoda (I assume Octavia) out for a test run and what where your thoughts re on road handling/feedback/comfort etc?

If you want a rough road to try out road noise, bumps etc then the southern section of the Sutton Road is an "excellent" challenge (the Queanbeyan end, near the driver training track, where they have heaps of lumps, bumps, potholes and repairs on repairs). That piece of road was what finally sold me on an Octavia RS over a Golf GTI.

Test drives are the only way to tell which car suits you best.

I can't speak too highly of Lennock Skoda.

Yep, I was very happy with Colin and bought my RS from him

I live in Canberra and have found every visit to both of our VW dealerships (aka Skoda) to be painful. The level of service in at the Honda dealership was second to none, however the VW dealers seem to be lumped with an attitude not becoming the $ I want to spend.

I'm happy to shop around OZ and would love to get some feedback (or pointers to a forum thread) re some solid dealers to liaise with remotely when purchasing either an Octavia or Passat (the verdict is still out)

Did you talk with Colin at Lennock Skoda ? He is in a totally different building to the Lennock VW guys (Skoda sales is around the corner and down the road a little bit).

[aslsw]

aslsw - where did you end up taking the Skoda (I assume Octavia) out for a test run and what where your thoughts re on road handling/feedback/comfort etc?

We were told we had to stay within the ACT, so no really bad roads. We took it out for a whole day (both wife and I had the day off together) and tried to use it like a normal car ie. not trying out really bad surfaces. So it was up the highway to the city, around the city and Parly Triangle, then around the lake on the smaller roads. Mix of surfaces ie. good quality highway, recently relaid, filled potholes. This was all in the TSI (before I realised I could afford something better).

We also had it overnight, so it was around our own suburb and area.

The only thing that ever stood out for me was the road noise - particularly on the newly relaid surfaces. It is noticeable, even coming from a Commodore wagon which has a big boot as an echo chamber.

However, totally sold on comfort - it's much firmer than the fat 'n lazy Aussie cars, but we like that. It feels like you could drive all day and get out feeling fresh (I climb out of the Commodore these days like an old man). We were also sold on the classy interior - it has all mod cons but doesn't become fussy (Mazda 6) or overwhelming (Accord).

Power was a bit startling at first. I'm used to the Commodore taking a while to get wound up but the Octavia jumps like a startled rabbit if you put your foot down.

I finally took the RS for a spin in December - road noise again was the most noticeable thing. But I just can't go past the complete package.

I admit that I haven't done a full test eg. on some dodgy roads. But I figure most of the time it will be the every driving we do (home > work > friends > home) so I wanted to be happy with that. Now that my sister-in-law is moving from the farm, my need to travel on dirt is miniscule.

Still worried about the towing capability. My wife has taken to camping while I was away, we went to the coast last weekend and took clothes in the back of the wagon and towed the trailer with camping gear. Hopefully, the Octavia will be able to cope.

Finally, I can back up the good comments about Colin at Lennock Skoda.

[JP-009]

Finally, I can back up the good comments about Colin at Lennock Skoda.

I also had a good experience while dealing with Colin.