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Turns out that the remote is indeed fussy about which battery it uses. Tried re-synchronising the key as per the guide above, no gain. The new battery was indeed a Duracell battery, swapped for a new Panasonic battery and it started working immediately.

So to update the thread and close this out (because it's really annoying when people don't do that 😉), I had an auto electrician out today to work on the car. After testing the original wiring and signals from the stalk were working as they should, he took out the extra wire and wired it back in to how it should be. And sure enough, the pump works absolutely fine in both directions. Rear washer instantly fully operational and rear wiper behaviour back to intermittent as expected. As suspected, the botch job on the pump wire was responsible for everything. My theory is the previous owner of the car blew fuse 22 at some point - probably trying to overcome frozen screenwash - and struggled on with it, then when it came to MOT time, some garage has done that 'fix' to get the front washer working. Amazing really that rather than spending ten pence and thirty seconds replacing the fuse, they instead decided to go to all the effort of taking the wheel and arch liner off to butcher the original wiring. Crazy. Thanks again to @Breezy_Pete, it was great to be able to talk through this with the electrician with confidence. As an aside, I've also had the aerial base replaced which has totally resolved the poor DAB reception and stopped the digital aerial short to ground fault. So if anyone else comes across this post and wants to know; On the combi/estate, you need to remove the D and C pillar trims (which involves dismantling a lot of the boot surround) and take out the rear passenger overhead grab handles. Otherwise there's simply not enough room to get tools in to access the aerial without seriously risking creasing the headliner; you need the handles out before it can drop down enough. Online guides and videos for other VAG cars don't account for the steep upwards slope in the headliner on the Fabia estate, above the top of the boot hatch. I used VAG part number 6C0035501Q which has a much larger footprint than the original (6C0035501A/N) and therefore better protection from water ingress. I believe the internal seals are better too. Fitment to the car is exactly the same, and I swapped over the existing screw-in M6 antenna.

You can try eBay if somebody is selling a used copy Otherwise you can use the new Haynes Online Manuals, which wouldn’t be my choice but sadly that is the way Haynes have gone

CZ - Manuály servisní https://en.manuals.cz/man_model.php?id=34&model=9

Hello I just became an owner of a spanking new Octavia vRS mk 4.5 and I'd like to share my first impressions but before that a bit of a background story. Last year I was looking for a new car to replace my Ford Mondeo Titanium S from 2009. It served me well but it was time for something newer. I guess my criteria mostly were that the car had to be practical but also a bit sportier than the previous one. Initially I was looking at Cupra Leon Sportstourers (also estate) but I was eventually mesmerised by a velvet red Octavia RS mk4 liftback. I thought I got a pretty nice deal on it as it was just barely used (~3000 km), so no new car tax to pay for me anymore, and it had ton of extra equipment as well. I was super happy with it. Then in February the facelift was announced and I admit that I didn't think much of the RS facelift at that moment. I was definitely thinking that the front lights were cooler on my current RS, I mean the fog-lights were a separate unit and the front bumper was also much more aggressive and edgier. Also nothing really bothered me too much about the infotainment system. But....as time passed the design of the facelift had started growing on me and in addition some of the improvements here and there (a bit more power, newer infotainment system). And by July I managed to convince myself that I want the facelift RS, so I ordered one! It arrived at the end of September. However, by that time I still hadn't found a new owner for my mk4. I had some offers but nothing good enough yet so I asked the dealership to wait a bit and give me more time to sell my mk4. Then I finally found a buyer and told the dealership as well that I'm now ready to receive the new car. But I guess I jumped the gun there a bit as the deal to sell the old car hasn't been quite finalised yet. So that means that I'm in a unique position where I currently own a mk4 Octavia vRS and a brand new mk4.5 Octavia vRS and they are both velvet red! But it's a good opportunity to compare them. So finally, here are my thoughts on the differences: The specs Both of my cars have a ton of extra equipment but there are slight differences (just some quality of life extras really). I really liked the extra features on the old car so I mostly copied them when speccing the new car as well. But most notable ones: Both cars are liftbacks Both are velvet red mk4.5 has 20 extra horse power but cannot test it yet if I can actually feel the difference (still break-in period) Both have DCC, Adaptive Lane Assist Both have Suedia (leather) seats (as part of Challenge Plus package on the old mk4, separate option on mk4.5) Both have 19" wheels (Altair on mk4, Elias on mk4.5) Both have a Heads Up display Navigation was a separate option on mk4 but I think it's part of the base RS spec now. I couldn't spec preheating for mk4.5 in my region (wasn't available in the spec sheet and still isn't in the configurator) I added Canton sound system on the mk4.5 (yet to review it properly) Exterior The biggest difference between mk4 and mk4.5 is the front part of the car (as you've probably seen from pictures yourself). As I also mentioned above, it took some time for the new design to grow on me but I really like it now. The rear lights are also a bit different (the shape/light bar of the turning signal is now horistinal and straight, see picture). Also the stripes/trails within the rear lights seem to be illuminated (more). The design of the 19" wheels is different. I don't like the aero cover (or however you call it). I think the Elias wheels look much better without it so I removed the covers. However, beware that if you decide to remove the covers you need to purchase a set of centre caps and lug nut covers. Otherwise it's a bit ugly still. the vRS logo is different, I think the new one is better in the sense that you can actually understand that it says vRS (I remember one of my friends asking what VIRS means and the old logo can absolutely be misinterpreted that way) Door sill protectors have "Octavia" written on the, not vRS. Interior Interior design is mostly the same but there are more and less noticeable differences: The biggest difference (literally) is the size of the infotainment screen. It's 13" on the new one vs 10" on the old one. However, the larger screen size is in any way disturbing. The upper edge is still below the dashboard and isn't blocking the view in any way. Coupled with the upgraded infotainment system it's a really nice upgrade. Some of grey coloured pieces (door handle, the plastic around the gear shifter, rotating knobs on the steering wheel) is dull/matte whereis it was shiny on mk4. The design of the wireless charging pad/compartment has changed a bit and it feels like it's holding the phone a bit better in place. The icons on the physical buttons have changed a bit. Infotainment system/Virtual cockpit That's the big change on the inside and in short, the improvement is huge. The infotainment system is very responsive. The new style feels a bit more modern The digital instrument cluster is a more customisable as well (The right arrow on the steering wheel now switches between different display modes eg map, trip info, gear info (D, S, M), while the left one chooses between display style (with tacho and speedometer or without) No custom vRS animation on the instrument cluster when entering the car anymore, it's mostly black with SKODA fading in. 😞 The gear information (D, S1-S7 etc) can now be displayed with a huge font between the tacho and speedometer (vs being displayed in the bottom left corner on mk4). That's super awesome now. The normal gearbox mode (D) will still display only D and not D1-D7. The Adaptive Lane Assist button is now gone from the steering wheel but the option to switch to it from ACC is now hidden in the same menu (left upper button on the right side of the steering wheel). When I first saw that the button is missing I thought that they forgot to install it and actually had to double check that it's there. There's now always an indicator bar visible in the speedometer dial that shows how much range you have left to go, so now you can select something else to display in your speedometer dial. The physical button for selecting your driving modes now toggles through driving modes, that's nice! There's a ton of customisable shortcuts at the top and at the bottom of the screen (eg can set shortcuts for car, assists, lane assist, heated front windshield at the top; media, phone, navigation, android auto/carplay shortcuts at the bottom) The widgets on the infotainment screen are slightly less customisable but that doesn't really bother me: there's a couple of templates that you select from when creating pages/screens, previously you had more freedom here. I wish the HOME button was slightly bigger though. It was easier to press it on mk4 infotainment screen as it was actually a separate "button" on the left of the screen in mk4. Now it's an icon on the screen. The style of the integrated navigation system feels more modern but haven't used it that much as I'm more of an Android Auto user. Audio As mentioned, my new mk4.5 has Canton sound system. My initial reaction is that's it's not much of an improvement (still), let's see if I can figure out some good settings for it. I did have to check whether the subwoofer (squeezed into the spare wheel compartment) actually worked. Yeah, you can feel and here the vibration when you open the boot but not that much in the driver's seat. I do hope that the only result of the subwoofer won't be the body panels falling off in the back and that I can at least feel the bass when that's happening. There is an extra setting to adjust the subwoofer in the Sound menu. So in short, default settings seem a bit lacklustre but I still need to play around with settings before drawing a final conclusion. Some missing features/changes I've encountered some inconveniences on the new mk4.5 (not a deal breaker though) I think the biggest feature that's missing on the mk4.5 and that I found quite useful as well is the lack keyless lock/unlock on the rear doors. In other words, when you previously could unlock the car by just pulling the read door handles and it would unlock (and could also lock it using rear doors) then that's now gone. You have to take an extra step to touch the front door handle. Another annoyance that I found is that the speed limit warning is turned on each time you switch on the ignition. Unfortunately that's done so to comply with legislations (manual says so). However, Skoda did add a shortcut to disable it quickly (same button and place where you can disable Lane Assist). However, not all has been perfect! When I logged in with my Skoda account into the car and added myself as the main user, it wanted to load some settings which I assume were from the mk4. It did load my seat position but also a lot of icons appeared in the infotainment menu that were just loading (had the loading animation). Perhaps there's a more clever way to solve the issues but I eventually deleted and recreated my Skoda account. I took the car for a first proper drive over the weekend and had a yellow/amber "Emission control system fault" icon appear in the instrument cluster. No errors/warnings in the infotainment menu (status is fine there) as well and car drives fine as well. I plugged in my bluetooth OBD scanner to see what it comes up with and it reported fault codes P2080 (P2080 Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Range/Performance Bank 1 Sensor 1) and P2084 (P2080 Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Range/Performance Bank 1 Sensor 2). So now I'm taking it back to the dealership. I hope it's just an improperly installed sensor (as per repair manual it seems that both sensors are wired into the same connector) but let's see. That's it for now. Feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer them. And some pictures as well:

Yep, that tallies with what I've found - brands like EverReady, Duracell and off-brand Chinese rubbish either didn't work or lasted about 5 minutes. Panasonic work and last longer than anything else, same in my motorcycle key fob FWIW.

If it doesnt improve with the radio disconnected .you said its also poor in starting it might be worth trying a new or known good battery. If theres low voltage then it can cause all manner of problems especially random dash warning lights plus if the starter motor is running slower its a lot more difficult to start a diesel as they need a high crank speed. Maybe the battery you have was on its last legs and by going flat it finished it?? Alasdair

Hello, after continuing to search for the cause after unplugging the ECU connector, it turned out that the yellow/blue wire is disconnected. It's likely that the wiring harness was bent and a break occurred. Now I need to locate the break. Thank you all for your help in solving this problem.

My car was delivered with the covers off so I can’t say for sure but I doubt it would make much difference. Most noise is from the tyres and the covers are just used to eek a tiny bit of extra mpg..

I know what you mean re that grommet. Glad you found the cause though. I took the stay that stops the door from opening too far off to get door opened a little more to give me a bit more space. Still tricky but managed it. Alasdair

yes indeed, but I had already tried that idea.....but it was with the original door catch. However, when I bought the new catch I thought it would solve the problem, but it didn't so I then went looking elsewhere.....like the wiring harness up in the top left corner of the boot opening. Today, I tried the old catch just to see if it was in fact working .....and it wasn't. So I actually had two issues, the catch and the fact it wasn't catching the bottom part on the door frame correctly.....the wiring was all a red herring BUT......it did let me discover the damaged pipe for the rear windscreen washer.......and it now turns out its damaged in other places too.....behind trim in fact , so more removing of panels in the rear of the car. BUT at least I know what the problem is , more than half the battle.

Thanks your help Nigel! I'm off to get new tyres this morning and whilst I'd like to do the discs/pads myself I've got back issue currently, so will get a local VW specialist to do these. Looking at the service history I don't think it has ever had new plugs so will get these done too when they do the brakes.

Not sure but did read that its important not to use on alluminium compressor side as it tends to eat it. Think you can access via EGR pipe/down pipe but mine had an EGR cooler in the way and everything else!! so didnt want to risk it. If its a turbo problem I thought mine had stuck fins as it would go into limp mode but it was a sticking actuator that was causing over boost. Mine was a 1.9tdi bxe. If its stuck fins you could try some forte turbo cleaner additive and run it on a few tanks of supreme diesel to see if it makes a difference. Alasdair

Post a picture of the headlights and we'll let you know... E.G..: pre-facelift (with Matrix): post-facelift (with matrix):

Well if it has a 13" infotainment screen it's a 4.5. Pretty sure all the 4's have the smaller 10" screen with a home button etc down one side. If its an RS then a dead give away is no seperate front foglights on the 4.5

Bear in mind all sources of information can include errors and omissions including from manufacturers so do check and cross reference with other reliable sources all data you get, Haynes tend to explain things from the ("bleedin'") obvious to quite technical with big gaps in-between the two but can be a useful back up to manufacturers' workshop manuals. I always recommend having ad reading the car's original 'Owner's Manual' as it not only tells you about the car it can help prevent the need of adjustments and repairs - prevention is better than cure. Also checking here with very experienced owners and in some cases daily users of the car can save lots of time and bad experiences, often with ****-poorly made modern made parts. Do let your son be a hands on maintainer and repairer of the car and encourage him to read the car's 'Owner's Manual' and carry out driver/owner's checks and maintenance. Good luck.

Yup, Superskoda changed their name to Kopacek a number of years ago now. Have a look at my Build Thread for some ideas. I too have a Business Grey Liftback/hatch. This how Gandalf looks like now.

There is, number 3505. I'm guessing it's out of print, so you'll have to find a used one.

More pictures after Detailing and Ceramic done- very pleased!

Hi, this is my Kodiaq Vrs 🙂 H&R Springs, Full Maxton kit, Forge turbo intake, intake hose & filter. Stage 1 remap.

Some quick photos, more to follow after the detailing and ceramic coating. Done 156 miles in it- just wow!

Still on the original set of Bridgestone Duellers, which are summer tyres. Car has done 12,000 miles on these tyres, swapped fronts to back at10,000 miles at the end of August, as the outside shoulders were wearing. Wanted to even out the wear so I could replace the whole set and get the lower prices. Top tyre is left front, lower tyre is left rear. Apart front the obvious shoulder wear on the front, there is not much difference in overall wear. LF 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 5.5. LR 5.0, 5.5, 5.5, 6.0. Measuring outside to inside. Outside is on the left of the photo. Hopefully these will now be OK until around 20,000 when I'll replace them. Replacement will probably be one of Pirelli SF3, Michelin CC3 SUV, Continental All Season (just fitted these to our Fabia) or Bridgestone Turbanza 6 All Season. If one of them has a rim protector moulding that could be the deciding factor over price or grip, as the 19 inch alloys and 45 profile tyres don't give any protection. I had 2 sets of Cross Climates after the original Michelin Primacys on the previous VW Touran, but the Continentals and Bridgestones come out better in the Tyre Tests. This is a really informative site - you can compare each tyre against the other and see how it performs. AllSeasonContact 2 VS CrossClimate 2 Tyre Comparison - Tyre Reviews And Ratings

More pics

+1 for aero covers off.

Just cleaned mine. You won’t be able to clean the inside of the rim with the covers on.

Update. I’ve covered 500 miles so far and the car continues to impress. My previous car was a B9.5 RS4 which I ran for 2 years. A different beast but strangely I’ve already gelled more with the VRS. Day to day driving, it feels nimble and agile. Lighter by ~300kg. Peak torque sits low down and good direct steering feel. I feel it’s got the right level of performance for UK roads, not silly quick but enough poke to keep you smiling. Exhaust becoming throatier with miles. Pops and bangs in sports mode a nice touch. The screen is not as bad as everyone makes out. Once you know where everything is, it’s a doddle to use and very intuitive. Above all, and the way costs are going these days, it’s the value proposition I admire the most. Lower insurance, lower tax, lower petrol bills etc for a car that’s half the price of an RS4 but not half as fun. I feel it’s a hidden gem in the motoring world at the moment. Fast, spacious, efficient, no fake noise, well specced, value and looks. I’m biased, but it wears race blue very well.

For sale. 20 sets of Mk4.5 aero covers. Price - negotiable. Contact - anyone in this thread 😄

Would the aero covers protect your alloy if you kerbed it? Just asking for the wife! 😈🤣

These are the ones I got…. https://amzn.eu/d/eIbN1EN https://amzn.eu/d/dqiZfXt

Yeah, I've had similar on a motorway run & if I was that bothered about mpg I wouldn't have bought a vrs 😊

Agree. They’re designed for fuel efficiency, but car looks 100x better without them and on my last motorway run I even reached 45mpg. Not bad for the running in period 😂 Seems like we’ve got quite the Race Blue gang on here.

I've had my race blue hatch for a few weeks now after upgrading from a 72 plate manual vrs. Definitely a more refined car & really happy with it so far. Still getting used to my first dsg. I've removed the aero covers & I think it looks far better without. 3rd vrs & to me definitely the best looking alloys. Standard spec apart from winter pack & a rear wiper to keep it just under 40K!! New & old 😊

Hey all. Very useful thread and wanted to share that I collected my vRS last week. Look forward to contributing to the forum 😊

Up to about 1,500km in my race blue combi now so almost time to give launch control a test although launching a FWD car is always a lesson in futility. Absolutely loving the car every time I get in it and the few friends who have been in it have all been amazed at the interior quality, styling and how it drives. Like most people, Skoda is not really a brand you think of much and few have any better than a neutral impression of it until they see for themselves. I have found, even though you can cycle through the drive modes easily enough with the button, that putting the drive mode option permanently on the screen is quite helpful as I often change it preferring normal most of the time in the city, comfort for a bumpy road, sport or individual when having a play and eco when just sitting on a motorway letting the car mostly drive itself. The canton stereo wasn’t that impressive to me at first but a combo of breaking it in and adjusting it to use less of the immersive sound shows it is actually pretty good with a good sound stage. It reminds me of the best stereo I’ve had previously which was the Harmon Kardon upgrade in an E90 BMW. Infiniti Bose and Subaru Mcintosh were nowhere near as good despite supposedly impressive stats on paper. I continue to love the Race blue, just so nice to have a car in an actual colour which is so rare today outside of sports cars and Supercars.

Had my Mk4.5 vRS since last Friday. Got the Estate in Race Blue. Couple of school runs and shopping on Friday but just back from a 2 night trip to the Lake District from Southport which is about 150 mile round trip. Pretty happy so far, handles well with plenty of power when you need it. Hard to actually objectively review it having spent the last 3 years in a 22 plate Cupra Ateca so feel I'm just comparing against what I had before it all the time so at the moment I'm either "This feature is better than the Cupra" or "That feature was better in the Cupra" etc. Can't decide whether to remove the aero covers off the wheels but may well do.

Really struggled to get a picture of it clean, so instead I've taken a quick couple of pics when the sun just popped out, whilst away camping for the night 🏕️ it's an awesome car

I prefer the aero covers on as will be easier to clean with sponge! I think for the facelift, I feel as though I can just jump in the car and get going without having to wait for the entertainment system to reset, boot up and then switch off various settings because your preferences wouldn't be retained as in the pre-facelift. In the facelift a few button presses and I am good to go. Thank god the sound generator thing has gone because I would always select economy previously to get it switched off - now I just drive in normal mode and life is good and quiet with some sporty noises from the exhaust. Wireless charging and Apple CarPlay is fab - just put your phone down and it will charge, sync etc etc. and it doesn't need to be positioned in an exact sweet spot. I have Canton - difficult to tell the improvement over the stock system, must be better but bass doesn't shake the car or anything - probably more clear with additional speakers - would I get it again? probably. I also got a sunroof - not getting much action right now but really like it in spring/summer so glad I got it. Winter pack is great - obvs using it right now for heated screen and steering wheel. Infotainment system works very well and has had a significant improvement from previous version - responsive and screen a lot bigger. This is my 5th vRS estate and do miss the LED strips in the rear doors - I know this has gone for a wee while but just looks cheap and naff with the front doors having LED strips and then it just goes pitch black on the rear doors - am sure the bean counters could have afforded this in a £40k car. Can't think what else could be better but this is about it - so can't be all bad. No regrets about buying another vRS estate as I get no hassle from the dealer when buying new or servicing and Octavia's have not given me any grief over the years. Glad I bought this and not a Golf GTI - see ya VW!

After having the facelift for nearly two months now, the best way to describe the improvements from pre to post facelift is that all aspects of the car are more refined/fine tuned. I am not saying that the pre facelift was bad but it feels like Skoda has looked at the weaker points and tried to correct them. Best way to compare is when Apple released S versions of their iPhones e.g. iPhone 6 to iPhone 6S - the 6S was just a better all rounder and consumer experience (hardware and software was more in sync and refined)! Hope this makes sense.

after a couple of weeks behind the wheel, some more personal observations it feels more dynamic from the get go then the previous model, there is obviously a small power hike, but the gearbox in normal mode just feels quicker, throttle response in normal feels quicker. so it feels like it always just wants to go..it feels fast all of the time, it feels like its just ready to go at it straight away. and anybody else whos got velvet red...it looks amazing when the sun catches it, its got a flake in it that really pops, like a little golden sheen

Looks good in the red. Some other impressions to add to other peoples. It seems like Skoda listened to the feedback on dislikes on the MK4 and fixed/changed a bunch * No pretend sound * Easy switch between standard cruse control and adaptive (and travel assist) * Easy turn off/disable of wireless charging * Wireless charging cooling * Infotainment s/w is very responsive I am sure there are others.

They are a bit fiddly , and not very chunky, on a cold day I could see an arm snapping off, mine are just going into the loft Wheels are actually nicer than the previous 19's

First impressions then, it's very refined. The lack of extra artificial sound makes it just a nicer place to sit. Gearbox in normal mode feels a bit quicker to respond It's still easy to turn of the lane assist, but now there's a speed warning as well, it's in the same place so you just knock them both off at the same time. Velvet red looks lush Pics on Friday as detail and gtechniq getting done today and tomorrow

I've not had time to do a video myself but now that the break-in period is over and first oil change is also done, I've been pushing the car more (and in sports mode). There's definitely some pops when going off throttle in sports mode (and you can hear them inside the car). Someone also posted a video of launching their Octavia RS. You can definitely here some pops as they launch and right before the video ends.

Hello Yes, it seems to be air cooled. It does have holes where cooler air seems to come out of (circled red in the picture) and all the brochures also point that out. It's quite cool weather here already (10 C) but I can definitely say that the wireless charging pad works much better on the facelift. The charging starts faster, is faster and doesn't randomly stop charging. I'm happy.

Hello. So here's a couple of screenshots of the instrument cluster (there's also a screen for the navigation but didn't want to take pictures of that, but it's mostly the same option of layouts). Bonus picture of the infotainment screen (with some useful shortcuts at top and bottom I've set up for myself) and heads up display (with navigation enabled but stationary at the moment of taking the picture). PS! I'm aware I have the "engine" light on. The dealership is still figuring out what to do but it's related to a faulty sensor for exhaust temperature. It's OK to drive and is not causing a limp mode, fortunately.

Here's my attempt at doing that:

Thanks! I'll try to record a cold start for both cars at the same mic angle (I did record cold starts for both but I think my microphone was a bit off on one). But my subjective opinion is that the exhaust does sound better on mk4.5 (more purr or fruitiness to it). The idle noise measured by the vehicle/transport authorities says that for mk4.5 it is 90 dB(A) at 3750 rpm and 83 dB(A) for mk4, so the new should be louder according to that as well. However, as it's still the break-in period I'm rather gentle on the throttle.