there has been a big deal made of the fact that there are no physical climate controls – but I tend to set it before I start and with a press of a button you can tell it your hot or cold
Yeah.. Our current car has the same (non-)issue. You have a physical button to get to the AC controls, but the controls itself are on the touch screen. Now, some people, judging by their statements, require the possibility to adjust their AC multiple times a drive, in fine detail – we on the other hand, like you, set the AC once and that’s it. On, or off. We can handle a single button press on the screen.
Now.. Capacitive buttons on the steering wheel/dash, that’s a slightly different story, but not an issue on Skodas.
That’s interesting about the Elroq sound system, I’d assumed it would be the same components as the Enyaq. I had a 73 plate Enyaq with the standard sound system as a loan car while my 85X with the canton systems was in for a battery and seat heater replacement. I was surprised by how little difference there was, as I think you know the Canton “sub-woofer (cheap Chinese 5″ speaker in a plastic box)” is buried in the most stupid place possible!, enclosed inside a polystyrene box and buried in a metal well in the boot under the floor/carpet, it’s almost inaudible. I’m not due to start looking for my next car until September 2026 so will have to have a good listen to the Elroq if it’s still on my list, at the moment the Enyaq Sportline has a better spec than the Elroq Sportline and comes with the Canton system and the HUD as standard. I wouldn’t add the winter or maxx pack as the heated windscreen isn’t needed (I have it on the 85X) as I just pre-heat the car and I don’t need any of the other bits and pieces.
No, i actually didn’t look “as deep” as to speaker positions, our only comparison is the Enyaq with Canton system (and the Elroq without). We weren’t particular impressed with the Canton system either, but we did put that down to not wanting to faff with the “equalizer”. This time, we did (well, there’s only three sliders without Canton system, so not much faffing possible in the first place), and there was no possible setting that even got us to what the Golf has as standard, in terms of depth/bass etc.
I simply assumed that the Canton system would fix the issue when set up correctly, but it may well be that the Canton system is anaemic too (just slightly less so).
In terms of Enyaq vs Elroq, it’s thankfully slightly simpler for us. The Enyaq, in Sportline, only comes as the AWD variant, which from the get-go makes it unattractive to us. If we needed the Enyaqs size desperately, maybe a different story – as is, the Elroq is spacious enough (more than), so the biggest advantage of the Enyaq doesn’t matter to us.
In terms of equipment, an 85x Sportline Enyaq is the same price as the 85 Sportline Elroq Maxx. The Elroq in that case comes better equipped (regardless of whether it’s needed or not). The only thing speaking FOR the Enyaq in this comparison for us is that the Maxx package on the Enyaq includes DCC which isn’t available on the Elroq (it is optional according to the brochure, but have seen conflicting information on that front).
I do agree that the Sportline Enyaq doesn’t need the Maxx package, we’d be happy without – which makes it, as mentioned, the same price as a Maxx Elroq for us (which does need it as i do like the HUD etc).
Maybe a different story if there was a 85 Sportline Enyaq on the scheme, but to put it slightly differently, i wouldn’t trade away slightly more equipment, better range, better turning circle, better efficiency, less weight etc pp just for an increase in physical size, which objectively is all an 85x Enyaq offers over an 85 Elroq Maxx. We can talk back and forth about the “4wd” of the Enyaq, but to us, it doesn’t offer any advantage. Maybe on snow and ice, but that’s so rare that in almost three years of “owning” the GTE, we drove on slippery ground once. Pointless to trade off range etc for that one time a year (or one time in three years, in our case). But ymmv in that regard, i don’t know which part of the country you are from – if you’re in the north of scotland or something, then i can see that being an argument. Down here in south wales, not so much.
edit: on the subwoofer, if it’s in the same position in the Elroq, it’d still be slightly closer to the driver/passenger, due to an overall decrease in length. At least, that’d be my guess, it depends on where they sliced the boot off (if they cut off the back, or sliced out a piece of the front). But there’s at least the possibility of sounding better purely by being a smaller “inside space”, if that makes sense. We weren’t impressed – with the Ateca before, and the Golf now, we thought that the stock system will “make do” – with the Elroq we immediately came to the conclusion that it needs the sound system, without actually knowing if it fixes the issue.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.