First frost - rubbish!

[dw911]

Do Leons get the 'aux heater' that is talked about there?

I think before long all diesel cars will come with separate aux heaters, which cars already have in certain vlcold countries

The problem is as cars get more efficient and the strive for better mpg and meeting ever tightening European emissions regulation, the less wasted heat from the engine there is for the passenger compartment

All that heat is just wasted energy, less heat = more efficiency, but cold occupants

 

[LeonMunkee]

I think before long all diesel cars will come with separate aux heaters, which cars already have in certain vlcold countries

The problem is as cars get more efficient and the strive for better mpg and meeting ever tightening European emissions regulation, the less wasted heat from the engine there is for the passenger compartment

All that heat is just wasted energy, less heat = more efficiency, but cold occupants

True, but that doesn't answer the question... do UK Leons have them?

 

[dw911]

True, but that doesn't answer the question... do UK Leons have them?

No they don't
I asked when I bought my mk3, as during the winter my mk2 would take so long for the heaters to warm up, I'd often got where I was going before the car got warm and didn't want to go through that on the mk3
That said the my mk3 seems to get warmer faster than my mk2 did

 

[FRTSIman]

Does this problem (slow interior warm-up and demist) also affect Mk3 petrol Leon's? My previous car (diesel Vauxhall Insignia) also took forever to warm up or demist and defrost, but this was no problem at all with my petrol Vauxhall Vectra before that, and both had aircon as standard. It will be interesting to see how quickly my new week-old 1.8TSI (petrol) Leon heater demists and defrosts - I've not had any interior mist or exterior frost yet to check this out!

 

[derelyth]

The engine warms very quickly on my 1.8 (water, oil obviously a little while later) - in the summer it was warm in about 0.3 of a mile. The new design is to thank for that as the coolant pipework includes a water jacket around the turbo - the turbo is kept happy at a good temperature and the water warms up quicker - win/win! My front screen demists fairly quickly too which is always a help when a tad late for work Was 5C this morning so the heated seats did go on but the Climate Control soon had me at a pleasantly warm 22C.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Bubbs]

Having a proper heated windscreen (a la Ford / Mazda) is something I will really miss not being on the Leon. My old car had one - it was ace in the winter. Took about 5 minutes, from frozen solid to liquid water. Used to produce a heat haze effect when driving along on cold mornings too. The other good thing was that it minimised windscreen scratches caused by dragging an ice scraper over the windscreen. Oh, and of course meant no misting up.

What's a bit annoying / frustrating is that you can get one if you buy a Skoda, which would suggest that VAG have the tech, yet it's not an option on the Leon.

Along with heated seats (which I have), I would CERTAINLY have gone for heated windscreen if it had been an option.

Sadly though it looks like I'll have to:

a) sit and be cold, waiting for the car to heat up.
b) invest heavily in de icer.
c) not breath whilst driving.

d) all of the above.

 

[dw911]

Does this problem (slow interior warm-up and demist) also affect Mk3 petrol Leon's? My previous car (diesel Vauxhall Insignia) also took forever to warm up or demist and defrost, but this was no problem at all with my petrol Vauxhall Vectra before that, and both had aircon as standard. It will be interesting to see how quickly my new week-old 1.8TSI (petrol) Leon heater demists and defrosts - I've not had any interior mist or exterior frost yet to check this out!

No, you won't have any problems, the petrol models warm up very fast

 

[Swahealy]

Are we talking diesels here? My petrol 1.8 TSI FR gets warm quicker than my previous mk 6 Golf. Front and back windscreens slightly misty tonight and demisted very quickly. With the climate control on auto at 22c or you can turn the fan up on the middle button and also press the extra windscreen fan function. Have not had to use that yet. I have just come in.

 

[dw911]

Are we talking diesels here? My petrol 1.8 TSI FR gets warm quicker than my previous mk 6 Golf. Front and back windscreens slightly misty tonight and demisted very quickly. With the climate control on auto at 22c or you can turn the fan up on the middle button and also press the extra windscreen fan function. Have not had to use that yet. I have just come in.

Talking about diesels

Although FRTSiman asked about petrols too

 

[scrich7]

Having a proper heated windscreen (a la Ford / Mazda) is something I will really miss not being on the Leon. My old car had one - it was ace in the winter. Took about 5 minutes, from frozen solid to liquid water. Used to produce a heat haze effect when driving along on cold mornings too. The other good thing was that it minimised windscreen scratches caused by dragging an ice scraper over the windscreen. Oh, and of course meant no misting up.

What's a bit annoying / frustrating is that you can get one if you buy a Skoda, which would suggest that VAG have the tech, yet it's not an option on the Leon.

Along with heated seats (which I have), I would CERTAINLY have gone for heated windscreen if it had been an option.

Sadly though it looks like I'll have to:

a) sit and be cold, waiting for the car to heat up.
b) invest heavily in de icer.
c) not breath whilst driving.

d) all of the above.

I could be wrong here. But I think Ford have the tech patented and therefore other manufacturers are required to pay royalty each time they use it. This is why a lot of car companies don't bother with it.

I could be talking complete bs, but I think I read that somewhere previously.

I'm with you though, if I could have specced it, I would have.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

 

[unclelonghair]

I could be wrong here. But I think Ford have the tech patented and therefore other manufacturers are required to pay royalty each time they use it. This is why a lot of car companies don't bother with it.

I could be talking complete bs, but I think I read that somewhere previously.

I'm with you though, if I could have specced it, I would have.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

That's my understanding as well - it's all down to royalties, and who is prepared to pay them. As I don't have a garage it's something I would have been happy to pay for though.

 

[Max Damage]

Yup my Mazda has it which is due to be changed tomorrow. Going to miss that windscreen by the sounds of it

 

[derelyth]

I could be wrong here. But I think Ford have the tech patented and therefore other manufacturers are required to pay royalty each time they use it. This is why a lot of car companies don't bother with it.

I could be talking complete bs, but I think I read that somewhere previously.

I'm with you though, if I could have specced it, I would have.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

Bingo. It's Ford pateneted technology. Mazda can use it obviously as they are in cahoots with Ford. You can get it on the Alhambra (or at least older models could) because they share tech with the Ford Galaxy (and VW Sharan).