RS162 Wagon - New Owner 1st Impressions

[Undecided]

So I finally picked the Wagon! Now, I'll admit there's a lot about the car I still don't know but after driving it for a day (around 100k's) and a mix of city and Hwy driving here's what I've found so far:

-A lot quieter than I was expecting after reading reviews where ppl bagged its NVH. Some even comparing it to the Mazda... and as a Mazda owner, I can tell you first hand this car is MILES ahead in that department. In Eco Mode the Octavia is whisper quiet.

-Suspension definitely not as hard as I thought it would be. Again, reviews online mention it being a bit too busy and too harsh for a family car. God knows what Cadillacs these guys have for a daily driver 'cause if anything I thought the suspension was a bit soft (more on that later).

-Love Love Love Android Auto! How could I live so long without you?? Just need a few more apps but it's clearly on the right track. Being able to just press a button on the steering wheel and dictate/reply to a sms (or Whatsapp) is ridiculously handy! Again, Mazda's infotainment should be ashamed of itself. Only thing I miss is the speed/redlight camera warnings. If there's such an option in the Octavia I haven't found it yet!

-The Canton sound system is good. Not amazing but good. I was expecting a lot more bass/kick for the price. Then again it may be better when listening to a decent CD. I tried mostly radio and Pandora (high quality settings).

- Steering becomes a bit too heavy at speed. Like, unnecessarily so... no deal breaker and I'll probably get used to it. But coming from a car with a great steering feeling, the one on this car feels a bit 'numb' and heavy. The 19" wheels and tires are probably partly to blame so maybe smaller/lighter wheels would fix this.

-Brakes are pretty good. Didn't play much with them to be honest but they seem to be a good match for the power/weight.

-DSG. I had auto cars before but my last car was a manual. This is my 1st DSG vehicle and again, reviews seem to be a lot harsher than what I found in reality. Only real issue is that 'hesitation' when going from brakes to gas... bit annoying when approaching a roundabout for example but seriously, it's nothing. I drove lots and lots of automatic cars that would be a lot worse than this. Gear changes are fast and smooth when you want them to be or fast and violent and you WANT THEM to be! Was expecting Ferrari 355 F1 gearbox bad from what I read on the reviews...

Now, back to suspension. Like I said above, I found it to be very compliant if a bit on the soft side. Especially the front suspension. Car could definitely use a sharper turn in and that becomes obvious when you trailbrake into a corner as it sharpens the front end but then the DSG gearbox hesitates before applying power and you not only lose momentum but cause the car to lose grip when you need it the most. Weight transfer. I can see why so many ppl go for a thicker rear sway bar on these... might have to go down the same route at some stage. I haven't looked into it but someone told me there's a software upgrade you can do to those gearboxes too. Could really use that.

Like I said, these are just my 1st impressions and I have only done like 100 ks on it... so far it's either met or exceed my expectations! I'll be driving it from Sydney to Brisbane in a months time and that'll probably be its real test!


Show off picture of the car whilst it's still clean... it's black. It won't be this clean very often.

[LunchboxVRS]

Firstly if you are in auto mode it will do what it wants. You need to stick it in manual and change gears yourself to get rid of the hesitation. If you keep the revs up and in boost there's no issue. At low rpm it's not the box it's just a little turbo lag. Change down before the corner to keep the revs up and you can turn in and power out the other side. The violent gear changes are mostly fixed with a mount insert.
The software changes some things but really comes into play when you up the torque and the the box to handle more then 400nm.
At $1000 and up it's not the best bang for buck upgrade.

Secondly you can change the steering feel through the vrs button and the individual setting. And you can change it more with vcds.

[Undecided]

Firstly if you are in auto mode it will do what it wants. You need to stick it in manual and change gears yourself to get rid of the hesitation. If you keep the revs up and in boost there's no issue. At low rpm it's not the box it's just a little turbo lag. Change down before the corner to keep the revs up and you can turn in and power out the other side. The violent gear changes are mostly fixed with a mount insert.
The software changes some things but really comes into play when you up the torque and the the box to handle more then 400nm.
At $1000 and up it's not the best bang for buck upgrade.

Secondly you can change the steering feel through the vrs button and the individual setting. And you can change it more with vcds.

Absolutely mate... I tried it on all modes too. The problem is it seems you either need to have it holding a gear at all times (i.e. Sport mode) or you have to deal with the hesitation. Like I said, it's still not bad at all and like you said, you can drop a gear before the corner (even in Eco mode!) and it helps.

I didn't play with the steering yet let alone vcds... I REALLY want to though. There's a ton of stuff I'd like to enable on that thing, like being able to close the boot from inside the car or using the key fob.

Early days still, though. Hopefully the guy who will be installing the tow bar will help me set that up... then again, not holding my breath!

[LunchboxVRS]

Absolutely mate... I tried it on all modes too. The problem is it seems you either need to have it holding a gear at all times (i.e. Sport mode) or you have to deal with the hesitation. Like I said, it's still not bad at all and like you said, you can drop a gear before the corner (even in Eco mode!) and it helps.

I didn't play with the steering yet let alone vcds... I REALLY want to though. There's a ton of stuff I'd like to enable on that thing, like being able to close the boot from inside the car or using the key fob.

Early days still, though. Hopefully the guy who will be installing the tow bar will help me set that up... then again, not holding my breath!

Where in NSW are you. I'm near Liverpool Sydney. Who's doing your towbar? I did mine and a couple other towbar and there are a couple of tricky things with the skoda depending on what brand towbar it is.

Changing steering just via the VRS makes a difference between normal and sport.

[Undecided]

Where in NSW are you. I'm near Liverpool Sydney. Who's doing your towbar? I did mine and a couple other towbar and there are a couple of tricky things with the skoda depending on what brand towbar it is.

Changing steering just via the VRS makes a difference between normal and sport.

I'm in Sydney, near Bankstown. I'm getting the tow bar fitted by the Westfalia's installer, I'm hoping he knows what he's doing as he's their only one in Sydney and it wasn't even cheap.

Also, with the steering, it's just at hwy speeds that I reckon it gets a bit too heavy... I turned off lane assist and it seemed to have helped??? It might just be the placebo effect talking though

[golfage]

Congrats on the new ride!

Looks mint in black, and those 19 inch wheels set it off nicely.

Thanks for your insights and info. This really helps as I am considering a new RS.

Will be interesting to see how it compares against the new RS169.

Congrats again and happy Škodaring


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Undecided]

Congrats on the new ride!

Looks mint in black, and those 19 inch wheels set it off nicely.

Thanks for your insights and info. This really helps as I am considering a new RS.

Will be interesting to see how it compares against the new RS169.

Congrats again and happy Škodaring


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks, mate! The ride on the 19's is surprisingly good... even has me looking at prices for a set springs to drop the car down a bit.

[Spinifex]

Congrats on the new purchase mate, looks very sexy... and a great write-up.

When are you coming up to Brissy? We have a happy-laps/meet-and-greet on Sunday 9th July, if you'll be around.
Lots of us already have OBD11 or VCDS, so if you're around, I'm sure we'll be able to help with any programming you want done

[Undecided]

Oh... Dammit. I'm afraid I'll miss that date! I'll be there around the 20th(?) not too sure but it's the weekend around that date. I race bikes as a hobby because I enjoy pain so much and there's a meeting at Queensland Raceway.

Gf's family is from Qld so it won't be my last visit, that's for sure!

[LunchboxVRS]

I install westfalias for Martin at jku. Have done mine as well. You need to be carful which one they send. Ther was a change from the 2015 towbar to 2016. I learnt the hard way having half installed one then having to swap it. The box is different as well. Martin ended up ordering direct from the factory as the Australian dealer had know idea.
How much is he charging if you don't mind me asking.
I can do it a lot cheaper for cash and even less if you can help as it will take half the time