Choices - doing my head in.

[brad]

Hi All

I've made a couple of posts but thought I'd ask for forum consensus.

Currently looking at Octavia. Tight-arse side of me says 1.8T manual liftback. Revhead & practical side of me says 2.0T manual RS wagon.

Skoda will be #2 car. Wife drives a 7 seat wagon & we drive it most of the time. My current car is a '98 Golf Cabrio with a suprisingly strong 2.0 8-valve & 5 speed manual. My regular commute is 45km each way - 80% on motorway.

Previous car was a '97 Liberty RX 2.5 auto AWD sedan with suspension mods - it was a nice car. Prior to that I had a Nissan U13 2.4 Auto Bluebird sedan - which was even better than the Subaru.

All these sedans have given me the dirts as the boot never quite opens big enough to throw in computer monitors, TVs, etc but I'm not sure I really need a wagon with the wifes car available. Liftback drivers - does the load space do the job you need it to?

As a price indication, Skoda has offered me (depending on the body/model) between 60%-80% more trade-in on the Golf than what VW has offered me on a Golf GT Sport diesel. My specification is car + metallic paint + sunroof and change over figures are:

• 1.8T Elegance Liftback = $20850
• 1.8T Elegance Wagon $24350
• RS Liftback = $25120
• RS Wagon $28620

As you can see, the pricing on the Liftback is pretty sharp. Do you reckon there is more than $4k extra value in the RS package? (I'm thinking there might be) +2" wheels, suspension, better brakes, sportier seats... what else?

Also what type of fuel usage are you getting? Overall & highway running (100-130kmh type speeds?) Dealer is telling me 7.7L/100 for the 1.8T & 8.4L/100km for the 2.0T)

Thanks for your help

[nj018]

I believer the difference in load space is only 30L between the Liftback and Wagon. That is only 15 bottles of 2L coke is how I picture it. Don't know about you, I cannot see myself ever stuff the boot that full that I require that little bit more...
The RS vs 1.8T is much harder to decide.
Running cost for 1.8T is lower on price, fuel and rubber as well don't forget.
However the grin and look factor in the RS makes it a very hard call...
I would probably go for the 1.8T spend extra on getting a remap and 20".

[gregozedobe]

Disclaimer: I bought an RS wagon, so I might be thought to be slightly prejudiced

If you want to cart tall loads, the wagon does have significantly more height in the load area, particularly towards the rear (but both have a very large "boot").

After test driving both I quite liked the 1.8 motor, but the RS definitely has more squirt when you get serious.

The RS had more supportive seats and sportier seats and suspension (more responsive steering), as well as a bit more std kit. Tyres for the RS will cost more to replace (18").

The wagon has much better side/rear vision than the hatch (I was surprised at the difference).

Take them for a decent test drive, as only you can decide whether the extra money for an RS and/or wagon is worth it or not.

Can't help you with fuel economy figures, as I only got it last friday.

If you do a significant amount of night driving I find the Xenons are good (pity they are low beam only though )

[brad]

Yeah, I was looking at it as 2 drums of commercial cooking oil.

Sales lady is going to lend me a demo vRS wagon overnight next week.

vRS is hawtness but 1.8T for slightly less than weekly lease fee as a Mazda3 diesel is very appealing to the hip pocket. Also, I keep wondering how long the 18" wheels will last at my place of work >insert western suburbs of SYD stereotype here<

[Fredescu]

All these sedans have given me the dirts as the boot never quite opens big enough to throw in computer monitors, TVs, etc but I'm not sure I really need a wagon with the wifes car available. Liftback drivers - does the load space do the job you need it to?

Absolutely. I was looking at different cars for ages and had my heart set on a wagon, but there was a liftback ex demo at a great price that I ummed and ahhhed over for a while before I finally pulled the trigger.

560L is massive, much bigger than the compact SUVs and small/medium wagons I was looking at. The hatch opening is huge, and something to look out for when you first open it inside. I nearly hit the beams in the roof of my garage. I would have if I parked a bit further forward. One annoying thing is the grooves on the roof seem to direct the water right into your boot, so be careful when opening in the rain. I'd say unless you're carrying items that are specifically very tall, you won't find yourself wanting for space in the back of the liftback.

[mrx]

Also what type of fuel usage are you getting? Overall & highway running (100-130kmh type speeds?) Dealer is telling me 7.7L/100 for the 1.8T & 8.4L/100km for the 2.0T)

I can't say for the 1.8T, but the figures are a bit ambitious for the RS. I get more like 9.5 - 10.5l/100km around town and 8.4 ish cruising on the highway. Still very good for the performance though.

[brad]

Ordered my car on Thursday.

1.8T M6 Elegance Liftback.
Red with Onyx cloth
Floormats F&R
Continental or Dunlop tyres (I think the Bridgestones are too touring orientated)
Asked for the underbonnet insulation to be bought
getting tint done by a place I had my last car done at.

[rym]

Congrats! Yeah, the bridgestone turanza er300 is touring focus... breaks traction too easily for the 1.8T, need to change my driving to get around this.

How much is the underbonnet blanket? I'm going to get one also, been meaning to for sometime but haven't got to it yet.

[brad]

Congrats! Yeah, the bridgestone turanza er300 is touring focus... breaks traction too easily for the 1.8T, need to change my driving to get around this.

How much is the underbonnet blanket? I'm going to get one also, been meaning to for sometime but haven't got to it yet.

The company pool car (astra wagon) has Turanza e300 and it has some very strange handling characteristics - understeers into a corner & oversteers at the apex. I'm sure it's a mismatch between chassis, suspension tune & tyres but the Turanza e300 don't impress me at all.

Not sure how much the underbonnet thing is yet. It's supposed to be part of the deal. I told the saleslady to put it in the boot & I'll fit it.

[rym]

Brad, remember that it should come with clips. Just in case the salesperson isn't aware. Will save you another trip to pick them up...

Turanzas are ok for touring... perhaps ok for the 1.9 diesel. But, I think the 1.8T should come with stickier rubber. The torque just overwhelms the front drive setup with this engine... this is without any intention of traffic light drags. The grip goes and the traction control kicks in regularly.

[brad]

Choices are ContiSportII or Dunlop Sport 01.

The contis are great tyres but wear out quickly. A mate that works for MB reckons they have a lot of vibration problems because they flatspot very easily.

The Dunlops get some great write-ups for quietness & reasonable grip but the quietness is always a dice-throw on course-chip Aussie roads.

I'll be happy with either.

They saleslady actually commented that if she had to, she would remove a unit from one of the cars on the lot & buy new clips to attach it, so she's switched on. I get the feeling that they might find a damaged insulation pad on one of the demo cars & have it replaced under warranty

[CanberravRS]

I can't say for the 1.8T, but the figures are a bit ambitious for the RS. I get more like 9.5 - 10.5l/100km around town and 8.4 ish cruising on the highway. Still very good for the performance though.

Dude, you must be a RIGHT FOOT champion.. lol.. i thought i was a leadfoot.

Avg around Canberra is 8.6l/100klm and on the highway im averaging between 6.9 and 7.2

Mind you if you dont warm it up before driving your fuel consumption figures are skewed as the car dumps fuel heavily to warm up if you dont idle warm up... takes ages to bring that high figure down.

[mrx]

By around town I really do mean around town. Lots of very short stop start trips, without hanging about - traffic lights instead of big roundabouts also probably makes a bit of difference.

My highway driving does usually involve a fair bit of booting it past people who refuse to travel above 90 in a 110km/hr speed zone also.

[Splashalot]

The contis are great tyres but wear out quickly. A mate that works for MB reckons they have a lot of vibration problems because they flatspot very easily.

Brad you sly ol dog!! Congrats.

Your MB mate is correct - I've had slight flat-spot issues on both the Alfa's CCS1 & GTI's CCS2's. The flat spots tend to disappear after 10 mins of driving, though.

Wear is OK on both CCS1s and 2s. The Alfa's CCS1s were ~1mm off the wear indicators at 40,000kms when we traded it, and so far the GTI's tyres look like they'll be good for 40,000kms at least. Except for the ridiculous price I'd not hesitate to fit CCS2s.

SS

[brad]

Brad you sly ol dog!! Congrats.

Your MB mate is correct - I've had slight flat-spot issues on both the Alfa's CCS1 & GTI's CCS2's. The flat spots tend to disappear after 10 mins of driving, though.

Wear is OK on both CCS1s and 2s. The Alfa's CCS1s were ~1mm off the wear indicators at 40,000kms when we traded it, and so far the GTI's tyres look like they'll be good for 40,000kms at least. Except for the ridiculous price I'd not hesitate to fit CCS2s.

SS

Hey Steve
I thought you knew my heart/wallet had been pierced by a winged arrow?

Yeah the MB guy is KT the valuer.

The dealer finally received the order off the lease company today - she was starting to have kittens due to end of month.

She said it should be ready by next Friday, I told her not to hurry as I'm going out West for the first week of the school holidays & don't want to take the new car & want to write it up (for FBT) as unavailable. So it will be middle of July before I get it.

Currently going through the "buyer regret" phase where you keep getting info from the lease company & it all looks more than you estimated Also suddenly seeing some quite nice looking late model Commodores for $11k at various dealerships.

Noticed Jeff over here too but haven't been able to work out berts non-de-plume. Hopefully none of the kids from C&I will ever buy a VAG vehicle.

I drove jeffs flappy paddle GTI at the cruise the other week. First I got stuck on the verge of the road, then when coming back I just kept hitting the downshift button like on the Captiva - unlike the Captiva it kept changing until it was bouncing off the rev-limiter The flappy paddles weren't for me.

This Skoda area is vewy, vewy quiet. They also seem to stay on topic (no offense Skoda guys - just an in-joke between a couple of old mates)