Get Driving Tips -> Driving and the Environment Guide for Skoda Superb SUV First Generation (2001-2008)

162 Driving and the Environment

Driving and the Environment

The first 1 500 kilometres and then afterwards

Caution

All the speed and engine revolution figures apply only when the engine is at its

normal operating temperature. Never rev up an engine which is cold, neither when

the vehicle is stationary nor when driving in individual gears.

A new engine

The engine has to be run in during the first 1 500 kilometres.

Up to 1 000 kilometres

For the sake of the environment

–

Do not drive faster than 3/4 of the mamimum speed of the gear in use,

that is 3/4 of the maximum permissible engine speed.

Not driving at unnecessarily high engine revolutions and shifting to a higher gear as

early as possible are ways to minimise fuel consumption and operating noise levels

and protects the environment.

–

Do not use full throttle.

Avoid high engine revolutions.

Do not tow a trailer.

New tyres

New tyres have to be “run in” since they do not offer optimal grip at first. You should

take account of this fact for the first 500 kilometres and drive particularly carefully.

From 1 000 up to 1 500 kilometres

–

Increase the power output of the engine gradually up to the full

speed of the gear engaged, that is up to the maximum permissible

engine revolutions.

New brake pads

During the first operating hours the engine has higher internal friction than later

until all of the moving parts have harmonized. The driving style which you adopt

during the first 1 500 kilometres plays a decisive part in the success of running in

your car.

Allow for the fact that new brake pads do not achieve their full braking efficiency

until approximately 200 kilometres. New brake pads must be first “run in” before

they develop their optimal friction force. You can, however, compensate for this

slightly reduced braking force by increasing the pressure on the brake pedal.

You should not drive at unnecessarily high engine revolutions even after the

running-in period is complete. The maximum permissible engine speed is marked

by the beginning of the red zone on the scale of the revolutions counter. Shift up

into the next higher gear on a vehicle fitted with manual gearbox before the red

zone is reached. Extremely high engine revolutions are automatically governed, by

the way.

This guideline also applies to any new brake pads installed at a future date.

During the running-in period, you should avoid excessive stresses on the brakes.

This includes, for example, violent braking, particularly from very high speeds, and

also when crossing mountain passes.

For a vehicle fitted with a manual gearbox the converse situation also applies: Do

not drive at engine revolutions which are too low. Shift down as soon as the engine

is no longer running smoothly.

Driving and the Environment 163

misfiring. Unburnt fuel may get into the exhaust system and damage the catalytic

converter.

Catalytic converter

Proper operation of the emission control system (catalytic converter)

is of major significance for driving your vehicle in an environmen-

tally conscious way.

•

Filling the tank even only once with leaded petrol will result in the catalytic

converter being destroyed.

If you detect misfiring, a drop in performance or irregular engine running when

•

driving, reduce your speed immediately and have the vehicle inspected by the

nearest specialist garage. The symptoms described may be caused by a fault in the

ignition system. Unburnt fuel may get into the exhaust system and damage the

catalytic converter.

Please refer to the following guidelines:

–

For vehicles with petrol engine only refuel with unleaded petrol

⇒ page 181, “Grades of petrol”.

–

Never run the fuel tank completely empty.

For the sake of the environment

Do not switch off the ignition while you are driving the vehicle.

Even if the exhaust system is operating properly, a sulphur-like exhaust odour may

be produced under certain operating conditions of the engine. This depends on the

sulphur content of the fuel. It is often sufficient to refuel with unleaded premium-

grade petrol of a different brand or at a different filling station.

Do not pour too much oil into the engine ⇒ page 188, “Replenishing

engine oil”.

–

Do not tow-start the vehicle over a distance of more than 50 metres

⇒ page 218, “Tow-starting a vehicle”.

Driving in an economical and environmentally

conscious manner

If you drive your vehicle in a country in which unleaded petrol is not available, you

must have the catalytic converter replaced later when driving the vehicle into a

country in which use of a catalytic converter is mandatory.

General

Your personal style of driving is a major factor.

WARNING

Your fuel consumption, any pollution of the environmental and the wear-and-tear

to the engine, brakes and tyres, depend essentially on three factors:

•

In view of the high temperatures which may be produced in the catalytic

converter, one should always park a vehicle in such a way that the catalytic

converter cannot come into contact with easily flammable materials below

the vehicle - a risk of fire!

•

your personal style of driving,

the conditions under which your vehicle is operated,

technical aspects.

•

Never use additional underbody protection or corrosion-protection

agents for the exhaust pipes, catalytic converters or heat shields. Such

substances might ignite when driving - risk of fire!

You can easily improve your fuel economy by 10 - 15 percent by driving in an

economical way with foresight. This section is intended to provide you with a

number of tips on how to protect the environment and at the same time save

money.

Caution

•

Vehicles fitted with catalytic converter should never be allowed to let the fuel

tank to run completely empty. An irregular fuel supply can result in poor ignition or

Using the system

Safety

Driving Tips

General Maintenance

Breakdown assistance

Technical Data

164 Driving and the Environment

The fuel consumption can naturally also be influenced by factors which are beyond

the driver's control. It is, for example, normal for the fuel consumption to increase

in winter and under worsened conditions such as poor road conditions, towing a

trailer, etc.

Manual gearbox

–

Drive no more than about one length of your vehicle in first gear.

Always shift up into the next higher gear at approx. 2 000 to 2 500 revs.

The technical requirements for low fuel usage and economic efficiency of the

vehicle have already been built into the vehicle at the works. Special attention has

been given to minimising negative effects on the environment. It is necessary to

take note of the guidelines given in this chapter in order to make best use of these

characteristics and to maintain their effectiveness.

Automatic gearbox

–

Depress the accelerator pedal slowly. Do not depress it beyond the

kickdown position, however.

An effective way of achieving good fuel economy is to shift up early. You will

consume more fuel if you drive at unnecessarily high revolutions in any given gear.

Looking ahead when driving

The ⇒ fig. 166 shows the ratio of fuel consumption to the speed of your vehicle in

the relevant gears. Fuel consumption in 1st gear is the highest, while that in 5th or

the 6th gear is the lowest.

A vehicle's highest fuel consumption occurs it accelerates.

Avoid accelerating and braking unnecessarily. If you drive with forsight you will not

need to brake so often and will also then not have to accelerate so much. Let your

vehicle coast to a stop, for example, if this is possible, when you see that the next

set of traffic lights is at red.

Only depress the accelerator pedal slowly if your vehicle is fitted with an automatic

gearbox in order to automatically select an economic driving programme. You will

achieve good fuel economy by shifting up early and shifting down late. This applies

in particular if you make use of the manual mode (Tiptronic) for shifting gears.

Shifting gears and saving energy

Note

Also use the information supplied by the multi-functional indicator ⇒ page 15.

Shifting up early saves on fuel.

Fig. 166 Fuel consump-

tion in litres/100 km. and

speed in km/h.

Driving and the Environment 165

in the warming-up phase. This is why you should drive off right after starting the

engine. Do avoid high engine revolutions at this time, however.

Avoiding full throttle

Driving more slowly means saving fuel.

Regular servicing

A poorly tuned engine consumes an unnecessarily high amount of

fuel.

Having your vehicle serviced regularly at a specialist garge enables you to satisfy

one of the requirements for economical motoring even before you set off on your

journey. Keeping your vehicle properly serviced not only has a positive effect on the

safety of your vehicle and maintaining its value, but also saves on fuel.

Fig. 167 Fuel consump-

tion in litres/100 km. and

speed in km/h.

A poorly tuned engine can result in a fuel consumption which is 10% higher than

normal.

The foreseen maintenance work should be undertaken exactly according to the

Service schedule by a specialist garage.

Sensitive use of the accelerator will not only significantly reduce fuel consumption

but also positively influence environmental pollution and wear of your vehicle.

Also check the oil level after refueling. Oil consumption is dependent to a consid-

erable extent on the load and speed of the engine. Oil consumption could be as

high as 0.5 litres/1 000 km depending on your style of driving.

You should avoid fully exploiting the top speed of your vehicle wherever possible.

Fuel consumption, pollutant emissions and vehicle noises increase disproportion-

ally at high speeds.

It is quite normal that a new engine has a higher oil consumption at first, and

reaches its lowest level only after a certain running in time. It is therefore not

possible to correctly assess the oil consumption of a new vehicle until after you

have driven about 5 000 km.

The ⇒ fig. 167 shows the ratio of fuel consumption to the speed of your vehicle.

You will cut your fuel consumption by half if you only make use three-quarters of

the possible top speed of your vehicle.

Reducing idling

For the sake of the environment

•

You can achieve additional improvements in your fuel economy by using high-

lubricity oils.

Idling also costs fuel.

It is worthwhile switching off the engine in a traffic jam or when waiting at a level

crossing or at traffic lights with a lengthy red phase. Even after just 30 - 40 seconds

you will have saved more fuel than that is needed when you start the engine up

again.

•

Check the ground below your car at regular intervals to detect any leakages in

good time. Please have your vehicle inspected by a specialist garge if you find any

stains caused by oil or other fluids on the floor.

If an engine is only idling it takes much longer for it to reach its normal operating

temperature. Wear-and-tear and pollutant emissions, though, are particularly high

Using the system

Safety

Driving Tips

General Maintenance

Breakdown assistance

Technical Data

166 Driving and the Environment

only increase fuel consumption but also tyre wear and the driving behaviour will

worsen.

Avoid driving short distances

Short distances result in an above-average high fuel consumption.

Always check the inflation pressure of the tyres when cold.

Do not drive with winter tyres all year round for this costs about 10 % more fuel.

Winter tyres are also louder.

No unnecessary ballast

Transporting ballast costs fuel.

The fact that every kilogram of extra weight increases your fuel consumption

means that it is worth taking a look in the luggage compartment to avoid trans-

porting any unnecessary ballast.

Fig. 168 Fuel consump-

tion in litres/100 km at

different temperatures

It is particularly in town traffic, when one is accelerating quite often, that the vehicle

weight will have a significant effect upon the fuel consumption. A rule of thumb

here is that an increase in weight of 100 kilograms will cause an increase in fuel

consumption of about 1 litre/100 kilometres.

–

Avoid driving a distance of no more than 4 km if the engine is cold.

The engine and catalytic converter must first have reached their optimal operating

temperature in order to effectively reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emis-

sions.

You may frequently also leave a roof rack fitted on just out of convenience,

although you no longer need it. The increased aerodynamic drag of your vehicle

causes it to use about 1 l more fuel than normal at a speed of 100 - 120 km/h, even

when you are not carrying a load on the roof.

The cold engine vehicle consumes approx. 20 - 30 litres/100 km of fuel immediately

after starting. Fuel consumption drops to 15 litres/100 km after just 1 kilometre. The

engine reaches its operating temperature (outside temperature and engine

dependent) only after about 4 to 10 kilometres and the fuel consumption then

stabilizes. You should therefore avoid driving short distances whenever possible.

Saving electricity

Generating electricity costs fuel.

An important factor in this connection is also the ambient temperature. The

⇒ fig. 168 shows the different fuel consumptions for the same distance, on the one

hand at +20°C and on the other hand at -10°C. Your vehicle has a higher fuel

consumption in winter than in summer.

–

Switch off electrical components as soon as you no longer need them.

When the engine is running, the alternator generates and supplies electrical power.

The greater the load on the alternator as a result of having a large number of elec-

trical components switched on, the more fuel will be consumed for operating the

alternator.

Checking tyre inflation pressures

Tyres which are correctly inflated save fuel.

Always ensure that your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure at all times. The

rolling resistance will be increased if the tyre filling pressure is too low. This will not

Driving and the Environment 167

•

solvent-free protection of the vehicle for transportation from the production

plant to the customer

Keeping a log of your fuel consumption

If you really wish to keep a close check on your fuel consumption, it is best to enter

the figures in a logbook. This does not take much time but is a very worthwhile exer-

cise. It enables you to detect any change (positive and negative) at an early stage

and to take any appropriate action.

•

The use of solvent-free adhesives

No CFCs used in the production process

without use of mercury

Use of water-soluble paints

If you find that your fuel consumption is too high, you should reflect on how, where

and in what conditions you have driven the vehicle since you last refuelled.

Trade-in and recycling of old cars

Škoda Auto meets the requirements of the brand and its products regarding envi-

ronment and ressource protection. All new Škoda vehicles can be utilized up to

95 % and always be returned. In a lot of countries sufficient trade-in networks

have been created, where you can trade-in your vehicle. After you trade-in your

vehicle, you will receive a confirmation stating the recycling in accordance with

environmental regulations.

3)

Environmental compatibility

Environmental protection has played a major role in the design, selection of mate-

rials and manufacture of your new Škoda. Particular emphasis has been paid to a

number of aspects, including:

Vehicles with special built-on types

Design measures

Technical documents regarding changes carried out on the vehicle must be kept by

the vehicle user, in order to hand over later to the old car user. This ensures the

recycling in accordance with environmental regulations.

•

Joints designed to be easily detached

simplified disassembly due to the modular structure system

improved purity of different classes of materials

Identification of all plastic parts in accordance with VDA Recommendation 260

Motoring abroad

Reduced fuel consumption and exhaust emission CO

2

Minimum fuel leakage during accidents

Reduced noise

General

Other circumstances may exist abroad.

Choice of materials

It is also possible, in certain countries, that the Škoda Service Partner network is

limited or has not been established yet. This is the reason why obtaining certain

spare parts may be somewhat complicated and specialist garage personnel may

only be able to make limited repairs. Škoda Auto a.s. in the Czech Republic and rele-

vant importers are happy to provide information about technical aspects of the

vehicle, required maintenance work and possibilities for getting repairs done.

•

extensive use of recyclable material

Air conditioning filled with CFC-free refrigerant

no cadmium

no asbestos

Reduction in the “vaporisation” of plastics

Manufacture

3)

•

solvent-free cavity protection

subject to fulfilment of the national legal regulations

Using the system

Safety

Driving Tips

General Maintenance

Breakdown assistance

Technical Data

168 Driving and the Environment

Unleaded petrol

A vehicle fitted with a petrol engine must always be refuelled with unleaded petrol

⇒ page 163. The automobile associations can provide you with information

regarding the locations of filling stations which offer unleaded petrol.

Headlight

The low beam of your headlights is set asymmetrically. It illuminates the side of the

road on which you are driving to a greater extent. If you drive abroad on the other

side of the road, you will dazzle oncoming traffic.

It is necessary in order to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic to stick a sticker over a

certain part of the headlights.

Headlight stickers can be obtained as a spare part from the Skoda Service Partners.

Headlights with Xenon lamps are designed for driving in countries with traffic on

the right or on the left. Have this done always at a Škoda Service Partner.

Note

You can obtain further information regarding masking over or converting the head-

lights from your Škoda Service Partner.

Avoiding damage to your vehicle

When driving on poor roads and lanes or when driving over kerbstones, steep

ramps etc., you must pay particular attention to ensuring that any low-slung parts

of the vehicle, such as spoiler and exhaust, do not touch the ground and get

damaged.

This particularly applies to models with a lowered suspension (sport suspension)

and also when your vehicle is fully laden.

Driving Tips -> Driving and the Environment for Your Skoda Superb SUV First Generation (2001-2008)

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