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New owner, took delivery this week. Pretty happy with the colour!

They're overcompensating for the flickering candle between their ears.

I had another trip to see the final Battle of Britain Memorial flights from Coningsby for this year. I was amazed to see how they cram them all in the single hanger!

1932 Restored Convertible Skoda

Don't put ur DSG in Neutral while stopped at the lights - u'll do more damage than good.

The dark nights are curtailing my sunset capturing opportunities😬

For some reason, my car did not charge overnight. Not worked out why yet, but I keft the house this morning with the battery light in the red. The car is telling me it averaged 5.9l/100km and this is running in hybrid mode for my 20km comnute. If this was a pure EV, I would still be stuck at home waiting for the car to charge. As it is a PHEV, I can type this message from my desk at work.

It isn't usually the disks. Assuming we are comparing steel disks with steel disks, the thermal conductivity is going to be very similar. They may corrode at different rates, which will affect wear, and if they are vented, the venting might be slightly more effective, but the pads are the big thing. 'Cheap' pad materials are likely to fade at lower temperature than better ones, and you can't always say 'Brand A is Bad, Brand Z is Great.. EBC, for example make four ranges of pads, and the cheapest, Optimax, are pretty poor. The colour ones (yellow, green, red) are better, but significantly more expensive. These days, with regulation 90, the initial coefficient of friction is constrained by law, if the pads are going to be used on the road. When you get to the point that there is hardly any pad material left, all bets are off.

That's about right. It's a front bumper off job (I know this as I've seen a body shop at main Skoda dealer in Pilsen do that replacement).

I can't remember which flavour of 1.2 yours is Piescoffer, but a friend/neighbour of mine with a BMD-code 54 bhp one in a Polo recently had a cam sensor fault which was just the sensor, so well worth a try, I'd say. Grab one from a scrapyard car though if poss, rather than spending proper money.

This person has an IV. These gearboxes have three clutches, 2 in the gearbox as normal plus another which engages or disengages the ICE from the DSG. When stopped, nothing in the gearbox will be spinning so there'll be no wear. When you set off the motion is provided by the e-motor. If you have an empty traction battery, the third clutch engages to use the e-motor to start the ICE a second after, whilst still driving the wheels. These don't have an alternator, the 12v battery is topped up from the traction battery. TLDR: leave it in D

it was designed in the 90's, which is why there's such a size difference compared to Golf tyres, Audi A1 has plenty of clearance for steamroller sized wheels, townies love 'em, huge wheels and rubber bands for that essential RICE look, never mind the kidney damage and the aquaplaning because they never get out of town anyway, they're obsessed with headlights too even though everywhere they go has street lighting.

Probably should have made a comparison video before posting that pic, would have been neat to include with the coilover post. Fortunate again I have spare suspension to compare it to. Again with the rear shocks the mk1s are in better shape, although not quite as much of a difference in them compared to the fronts. Was a nice distraction to do while watching paint dry anyway. Wonder they seem so weak and yet arent leaking.

Been playing with Bjorn Nyland's hundreds of videos on EVs. He has a spreadsheet bringing together years of his test data and link to his and his colleagues EV videos. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r58c93M0JwdbJ1Gik_8QhyyeLjoPgCSe1JXR_u4DrPc/edit#gid=735351678 Whilst super interesting and general fair I would say he is only human and does not pick up on everything. (I am a big fan but nobody is perfect of course). He seems to zoom around in hust numerous Zoe tests, right through the 22, 41 and 52 Kwh versions but never brings up that he seems to run the Zoe at much lower tyre pressures than other EVs he drives ie Tesla running 45 PSI and the Zoe running as low as 33 PSI it looks like on one video. We all know tyres pressures, and tyre sizes massively affect EV range as well as aero and optimum driving range. It actual take this guy, who Bjorn references, Chris prepared this which may be useful to many EV drivers. Thanks hugely to Bjorn and Chris for all the work, those hundreds if noth thousands of mile of driving/testing. Congrats to Bjorn on going to be a Dad.

Those wheels are looking stellar, DM!

Hope the fact that you have had it stripped down already doesn't prejudice any warranty claim. It shouldn't of course but they could try to claim the fault arose out of taking things apart. They tend to look for any way out. You may wish to keep that to yourself?

1st wheel finished. First pic is after the 2nd coat of colour. Looks very well but it was matted, obviously thats where the clear came in. Here it is finished, 4 coats of clear on it. Still a little matte but after a bit of wetsanding and some polish once the paints cured, I reckon this one will come out golden. Second ones just an extra shot of the same wheel with flash turned on. Far from perfect but it doesnt need to be. Have another wheel etch primed and another with knife putty on it ready to be sanded and primed. Doubt they'll come out quite as nice but heres hoping! Oh and I went and ordered 2 sets of bulbs. Ordered the nightbreakers and all was fine until I got a message saying estimated delivery was the end of October, somehow it takes 3 weeks to ship some bulbs from Germany to Ireland... Well I know that the bulbs I have will be fine, but I said screw it and bought some bulbs from a crowd up in Belfast that should be here start of next week, same crowd I bought the foglight bulbs from. The ones from belfast are some that I've wanted to try for a while, and apparently they're legal to use here to boot.

A few from the speedway (only had my phone, so not the best shots unfortunately). Season finished now, so will have to wait to next year to try out my new camera😕

Almost certainly. If you want to check, maybe borrow a fridge magnet from a fridge near you?

I am fan of such modifications but i would choose an analog gauge in green colour. If someone does not want to mess in dashboard work can put it in the central console or (for better visibility) in the drivers coloumn as the "turbo guys" do. Nevertheless if it's tested and works then OK, congratulations for the project !

Hello Erik99 Ive been using google maps and waze My Sat Nav has issues as well Its going in to be looked at thank you, its really good!

Not exactly inspiring confidence is it?

I used to love watching the sidecars when they came on at halftime at the Speedway

Though I don’t like green color in general. This green really suits well to the Superb Mk3 👍. Very classy.

The part number for the sensor is: 5Q0907643C What came out of the car was 5Q0907643B So a different and earlier revision that seems to effect how the sensor operates. Client is happy. I've got to fix a glow plug now for the same client....

Different case-same cables problem. 😁

That should work, more so on rougher surfaces than smoother ones, and faster courses than slower ones.

Have you done the, open and close bonnet ten times yet ? 😆

Its a main dealer. Did you really expect £79 to cover everything when paying full price for a service also doesn't include spark plugs. They are a business at the end of the day and will do anything to get more money. When mine went in for its first service with me they asked me if I wanted my spark plugs changed at 38k 4 years but told them no. I did them myself at home in 20 mins.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/vw-s-skoda-may-halt-production-due-to-chip-shortage-1.4693865

The going rate for a Clooney is... 1 x Clooney = 1 x Dino 246GTB + 1 x Lancia Stratos + 1 x 911 GT3 + a big bag of jelly snakes

@The1effect - i was wondering why the underbelly of ur car looked very different to mine, including the wheel-arch liner where it meets the underbelly.......then i noticed ur profile says u have a 2016 Octavia SE L. sorry - i don't know where the axle point r on the mk3 Octavia. u should ask the question in the mk3 Octavia forum. this is how it looks, close-up, on the mk3 Superb......

I know you have some savings in the cellar but what's the current exchange rate between the $ against the Clooney?

It's looking good with those pepperpots on it! I saw a Fantasy Green one on the 'net with those pepperpots and I liked it. Managed to find the file on my laptop too.

Yacht taken off the harbour wall at Whitehaven. Shortly afterwards it ran over a fishing line and a rather irate group of fisherman fought to free the spool to save the rod. Cue lots of swearing and gesturing.

Thanks guys. Love this little tank…

It will tricky to find the many issues people have had whilst at handover but there are a few obvious things - the kph/mph selection being one of them. Also SatNav units being selectable; saving favourite destinations seem to be an issue for some, though not one I have experienced. As @DSG245 mentioned some cars are fine, some not. My SEL FE had the infamous kph/mph problem and was the test vehicle for the fix. Thankfully that is sorted, as is the ACC (which used to be confused about which side I could overtake). The occasional niggle remains, like the SOS system clicking and popping but it drives beautifully, and all things work as they should. Whilst mine was off the road for 20 weeks I had a loan Octy4 1.0 e-Tec SE FE. It worked faultlessly for the 8500 miles I put on the clock. The impression I get is that the latest build cars are better than my early build, so with luck yours will be fine. Hope you enjoy your new car as much as I now am mine 😊

Lovely Octy! Welcome to the forums!

I had a similar problem with my rear washer being bunged up, most advice on this forum is to use VAG screen wash, which I do but it still gets bunged up. A simple solution I've found is to get some stranded electrical cable, twist a few strands together and work it into the nozzle, it should clear it, don't be tempted to use a needle in case it breaks

No need to be grumpy, its not stickers or a bodykit on a fabia, its a steering wheel. Besides, i have money for fuel, no worries

I must have had a moment of lucidity, I know how to do these things, mainly self taught through experimentation and learning the hard way how not to do something, it's instinctive but incredibly hard (for me) to explain in words, in that respect Youtube videos are far better as long as its not a nacissist who loves the sound of his own voice. Working with fellow engineers of different nationalities but who were hands on like me we could understand 100% how to do a job by watching each other perform the task, far far better than I could explain it to a fellow English speaker. I used to use a very narrow sharp cold chisel on the edges of core plugs or a pin punch of about 1/4 the plug diameter with a sharp non deburred or worn edge, chain drilling 1/8" holes close to the flange around a 90° arc will the weaken the interference fit to either rotate the plug or displace that part to get a lever behind.

More important is what it says the services are for £79. If you never asked for Extras like Spark Plugs then get them refunded. Did it get a Pollen Filter replaced this time? Was the Brake Fluid changed last time? It should not have the plugs just because it is 4 years old, that is a Skoda Recommendation or Guidelines not a schedule.

I'm no expert (at anything) but my take on the battery matter is:- When the car won't start it goes from being ... a useful, convenient and sometimes enjoyable thing to have at your disposal .... to being ... a useless pile of metal taking up space on your driveway. And we all know the battery will fail at the least convenient time (which often happens to be at the first cold snap of the winter). I have the luxury of a small, not very valuable, second car which could be used if the Yeti were to stop working for any reason and having that second car gives me peace of mind but I still have an earnest desire to keep both of them in a fit state to fire up when needed. So I'm reasonably happy to spend money on a new battery providing I've had, say, five years out of it. And to that end I've changed the batteries on both cars before either have shown serious intentions to fail ... but I reckon I can tell when a battery isn't at its best and is coming to the end of it's days. I have a little battery powered thingy called a Draper Computer Memory Saver which plugs into the ciggy lighter and keeps the settings intact whilst I disconnect and reconnect the old/new battery. It works perfectly but you can't, easily, get the same thing any more but similar things are available. So that makes installing a new battery foolproof and means I can easily order a battery online at the best price I can see (combined with buying from a company I trust from previous experience) and fit it at home at my convenience. The two companies I've used most recently and would recommend are Tayna and Battery Megastore. The most recent battery for the Yeti was a Varta D24 (027) and cost me £67 from Battery Megastore in October 2018. Mine is not a Stop Start and is a 1.2 petrol DSG. The only other thing I would mention is that I bought a further 'belt and braces' gadget recently - it was called an Overland 18000mah 5volt /12 volt /19volt Power Bank and Jump Starter and was sold by a company called Mobile Solar Chargers. I keep one in each car and make sure it's charged up every six months. It takes the place of a set of jump cables and it got my neighbour out of trouble recently and he was suitably impressed and vowed to buy one for himself. I'm so impressed I'll leave a link (which the mods will remove if it's considered inappropriate) https://www.mobilesolarchargers.co.uk/shop/details/overland-waterproof-car-jump-starter Here ends the first lesson.

One of the more recent ones, took a while to actually find a reasonable bulb that wasn't stupidly bright

Manufacturing is so slow partly due to the pandemic, but mostly due to the worldwide shortage of computer chips. Dealers are low or have no stock as a lot of people are buying them up, rather than wait 6 months or more on a new order. Second hand prices are also at a record high as dealers struggle to get some cars for stock, and are paying premium prices.

Some bike testing going on today at Brands Hatch.

My Lowda Supairb

160,000 sounds like KM, equivalent to roughly 100,000 Miles. Beside being used, rubber does degrade slowly from disuse, 50,000 miles as a first point for inspection seems about normal (then check again every following service, then replace at any sign of wear) - i'd rather fork out a bit for a cambelt change and have my mind at peace, than risk it for a biscuit and potentially total the engine on the premise of "well some bloke on the internet says hes on his original cambelt after 200,000 miles, so mine must be fine for the same". It's probably still a good idea to check it every now and again, it's easy enough to take the top part of the timing cover off. As for spark plugs, if you're getting any sort of lumpiness at idle, it's time to change em. Instead of the usual OEM plugs (NGK), i went for the Denso IXU line, given i'm running hybrid turbo i went one stage colder (IXU24), but for a standard or stage 1 car, the IXU22 is the perfect replacement. Given that they're iridium tips, should last longer than the NGKs too. Avoid Bosch plugs. Brake fluid is an essential thing to replace. A friends Rover 25 was suffering from awful brakes, one caliper was seized and the other side was bare metal! We replaced the seized caliper, and put in new pads and discs all round but the brakes were still pretty trash, figured we'd put the spare brake fluid to good use and flush the whole system, what came out was practically black! First test after a full flush and bleed, it went from having to stamp on the brakes to get any form of braking to stamping on the brakes and almost going through the windscreen!

The metal clips will just slide off. You can't miss the AQS sensor once you take the grille off. It's mounted just using a clip. Actually, see those two round tabs underneath the windscreen? You might have to pop them off and undo a screw under each of them too - I can't quite remember now. So maybe there's one tool involved. Even so, it's really easy. I got my Superb in August and the AQS was throwing an error, so it was the first thing I did on the car. I got my part from skoda-parts.com. I paid €52.81 for the Chinese version. Skoda OEM part is €93.90 there, and there's a German 3rd party part for €69.02 - just to give you an indication of the prices. https://www.skoda-parts.com/spare-part/5q0907643c-air-quality-sensor-de-40156.html

Both Looking at Seat SSP 161 for the EA211 and EA288 engines, there is the main coolant pump driven by the timing chain and a secondary electric one for the turbo/intercooler.