OCTAVIA III Owners discussion thread

[Mysticality]

Our normal drives are 30+km so I don't think that's going to leave a battery charge issue.

There is a sensor located on the battery, at the negative terminal post - if this sensor detects low battery levels, the Start/Stop system won't activate. Very handy!

[Jondalar]

Yes this is one of the signs of the battery failing, no stop start, that plus longer cranking when it's been unused for a day or two. (My wife's 2014 Golf TDI showed both of these at 2.5 years old).

There is a sensor located on the battery, at the negative terminal post - if this sensor detects low battery levels, the Start/Stop system won't activate. Very handy!

[woofy]

Back when I drove manuals I was taught to put it in neutral, too much wear on the throw out bearing if you're sitting with the clutch in for minutes.

I find the stop start works well with DSG apart from not being psychic, as in there are often times when it stops just as the traffic is about to move. You can try to avoid this by only braking lightly but it doesn't always work. I find that with the engine stopped by the time my foot lifts off the brake and is halfway to the accelerator the engine is running every time. I think it definitely saves a significant amount of fuel in heavy traffic. What I do wish was that there was an override button on the steering wheel so that you can temporarily prevent it engaging by holding the button down. Our normal drives are 30+km so I don't think that's going to leave a battery charge issue.

Cheers,
Karl

I often wonder if these kinds of things are old wives tails. I've had cars last over 150k without new clutches from new and my wife and I both drive them like that. I think my last clutch was a car about 15yrs ago hitting 200k apart from our 2002 Mazda 323 which had a clutch fault repaired under warranty at 70,000 due to a known faulty part. If I'm waiting too long like outside someones house or pulled into a park yes for sure, but not at the lights.

[Jondalar]

Woofy I was told this by my father who amongst other things was an Automotive Engineer and RACQ mechanic with over 30 years experience. Perhaps designs have changed, I know when I did my motorcycle license training a couple of years ago I was taught to always sit in gear at the lights, although there's a bit more chance you may suddenly need to move on a bike.

Cheers,
Karl

I often wonder if these kinds of things are old wives tails. I've had cars last over 150k without new clutches from new and my wife and I both drive them like that. I think my last clutch was a car about 15yrs ago hitting 200k apart from our 2002 Mazda 323 which had a clutch fault repaired under warranty at 70,000 due to a known faulty part. If I'm waiting too long like outside someones house or pulled into a park yes for sure, but not at the lights.

[woofy]

Ah, it could be a very old habit then! My Grandfather owned his own dealership in Sydney with a friend selling the the first Pugs/Renaults and he was the mechanic as was my uncle in later years. So my Dad had been taught all kinds of things that by the time I had my own car were completely redundant....even moreso with EFI knocking out parts but we both learned lots of things passed down were not relevant anymore. Wonder what it says in the manual itself, but would be curious whether anyone who works on these now here knows? It could well be something my Dad did tell me that I ignored years ago or forgot. I don't recall any drive schools teaching it though in the early 90s.

[Jondalar]

I searched the PDF owners manual and there was nothing about using the clutch while stopped at traffic lights, however I did find this regarding the stop start:

For the system-dependent automatic engine shut-down when stopping or at a
standstill to operate, the following conditions must be met.
For vehicles with manual transmission, the shift lever is in the neutral position
and the clutch pedal is not depressed.

Cheers,
Karl

[vEnOm_oz]

Yes, that is exactly how it works with a manual transmission. I do that everyday I drive. Nobody taught me, but I've always put the car in neutral at lights, releasing the clutch and held my foot on the break.

For the system-dependent automatic engine shut-down when stopping or at a
standstill to operate, the following conditions must be met.
For vehicles with manual transmission, the shift lever is in the neutral position
and the clutch pedal is not depressed.

[brad]

Back when I drove manuals I was taught to put it in neutral, too much wear on the throw out bearing if you're sitting with the clutch in for minutes.

That's probably more applicable to cars pre-1970. IIRC some of them used to have "self lubricating" carbon or copper/bronze bearings that would kack themselves if they had too much pressure on them for too long. I haven't seen that setup for a long time. I think the English engineers were fond of it?

I mainly go nuetral / clutch out to stop my leg getting cramped.

I think a lot of the old rules have gone out the window. You were always taught not to coast in nuetral - now the cars do it automatically.

Old cars had tiny exhaust pipes because engines needed back pressure - I still have no idea what that was all about.

Oil changes every 1,500km (I had customers that came in every 2 weeks) - now it's 10,000km+

[Mysticality]

I mainly go nuetral / clutch out to stop my leg getting cramped.

Yes, this. Me too - even in my tiny Up! (with the lightest clutch I've ever driven) Also helps the process feel more formal, so you can choose when and where the engine will switch off; I guess it gives you even more "manual" control over the vehicle.

Old cars had tiny exhaust pipes because engines needed back pressure - I still have no idea what that was all about.

The "pumps" (because its not a smooth flow, its on/off/on/off) of exhaust gas maintaining a certain velocity and "sucking" exhaust out of a cylinder when the valve opens to help clean it out to empty it and get it ready for even more clean air.
Rendered null and void as soon as you add a turbocharger.

[woofy]

Yeah the coasting I was told, and not to sit riding the clutch at lights etc. With hill start there isn't much need for that now. I hired a RS Megane over the weekend just before our Skoda was delivered and those have a really heavy clutch, I did the above many times as it killed my achilles. Could be where this also come from before when clutches were pretty heavy things to deal with. I remember learning how to do steep hill starts in my Dads early 90s Patrol which had effectively small truck gearboxes in them. If you can do that without stalling or rolling back you can drive anything! Ditto for parallel parking in them. I only did a few driving school lessons before my test only to really find any tips or tricks they knew about the testers, and the only thing I picked up there was not wrapping your thumbs in the steering wheel so they don't get broken.

[Jondalar]

Anyone with a diesel Octavia tried one of these? OBD2 Power Box Skoda Octavia III 2.0 TDI 150HP Diesel Chip Performace ver.2 | eBay IF it worked it would be a very subtle and easy way to get a bit more power.

Cheers,
Karl

[Antiplastix]

Anyone with a diesel Octavia tried one of these? OBD2 Power Box Skoda Octavia III 2.0 TDI 150HP Diesel Chip Performace ver.2 | eBay IF it worked it would be a very subtle and easy way to get a bit more power.

Cheers,
Karl

Are you serious ? The only thing it will do is lighten your wallet !

[Mysticality]

Plug and play boxes; no matter how fancy; are far more dangerous than a real ECU tune. Please be careful.

[Ideo]

Haven't read the manual, so may be covered, but my stop start kicks in but it starts back up again 25 seconds or so later without me releasing the brakes etc. Is this normal?

MY16 RS wagon. DSG.

[Mysticality]

Haven't read the manual, so may be covered, but my stop start kicks in but it starts back up again 25 seconds or so later without me releasing the brakes etc. Is this normal?

It starts the engine if it needs it for whatever reason; including:
Charging the battery
Running the A/C
Rebuilding vacuum pressure

How hot is it outside, and how cold is your a/c set to?