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The irony

I changed to DSG after almost 50 years of manual. As with Graham, it took me about five miles to get used to it. After six years (and two cars) with DSG I would not want to revert to manual.

We've just changed to a DSG type car and it took us about 5 miles to get used to the new "system".

@MJ1 I am sitting for 40 minutes charging now at a free charger for a near 200 mile day in the Cairngorms. I did 300 miles yesterday and charged twice for 30 minutes a time. It does mean a change of thought from using petrol or diesel but by the time I plug in check in on 2 apps that I am charging, read some posts here, maybe post some it is time to head on. I have done nearly 3,000 miles of EV driving since the 10th August and paid under £12 for electricity bought. Taking advantage of the lovely weather and pretty empty roads early on and in the evenings.

So far this year they've protested Mercedes steering system, protested Hamilton post qually, protested Hamilton in the race, made allegations about Mercedes part in the Racing Point brake duct affair, forced a rule change to disadvantage Mercedes engines etc etc. If they just went away and built a faster car wouldn't that be a better use of their time? Max' comment about his car yesterday - "its just too slow." Approaching the Senna/Lotus divorce point I think. The Verstappens must surely have eyes on Bottas' Mercedes for 2022.

Well I located the "N280" and gave its electrical connector a good workover, and I'm pleased to say I think it's now sorted. Thanks to all involved for the pointers, and for not calling me a muppet.

I’m joining the mk3 280 4x4 club in the next week and a bit. Got a business grey sportline with 20k miles on a 67 plate. Took it for a test drive today and holy hell that power is insane when you floor it and it drops down the gears instantly and starts shouting! No camera fitted in the windscreen unfortunately so won’t be able to tweak TSR in etc but sure I can find some mods to do once I have it (planning to splash on the 3 vin VCDS now both me and my wife will have nearly new cars) Can’t wait! Just got to try and figure out how to add my 12” sub and 500W amplifier into the non canton sound system. I retrofitted the Kenwood dnx521dab in my (soon to be traded in) mk2 superb so that had good old fashioned RCA outputs, Pity the OEM’s don’t provide those for those of us that like a bit of a thump

280 here ... 3 mile commute to and from work in town.... 19-20 mpg. Holiday run to Cornwall ....43mpg.. Smiles per mile v 190 Diesel .... No comparison.

Ferrari drop RP verdict appeal. RP drop appeal against punishment. Still no-one gets to appeal the FIA vs Ferrari cheating enquiry.

Yep. Replacement of the whole unit, whilst is going to be initially more expensive, it's more cost effective in the long term as you won't have a recurring fault.

Also most teams have very slippery rear wings at Monza so even using the DRS on the straights have little difference compared to other higher downforce tracks. Fastest lap by Lewis was not matched by any of the cars that finished ahead of him.

Now available on the German configurator, can’t be long for the UK now! Edit: only petrol and IV version

The best maintenance a driver can do for their brakes is to brake really hard every so often. A quiet road and a couple of 60mph to 30mph hard decelerations keeps them rust free and removes the glaze from the pads.

It would probably best to change the whole unit, because once the moisture/water is in there you'll never get rid of it entirely and it could cause damage to the electrical system too. Also by law of sod and averages, it'll short out and lose the headlight(s) at the most inconvenient time such as heavy rain, fog or night, which is not only dangerous, but probably illegal a likely to attract the unwanted attention of the police. 👮‍♂️

1st job.. 40mm H&R setup. No air suspension like the last Octavia i had.

Because Renault picked up 12 points Ferrari now 6th and just 220 points behind Mercedes.

I have shared your anxiety, pre lockdown when I was rebuilding mine it got started and ran many times & tried regens, I left it idling for long periods but it still brought up the dash warning, one 20 min journey and it was sorted and never returned. Car has been with me here in France since lockdown began and only did short & infrequent journeys but it did not repeat and I never heard it regenning, now I do a 10 mile each way return trip 3 times a week and another 3 very short journeys & all seems fine.

Sounds like the team are trying to get rid of him.

The advantage of the 22Kw three phase supply might show if you have one of the EV friendly energy tariffs which give ultra low cost per Kw/h from about 1am-5am. I think a few of the coming EV's can do 11KW also. So whilst you might not benefit from the full 22KW you might benefit from the extra few KW at the cheaper rate. Then of course there's the powerwall option and buying power cheap and selling back to the grid when it's dear, plus powering your home on the cheap stuff pulled in overnight. So to me if the differential cost to install 3 phase to the property is negligible it could give you better options longer term

Blown diffusers, flexing front wings, increased fuel flow, Red Bull used to be creative and bend the rules to gain an advantage. Now they only appear to be capable of pi$$ing off every engine supplier in town and whinging that other teams are better than them.

Hello thanks for the replay. The crack is still there and all other lights are function propely in that headlight. not reciving any erorrs etc. Its Just the stripe also once i turn on the ignition i get the check Day light running light error. Its the right stripe thats malfuctioning. Skoda in qustion is an octavia mk3 2013

Breaking news from Monza the Renault team will be rebranded as ALPINE F1 TEAM for 2021 with a blue colour scheme. Renault bought the small sports car company in 1973. The engine will continue to be known as Renault E-tech hybrid though.

In my experience the VAG stuff is no better than anything else that you are considering. Some people just like a certain product or manufacturer, and have this idea in their head thats its more impressive or better quality than the nest item or manufacturer etc. An example of which would be manufacturer reliability ratings. The top german stuff that everyone thinks is impressive and want to be seen in, is generally in the top ten most unreliable vehicles on the road. So most folks that buy them and pay through the nose for them, then don't like to admit that they break a lot. This gives a lot of people a false impression of superior quality and therefore keeps the price high when purchasing said vehicles. Its more about image and marketing these days. A transit that would cost around 10k-12k for instance would cost 17k-20k for the same age and mileage transporter (roughly). The Vauxhall vans give bother reasonably often and if you look at one make sure the gearbox is ok in all gears and electrics are all working (think engine sensor issues). Older transits gave bother with corrosion at the rear, injector seals leaking (you'll smell it) and pump sensors. VAG stuff gives bother with injectors, rings, shafts, window regulators to name a few off the top of my head, that I've fixed recently. You make your choice, you drive it and you fix it when it breaks. Just buy the best van you can find within budget thats recently PSV'd (no guarantee) and working properly and you'll be fine.

I have access to 4 cars! My wife's Bread Van that she uses and I use for shopping & getting my Compost & Gravel etc for the garden. Then there's my MX5 for 'Roof Down' trios to the Cotswolds, Stratford on Avon & other sundry warn sunny days out. Then there's the Mini Coupe Cooper S for a bit of a 'Fast Burn'. Lastly, the Suzuki Mild Hybrid for lumping suitcases to the airport for trips to South of France. I lead a pretty boring life really compared to the rest of you I guess!

Monza generally makes for boring races. Desperate fans waiting for anything to happen - an engine to blow up or the leader to crash (Hakkinen, Hill) or just occasionally a massive error from Hamilton (remember him stuffing it into the barrier after Lesmo 2 during the "Nicole" years?). Hopefully watch it tonight on C4.

Given that you'll register it in France, why not a Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat (they're all made in the same factory, just different badges)?

Most quote with or without pad wear sensor. If you look on Horton Skoda online webshop they usually have good deals with genuine pads and discs. I only fit standard disc/pads as they are more than up to the job of stopping the car. Even with my old Stage 2+ 280bhp Octy TFSi. The std 312mm brakes worked perfectly. The 340mm brakes work really well as I have them on mine. Cant really think why anyone would bother fitting and spending anything other on their car for the road. Other than bragging rights or if you track day your car every month to justify the outlay. Id rather spend the extra money on family days out.

Make sure you get a 4 x 4 diesel then as the front wheel drive will have no traction pulling out of junctions and onto roundabouts on even a damp road surface and you will quickly get bored of seeing the flashing TC light on the dashboard and wearing out the front tyres unless you like the smell of burning P7's.

I can afford petrol and enjoy the engaging drive a petrol engine gives a motorist. Also, I stop where I want to NOT where I have to! 😊

Hi so you can get the egr delete pipe for the fabia vrs 1.9tdi but I’ve seen the shorter delete pipe so you can keep the anti shudder valve, people say you will still get a engine management even with the shudder valve still plugged in then the egr vac pipe would still be connected to the delete pipe. Can some help as really you shouldn’t as everything still connected cheers John I know it’s probably been repeated but can’t find it cheers

Everytime you fasten your seat belt get in the habit of putting stop/start off and job done. If you happen to be sitting going no place in traffic and at roadworks etc then enable it maybe. It is as easy as that.

I've discovered the sound generator (soundaktor) in the Sportline models can be turned off (or more specifically the volume can be turned all the way down), and this applies to all Drive Modes. You'll need OBDeleven or VCDS coding tool to do this. I changed it using OBDeleven. To make the change using OBDEleven: Select ' Structure Borne Sound' Control Unit Select 'Adaptation' Select 'Volume of structure-borne noise actuator' You can then adjust volume of the sound generator as a percentage. By default mine was set to 100% but I changed it to 0%. With the above change the sound generator is not heard in any Drive Modes, including Sport. Very happy to have got rid of this generated/amplified noise in my 2.0TSI 190PS Sportline. And much more convenient than having to change the car out of the Normal drive mode to Individual every time the car is restarted in order to silence the sound generator. Not that the engine is particularly tuneful, but much rather hear what it is doing compared to fake noise. You can also make various other changes with the coding tools mentioned above (disable stop/start, change accelerator to more progressive setting etc). Well worth the spend. Here's a link to OBDeleven for those interested: https://obdeleven.com/en/

I would recommend going to a running shop and get a pair fitted to you. It’s important to get the correct level of support depending on your foot shop and instep height to prevent injury. i like a Brooks Ghost, but they don’t suit everyone.

I think this will sell well and certainly represents the future for the ŠKODA line up. Non petrol/diesel is the future and we’ll just have to get used to life without them, in whatever form that takes 🙂. My first impressions and observations having seen the launch videos and after a few days to get used to looking at it in photos: > The grill is...odd in my opinion. Like the new Octavia, it looks like it’s doing an impression of itself and is too big a leap from the ‘traditional’ ŠKODA look. This seems to be a growing trend among manufacturers at the moment (looking at you BMW). The LED version is very gimmicky. I don’t want to think of the cost of replacing that if it’s damaged by a rock or pigeon making contact with it at high speed 😬. >The traditional ‘power dome’ is now upside down (power dent?). Again, I’m not sure how this is meant to fit with the rest of the range, or if it’s a deliberate move away from the traditional ŠKODA look. >The rear end looks like an after thought. Reminds me of the rear end of a Mondeo. >The interior looks nice, however as pointed out on the Autofughl video, ŠKODA made a point about this car using sustainable materials, yet it’s still packed full of animal skin and wool. >Colour choice will be a key here. The launch event colour scheme (ice blue?) doesn’t do it any favours. Black and Red seem to help a lot. The special Tour de France red car they used the day after launch looked really good! I think the purported vRS version is going to appeal to the same sort of driver as the Kodiaq vRS- someone who wants the top of the line version and lots of torque, but unlikely to be used in a track.

Revo Stage1 map nowdays, TBH it didn't add that much maybe, another 10 bhp

Eibach Pro Kit fitted in the last hour so I suspect the car will drop another couple of mills. on first impressions, I’m really happy with the results!

Until the court case is heard I am not allowed to comment on my defence for not knowing one hole from another.

The oil and filter do not have to be bought from Skoda. The correct fluids and filters or parts have to be used. Even Skoda CZ and Skoda dealerships do not 'buy from Skoda' as Skoda do not produce oil or manufacture filters. So approved repairers or VAT registered establishments and the correct consumables. It is s free market and best read warranty T&C,s if interested.

its audi drivers and kia sorento owners for me lately.. The attitude type of so many your posts like this in so many threads is really getting boring now.

I actually ended up buying the VRS-but-not-labelled-VRS version they only made for a year. It says 1.9 on it, but it's the 2l GTI engine and will stick you to the seat. I'm amazed as it will trip along at 80 and not even break a sweat, just a shade slower than our Jag XF, but almost double the MPG ....my opinion remains; the mk1 octy = best car ever built. Others may be faster, bigger etc etc but when you balance it all with economy, reliability, price and sheer usefulness, theres no contest!

@ColinD do you think it would wind up Tesla fanboys if I put a Briskoda stiker on the model 3? :-)

I am no fan of PHEVs but 32 miles will cover the daily drive of a huge number of the UK driving population. If it helps clean up the air and save lives then I can accept it.

@CJJE Head for thinking and feet for dancing. You seem to just be anti at present and not seeing the bigger picture. Your paying near £6 for every 45 miles you drive in the UK. Paying for road tax, servicing and parking, and might pay congestion / low emission zone charges. Paying BIK if using for business and private. An open mind can help you see who and where people will use them, and plenty are doing long distance travel and going to be able to get into cities with their vehicle and not needing to park and ride. Which can actually be handy where charging stations are at the park and ride places. If you do not need or want an EV then nobody is making you get one for the next 20 years or so while ICE vehicles are for sale and then ones on the road can stay on the road. If you want an EV that you can tow with then chose one of those. Skoda are going to be building and selling them.

At that mileage, if Skoda are saying there is a FSH including Haldex I wouldn't be surprised if the pump is already knackered. Skoda only change the oil, their system does not recognise the filter as a service item nor do they remove the pump to clean the strainer hence it could be blocked. Mine was cooked after 4 years and 35k miles despite a Skoda FSH....! Problem is Haldex faults don't show up as a warning light and are only evident if you plug in a code reader (such as Carista, well worth 20 quid!) or if you notice front wheel spin pulling away from junctions. I would recommend checking out the 4x4 operation as soon as you get the car while you have some recourse with the dealer.

Ask the dealer whether the FSH on the Haldex included a oil change only or filter changes - Skoda only recommend a oil but NOT a filter change. If oil only and the 120000 M change has not been done do the filter as well.

Trenchman - I’m truly sorry to hear that your health situation is less then ideal and I sincerely wish you every success with recovery from your recent transplant. Keep us posted on your new wheels and I’m sure it goes without saying that all of us here wish you the very best and will gladly give you every assistance possible in enjoying your new acquisition. 🙂

Gosh, contradictory/inconsistent information in a Haynes manual, whatever next? Show me an oil that meets or exceeds Skoda 504 00 or 507 00 spec that is within the range of the quoted viscosity pairings... Not that either of those are the correct specs for these cars on fixed service schedule, but never mind.

Don't worry too much about the faulty Columbus, send it to me and I should be able to repair it for you. It sounds like a common fault.