Re: Audi RS6 53 plate = WANT!

Hey! I like my Skoda!

Reply to
conkersack
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D'oh

Reply to
Vamp

Yes.

No. Dp you have a choice in the matter these days though?

Mostly. But 90% of my driving is in top gear at a cruise so the benefit is limited to me.

Reply to
DervMan

I'll bite...reel me in! Can't understand the first half of this statement when it's coming from a passat driver! Obviously you're not one of the VAG haters who can't get on their the badge engineering antics (have to admit it's being done to death but it certainly works for them). I know that you know the under-skin (and not so under-skin) engineering, so all thats left is the purest and most pathetic badge snobery out there. Very sad Steve. I guess you know of the haldex remapping available for those who want more power to the rear wheels?

And usually I'm on your side for your addiction to fragile Alfas!

Ken (the sane one)

Reply to
Ken (the sane one)

Haldex seems like a good idea to me. At the end of the day, it's only a mid-powered saloon, and a VAG one at that so leading edge handling isn't really necessary, and Haldex is lighter, more economical when cruising cos only the fronts are working, and let's face it, can you really tell the difference - the calculations and power shifting happens that quickly.

Reply to
Iridium

Skoda != Volkswagen. The mechanical bits may be the same, but the stlying and trim is different. The new Octavia is ugly as sin, the old one dull as ditchwater. The less said about the rather odd looking Fabia and ugly Superb the better (B5 Passats looked just *right*, so how Skoda could make essentially the same car so ugly, I'll never know). Don't start me on the quality of interior materials and fit - despite what Skoda owners say, they're more Ford quality than VW inside.

See above.

Or you could just buy a B5 Passat 4-Motion with proper Quattro 4wd for similar money. You could even get a proper engine rather than a turbo

1.8 4-pot.
Reply to
SteveH

Well, with respect Steve, the looks are a subjective thing, so what you may consider ugly as sin, another may consider quite alright. FWIW, I quite like the look of the new Octavia, and like the anonymity of the old one. I'm not too keen at all on the look of the new Passat.

Just out of interest, what is it you have against the Haldex system? (I'm not having a go, I'm genuinely curious).

Cheers.

Reply to
conkersack

Having successfully completed an automotive design course, I can speak with a very modest amount of authority when I say that the Octavia (first series at least, haven't studied a new shape one yet) carries large number of core design dna from the b5 passat and mk4 golf in both body and interior design. Some of the lines have been straightened so as to aid acceptance by the typical customer and to separate it from the vw siblings. As for fit and finish of trim, a lot of parts are straight carry overs (door handles, switch gear etc). On top of this, in typical VAG part bin style, a mk1 vRS has the very same steering wheel and the same seat frame/squabs (runners are different I believe) but with different trim colour as my passat sport. The fact that it hasn't any soft touch plastic will be a bonus by a few years time when it has scratched off the passat's trim

old one slightly less dull than the equivalent golf (at least with the vRS), again I'd guess this is down to the typical clientele

In my mind it's no less odd looking than an Alfa 146

Agreed, the Superb's front treatment looks like a child designed it but the rear is a very effective change considering how few components were adjusted (majorly crap name they gave it though!)

See above....plus aren't ford getting a rep for producing cars of almost Jap reliability these days?

Depends if you want an engine thats easy to tinker with (isn't this a 'modification' news group?)

Ken (the sane one)

Reply to
Ken (the sane one)

I can't comment on the new Octavia, 'cos I've not examined one in any detail. I've looked at old Octavias - the interior looks familiar, but feels like it was made with the kind of plastics usually used by Kia and the like. They're just not as nice a place to sit as the equivalent VW.

The vRS just has the contents of the RipSpeed catalogue thrown at it.

I'd be quite interested in a new Octavia vRS, but only because it's possible I'd be able to have a vRS with DSG for around the same cost as a lower powered Passat. Even then, I'd think twice about it.

*shrugs*

I like the 146. Personal thing, I suppose.

Reliability, maybe, but they still make the interiors out of cracker boxes. May seem a small detail, but it's where VW score over Ford every time.... but, I had a Mondeo Zetec TDCI hire car, complete with the Maserati-esque clock in the dash..... the plastic over the face was of equivalent quality to the toy watches you get in Christmas crackers.

I somehow can't see VW doing that.

Oh, and the door cards visibly flexed when you plonked an elbow on the arm rest.

I'd prefer to start with a better base car, even if it's harder to mod it.

Reply to
SteveH

You must be blind then, because that's what the interior of the current Passat and Golf are like.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Having spent 25k miles behind the wheel of a current Passat, I can safely say you're talking out of your arse.

Reply to
SteveH

I have to say that the interiors of current VWs do nothing for me, new Mondeos and Focii being infinately preferable.

Don't forget, Ford were putting soft-touch stuff in cars *years* before VW. Top spec Mk3 Escorts had soft touch dashboards when the Mk1 Golf dash was built from tupperware tubs.

Besides, Fords are reliable - new VWs aren't.

Reply to
Pete M

I have to say that the interiors of current VWs do nothing for me, new Mondeos and Focii being infinately preferable.

Don't forget, Ford were putting soft-touch stuff in cars *years* before VW. Top spec Mk3 Escorts had soft touch dashboards when the Mk1 Golf dash was built from tupperware tubs.

Besides, Fords are reliable - new VWs aren't.

Reply to
Pete M

Having had them on hire, they are as with all VWs vastly over rated and they don't wear well. Good to see that you're racking up your sales miles in your rep's job.

PS, the coffee's s**te.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Actually I had forgotten that. On the way home this afternoon there was a plume of blue smoke along the dual carriageway. A serious cloud of it. It was still day so it was hanging over the road and was being cuase by a vehicle over a hill and around a bend.

When I caught up with it, it was a 55 VW Passat diesel. That's bloody appalling from a relatively new vehicle.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Octavia, Felicia, and Superb all predate Golf, Polo, and Passat as car names by roughly 30 years. They have much more historical automotive significance.

Pre WW2, the Japanese Emperor bought three original Superbs as official state limos and shipped them to Japan. They were what the Rolls Royce is today.

Reply to
Elder

Your point is?

Lots of 'names' have glorious histories, but it doesn't stop them churning out mediocre s**te today.

It would be like Ford sticking the GT40 badge on a hot Mondeo....

Reply to
SteveH

AH well, it was s**te while i was in Germany as well. So at least it's consistent. BTW, you should probably know that at Fasching each year (that was Shrove Tuesday) it's traditional to address your imemdiate superior at work with "Hau ab und kuss mir im tuchtas!" You should try it tomorrow, better late than never.

Reply to
Steve Firth

I can beat you all. My 1989 Skoda Estelle had a padded vinyl covered dash, when escorts just had hard plastic. Can't get more soft touch than that.

Reply to
Elder

Are you making an assumption that my German is non-existant?

Anyway.... *you* may think the coffee is s**te, but it's the leading brand in Germany with the kind of dominance Nescafe could only dream of in the UK.

Reply to
SteveH

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