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Going well, ope126.
I'm slowly getting across the differences with my previous 191V6 sedan. There are many.
First I noticed was on sitting in the vehicle. The wheel well doesn't intrude into the cabin like the 3T, so the pedals are not offset to the left & much easier, less tiring on a long drive requiring a lot of on/off driving. The brakes are very good, not as 'savage' as the old V6.
First thing I did, before leaving the dealership was to set the suspension mode to 'Individual' > set sports handling, but all else left as 'normal'. I find the 'comfort' mode reminiscent of a 1960s yank tank & 'normal' too pitchy, front to rear, on our less than smooth roads.
I find that setup gives very good handling, slightly softer than my old V6.
I'm a big bloke, so the new seats are an enormous improvement. Seat cooling actually works. You can feel the fan driven air passing through the seat. For me, the seats are much better than those in the 3T. They are wider. I no longer have the right side plastic hard on to my right hip. The visibility all around is vastly better, especially to the rear & right quarter when entering an intersection.
The car feels no bigger than the 3T on the road; I don't feel any change needed to those stupid 'traffic calming' chicanes which litter suburban streets around me. Those chicanes also confuse the car's collision avoidance, lane & traffic jam assist sensors, as do some lane marking. A funny experience while trying those out saw the car wanting to turn left instead of go straight ahead on a stretch where old & new lane marking marking were clearly visible. The steering take a few kilometres to get used to. It is lighter & lacks the direct feel of the 3T, but I've adjusted fairly quickly.My view is Traffic jam assist probably works very well on well marked major roads with heavy traffic, but you'd be brave to trust it on anything less.
With the Cruise Control, speed limiter & Adaptive CC all work well, but I find the placement of this third lever in front of the steering wheel, below the blink lever, awkwardly placed. Will need time to get used to. As with all cruise controls, sudden steep rises can catch these smaller 4cylinder engines short of torque if the car enters the rise at lower revs/longer gear. I drops out quite easily.
The 206 engine has good response on its own for suburban driving & responds fantastically if you hit the loud pedal. In making a quick right turn across three lanes of oncoming traffic the car responded beautifully on all fronts. I felt no turbo lag or hesitation in the DSG & the rear end traction excellent. The power from the 206 was such as the car turned, it easily spun the back wheels for a brief moment, before traction control responded. In my opinion this 206 turbo tsi engine responds better than the R36 V6, if you need it to go harder.
One thing I have disabled is the stop/start engine mode. It works well, but it is sometimes tardy starting & driving the DSG. Where this really shows up is if you are at a quick changing set of lights. By the time it responds, the driver behind is blowing the horn in frustration at running out of time to turn. As far as fuel consumption goes, too early to have an opinion, but the fuel gauge has hardly moved since delivery. The old V6 would be needing over half a tank by now!
I had reservations about the Pirelli P7s on the 4x4. Their small block tread pattern appeared a recipe for rear end tyre noise. NOT SO, properly inflated at about 37psi anyway. The is clearly less road & tyre noise in this car than the 3T 4x4. I talk about the 4x4, because it was always the rear end which generated mind numbing resonant noise in the cabin of the 3T 4x4, unless you had Contisport3 or Michelin PS3 on it. I've had the car on a variety of road surfaces now & there is minimal noise from road or tyres.
The car's size is only realised when I put it in my garage. It is as wide & longer than my earlier XR8 Ford. The power hatch gave me a real uppercut the first time I opened it & found the the gap between rear & garage door insufficient for me to get out of the way.
I have to mention spare parts or dealer fitted accessories. There aren't any. My dealer couldn't get the right mudflaps from Skoda. They'd sent out the old 3T jobs. I rang another Skoda dealer on Friday to enquire about the mudflats, a spare Phoenix alloy. He confirmed there is nothing yet available in Australia. So, don't run over a curb & damage one of your road wheels.
All in all, this car is a huge leap forward on the 3T. It is everything I hoped it would be. In my opinion, Skoda has responded to the shortcomings of the 3T & fixed them all. The only thing which I hate is, not having a proper spare tyre in the boot. Australia is not Europe. Our suburban & country roads are crap & if you drive in the country often, you are a lot more than 80ks from a tyre dealer stocking a 235/40-19" P7.
I'm slowly getting across the differences with my previous 191V6 sedan. There are many.
First I noticed was on sitting in the vehicle. The wheel well doesn't intrude into the cabin like the 3T, so the pedals are not offset to the left & much easier, less tiring on a long drive requiring a lot of on/off driving. The brakes are very good, not as 'savage' as the old V6.
First thing I did, before leaving the dealership was to set the suspension mode to 'Individual' > set sports handling, but all else left as 'normal'. I find the 'comfort' mode reminiscent of a 1960s yank tank & 'normal' too pitchy, front to rear, on our less than smooth roads.
I find that setup gives very good handling, slightly softer than my old V6.
I'm a big bloke, so the new seats are an enormous improvement. Seat cooling actually works. You can feel the fan driven air passing through the seat. For me, the seats are much better than those in the 3T. They are wider. I no longer have the right side plastic hard on to my right hip. The visibility all around is vastly better, especially to the rear & right quarter when entering an intersection.
The car feels no bigger than the 3T on the road; I don't feel any change needed to those stupid 'traffic calming' chicanes which litter suburban streets around me. Those chicanes also confuse the car's collision avoidance, lane & traffic jam assist sensors, as do some lane marking. A funny experience while trying those out saw the car wanting to turn left instead of go straight ahead on a stretch where old & new lane marking marking were clearly visible. The steering take a few kilometres to get used to. It is lighter & lacks the direct feel of the 3T, but I've adjusted fairly quickly.My view is Traffic jam assist probably works very well on well marked major roads with heavy traffic, but you'd be brave to trust it on anything less.
With the Cruise Control, speed limiter & Adaptive CC all work well, but I find the placement of this third lever in front of the steering wheel, below the blink lever, awkwardly placed. Will need time to get used to. As with all cruise controls, sudden steep rises can catch these smaller 4cylinder engines short of torque if the car enters the rise at lower revs/longer gear. I drops out quite easily.
The 206 engine has good response on its own for suburban driving & responds fantastically if you hit the loud pedal. In making a quick right turn across three lanes of oncoming traffic the car responded beautifully on all fronts. I felt no turbo lag or hesitation in the DSG & the rear end traction excellent. The power from the 206 was such as the car turned, it easily spun the back wheels for a brief moment, before traction control responded. In my opinion this 206 turbo tsi engine responds better than the R36 V6, if you need it to go harder.
One thing I have disabled is the stop/start engine mode. It works well, but it is sometimes tardy starting & driving the DSG. Where this really shows up is if you are at a quick changing set of lights. By the time it responds, the driver behind is blowing the horn in frustration at running out of time to turn. As far as fuel consumption goes, too early to have an opinion, but the fuel gauge has hardly moved since delivery. The old V6 would be needing over half a tank by now!
I had reservations about the Pirelli P7s on the 4x4. Their small block tread pattern appeared a recipe for rear end tyre noise. NOT SO, properly inflated at about 37psi anyway. The is clearly less road & tyre noise in this car than the 3T 4x4. I talk about the 4x4, because it was always the rear end which generated mind numbing resonant noise in the cabin of the 3T 4x4, unless you had Contisport3 or Michelin PS3 on it. I've had the car on a variety of road surfaces now & there is minimal noise from road or tyres.
The car's size is only realised when I put it in my garage. It is as wide & longer than my earlier XR8 Ford. The power hatch gave me a real uppercut the first time I opened it & found the the gap between rear & garage door insufficient for me to get out of the way.
I have to mention spare parts or dealer fitted accessories. There aren't any. My dealer couldn't get the right mudflaps from Skoda. They'd sent out the old 3T jobs. I rang another Skoda dealer on Friday to enquire about the mudflats, a spare Phoenix alloy. He confirmed there is nothing yet available in Australia. So, don't run over a curb & damage one of your road wheels.
All in all, this car is a huge leap forward on the 3T. It is everything I hoped it would be. In my opinion, Skoda has responded to the shortcomings of the 3T & fixed them all. The only thing which I hate is, not having a proper spare tyre in the boot. Australia is not Europe. Our suburban & country roads are crap & if you drive in the country often, you are a lot more than 80ks from a tyre dealer stocking a 235/40-19" P7.
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