Climatic vs Climatronic

[sicourt]

After promising myself at the start of my new car search that "for once I am going to be sensible, save some cash and select base model & base spec" my recent order for a Scirocco eventually contained over £3500 of extras .......oh well, couldn't resist! That said, I only selected the bits of the (UK) GT-spec that I actually wanted (Multi function wheel, Interlagos) and saved a bit of cash on the fogs/tinted rear windows that I was not that bothered about.

The upgrade I was thinking about more carefully, was the climatronic - I eventually decided not to tick the box and stick with the standard climatic, but am now thinking was this the right choice? Still time to change! My last 3 cars (Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and currently a BMW 525D M-sport) have full climate - the last occasion I went for standard air-con was a long time ago on a Mk IV Golf GTI and to be honest, I cannot even remember that far back to know how good / bad it was!

From what I understand from reading this forum, the climatic is 'semi automatic' so the temperature & air mix is automatically controlled, but the fan speed is manual. So a question to all, but in particular those Roccers that have the standard system - thinking of a hot day, how much hassle is the climatic system to use? Are you constantly adjusting the fan to maintain a good temperature in the cabin? Or is it the case that it needs only a very occasional twist of the dial? Do you now wish that you had ticked that box and gone for climatronic?

I know climatronic is 2-zone, but other than giving an occasional demo to curious passengers, I never really used the feature on my previous cars, so would not be too bothered about this feature. I suppose effectively I would be paying the extra £430 for the automatic control of the fan.......any opinions either way would be greatly recieved!

[SCOTT]

Of course its you choice at the end of the day as the car is unique to you, i didnt lke the fact though of having a nice new car with heater dials etc rather than buttons if you know what i mean.

i can also set the temp to what i want as to trying to do it manually, with all that said though i had GT spec so was included,

what other options have you gone for???

[Caput Mortuum]

Hmm.. At least the cars brought here in Finland the Climatic is actually manual instead of semi-auto since build week 45 - 2010. I'd check with your dealer, as a car with manual aircon is just something that might really put buyers off when you eventuallt want to sell her.

[topicalkeith]

I was the same as you, in fact I asked the dealer to change the spec after I had ordered and they said I could not do that, so I have the standard system.
To be honest I am not sure if climatronic is worth the money but it is a bit annoying having to keep fiddling with the fan, I probably notice it more because my previous car had a fully automatic system

[Shaun]

Not sure how much climatronic costs as i got it included with mine but on looks alone i would want it

[Ryy]

Which ones are the digital temp ones in? later rocs or older? Mine doesn't look like either of them, just wondering.

[Shaun]

Which ones are the digital temp ones in? later rocs or older? Mine doesn't look like either of them, just wondering.

Do you mean these below, for your info the latest climatronic is above at the bottom , the one below is from the older sciroccos

[Shaun]

this is the basic Aircon from my09 cars

[Ryy]

Which ones are the digital temp ones in? later rocs or older? Mine doesn't look like either of them, just wondering.

Do you mean these below, for your info the latest climatronic is above at the bottom , the one below is from the older sciroccos

It's this one I have.

Wow, I take it I'm the only one but I prefer this to the "new" one.

[Shaun]

It's looking a tad dated now IMO, I was amazed that they had used it in the rococo when I first saw it, mind you it's far better than the basic one, the new one isn't perfect but it does give you the climate info on the head unit

[Ryy]

I dont think either looked dated, unless your coming down from a Bentley or something. But I guess if your looking for it, then you'll notice it but here we are just like "it's just a diff layout, nothing spectacular".

[skyblues11]

personally, i don't really care about the AC system and opted for the standard. The less things it has, the less thing it will go wrong.

i recall on my prev. car, the radiator was smashed early in its life. i never bothered to repair it and i seems to have survived ok. I recall i had spent the hottest days indoors in the office, so the air con was never required. In fact, driving with the sunroof open ( tilted, not wide open) was cool enough. The vortex sent the cold air straight down my back!

personally, i don't think the UK is hot enough for any sophisiticated AC. Just full blast on the standard for about 5 min. was enough this year, and i switch it off once the cabin cools down. otherwise its too fuel & power sapping.

[Shaun]

I dont think either looked dated, unless your coming down from a Bentley or something. But I guess if your looking for it, then you'll notice it but here we are just like "it's just a diff layout, nothing spectacular".

well that design is over 6 years old now so IMO and in car design terms i think it's dated, as I said it was a surprise to see them still using it on the early sciroccos, anyway we digress sorry to the OP who doesn't have to choose between old and new, just manual or auto and the difference in looks, I'm not sure it's worth £500 extra !, I would try to get it thrown in or get a model that has it as standard

[sicourt]

Thanks for the comments guys, some food for thought there! Looking at the pics the climatronic panel does look better, but agree that it perhaps does not look £430 better (!) Yeah 182, perhaps I should have just gone for the GT spec in the first place! Caput's comment about the W45 changes to the climatic were interesting too, I looked this up on the Rocopedia: "W45 - Scaling discontinued on climatic dial switch and interior sensor removed from vents and footwells." I suppose the 'sensor's' would have automatically controlled the temperature and the 'scaling' would have been the temperature markings - seems like a bit of a backwards step for VW, but I suppose they are trying to get more people like me to splash the cash on the climatronic! Bit of a long shot, but has anyone here taken delivery of a climatic spec car since 2010 W45 and can confirm the system is no longer semi-automatic??

Seems the general vibe is - climatronic looks better, climatic is a bit more hassle, but there are mixed feelings on whether the upgrade is worth the cash. I suppose when it comes to sale time, the climatronic would be more desirable, but like all my other options, I doubt I would see a penny of my cash again on the P/X. Hmmmmm.......better make my mind up soon I suppose!

Scott - went for Truffle leather, was going for cloth, but after seeing it IMHO the leather makes the cabin look a lot more classy (girlfriend HATES the truffle colour though, I loved it - my car, my rules ) Dynaudio (not actualy heard it myself yet, but I like my tunes and most people seem to think it is worth the extra) DAB (for crystal clear Talksport!) Reversing sensor (especially with that letter box rear window) Multifunction wheel (always useful) Bluetooth (so I don't get caught out by the cops) Interlagos (IMO look SO much better than the 17" on non-GT cars) and mats (because I may as well since I was having fun ticking boxes anyway!)

[Gary_Monkey]

Personally I'm glad I speced the 2Zone climate control (cost me £400 extra when I bought mine new). The reason I ticked it as an option was mainly because I'd never had climate control before and wanted to have it in the new car. Here are my thoughts on it:

1) I've only used the dual-zone funtion once in 13 months of driving. This is because I'm normally by myself. So this is a feature that is redundant for a single occupant.

2) I feel fully auto climate control suits longer journeys. I'll explain. Once you set the temperature -to say 22º C- and leave the unit to bring the car up to that temperature it's takes quite a while. However, once at 22º C it keeps it rock steady (using the fans) which is nice. The trouble is I'm only in my car for 30-40 mins every morning on my commute. So, fully auto doesn't really get chance to function properly in that short commute. For others that are out on the road it would work brilliantly.

3) Having come from a VW Golf with bog-standard a/c the climate control in this car is brilliant. For starters the fans are way, way quieter which only adds to the refinement of the car. Also it seems far more powerful at de-misting, getting hot quick and blowing colder air that my last standard a/c unit.

So to summarise - there are feartures that I don't peronally use or benefit from (but you might), however, I'd still have climate control over standard a/c. It is a lot more sophisticated, quieter, will help when selling the car and it's a must have for some buyers coming from premium motors.

You should also consider how you drive. Is it short journeys or are you out on the road for hours at a time. If you are I'd be inclined to tick the yes box and get yourself the climate control.

Hope this helps and that it won't be too late to change your order.

Gary

[ZephyR]

Yep some good points there Gary_Monkey.
Dual zone is redundant in my car as most of the time I'm on my own. Most of my trips are less than 30 minutes so automatic control would never come in to play.
I have Climatic on my Roc and rarely have the fan set above level 2, occasionally turning it down to level 1 on longer trips when the temperature has settled out - not a problem for me.
But you've got to look at your own driving requirements when deciding what to order

[Cuprabob]

Another benefit if climatronic is that it uses the A/C compressor regularly to prevent the seals drying out and having gas leak issues. People with manual A/C tend not to use it frequently and the seals dry out.

Also dehumidifier demists the car quickly and prevnts it misting up.

[roadrat]

I have the standard air con system and find it works really well - my previous car had dual zone climate control and I don't miss it in comparison. As others say it really comes down to personal preference.

[pishpashposh]

I have the standard air con system and find it works really well - my previous car had dual zone climate control and I don't miss it in comparison. As others say it really comes down to personal preference.

This and the standard system demists the car very quickly also.

[sicourt]

Cheers for the info guys - some very useful points made. At the moment I probably make more short journeys (I currently only live a few miles from work) and do mainly short local business journeys, with perhaps only 2 drives per week of 1hr+ to go to meetings & leisure etc and probably a monthly 'red-eye' journey. Never know if this will change though I suppose with the current state of the economy (that said if it does, air-con would probably be the least of my worries! ) So the general concensus from this forum is that standard climatic would be fine for my current needs..........but climatronic would be occasionaly useful, desirable & also a good looking feature for resale purposes. My head (& wallet!) say climatic, but of course the heart says climatronic..... choices, choices (to be made quickly!)