qwick69 wrote:

My MY17 Biography starts by using the APP. As stated in other posts, this starts the engine but keeps everything locked. Not only do the heated windscreen and rear screen come on, but the heated from seats come on as well. So, getting in the car on a frost morning of -3 is a joy
I presume that in the summer, you can do the same, but with the air con, so on a hot day, you can get into a nicely cooled car
I had the remote heater on my D4, you could either program it in the car, or use a remote fob. The app on the sport, in my opinion, is much better.

I didnt order the park heat option and the App still works for me.

rrsfan wrote:

qwick69 wrote:

My MY17 Biography starts by using the APP. As stated in other posts, this starts the engine but keeps everything locked. Not only do the heated windscreen and rear screen come on, but the heated from seats come on as well. So, getting in the car on a frost morning of -3 is a joy
I presume that in the summer, you can do the same, but with the air con, so on a hot day, you can get into a nicely cooled car
I had the remote heater on my D4, you could either program it in the car, or use a remote fob. The app on the sport, in my opinion, is much better.

Hello mate, i have a 17my rrs atb on order for january but not ordered the park heat option. will i still be able to use the app to start the car and turn on the heating/cooling even though i have not paid for park heat the lr website states that for the heating function to work the park assist feature needs to be purchased seperatley ?

can anyone shed any light on this

So what exactly is park heat and what are the benefits over normal remote start heating/cooling? Is it an auxiliary heater run off the battery as mentioned? Surely seems a waste to spec now?

Remote start was originally going to be released in MY16 but the feature was dropped. I always thought this was due to emissions regulations but if it has been made available in MY17 then regulations can't be the reason for ditching it last year.

Remote park heat uses an aux heater which isn't present in petrol or 3.0 diesel cars unless the £1000 option is spec'd. The benefit is that rather than starting the engine, just the aux heater comes on which uses much less fuel in comparison. Obviously the battery is also used (electronics, blower) but the heat is generated using fuel. In hot weather, remote climate just blows normal air (as opposed to aircon) to ventilate the car but there's no cooling. This mode doesn't use any fuel, just the battery.

Now with remote start I think the car will just behave as it would if you were idling so whatever your climate settings were at the time of leaving the car would resume. It does make remote climate less attractive IMHO based on my above understanding.

I enquired about remote start after ordering because I was considering cancelling remote climate and saving £1k. I kept the option when I was told remote start will not be available. I added it myself to the previous L320 and had to have it in L494 too but if I had remote start, I personally would not have forked out that extra £1000. Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

"Now with remote start I think the car will just behave as it would if you were idling so whatever your climate settings were at the time of leaving the car would resume. It does make remote climate less attractive IMHO based on my above understanding."

For 2017 cars, the remote start app allows the owner to chose a desired temperature on the mobile device. When the car is started remotely, the car kicks in the heater or air con depending on what temp was set on the app. If you're bored and/or awaiting a 2017 delivery, the app is available to download and it has a demo function so you can see what it does. Others have mentioned it activates the front and rear screens and that may be so but the app doesn't seem to have that as a selection. I'll know in a few weeks I suppose. Here's an extract from the online manual;

With remote climate, the engine of an automatic transmission vehicle can be started remotely, to run for up to 30 minutes. The remote climate feature provides a comfortable temperature inside the cabin in advance of the driver entering the vehicle. Press the Engine START button on the Remote Climate page and enter a PIN. A target temperature can be set.


Contrary to an earlier post, Park Heat isn't standard on any 2017 RRS variant but remains an option. 2017 SDV6 Autobiography; Carpathian Grey, Ivory, Soft Close, Extended Grand Black.

Cheers peeps, the front/rear heated screen activation was my next question! If anyone can confirm whether this is possible, along with the activating the heated seats and steering wheel via the app, that would be great...

Silty wrote:

With remote climate, the engine of an automatic transmission vehicle can be started remotely, to run for up to 30 minutes. The remote climate feature provides a comfortable temperature inside the cabin in advance of the driver entering the vehicle. Press the Engine START button on the Remote Climate page and enter a PIN. A target temperature can be set.

Park Heat is a more discreet option compared with conspicuously running a diesel engine. It's easier to think of it like a central heating boiler, fuelled by diesel. Obviously it can heat the car but its only cooling function is to use the car's fan to circulate ambient temperature air around the cabin, i.e. it does not activate the air con. It can also be used if the car is parked up with people onboard to keep the cabin warm without running the engine. Whether it's worth £1000 to be a little less vulgar than running a large diesel engine is your choice.

Remote Climate, as discussed above can both heat and cool below ambient temperature. It can do this because the engine is running and therefore the air con compressor is available. In Autobiography variants it may give the impression of heating the seats as the seats are not heated electrically but via warm air circulating via the cabin heater supply. We awaiting confirmation if it does anything more than that, i.e. turn on the front/back screens.

James 2017 SDV6 Autobiography; Carpathian Grey, Ivory, Soft Close, Extended Grand Black.

Regards front a rear screen you may not be able to set them via the app but when the outside temperature is low when you start the car they come on so I assume starting via the app is the same.

Heated seats and wheel I don't think make a difference as they heat up quickly enough when you turn them on.

Another thing to consider perhaps if your starting your cars via the app and someone breaks the window and gets in and drives off. With remote heat 1k option this can't happen as the car isn't running.

That's how I'm justifying my £1000 at the moment

That's a fair justification! Presumably there is some kind of fail safe if this were to happen as the keys are nowhere in the vicinity? Remote switch off the engine??
So, when the outside ambient temperature is low, the front/rear heated screens activate automatically when you start the vehicle in the normal way? If so, it makes sense if it were to do the same via the app?