[audioholic]

15000kms update
My 1.5 DSG completed 15k kms last month and is already cross 16k kms due to a lot of running over the last month. The ownership has been uneventful except for some creaks that randomly appear from the dashboard and go away on their own mostly due to plastic panels rubbing against each other on rough roads. But it's rare and I do not want to get the ASC guys experiment with the dash which will just make it worse. I will have my own solution to this when I get more comfortable opening up the car and will eliminate these noises.

Apart from that, the car has been an absolute blast to drive and you never get bored of the way it puts down power on the road. Now I have begun to lose the urge to push it all the time and am more sedate, except for a few minutes of fun every drive. Surprisingly, even though I haven't really been slow or careful, FE has tremendously improved. Gone are the days of single digit mileage. I am not sure what happened, but even in traffic the FE crosses 10kmpl mark and this is without even using the Eco mode on the Racechip ECU. I managed to get even 13-14 sometimes and this is not on the highway. In fact on the highway I get lesser mileage since I end up pushing the car hard.





Speaking about the Racechip ECU, I was always curious on the changes it would make to the power output and hence took it to Harmonix for a dyne run. Rahul at Harmonixx also wanted to get some logs and knowledge sharing content so we ended up testing all the modes on the ECU and without the Racechip active.






The results were mixed - In short, the Racechip ECU improved midrange and low end response, but the higher end was not really much different compared to the lowest and the highest setting. Needless to say, my gut feeling was similar when using the Racechip. It improves low end response and the mid range pull. But when pushed hard, it rather feels the same at higher RPMs. Attaching the Dyno results here:





The runs started only at 1500 RPM so there is some delay before the turbo spools up. And the power ratings were pretty on the optimistic side at 162 and 169HP but I was only interested to see the difference since the correction factors of these dynos can vary and the absolute numbers are not a good reference.

This time I checked the oil level after some 5k kms after service and compared to the first 7k kms where it had dipped, it was right at the top mark even though we had some high RPM runs on the Dyno(some 16 runs IIRC). And the oil looks very clear - an indication of how clean these engines are without a bit of darkening due to carbon or other contamination.



My car still has the user manual replacement recall and Airbag software update pending. I haven't got time to visit the service centre yet for the same.

[bhphog]

Originally Posted by audioholic

It improves low end response and the mid range pull. But when pushed hard, it rather feels the same at higher RPMs.

Hey,
The low range seems to have decreased in performance and the mid range and top end seems to be only marginally improved.

In a proper remap in a turbocharged engine, as is in my car, the low end remains the same as stock. It only decreases due to the downpipe however with a stock exhaust, it would be the same as stock.

Curious to understand why this is the case with RaceChip. Any idea?
Also, is this the peak that the engine can generate with stock internals or is it because the stock ECU hasn't been cracked yet?

I'm planning to get the Virtus GT and hence the questions.

With no offence, voiding the warranty for this miniscule gain doesn't seem like feasible.

[chiragjain00000]

I travelled from Pune to bhopal today. The roads were uneven mostly in Maharashtra state. the drive was great except the rattling in cabin.. there is a rattling sound coming from handbrake which is quite loud. Another one from sunglass holder and one more from ac vents on co-driver side. Did anyone else also faced similar noises in cabin and got it fixed by any way.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by bhphog

Hey,
The low range seems to have decreased in performance and the mid range and top end seems to be only marginally improved.

In a proper remap in a turbocharged engine, as is in my car, the low end remains the same as stock. It only decreases due to the downpipe however with a stock exhaust, it would be the same as
With no offence, voiding the warranty for this miniscule gain doesn't seem like feasible.

The reason the low end shows a dip or no improvement is because when the dyno run is started, the car is on a light throttle at 1500RPM with zero boost from the turbo. I could not bring this point up with Rahul as to why the runs are started at 1500RPM. After it begins, the turbo takes a bit to spool up and until it does, the power and torque seems to be on the lesser side. But during actual driving, the low end is very perceivably stronger with the racechip. Probably if the runs begin at 1000Rpm, the graph would be different. This is also evident in the torque curve. The 1.5TSI delivers peak torque already at 1500RPM which the graph doesnt really show. Thats because of less boost.

Regarding the warranty bit, I didnt get your concern. Remove the ECU in ten minutes and there is no clue of it left in your engine bay or any diagnostics. So how is warranty void?

[M-Roc]

Hello,

Have some one replaced the wiper blades. The stock ones are making lot of noise and planning to replace them. Any leads would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Vibhav-Van]

Originally Posted by M-Roc

Hello,

Have some one replaced the wiper blades. The stock ones are making lot of noise and planning to replace them. Any leads would be appreciated.

Thanks

Changed them to Bosch frameless ones which were available at a Shell outlet nearby. They look significantly better than those stock wipers.

[AlokSharma]

Finally took the delivery of the my 1.5 Lava Blue Slavia DSG today. It felt like an eternity after having sold my re-mapped Aspire in August.

Delivery experience
It was a smooth affair as I had taken an off from work today and reached the dealership at around 12 noon. We finalized all the formalities related to the paperwork while the car was in the process of being polished.

Since it is festive season, the dealership had not received the HSRP number plates, so they arranged a normal one which will be replaced by the HSRP one when it arrives in a day or two.

I was handed over all the accessories in the welcome kit and I requested the SC to take me through the basic know how of the MID and Infotainment system. We did a small pooja at the dealership (arranged by them) and were out by 1 pm.

We went straight to the petrol pump as the car had just 30-40 kms of fuel left. XP95 was filled to the brim and we went for a 25-30 kms ride just to have a feel of the car. I was surprised that the auto cutoff happened at around 47 kms where as the fuel tank capacity is 45 litres if I am not wrong. Shifting to a petrol car from a diesel one makes me cringe looking at the XP95 prices

Initial impressions
The car feels well built. Doors close with a good thud. Seats are quite comfortable. The AC is not bad as many people have claimed. I would say it's average. I had kept it at 21 and fan speed at 3 bars and it was pleasant initially and the cabin was cooled completely in 10 mins. We are yet to try the ventilated seats as the seats are still covered in plastics. Music system is above average for the segment and the amplier and bass do a good job. The soundstage is on the brighter side with an emphasis on bass in a good way. The car looks gorgeous in that Lava Blue shade. It has a blu-ish green tinge in the day light and a celestial blue(royal blue) effect during the night. It was worth the extra wait for the colour.

The window roll down motor is a bit noisy. The steering feels super light at low speeds, infact lighter than Aspire. Though it weighs up as you gain speed. Talking of speed, the car picks up speed quite effortlessly and the DSG does a superb job there. The gear shifts are butter smooth. I tried the sports mode on 2-3 occassions and it feels very eager to pick up speed and the steering also weighed up quite nicely.

The initial average that I have got is around 10 kmpl in sparse traffic in Navi Mumbai. I hope it inches up as we move ahead. The wireless charger was disconnecting on couple of occasions, though I haven't paid much attention to what was the issue and will check the same out in the coming days. The auto start-stop is good but a bit on the aggresive side but should aid fuel efficiency in city conditions. The tires are decent but do give out a bit of tyre noise. I will not be changing them till around 40k kms or till they wear out which ever is earlier.

I will be purchasing the SMP package over the weekend and might be going for the enhanced one instead of standard as they cover, brake pads, brake discs and wipers.

The car will undergo a PPF next week. I can't wait to take the car out for a long road trip and we have planned a 15 day one down south in Nov end where the car will be easily driven 3k-4k kms.

Here are some initial pictures.

[AlokSharma]

Day 2: Driving impressions

Drove for around 80-90 kms yesterday. The car puts a smile on my face for the way it pulls even in the normal driving mode. Sports mode will make you grin and the pushback in the seat is addictive. It feels planted through-out. Fuel efficiency completely follows the way one drives. Sedate driving in sparse city traffic gave me around 14 kmpl (MID indication) and as soon as I used sports mode for a 10-12 kms stretch it dropped to 8-10 kmpl.

Ventilated seats in the highest mode is slightly noisy. Ac again is average and takes 10-12 mins at around 20 degrees time to cool if parked in the sun. The whole 80-90 kms drive was between 1 pm to 5 pm in the afternoon and I can sum up that it is not at all as good as compared to say the ac of the Hyundai and the Honda ones but it is not something that will bother me. Wireless Android auto faces frequent disconnections. I will be trying to figure out a way to address the same.

I have ordered the VIOFO 229 plus dashcam and will be receiving it shortly. I will get the same installed post PPF. I will be getting the PPF done at Detailing Dons,Navi Mumbai. I will also be replacing the floor mats as I was told that 3d mats will be provided by the dealership but it looks like a non 3d one . Any suggestions for 3d floor mats, the Pharoah ones are out of stock and I don't want to look at the 7d ones? I will also be looking at seat protectors as I can't put seat covers on the front seats due to the airbags.

Other accesories to be ordered are a car cover (a must), boot organizer, a pet seat cover.

Other observations
I checked the tyre pressure yesterday and all were near 50 psi. Got them down to 33 psi as per the instructions mentioned near the driver door panel. There are no rattling noises that I have come across in the 150-175 kms driving that has been done in the past two days. The powered seats are quite handy to find the perfect driving position. The car horn is a bit of a turnoff. They could have provided the earlier ones atleast. Infact when I requested the accesories guy for the dual tone horn to be installed seperately, I was told that Skoda has requested them to not install the same due to some vibration issues created with the radiator grill. Wierd.

I wanted to drive down to Pune and back just to get the feel of the car on the expressway but will wait it out till I get the full body PPF. It seems like a necessity atleast on the body panels that can be prone to scratches. I had parked the car just outside a restaurant yesterday and at anytime a car used to be parked next to it, I used to be super attentive especially when the passengers open the door. It literally feel like they are trying to see how far a car door can open without paying heed to the car parked besides. Apart from this the stone chippings, the over-enthusiatic two wheelers/rickshaw drivers are making me extremely nervous. The traffic signals are a perfect place for them to play Tetris to gauge how the can fit perfectly between 2 cars with just couple of cms away.

[Shanksta]

It has been exactly 2 months as of today since I took delivery of my Škoda Slavia 1.5 TSI DSG.

I thought I would pen down an update here since I have driven my car for 8762kms in 60 days.

I did a long road-trip to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from Chennai over the past few weeks, which actually contributed to 6577kms of the total running till now.



Observations:

1. Let me begin with what is definitely a major talking point for Slavia owners - The AC. To summarise I have no complaints, it kept us comfortable during our afternoon drives in hot Rajasthan. What I did observe is that the compressor seems to cutoff a lot while driving the car at high speeds continuously. But when cruising sedately at 80-100kmph the AC is nice and cold. A tip I learnt is that in the Slavia when you use the front vents plus footwell vents together the AC feels adequate and comfortable.

2. The placement of the Skoda connected dongle seems like an extreme afterthought. Halfway through my road trip, when we were on a bumpy state highway between Jaisalmer and Jaipur, the dongle just fell out of its place in the driver footwell. Basically the double side tape the dealer used to stick the dongle gave up. How hard would it have been for Skoda/VW to design proper housing where the dongle sits firmly ?

3. The Ceat Secura drive tyres my Ambition variant came with are brilliant. I am thoroughly impressed with their high speed manners (be it sudden lane change, hard braking or even handling the gnarly pothole), they took on everything beautifully. Also setting the pressure to 30psi makes these tyres super comfortable.

4. Brake dust galore ! God knows what material Skoda’s engineers finalised to be used in the front brake pads, these generate brake dust like no other car I have owned previously. After my road-trip I had black alloys in the front and silver alloys in the rear.



5. The brilliant 1.5 TSI and DSG combo ! One word to sum up would be *Explosive*. The way the engine delivers power when you put your foot down is mind boggling, atleast it is to me like me wherein this is the most powerful car I have owned. You close gaps ridiculously fast and the DSG unit just doesn’t hesitate to drop even 2 gears with the engine suddenly singing at 4.5k rpm. I am extremely happy with my choice.

6. There is no tow hook in the rear. At least as far I saw and searched I could not spot it. Can fellow owners confirm this ? Long story short my car got beached in sand while driving from Munabao to Jaisalmer via NH70 aka Bharat mala road outside the village of Sundra. (This experience was crazy though, saved up to be elaborated in my travelogue). Finally had to pop of the tow hook cap in the front bumper and used that end to pull the car out with the help of the kindest human being I have come across. I must be the only person in India to get a Slavia stuck on the highway from Munabao to Jaisalmer.

7. Point no. 6 brings with it two more observations I made, namely the “ESC” and the “tow hook”. In my previous cars there was physical button to deactivate ESC which was helpful. But in the Slavia you have to go into the menu in the infotainment unit to deactivate the same. This is what made me forget to deactivate the ESC which in turn detected slip, brakes the wheel and ensured my car got stuck. Regarding the tow hook, it works like a charm and you need to rotate it anti-clockwise to tighten.

8. Many would be wondering by now regarding the mileage. Let me tell you that the 1.5 TSI + DSG combo is pretty frugal if you are a good boy and not so bad even when you get a bit too enthusiastic behind the wheel. I covered 6577.6 kms totally and filled in 430.06 liters of petrol(91 octane). I got an overall average mileage of 15.29 kmpl, which I felt was respectable for a 150bhp turbocharged petrol engine lugging a 1.2 tonne car. The highest was 17.69 kmpl and lowest was 12.52kmpl, all calculated tankful to tankful.

9. The 180mm of ground clearance really helped and the car did not scrape anywhere except for a really high and monstrous speed breaker in Palanpur, GJ. Luckily no damage and even the scrape as such was really mild.

10. The halogen headlights in the ambition trim felt really good to me. The spread is good at both low and high beam and I found them very comfortable during my early morning highway drives.

11. The 12v socket in the center console that does not stop supplying power after locking the car is a pain. I had to be very conscious to ensure I disconnected my dash cam every single time after turning off the engine, lest I be left with a dead battery.

12. The sunglass holder, water bottles kept in the door pockets, coin left in the glovebox rattle a lot while driving on bad roads and even on good roads that have a bit of a rough texture. This drove me pretty crazy initially but now I have learned to ignore them. The piano black bits on the interior are a scratch magnet.

13. The DSG has a tendency to downshift to D1 at the slightest hint of a rough, muddy or gravely road. It sometimes refuses to upshift to D2 on such patches till it hits 2700rpm. Apart from this the DSG is such a joy to use. It even ensures the correct gear is chosen while driving downhill/down steep slopes to ensure you have engine braking and control.

Overall, this is a mean highway mile muncher. It can keep you super comfortable during long stints behind the wheel. The ride was supple, the NVH really good and the DSG is smooth. Will post more updates, maybe an ownership thread once I complete the first service or 15,000kms whichever is early.

[AlokSharma]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

It has been exactly 2 months as of today since I took delivery of my Škoda Slavia 1.5 TSI DSG.

I thought I would pen down an update here since I have driven my car for 8762kms in 60 days.

I did a long road-trip to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from Chennai over the past few weeks, which actually contributed to 6577kms of the total running till now.

2. The placement of the Skoda connected dongle seems like an extreme afterthought. Halfway through my road trip, when we were on a bumpy state highway between Jaisalmer and Jaipur, the dongle just fell out of its place in the driver footwell. Basically the double side tape the dealer used to stick the dongle gave up. How hard would it have been for Skoda/VW to design proper housing where the dongle sits firmly ?

Around 9000 kms in 60 days. Wow, that is some impressive mile munching . Reading your review is making me super excited for my 3500-4000 road trip down south. The seats are contoured and a bit firm and it is a good thing for those long drives.

What is this Skoda connected dongle? Is it something that one has to buy seperately? And how useful is the same?

Thanks.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by AlokSharma

What is this Skoda connected dongle? Is it something that one has to buy seperately? And how useful is the same?

Thanks.

Hi AlokSharma,

No it is not something you have to buy separately. I see you have bought the Style variant, so definitely your sales consultant must have told you about the MyŠkoda ConnectED app while taking delivery.

This is a dongle that is plugged into a port under the dashboard above the accelerator pedal. If you notice keenly in the night you might observe a light blue coloured light illuminating your accelerator. This is the light from the dongle. This is the part that I mentioned about. This dongle basically facilitates all the data you would see in your app.

Attaching a picture for reference.

[chaitanyakrish]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

I thought I would pen down an update here since I have driven my car for 8762kms in 60 days.

Looking forward for the travelogue.
I have the same color and its a pleasure to drive and I agree with all the points.

[veyron_head]

I am told the new 'style' variant has wireless android auto, electric seat adjustment and subwoofer. They are calling this the '2024 slavia' at the dealership .The current style variant is referred to as the 2023 car.

Now I am getting an on-road quote of 19.3 lacs and 19.6 lacs respectively for the 2023 and 2024 models. This for the 1.0 AT style variant. Is this a good price? The dealer rep tells me he can get another 5k Rs additionally but that would be it. The basic accessories - mats, skoda cushions and rear sunblinds are included.

[RMN]

Originally Posted by AlokSharma

We went straight to the petrol pump as the car had just 30-40 kms of fuel left. XP95 was filled to the brim and we went for a 25-30 kms ride just to have a feel of the car. I was surprised that the auto cutoff happened at around 47 kms where as the fuel tank capacity is 45 litres if I am not wrong. Shifting to a petrol car from a diesel one makes me cringe looking at the XP95 prices

Congrats mate!
One question though, why XP95? It isn't recommended nor does it have any advantage over regular fuel for the Slavia, right?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by RMN

Congrats mate!
One question though, why XP95? It isn't recommended nor does it have any advantage over regular fuel for the Slavia, right?

Its recommended to use 95 octane fuel itself and 91 only in emergency and for light driving. Not sure why you interpreted it otherwise.