LONG TERMER REPORT

Odo: 18170km

Mileage: 13.7kpl

Kilometres clocked since last report: 970

Some things are good when they are fresh or new, like vegetables, paint and supposedly marriage (well well!), while others get better as they age viz. pickle, wine, alcohol and women (U La La!). The Skoda Laura fits in both the bills. We had fallen in love with the Laura when we first drove after its launch in 2009. Then it came to us as a long termer and now when it is about to leave us, we realize that our love for this Czech sedan is deeper than the Pacific Ocean.

The car hasn’t really aged that much, since it was manufactured last April. We were unfortunate that the Laura spent a meagre period of three months in our garage. Get inside the car and you can still smell the fragrance of the rich leather upholstery which wraps the comfortable seats. The front seat heaters available in the Elegance trim have helped on rather cynical chilly nights, especially for the co-passengers who irrespective of the season wear short dresses.

The seat warmers come handy on chilly nights

As mentioned in the last report, the ride is more pliant as the suspension has now become softer. It absorbs most of the undulations on the road without filtering any into the cabin. The handling seems to be unaffected and now the steering wheel has also become lighter. Driving the Laura in city and on highways wasn’t a problem, to overtake all you had to do was plant your right foot and the DSG will immediately shift into a lower gear.

The beige carpet was difficult to clean

With about 18,000kms on the clock, the Laura’s tenure in our garage has now come to an end. We wish the car had stayed for some more duration with us. Skoda, are you listening?

SIXTH REPORT

Odo: 17200km

Mileage: 12.9kpl

Kilometres clocked since last report: 538

As promised in the last report, I did drive the Laura for a longer distance this weekend - about 300kms. The dampers on the Laura have softened a bit making the ride quality much better than what it used be when drove the car for the first time for a performance review and the odometer read 2,000km. The steering wheel has also become lighter than before but it is still responsive around the bends. When the fuel goes below half, the car feels more light footed and even more responsive.

The tyre pressure on the car was wrong after it returned from the Mumbai Cyclothon 2011. I went hunting for an air pressure gauge at Worli Naka and was unable to find one in working condition at any of the petrol pumps there. The immediate implication of having the right tyre pressure is on the mileage of the car, it goes hand in hand with the fuel efficiency as you can see the mileage reduce from 13.8kpl to 12.9kpl.

FIFTH REPORT

Odo: 16662km

Mileage: 13.5kpl

Kilometres clocked since last report: 494

Our Laura came back with Skoda and cyclothon stickers all over the hood and the doors. We removed all except for a small one on the top of the windshield which read Race Director. This sticker does make our Laura look cool. We did miss our Laura and the car missed us.

We couldn’t clock many kilometres on the car this time, because since the time the car has come back, the editorial time was busy driving other cars and most of the time we were out of town, with the Laura standing alone under a leaf shredding tree in my parking lot. So, the only driving that was done was the regular home to office. But this time, I drove it only in Sports mode and all I can is its spooky and can scare the co-driver if you are a good driver, and even make the driver shiver with its insane torque.

Now, that we are back, we will get back to some serious driving on the Laura, before it goes back Skoda. The car so far has been very promising and we are looking forward for more from it as we explore new things in it on a daily basis.

FOURTH REPORT:

Odo: 16168km

Mileage: 13.9kpl

Kilometres clocked since last report: 610km

The last trip to the airport wasn’t a problem as the large boot of the Laura can swallow upto 560 litres of luggage. Four large people sat comfortably and the Swing music system played music through its eight speakers. We have already spoken how easy it is to drive this car in traffic, so I won’t add more about it.

Another thing which I will like to point out are the beige carpets that get dirty easily and it does take a lot of trouble to clean. We wish the Laura came with black carpet rather mats as they can be cleaned easily. We will miss our Laura as it now goes to Skoda for the cyclothon event for a week. Keep reading.

THIRD REPORT:

Odo: 15558km

Mileage: 14.1kpl

Kilometres clocked since last report: 520

Our Laura just returned from its first service. It has covered 500kms in less than 10 days.

Driving in city traffic has become hassle free as an autobox doesn’t discourage you from driving during rush hour. Night driving, too, comes easy as the Laura’s headlamps have a good spread and reach making it easy to drive at speeds above 100kph. As our Laura is the Elegance trim, it doesn’t get xenon headlamps. These headlamps come as standard on the top-of-the-line L&K. But for an Rs 18lakh car, we wish our Laura had steering mounted audio controls and an USB /SD card input.

In the last few weeks, we have only driven the Laura within city limits. But we plan to soon take the Laura for a longer trip to a farther destination where we will get some quality time with the car.

SECOND REPORT:

Odometer: 15038km

Mileage: 13.08kpl

Kilometres clocked: 4866

The Laura has been with us for about two months and will soon reach the 5,000kms mark. At 4866, the car went in for its first service and returned good as new. The engine is now more responsive as the oil change has helped reduce frictional losses of the engine. To our dismay, there is some diesel clatter during cold starts and at idle after service.

However, the DSG box has definitely spoilt us! The easy shift now makes single-clutch boxes feel a lot more lethargic. Ask me to drive a car with manual transmission and I may just not feel up to it. The autobox is definitely a blessing in bumper-to-bumper traffic as you don’t have to stress your left foot to engage and disengage gears. The Laura is fairly economical; averaging about 16-18kpl on the highway. One can shift into the sixth gear at a speed of 60-65kph making driving economical and the engine showing no signs of strain.

First Service:

The Laura’s first service bill came down to Rs 5800. Considering the car needs to be serviced once in 15,000kms, the cost is justified. The synthetic oil-change alone cost Rs 5,130. So far, the Skoda Laura’s cost of ownership Laura has been low.

FIRST REPORT:

After our much loved Marco-Polo had gone for its first service at the 15,000km mark to the Volkswagen service centre, we received the good news a new car was to grace our long term fleet – the Skoda Laura 2.0 TD CR. This Laura, just like most Skoda’s has been on our favourites list. We got the 140bhp version with DSG. Wow! We drove from Mumbai to Pune for over 200kms before we were granted the first sight of our Laura.

But something felt amiss. We liked the Laura so much so that we couldn’t wait to pair it up with the Yeti (read Hardy). So some things, as you’d know only look good in pairs, there would have been no Romeo without Juliet, no Martin without Lewis, so how could there be Laurel without Hardy? Skoda you’re listening? Give us our Hardy too.

For now, all eyes on the Laura. On reaching the Skoda dealership, we ran to get the key to our new success, just exaggerating, running is so LS! I instantly recognized our Laura (MH 20 BN 3525) that was parked with other Lauras and Superbs at the dealership. It was the same car that we had during our review, back then the car was had a temporary registration plates reading MH-20-TC-421 and that’s what I asked the person who came to show us the car. His responded with a big yes! On inspecting the car, I found the temporary number plate in the boot confirming it was the same car. I moved inside the car, and noticed it had clocked 10,173kms (about 8,000 more than what it done back when I had returned her back to Skoda after our road test). But still the Laura, CORRECTION! Our Laura didn’t show any signs of ageing (wink). Apart from being dirty on the outside and some scratches (which really didn’t matter much as the car is now in safe hands) our Laura looked almost immaculate.

After completing the formalities we were off in our Silver Arrows. First stop— gas station, where we tanked her to the brim and got the tyre pressures checked. After that we headed for a photo shoot. On day one, the Laura played the role of a support car. The mammoth boot of our Laura swallowed all the camera equipment and the hatchback-like boot helped our photographer for some tracking shots as well. We have always been complaining about the quick-shifting DSG spoiling us. Now, I think the next time we drive any other automatic transmission car without DSG, it will definitely take some time to make do with the lethargic shifts. With this powerful and highly efficient powertrain, brilliant handling and spacious interiors, the Laura will definitely be a car that everyone from the Editorial will vouch for. You really need something to drive this car slow as you have nothing to lose; it has an efficient diesel engine which won’t burn your pocket as it isn’t a gas guzzler. So the next time you see any silver Laura in your rear view mirror, be courteous to give us the way.

We named our Polo long termer as MarcoPolo and after a few thoughts, we finalised Laurel as the name for our Silver Arrows.The silver colour looks a bit bland on the car; but this doesn’t change the car from the inside. It still looks and feels like a true Skoda, mostly importantly it drives like any Skoda and it has the rugged German build quality. The doors shut with a thud and the inside of the car feels completely isolated from the world outside. So, would the car remain the same after it has clocked some serious miles? Watch out for more on how our Laurel performs as we put it through a vigorous long test which will last for thousands of kilometres.