New ID.3er

[Tharg]

Hi folks
Just taken delivery of an ID.3 Pro. First impressions are very favourable. Despite weighing in at nearly 2 tonnes, it drives and handles like a lightweight. Much like a standard Golf, I suppose, but more accurate and precise in placement and, of course, with the added enjoyment of rear drive. I do not have a stopwatch but I swear the 0-60 is more than a bit quicker than VW's quoted figure. So, satisfying and quite fun drive. Liking it a lot - much better than previous car, a T-ROC, which with the benefit of hindsight, was heavy, ponderous in spite of the 2.0L engine and generally pretty bumpy over our crap roads.

Only issues I have with the ID.3 involve the intrusive, confusing and variable functioning of the digital widgetry. However, I have now found the quick ways to deactivate the driving-interference thingeys which would slam brakes on for no reason and try to pull the wheel from my hands to avoid a falling leaf. There are just too many digital doo-dahs. I mean, how many ways do I actually need to close and lock the doors when leaving the car? There seem to be about four ways of doing this and the most convenient (walk away and it locks itself) works only occasionally.

Back on the plus-side again, We optioned the Dynamic Chassis Control and the small wheels with large tyres, since both me and Mrs Tharg have wonky backs and smooth ride is essential. Not disappointed... what's more the new DCC allows you to "push" settings like ride control in the Individual setting - you can make it softer than in the pre-set Comfort button. Now have it riding better than a Skoda Superb but not quite as wafty as an original 1950s Citroen DS Goddess.

So, happy ID.3er here. Looking forward to getting more miles on the clock and hoping that charging will go OK (only had it for three days). What would be really good is if VW were to launch a convertible version (seen some design studies in speculative press releases.) All you'd need is to mount a verticle broom handle aft of the rear seats; stick a curved strip of metal on top and, voila, a great modern take on the Dodgem car.

[Sharon Simmons]

The ID.3 sounds like a great car, especially with the rear-drive and smooth handling! I can relate to the frustrations with all the digital features; sometimes it feels like they overcomplicate simple things like locking the doors or stopping the car from randomly braking. Glad you found a way to turn off those annoying driving aids though. The DCC setup with the larger tyres sounds like a solid choice for a smoother ride, especially if you’re dealing with rough roads.

[Tharg]

Hi Sharon
Thanks for reply. And, yup, smooth ride really is a wonder, especially on the knackered, pitted B-roads round here (W Sussex). I discovered another ID.3 wonder this morning: first day we've had a frost and the pre-warmup (or "Stationary Air Conditioning as VW call it) is brilliant. No more scraping icy screens with frozen fingers on a slippery surface. Turn on the pre-heat 30 mins before leaving and it's all clear.

[MattgID3]

I have the pro model 150bhp and itseems quicker than quoted figures, I think I read in here that pro and pro performance have simular acceleration up to 40mph, I had a 150bhp diesal skoda superb and the id3 is quicker than the skoda.

[Tharg]

Hi Matt
Well, I'm glad it is not just my imagination about the ID.3's acceleration. Definitely seems quicker than the figures. I had a couple of Superbs in the past: a diesel 4x4 and a 230ish bhp petrol. Both lovely, comfy and, for me at least, genuine luxury cars. The ID.3 feels quicker than either of them.

[sidehaas]

Hi Matt
Well, I'm glad it is not just my imagination about the ID.3's acceleration. Definitely seems quicker than the figures. I had a couple of Superbs in the past: a diesel 4x4 and a 230ish bhp petrol. Both lovely, comfy and, for me at least, genuine luxury cars. The ID.3 feels quicker than either of them.

All the tests I've seen of a Pro performance it hits 60in about 6,7 seconds or something - definitely faster than spec. It also felt faster than my Octavia VRS (sold 6 months ago, ran alongside the ID3 for a long time) although that was slightly aging.

[HuddersGee]

Arrived at work this morning and followed the prompt to update the software. Everything seemed right, lights off etc. it advised it would take 170 minutes. Returned to the car at 5pm to travel home, to find that the remote wouldn’t unlock the vehicle. I used the pull out key and gained access. The whole of the system was down, could not turn on ignition. Held info screen power button down, screen lit up to advise update in progress.

Reading other responses on here’re internet access. Realised that I’m probably not connected to the internet at work. If this is the case, would it have started without internet access and how do I kill the update, with a view to starting again when I’m home. Have had to abandon the vehicle at work for the night!

[sidehaas]

No idea if there is a way to kill it half way through. Hopefully it'll have completed when you go back tomorrow. Good luck!

[Tharg]

Yup, sidehaas, I reckon 6.7 is closer to reality. On paper, that's faster than my long-gone and much-missed Nissan 200SX, although the 200 would actually throw you back in your seats which the ID.3 certainly does not.
Am a bit worried by your Update experience, HuddersGee. I guess the only way to avoid embarrassment/getting stranded is to do Update at home. Seems that quite a lot of VW's digital online stuff goes wonky. The ID.3 so-called Manual, for example, is offline right now. Real nuisance because I wanted to find out how to release the AC Home Charging cable. Had to resort to Googling it and discovered that two quick taps on the "Open" button of Key thing does the job. Charging itself is dead easy - I do not use the app or a smart meter because I do not need cheap rate charging AND I'm sure they will go wrong. So, just plug the charger into car, having told it to charge to Max 80%. Took me longer to get the plug out.

[Tharg]

Putting the drive setting into Eco mode seems to make a great difference to economy. Still done only a few short journeys and initially was using Comfort and/or a  soft Individual setting with Sport engine mode. In the latter, economy was 2.3ish per KWh; Eco took it up to 3.2 per KWh. Again. only short journeys but Eco mode seems the way forward if you're looking for economy. It helps that there seems to be little difference between Eco and Comfort, in fact, sometimes Eco seems to ride a bit softer.

[Batterdry500]

Hi Matt
Well, I'm glad it is not just my imagination about the ID.3's acceleration. Definitely seems quicker than the figures. I had a couple of Superbs in the past: a diesel 4x4 and a 230ish bhp petrol. Both lovely, comfy and, for me at least, genuine luxury cars. The ID.3 feels quicker than either of them.

I came from an F Type and earlier an M140i.

And I can tell you that for short initial spurts of acceleration in the ID3 (which on restricted British roads is the majority of our driving) there is little difference.

Certainly not £20k more in the case of the Jag.

[Tharg]

I must agree with you, Batterdry500. Especially given that we do a very low annual mileage, nearly all of it pootling around towns/villages. The ID.3 is more than adequate for our purposes, and well comfy too. As I've said, I am a great fan of Skoda's Superb and test drove a diesel 148bhp one back-to-back with the ID.3. Just as comfy, more luxurious and, surprisingly, nearly as quick. But also many thousands of quid more.

[Lt Fluffski]

Putting the drive setting into Eco mode seems to make a great difference to economy. Still done only a few short journeys and initially was using Comfort and/or a  soft Individual setting with Sport engine mode. In the latter, economy was 2.3ish per KWh; Eco took it up to 3.2 per KWh. Again. only short journeys but Eco mode seems the way forward if you're looking for economy. It helps that there seems to be little difference between Eco and Comfort, in fact, sometimes Eco seems to ride a bit softer.

I've noticed the same, even on the motorway. I was sceptical Eco mode would be all that different, but I've noticed a clear increase in range.

[Tharg]

The one BIG problem with the vehicle is all the dire digital stuff. Having a printed manual might help. At present I have to sit there with my laptop displaying the online manual while attempting to do stuff via the "Infotainment" screen. The manual is difficult to use. I constantly have to Google phrases or acronyms to see what they mean. Manual is also confusing, sometimes giving contradictory info or just plain wrong stuff. "Go to settings and press online button", it might say. Then you find that Settings has no online button (details of this are for example only)>
Biggest worry at this moment is that car is saying I have to download and install Updates. Googled this before doing it. Glad I did because most sources say you cannot use the car while download/install takes place. This process, they say, can take from 4.5 hours to 24 hours. Other sources say that download/install only happens if you are in the car and using it. Further, it appears process is quicker if you connect the car to Wifi. Fair enough. I will try to do that but, again, the manual and Google sources are totally confusing and contradictory. Especially since I do not use a mobile phone to connect to car.

[sidehaas]

The one BIG problem with the vehicle is all the dire digital stuff. Having a printed manual might help. At present I have to sit there with my laptop displaying the online manual while attempting to do stuff via the "Infotainment" screen. The manual is difficult to use. I constantly have to Google phrases or acronyms to see what they mean. Manual is also confusing, sometimes giving contradictory info or just plain wrong stuff. "Go to settings and press online button", it might say. Then you find that Settings has no online button (details of this are for example only)>
Biggest worry at this moment is that car is saying I have to download and install Updates. Googled this before doing it. Glad I did because most sources say you cannot use the car while download/install takes place. This process, they say, can take from 4.5 hours to 24 hours. Other sources say that download/install only happens if you are in the car and using it. Further, it appears process is quicker if you connect the car to Wifi. Fair enough. I will try to do that but, again, the manual and Google sources are totally confusing and contradictory. Especially since I do not use a mobile phone to connect to car.

The big updates download in the background when driving without you knowing. But they will only install while the car is off if you press a big obvious orange button on the goodbye screen (which is offered to you after the download has finished). It will tell you how long it takes and give instructions when you press on that button. It's correct you cannot use (or charge) the car while it is installing. I advise leaving it an hour longer than indicated before you go back to the car, to make sure you don't interrupt it. Don't use the app either.
Other updates that pop up while driving are minor and never take more than a few minutes. You can do those whenever the notification comes up. There is certainly no reason to put them off. They have no impact on you using the car.
WiFi is definitely not used for any of the updates. It is all done via the car's in-built sim.
I recommend not using the manual, it's rubbish. Work things out yourself and ask in here or the Facebook owners' group when you need help.

[Tharg]

Dear Mr sidehaas

Thank you so very much for that concise, easy-to-follow explanation. Completely free of mysterious acronyms and meaningless dire digital technobabble. If only the manual and all the other onlinery stuff were written in the same way!! I now, finally, understand how the updates work and what I have to do (and NOT do) to get them on board. Still a but worried about the installation killing the car. So I'll leave it until I have a couple of clear days when(I hope) I do not have to go anywhere.

Again, a thousand thanks for the help.

[Tharg]

Well, sidehaas, I am pleased to say that I followed your instructions and it all happened perfectly. Actually, it didn't go exactly as you said because the digitalia screen did not tell me how long it was going to take; it just went away and did it - took about two minutes. Took the beast for a brief test drive and everything working OK; it didn't even change any of my settings.
Many thanks