Android auto does not seem to be available in India. Wondering how to use mirror link without that.

First of all, my hearty congratulations on your new buy motor_breathing. Looks like you don't want to move out of the brilliant TSI league .

btw, your vRS badly need those CD's back. I will come and pick those some day .

Cheers,
LOTHAR

I think they both are different technology. Android auto is not yet available in india. Mirror link works only on certain Sony, Samsung, HTC phones. You can see the list in mirror link site.

Might be a copy paste mistake. Carplay is not listed in the system. Need to wait and see if its coming in other style plus cars. The BOX would be empty only, its just an SD card reader now.
Thanks. To tell you the truth, Octavia is fast, comfy and convenient, but there is no comparison to the raw feeling of a manual gear box. I don't know whether I will like the automatic in the long run. For the CD's just drop in any time if you pass by this side of Bangalore.

Just went and had a look at the first anniversary edition demo car that arrived at my dealership. Apple car play, Android Auto and Mirror Link all 3 options were available in Smartlink.

Screen is definitely bigger and looks good, start stop button is a good feature to have, keyless entry and exit worked really well and again good feature to have, reverse camera clarity not great but not too bad either and I am in love with the paddle shifters

The sales executive himself was not aware of half the changes and when I asked him about removing the CD player he said that its there in the dash, I had to make him look close to see that its only the dummy panel and the slot is not there and only SD card reader is there.

See below a few pictures that I clicked;

Stupid question of the year

So, the 1.8 TSI is paired with a dry-clutch 7-speed DSG - which has the potential for failure as some experiences have stated

the 2.0 TDI is paired with a wet clutch 6-speed DSG - any idea if this DSG is more / less reliable than the 7-speed above.

I need to make up my mind on this before I start going crazy on the new car / used car debate raging in my head.

Please help.

I got the smart link thing clarified. It indeed plays car play also.
For apple only carplay is there and it will get auto detected when you connect iphone5 or above. For android you can chose one of the connection type.

Attached Thumbnails

 

However, Android auto as well as mirrorlink both are not available in India. Wondering when android auto will be released in India. Wondering how to get over this issue.

Edit: Just watched a video of the mirrorlink functionality. Seems like, there is no need to install any app on the phone.

Can anyone please help with this? Thanks. I am still confused as to what gearbox is mated to which engine on the current Octavia.

1.8 TSI petrol is mated to dry-clutch 7-speed DSG which has a max torque limit of 250 Nm. 1.8 TSi makes 250 Nm across a range of 1250-5000 rpm, which means gearbox is working at its maximum potential.

Being a dry clutch gearbox, there are issues with it when working in hot climate conditions leading to mechatronics failure. Recently they changed the gearbox oil from synthetic to mineral to resolve the issue. Same gearbox is used in Polo 1.2 TSi, Vento 1.2 TSi & 1.5 TDi. VW should have ironed out the issues with it.

The 2.0 TDI is paired with a wet clutch 6-speed DSG. This gearbox is utmost reliable in comparison to 7 Speed DSG. No issues whatsoever.

If you want reliability, 6 Speed wet clutch DSG with 2.0 TDi should be the pick.

If you're looking for reliability, go for a Toyota Corolla. Skoda/VW cars are unreliable not only in terms of gearbox issues, and yes both 6DSG and 7DSG are prone to failures. Lately, the number of failures has reduced. But there is no specific reason for failure till now, Skoda has not given an answer yet as to why the mechatronic caught fire in my car.

If you still want one of the German options, I would suggest you to go for a Jetta TDI Highline MT or DSG. But pls stay away from Skoda till they come up with a solution.

Thanks for your responses. Appreciate the insight. Now on for the hunt..

Adi, any further update on your car's replaced DSG? Is it operating perfectly?

Considering Skoda is selling Polo TSIs like hot cakes plus going to retain the same gearbox on the new Superb 1.8 version, there are huge stakes involved!

No, the maximum torque handling limit for DQ200 transmission is not 250nm, the actual limit is much higher, it is just that for any applications above 250nm VW Group cars come with the older, less efficient, slower but more reliable wet type DQ250 6 speed transmission. This gearbox noways is running at its maximum rated torque handling capacity, just for the sake of long term reliability the more powerful engines are paired with a different transmission that can handle much higher torque.

Do you really think all the engines run at exact 250nm peak, and the transmission will go bust at 251nm? Look at some of dyno figures, cars at times make more power than what the manufacturers declare.

Going by the history of DQ200, I still have doubts regarding long term reliability of this gearbox.

So all other factors being constant, which is the better bet for a normal middle class person looking for an automatic? Or should we totally avoid the VAG DSG s?

For me, with Bangalore traffic, I need an auto. While I am completely happy with the Figo and Vento, both being manual and driving across town for work isn't fun anymore.

In the D1 segment, I really can't find anything that's tastefully done and a bit fun to drive other than the Octavia. I may consider the Jetta but the Octavia just looks plain badass-sexy. Not to mention, the minute I put my money down on the Jetta, they will bring in the new model (that's my permanent luck playing there - just kidding).

At this point, I've started to think it's either this or a used BMW. There are some good ones available in Bangalore and so it will come down to the Skoda reliability concerns vs. the BMW maintenance costs.