Another Octavian joining the ranks

[rym]

Dear Octavians,
Done the deed, traded my old trusty wagon to a Skoda Octavia 1.8 TFSI Wagon, we considered the hatch but needed the space for two prams.

10 days wait if the dealer can be believed.

The engine sold me, this is one sweet little gem of an engine and if the RS is deemed a bargain, that would put the 1.8 hatch at $31k to be in another league altogether. Sure, they are different cars but for our family motoring, the perky and silky 1.8 is going to be a better fit.

The tow bar was pricey, was told that it would be another 2 months whilst they get the ADR compliance. Any truth to this? I'm surprised something so straight forward isn't already done prior to local launch?

[gregozedobe]

Welcome aboard Rym,

Yes, the 1.8TFSI motor is a pearler, and the wagons do have a huge amount of room. I applaud your taste (I myself was unable to resist the siren call of the RS wagon).

Towbars seem a bit of a problem for VAG cars, I think it is interfacing with the cars electronics that causes hassles (and expense). Not sure if your wagon has ESP or not, if it does I am led to believe it requires yet another ECU (at vast expense in Australia, but may be cheaper o/s if you are willing to take the risk).

Hope you don't have to wait too long (sounds like yours may already be in the country). Enjoy.

[rym]

Gidday gregozedobe,

Thanks for the warm welcome. Congrats with your RS purchase, the RS' Engine is sweet also, that's another tractable, lively and wonderfully creamy engine. You're on a winner there!

Yes, all Octavias in Oz have ESP, as there was no further cost impost mentioned, I'd assumed whatever is needed would be provided and includes whatever is necessary to work with the ESP. That may be a wrong assumption?

I'm thinking of getting some invisible car bra for my Octavia wagon. I do a fair bit of country road driving and have about 2 km of unsealed road just going to and from my house everyday. This should offer some protection.

I think it's a 3M product. Anyone has experience with this?

[gregozedobe]

Yes, all Octavias in Oz have ESP, as there was no further cost impost mentioned, I'd assumed whatever is needed would be provided and includes whatever is necessary to work with the ESP. That may be a wrong assumption?

I'm thinking of getting some invisible car bra for my Octavia wagon. I do a fair bit of country road driving and have about 2 km of unsealed road just going to and from my house everyday. This should offer some protection.

I think it's a 3M product. Anyone has experience with this?

I was trying to say the high price of setting up a VAG car with a towbar is so high because of the need for some kind of trailer/ECU/ESP interface box. If you didn't have ESP you might not need it (thus avoiding some expense), but as you do have ESP it might be cheaper to source this expensive component from o/s and supply it to the towar fitters. If you have been quoted a "complete" price it should include this box.

Just out of curiosity what price were you quoted ? I lost interest in getting a towbar for my VW Transporter when two different places started to talk about "$2,500 or so"

I think there has been some discussion about the clear protective film on a couple of Oz Golf forums, try a search on (car) "bra" and see what comes up.

If you get lots of stone chips it may help protect your paint work. Some mudflaps might deflect a few rocks too.

[GDG]

Hi rym,

Don't know what car your coming from but I know your are going to enjoy driving this one. I've got a 1.9TDI (Anthracite) Wagon and the wife has a 1.9TDI (Corrida Red) Hatch with rear parking sensors. We replaced an aging 2 door Daewoo Lanos which the pram would not fit into very easily and a VZ Holden Commodore Lumina wagon. I dont miss the old cars one little bit. So what if the VZ had 165Kw of power and higher torque it was never really useable when driving "economically" anyway. These Skoda/VW engines really shine - useable power and torque at low rpm = spirited driving with great economy.

We've had ours since mid December (Ordered late October 2007 off the November shipment). It took a couple of weeks to get them out of Sydney to Melbourne and and a couple more days at the dealer (Bayford Skoda)before we picked them up. Special orders, I am told, are taking up to four months to be delivered. So I guess you have to be pretty happy to only wait a few days to get yours

[DanSA]

Congrats Rym.

The 1.8 is a great engine, we almost bought one! only changed order at the last minute due to availability and change in work scenario.

I have noticed they are bringing out the same 1.8 in 200bhp form in the new VAG products, so shouldnt be too hard if u get bored with the performace..

Enjoy, we most certainly are..

[rym]

Thanks for the welcome Dansa.

gregozedobe, I think the tow bar is priced around the low side of $1k. I mentioned pricey because I had got used to quality Hayman Reese bars around 1/2 that price. But, I wasn't aware of your $2.5K price for your Transporter. Wow. Horses for course perhaps...

Just back on the 1.8 TFSI, having driven this against the 2.0 TFSI, my seat of the pants and gut feel is that it's a later generation to the 2.0 TFSI. The 1.8 Feels... smoother, freer spinning and the torque curve arrives a little earlier.

But, the GTI donk is certainly all class, my young brother drives one and he is instill in love with it after all this time. If the 1.8 is so good now, I wonder what the next gen of the 2.0 TFSI would be like?

Perhaps the next GTI may come with a 2.0 TSI (Super & Turbo), that would surely send a scud up the fraternity of v8 brigade, as well as STI & EVO brigade?

[gregozedobe]

Perhaps the next GTI may come with a 2.0 TSI (Super & Turbo), that would surely send a scud up the fraternity of v8 brigade, as well as STI & EVO brigade?

This would be very interesting but I think pretty unlikely, as it would steal too many sales from both the R32 and Audi S3. VW have steadfastly refused to make a Golf 2.0TFSI with 4WD for precisely this reason, and VWA won't even bring in the GTI ed30 (detuned S3 motor) to Oz. Unfortunately it is all about market positioning and maximising profits.