Short Review: 2014 Skoda Octavia RS 162 TSI Combi

[brad]

correct.
I've read that covering every single visible space with dynamat has no advantage, and can in fact add to the vibration from the panels in the worst case.
strategically placed strips of dynamat is all that is required in order to minimise/negative the vibration on the panels - hence reducing the noise being generated.
.

I think MountainbikeMike (where'd he go?) had a lot of info on how much sound deadener to use. Strictly speaking, it's not sound deadener as such, more like vibration damper. Because you are adding mass to a drummy panel it takes a different harmonic to make it vibrate.

[MJKooLio]

Thank you.

[99Reza]

Quick update:

I'm still familiarizing myself with the power delivery, it's very easy to spin the front wheel when I'm too excited with the right foot . The car has enough grunt at lower end that I'm rarely tempted to mash the pedal or maybe i'm just getting old LOL. Power delivery is very linear which is a nice thing for morning traffic.

For the Audiophile, I found the standard system to have a good staging and imaging but lacks body, it's a very good system for what it is. I can imagine that people with Canton update will be extremely happy with the audio system.

The 8 inch Columbus is fantastic, does anyone know how to enable in-motion video? is it even possible?

I've noticed the Bi-Xenon bulb has a very quick burn-in stage, 1-2 seconds to reach full brightness and operating colour temperature. This normally takes about 5 - 10 seconds on say a VW and Merc system. This might explain the difference in brightness and Kelvin colour. It also make sense since the xenon in this car is doing double duty as a hi-beam as well (so does VW), in day time bulbs with shorter burn-in will most likely last longer when operated as hi-beam repeatedly. Nevertheless, I will be looking at alternative bulb to increase the brightness.

Perception about the brand and the car:
I lend my car to my parents (avid Merc owner for the past 15 years) and my cousin (Have had BMW & Range Rover) for a test drive over the weekend, none of them has ever heard of Skoda before. They are extremely impressed with the car. Firstly the appearance of the car, which IMO one of the best looking wagon out there, the solidity/refinement, the way it drives, the performance and the practicality (mom loves the huge boot). Hopefully this is the direction where Skoda is heading.

[Dzl_Dubba]

What tyres on it? Conti's? A change to something more decent, PS3s or F1AS2 should sort it out. You might be able to enable in-motion video through VCDS.

[dArK5HaD0w]

What tyres on it? Conti's? A change to something more decent, PS3s or F1AS2 should sort it out.

nothing wrong with contis.
i was very pleased with conti cs2 that came on my mk2 from the factory.
they lasted me 62,000 kms and was able to let me hit 5.9 secs to sprint to 100, running stage 2+.

i've since put on conti cs5 on. done almost 12,000 kms on these now.

[Dzl_Dubba]

Wasn't happy with them on my mums jetta, but if you're happy with them then it's all good isn't it? Brother runs a ko4 GTI with Goodyear f1s and they do an awesome job of putting the power down.

[readerr0r]

The 8 inch Columbus is fantastic, does anyone know how to enable in-motion video? is it even possible?

Its possible with VCP Pro, not VCDS at the moment. JKU/Audiupgrades can do it, he's at the sunshine coast. Kufatec sell a unit that does it to, but its so expensive you may as well get a VCP cable anyway...

[Antiplastix]

Quick update:


For the Audiophile, I found the standard system to have a good staging and imaging but lacks body, it's a very good system for what it is. I can imagine that people with Canton update will be extremely happy with the audio system.

That's a interesting way of putting it, I found for a $40k car the stereo system is utter crap.

[Benmac]

I don't know of any 40k cars with a great stereo system. Generally you need to add the dynaudio/canton/Bose option. Even then they are such a poor imitation of a home system I don't get what people hope to achieve. Cars are a terrible environment for audio, hard reflective surfaces, near field head positions, huge and varied amounts of extraneous noise. The misinformed often confuse good audio as booming bass.

The canton system by most accounts is good enough. On par with the dynaudio golf upgrade according to some. Pretty good value. Certainly sufficient for a car environment.

[99Reza]

The car comes with conti. I was under the impression conti is a good brand.

readerr0r: thanks for the info, will look into this.

Benmac: Yeah i have given up with audio on the car environment thus im always driving without any music on. No comparison with proper home audio.

Another update, manage to find the bulb type for the bi-xenon, extremely easy to access. The bulb is d3s type, its an expensive bulb, about 300 bucks for the philip xtreme vision upgrade.

[Benmac]

Easy to access as in install?

[donweather]

The car comes with conti. I was under the impression conti is a good tyre.

They are a good tyre. Appears there are better ones when it comes to limiting axle tramping however.

[brad]

That's a interesting way of putting it, I found for a $40k car the stereo system is utter crap.

I'd heard that the entry level sound system had gone backwards from the Mk2 version.

Lets face it, it's in a car & the sound will always be compromised. If you are a true adiophile you'd leave the sound system off all the time.

Compared to the sound systems in the cars my wife gets (top spec Captiva, calaisV, Mondeo, etc) the Skoda unit competes well as a noise producing device.

[99Reza]

Easy to access as in install?

I've only taken off the sealing cap and took a photo the rear of the bulb. I haven't actually attempted to wiggle it out as I haven't purchased the upgraded bulb. I imagine it wouldn't be too hard as there's plenty of space for access.

There is only one cable connector and the actual bulb is attached to the igniter, plenty of grip to wiggle it out.

The photo:

[Dzl_Dubba]

Seems like an easy swap 99reza. Keep us updated if you do the swap. Plenty of comparison pics too please