[audioholic]

Was able to do this adaptation using VCDS that has improved the AC cooling especially the time taken to cool down the car. However too early to comment on performance in hot weather. It is an adaptation that controls how aggressive the cooling and blower must be. Default setting is moderate tuning and I changed it to cold tuning - more air.

[audioholic]

Happy to confirm that the chillness of the AC has improved vastly. Now with AC Set to 22 deg, the cabin still feels cold. Earlier during day time if I had occupants sometimes my dad would slide down the temperature all the way to 19 or lower. Thats no longer required. Hopefully this would work well even during the summer months or until Skoda fixes this issue.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Was able to do this adaptation using VCDS that has improved the AC cooling especially the time taken to cool down the car. However too early to comment on performance in hot weather. It is an adaptation that controls how aggressive the cooling and blower must be. Default setting is moderate tuning and I changed it to cold tuning - more air.
Attachment 2348298

Attachment 2348299

[FrAgile]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Happy to confirm that the chillness of the AC has improved vastly. Now with AC Set to 22 deg, the cabin still feels cold. Earlier during day time if I had occupants sometimes my dad would slide down the temperature all the way to 19 or lower. Thats no longer required. Hopefully this would work well even during the summer months or until Skoda fixes this issue.

Has this setting affected other parameters such as the mileage of the car, the performance or lag? If any change observed, it might be a delta change and not much if I am not wrong.
How easy/difficult it is to use VCDS and what device or software is used to take control of the ECU settings?

[amit1agrawal]

Good Find! Now Skoda already has the solution to the AC problem. Maybe they tuned it conservatively to maximize the fuel efficiency.
Will this void the warranty?
In Bangalore weather, I didn't find the AC lacking in cooling though it's not a chiller. I Normally set it to 23-25 & it works well for me. If somebody is sitting in the rear seat then a degree or two fewer works. We have been to Thiruvanamallai in TN, where the outside temperature was 35+, and we found AC to be satisfactory. Note: I keep Engine activation/deactivation switched off ALL the time.
However, I do feel that rear AC vents alone will not circulate enough air to rear passengers. My Fiat Linea had AC vents under the front seats also. The front passengers get 4 AC vents whereas the rear passengers get only 2! I think all car manufacturers should provide 4 AC vents in the rear too.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Happy to confirm that the chillness of the AC has improved vastly. Now with AC Set to 22 deg, the cabin still feels cold. Earlier during day time if I had occupants sometimes my dad would slide down the temperature all the way to 19 or lower. Thats no longer required. Hopefully this would work well even during the summer months or until Skoda fixes this issue.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by amit1agrawal

Maybe they tuned it conservatively to maximize the fuel efficiency.
Will this void the warranty?
In Bangalore weather, I didn't find the AC lacking in cooling though it's not a chiller. I Normally set it to 23-25 & it works well for me.

In my case, I had never kept the AC above 21 since it was just not sufficient irrespective of the external condition. If I had passengers then they would complain especially at the back and I would turn it down to 18 or so. Yet the AC would just do its job of cooling the cabin. Now the AC can stay at 22-23 and the cooling has been sufficient. This is in traffic where the engine does not rev higher for longer times. In moving traffic the Chill factor was there earlier as well.

Originally Posted by FrAgile

Has this setting affected other parameters such as the mileage of the car, the performance or lag? If any change observed, it might be a delta change and not much if I am not wrong.
How easy/difficult it is to use VCDS and what device or software is used to take control of the ECU settings?

I cant comment about FE since the FE was always single digit in city traffic and it remains to be. Technically the VCDS changes for coding can be reversed, hence it should not void warranty unless I walk in with an AC issue with this hack still present. Compared to this, if we try to flash the car with a new software, that increments the flash counter and is easily detectable. All that is needed is a VCDS cable and the software on a laptop.

What is a noticeable change now is that the AC doesnt let the start stop work so aggressively as before(which I was anyway annoyed about). The compressor runs for a longer duration and hence blocks engine shut down. During prolonged stops, ie while waiting for someone and car is in P, the engine would not turn on due to AC demand. Now it turns on every few minutes, cools the cabin down and then shuts down.

[audioholic]

Update on the AC tweak:
Since its almost a week since I did the tweak to the AC, let me conclude the results of the experiment briefly:

• AC now has the chill factor which was absent earlier
• Not much of a difference in FE. As usual it is very sensitive to driving style but my office commute is returning the same FE as earlier. It just takes a bit more time for the FE after start to reach 9-10kmpl since the AC is cooling better in the start. This is only if driving in narrow roads with lot of slowing down. On open roads the FE difference is not noticeable
• Biggest difference is in sunny weather. Earlier the cooling in sunny weather was not sufficient and now the blower throws chilled air irrespective of traffic conditions. Blower speed however never climbs above 2-3 levels in auto mode
• Have never had to reduce temperature below 22 deg C nor switch to manual AC as before.

So in all, its time for me to forget that the AC cooling was not that effective as my other cars. Perhaps a step below my Crysta, but that car has an industrial AC to cool such a big cabin and a much bigger engine .

In other news, I was annoyed with the wheel nut caps falling off when going over potholes at high speeds. Also, the nut caps would hold water in the edges which would cause hard water spots. The solution? Thank god for VW and part sharing. Got the caps from the VW sibilings which completely cover the wheel nut wells.

[amit1agrawal]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Update on the AC tweak:
Since its almost a week since I did the tweak to the AC, let me conclude the results of the experiment briefly:

• AC now has the chill factor which was absent earlier
• Not much of a difference in FE. As usual it is very sensitive to driving style but my office commute is returning the same FE as earlier. It just takes a bit more time for the FE after start to reach 9-10kmpl since the AC is cooling better in the start. This is only if driving in narrow roads with lot of slowing down. On open roads the FE difference is not noticeable
• Biggest difference is in sunny weather. Earlier the cooling in sunny weather was not sufficient and now the blower throws chilled air irrespective of traffic conditions. Blower speed however never climbs above 2-3 levels in auto mode
• Have never had to reduce temperature below 22 deg C nor switch to manual AC as before.

S

Makes me wonder what made Skoda configure the AC conservatively . This also fixes the really irritating engine start/stop system. I would ask the service center to change it if they allow it ( though I am not having any complaints with AC). The Engine S/S system stops the engine even when going over a speed breaker, then immediately realizes it was a mistake & starts the engine. One day I didn't switch it off and after driving in bumper-bumper traffic, the battery voltage dropped and was in the yellow zone. I decided never to that again; In fact I am fine even if this 'feature' was not available.
The 2-cylinder mode (or Eco Mode) is really a nice thing. It really improves fuel efficiency & is a boon in moving city traffic; I keenly watch the mileage.
1500 kms done on Janmashtami. I am waiting to reach the 2k milestone to unleash this beast

[audioholic]

VCDS Tweaks:
Finally completed whatever tweaks I had thought of doing through VCDS in my Slavia. I had some issues accessing BCM earlier due to which I could not make some changes. But here is the final list of changes I have done module wise:

• 01 -Engine - No modifications done
• 02- Auto Trans - No modifications done
• 03- ABS Brakes - No modifications done
• 05- ACC/Start Auth - No modifications done
• 08- Auto HVAC:
  1. Switched AC running mode to more air flow and cooler evaporator temperatures Result: Has resolved AC issue completely, now I only set AC between 22-23.5 even on the hotter days with co-passengers. Havent used manual mode nor taken temperature below 21 after this mod.
  2. Enabled Fan speed display in auto mode Result: Just a cosmetic indication for reference, and usually stays at level 2, unless when hot and sunny outside. This is useless.
• 09- Cent. Elect.:
  
  1. Lane change indicator now flashes five times instead of three
  2. Tear wiping of front wiper enabled. After washing the windshield, the wiper sweeps thrice, and then twice after a few seconds and once finally. I always wanted this.
  3. Lots of other options are there but I did not tweak further since I am only doing the ones I need.
• 17- Instruments:
  1. Most importantly deleted 80 and 120kmph speed alarms
  2. Was able to change the theme colour as I mentioned earlier
  3. Enabled Volume to refuel, though it indicates in multiples of 5L only - Just a random reference I sometimes check to see how much fuel I already burnt since the last visit to the petrol bunk
  4. Enabled steering angle display - Of course this is just fancy info that I have never used
• 44- Steering assist:
  1. Steering assistance is now dynamic. Earlier it was set to follow the set driving mode(which in the first place cant be changed in the car). It has really improved the steering feel and the excessive lightness in the steering is gone. This has been the most functional change I have done. The steering is still very light at low speeds and in the initial few degrees of turning. After that it weighs up very nicely and gets harder especially as speeds increase. What is also very noticeable is that the steering assistance is now precise to the point you want to turn and not excessive as before. Hence this along with the upgrade to Vredesteins have completely changed the steering response.
• 47- Sound System(amplifier):
  1. Changed amp tuning to Dynaudio. But that hardly has made any difference to the sound output. I use Apple carplay with Lossless music all the time. So not sure what this exactly did.
• 5F- Information Elec.(Head unit):
  1. Enabled display of start stop status(On/Off) but still figuring out how to enable control also instead of the switch placed on the passenger side of the gear shifter.
  2. Enabled display of boot open status - Again figuring out if boot open from this button is possible.

So thats it for now, but it has been an amazing tweaking experience with VCDS and would definitely explore more.

[Piyush Kanthak]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Finally completed whatever tweaks.

Do these tweaks affect warranty in anyway?
Can you access the window close feature on locking the vehicle?
What tweaks can be done to the engine? Does it increase the performance?
Can we access the features which are present in the international models?
Can we enable safety features too?
Can we modify or add features?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Do these tweaks affect warranty in anyway?
Can you access the window close feature on locking the vehicle?
What tweaks can be done to the engine? Does it increase the performance?
Can we access the features which are present in the international models?
Can we enable safety features too?
Can we modify or add features?

These changes are reversible without leaving a trace of the changes that had been done. This is not flashing a new software into the ECU which will increment a flash counter and that can be detected by the dealer. Hence, I am not worried about warranty issues. If at all there is a problem with the component I tweaked, I will roll back the changes and then go the ASC. Even otherwise, unless they read the individual adaptations and compare it with another car, it is not possible to detect changes except the change in speedo colour and things like that.

Window open and close feature is present but I did not enable it since I hardly open the window and that too only driver side window can be controlled using the remote. Hence did not enable it.

One tweak I know about the engine is to change the start stop behavior and also completely disable it. Havent explored the other adaptations for engine. However I doubt we can actually change the performance or increase power itself. That is not VCDS is meant for.

[CafeRacer16]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Has resolved AC issue completely, now I only set AC between 22-23.5 even on the hotter days with co-passengers

This is great to hear & seems it is more of a settings issue rather than problem with compressor which is speculated by many to be the root cause on social media.

Yesterday, my dealership asked me to bring the car for AC resolution & software upgrades which were done in 4 hrs. I am yet to test the AC performance in bumper to bumper traffic post the update.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by CafeRacer16

This is great to hear & seems it is more of a settings issue rather than problem with compressor which is speculated by many to be the root cause on social .

Social media is all about picking up one speculation and spreading it as wildfire since even media houses these days hardly do technical analysis. In this thread earlier even I had believed it to be a hardware issue or something to do with cooling efficiency. Instead it is just because the compressor is tuned to kick in a lightly as possible and aid fuel economy.

The VCDS mod exactly concerns with the AC tuning which is set to moderate. Along with this you have two more options - Cool tuning, less air and Cool tuning, more air. I have switched to the latter which solves two things - 1. Compressor runs longer and that leads to the air thrown from the AC to be chilled. 2. When we use the more air option, it increases blower speed for every given situation which is useful in a tropical climate like ours with higher humidity. Hence, there is no more complaints of sweating in hot weather and rear passengers complaining about AC not being enough.

I believe the software update by Skoda has the same changes. I haven't got a call yet and if I do so I will roll back the VCDS tweak and run the car for a few days to be able to notice the difference before sending the car in for the update.

Originally Posted by motonomad

Do keep the community posted on your experience with the new tyres. Since you have tinkered with the steering settings, feedback on steering weight won't be relevant anymore. However, would be interested to know how these change the ride quality, tyre noise at highway speeds and braking performance compared to stock tyres..

I was in a similar state, thought of giving the Goodyears a chance since I had the GY Assurance in my SX4 as well and these were decent tyres. However what put me off was that the tyres didn't suit the stiffer suspension of the Slavia. Every small undulation on the road would send in vibrations and when real feedback was required from smooth road that wasn't provided even after playing with different tyre pressures. On the highway, high speed braking from >120kmph would result in tyre squeal. Thats when I realised I need slightly softer tyres with good grip.

So the Vredesteins have been used for around 200kms so far and the noticeable difference is with the smoothness of the drive. This is what I wanted the car to drive like. Regarding steering feel like you mentioned I would not be able to comment but maybe someday I roll it back to stock settings and go on a highway drive. Same with high speed grip since I would comment on that a bit after the tyres have run in.

What is a strange observation or maybe a placebo effect is that these tyres though having the same width as the Goodyear Assurance, look meatier when viewed from the rear and a smaller profile when viewed from the side. Maybe that's because of the softer compound which puts more of the tyre on the road than the sidewall.

[Atharva14]

Originally Posted by audioholic

.

The VCDS mod exactly concerns with the AC tuning which is set to moderate. Along with this you have two more options - Cool tuning, less air and Cool tuning, more air.

You had A/C issues before the tweaks? I don't have issues with the A/C but i usually set the temperature at 20-21 and find the cabin moderately cool. Is it advisable to get mine tweaked to the settings mentioned by you?
Mine is a 1.0 MT

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Atharva14

You had A/C issues before the tweaks? I don't have issues with the A/C but i usually set the temperature at 20-21 and find the cabin moderately cool. Is it advisable to get mine tweaked to the settings mentioned by you?
Mine is a 1.0 MT

I had written about the AC feedback in this thread when I took test drive of 1.0 and 1.5 back to back. To summarize, the 1.0AT had almost a non working AC in traffic in spite of setting it to coolest settings. But the 1.5 DSG had a better cooling effect and worked better, but there was no chilled effect in the cabin unlike my other cars.

After I got my car the AC functioned decently but I always had to keep temperature at lower levels or use manual mode. When the car had rear passengers I had to turn the AC down to 19 or below. Now thats not required and the AC has a chilling effect even when set to 22-23.

[Racer911]

Thank god. Finally. Someone tried to do functional tweaks with VCDS (steering assistance, AC tuning etc) which I've been dreaming about and not jumping around like the happiest kid on the block after activating the needle sweep and showing it off more so.

Respect to you man.

Just 1 query, were you able to do this with the cheap Aliexpress version or had to use a genuine VCDS?