Post by Big Blue on Apr 15, 2024 15:34:08 GMT
This time an Octavia Kombi was provided at Flughafen Wien. Auto, diesel, the biggest engine available (I think). They have that Škoda family look, which is no bad thing as they look like cars and offer no pretence about market segment, stylisation or premium-ness.
It also makes a far better job of swallowing luggage than Eva, despite being the class-size below. Not having a boot full of batteries and "plushness" probably helps but does demonstrate some of my following family-car related statements.
Inside it has all the guff modern cars have: cruise control; automatic lights, Apple CarPlay, keyless entry, untold storage etc. It is worth remembering that there was a time not long ago where AirCon was the preserve of Sales Director's car - most middling sector cars now have enough FG for anyone buying a car as white goods, proving that the likes of us that spec all kinds of shite (me....) are simply spoiled 1st worlders with too much budget.
And for those of us (you....) that are still "dials must be circular and show me the revs over which I have no control" (sorry - just kidding) this one had an analogue dash.
I must say I had no real issues with the speedo and can honestly say I never looked at the rev counter once. This is odd for me as a motorcyclist as the biggest, most prominent thing on a bike dash is the rev counter. However the auto box did its thing really well and mated to a pretty muscular diesel lump there were no issues at all with progress.
So good and bad.
Good:
it is fast and gains that speed at a decent rate;
it is unbelievably frugal (I'll do that at the end);
it swallows an entire family and its luggage without even having to slide the boot cover out of the way;
it handles extremely neutrally and gives you confidence to set the cruise at 90(ish) kph on a winding country road and not have to go near the brake pedal;
visibility is excellent; and
cabin noise is quiet enough for the pretty average sound system to not have to overwork itself.
Bad:
Can't say I like the cruise controls on the end of a stalk with the cancel button being a slider on top of the stalk. I use the buttons a lot on Eva and other cars without Voodoo cruise but these are bit fiddly and the cancel slider all too often had me indicating in error (yes: I know I can dab the brakes but that pisses me off as a following driver so I try to avoid it unless I'm actively slowing down);
The seats in Škodas continue to be great and shit in one offering. Lots of adjustability; decent support in places and rubbish elsewhere. I know I'm not the best example having had spinal issues but the way it makes you distribute your weight makes my left knee suffer some agonies and my left hip has also been grateful of the trips to the volcanic spa during the week;
The aircon could be a bit better but as I said, it's a luxury to be glad of when it was 26C and clear skies in April.
The CarPlay not operating via Bluetooth is wanky. I always have a decent pack of cables but plugging in and out is just a PITA; and
The lane assist always defaults to "on" and I hate it. On Country roads I'm sure it's a danger: it would sooner put you in a hedge on the side of the road or kill a cyclist rather than cross the centre dashed lines. As a saving grace this had a single button on the wheel that took you straight to the cancel setting, unlike the last one I had that required me to employ a NASA engineer to find the off setting each and every time I wanted to cancel that stuff.
So as a conclusion: Škoda make the cars the whole of Europe needs and should own by default. They are reliable, well made, well equipped, safe to drive and look like cars as opposed to guppy fish, whales, sex-organs or whatever else designers think the fuck they're creating. This Octavia is probably the default model choice. When I saw the Autogefühl walk round the very newest Superb estate I said it looked to be a preferable proposition to the new 5er Touring in terms of looks, major controls and space. Based on this Octavia experience it's very difficult to come to any other conclusion.
Finally that MPG: 1200kms of mixed driving in a week, into two city centres (Brno and Bratislava - and let me tell you that, as a regular London driver, driving to the centre of Brno a 5 mine walk from the cathedral and just pulling up at the kerb and parking for free as long as I want is little short of the modern-day equivalent of interplanetary travel!), motorway thrashing, village driving, shopping and milling about. 61 mpg, which I find astounding. I am by no means a ballet dancer with the throttle pedal so I can assume much more is achievable. What was more amazing was that the final refill was the OMV on the A4 about 11kms from the airport. From there the car did 44mpg, wholly on the Autobahn. This means that the village, town and milling about stuff was likely into the 80s. Amazing car. Apart from the driver's seat.
It also makes a far better job of swallowing luggage than Eva, despite being the class-size below. Not having a boot full of batteries and "plushness" probably helps but does demonstrate some of my following family-car related statements.
Inside it has all the guff modern cars have: cruise control; automatic lights, Apple CarPlay, keyless entry, untold storage etc. It is worth remembering that there was a time not long ago where AirCon was the preserve of Sales Director's car - most middling sector cars now have enough FG for anyone buying a car as white goods, proving that the likes of us that spec all kinds of shite (me....) are simply spoiled 1st worlders with too much budget.
And for those of us (you....) that are still "dials must be circular and show me the revs over which I have no control" (sorry - just kidding) this one had an analogue dash.
I must say I had no real issues with the speedo and can honestly say I never looked at the rev counter once. This is odd for me as a motorcyclist as the biggest, most prominent thing on a bike dash is the rev counter. However the auto box did its thing really well and mated to a pretty muscular diesel lump there were no issues at all with progress.
So good and bad.
Good:
it is fast and gains that speed at a decent rate;
it is unbelievably frugal (I'll do that at the end);
it swallows an entire family and its luggage without even having to slide the boot cover out of the way;
it handles extremely neutrally and gives you confidence to set the cruise at 90(ish) kph on a winding country road and not have to go near the brake pedal;
visibility is excellent; and
cabin noise is quiet enough for the pretty average sound system to not have to overwork itself.
Bad:
Can't say I like the cruise controls on the end of a stalk with the cancel button being a slider on top of the stalk. I use the buttons a lot on Eva and other cars without Voodoo cruise but these are bit fiddly and the cancel slider all too often had me indicating in error (yes: I know I can dab the brakes but that pisses me off as a following driver so I try to avoid it unless I'm actively slowing down);
The seats in Škodas continue to be great and shit in one offering. Lots of adjustability; decent support in places and rubbish elsewhere. I know I'm not the best example having had spinal issues but the way it makes you distribute your weight makes my left knee suffer some agonies and my left hip has also been grateful of the trips to the volcanic spa during the week;
The aircon could be a bit better but as I said, it's a luxury to be glad of when it was 26C and clear skies in April.
The CarPlay not operating via Bluetooth is wanky. I always have a decent pack of cables but plugging in and out is just a PITA; and
The lane assist always defaults to "on" and I hate it. On Country roads I'm sure it's a danger: it would sooner put you in a hedge on the side of the road or kill a cyclist rather than cross the centre dashed lines. As a saving grace this had a single button on the wheel that took you straight to the cancel setting, unlike the last one I had that required me to employ a NASA engineer to find the off setting each and every time I wanted to cancel that stuff.
So as a conclusion: Škoda make the cars the whole of Europe needs and should own by default. They are reliable, well made, well equipped, safe to drive and look like cars as opposed to guppy fish, whales, sex-organs or whatever else designers think the fuck they're creating. This Octavia is probably the default model choice. When I saw the Autogefühl walk round the very newest Superb estate I said it looked to be a preferable proposition to the new 5er Touring in terms of looks, major controls and space. Based on this Octavia experience it's very difficult to come to any other conclusion.
Finally that MPG: 1200kms of mixed driving in a week, into two city centres (Brno and Bratislava - and let me tell you that, as a regular London driver, driving to the centre of Brno a 5 mine walk from the cathedral and just pulling up at the kerb and parking for free as long as I want is little short of the modern-day equivalent of interplanetary travel!), motorway thrashing, village driving, shopping and milling about. 61 mpg, which I find astounding. I am by no means a ballet dancer with the throttle pedal so I can assume much more is achievable. What was more amazing was that the final refill was the OMV on the A4 about 11kms from the airport. From there the car did 44mpg, wholly on the Autobahn. This means that the village, town and milling about stuff was likely into the 80s. Amazing car. Apart from the driver's seat.
