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A local pub has a car show every few weeks during the summer months (http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=113&t=1589588) - here are a few highlights from a recent visit: Keeping it VAG / Skoda:

I haven't been around for a while, so apologies to anyone trying to get hold of me. Anyway......mod time! I was in the Skoda dealership collecting SWMBO's new Yeti last week and they had a 2017 Superb in the showroom - complete with frameless rear view mirror. A quick photo and I had the part details. Luckily the Superb had dimming door mirrors so I was pretty confident the new mirror's part number was correct for my car. I am pretty certain this will also work for cars without dimming door mirrors, as it simply outputs a signal to each of the door controllers, telling them to dim each respective mirror. Cars without dimming mirrors will simply be missing those few extra wires. The mirror may well be generic but it's worth checking first! A quick trawl of eBay and I found a seller in Germany with the exact same part for £90 plus P&P. It was about £107 all in. For reference, the part number of my original beige frame/black bodied mirror is: 3GO 857 511 F LIG. There are a few other numbers on there so I've attached a picture of it. The frameless mirror's part number is: 3G0 857 511 AD 9B9. Again, there are a few other bits of info so I've added a picture of it below. The usual rules apply: Any problems that may occur as a result of using this guide are entirely at your own risk. First off, remove the pod cover. This is a two piece plastic cover and is removed by pulling the covers away from each other on a horizontal plane. Push the mirror over to the left to expose the vertical gap in the pod cover. I used a small trim removal tool to open the gap, starting near the bottom and working upwards. Be careful as once the clips release, the covers can fly off, so it might be wise to protect the dash - like I didn't (luckily, no damage done!). Once they are safety put to one side, you can see how the mirror is fixed to the sensor pod. There are 4 small metal clips on the back of the mirror base. To remove the mirror from the pod, you need to carefully rotate the mirror and its base in an anticlockwise direction around 30º or thereabouts (as you look at it from the driver's seat). The clips sit in a channel that is shaped to allow removal once the mirror is twisted. Once the mirror has been twisted to the unlocked position, pull it down and towards you to release it. Be very careful not to pull the mirror too far, as the cable is still attached. To remove the cable, I gently pulled the plug clear of the socket with a pair of needle nosed pliers. There aren't any tabs to retain it as such, more like a small metal spring type retainer. To fit the new mirror, it's basically the reverse of the above. plug the cable into the mirror's socket and ensure it is a good fit. Line up the 4 metal clips so they are in the same unlocked position as when the old mirror was pulled clear. Once pushed on, twist the mirror in a clockwise direction until it locks and cannot be twisted any further. Check to ensure all 4 clips are fully engaged. Before replacing the pod covers, turn on the ignition to ensure it works correctly. Cover up the square forward facing light sensor to force the mirror to dim. There should be enough ambient light in the car during the day to activate it. If not, shine a torch at the glass of the mirror. Note: the mirror will not dim if any of the doors are open or ajar, the interior lights are on or if the car is in reverse. Also check to make sure the door mirrors dim correctly (if fitted). Once you are happy it works, replace the pod cover. Check to make sure none of the clips are bent or damaged first. Fitting the cover halves is the reverse of their removal. make sure the covers are against the windscreen and slide them towards the sensor pod. Carefully push them together whilst keeping them aligned. You don't need to use a lot of force to push them together and it took me a few goes to get them lined up correctly. Check to make sure both sides of the pod cover are secure and don't rattle - Job done! The finished result: Frameless mirror fitted: Original mirror: Frameless mirror fully dimmed: Door mirror fully dimmed via frameless mirror:

Came across these at Rufford Park recently - all from the 1960's and being used as wedding cars:

The people who already have the cars ;-)

Then buy some 16’s and when they do not fit don’t say we didn’t tell you they wouldn't.

I swear could hear a tiny scream from somewhere nearby when you posted that. Incoming. That aside, I get mid to upper thirties with mostly town based driving and some a roads. Motorway at speed limits I can get over forty.

S2 all detailed ready for my son to take over. I hope he has as much fun as I have. 280 delivered tomorrow! Photos to follow :clap:

Spent most part of the day stripping and checking the top end of the engine for potential danger/wear due to the oil pressure issues when I first ran the engine up. All looks good cam and lifters not showing any problems. Readjusted the preload and changed the running in oil for some 20/50 old school oil. Good for some serious abuse now, so heading out tomorrow morning for a lone blat towards Brighton. Hopefully roads will be better than today's when they were pretty greasy, had a few sideways moments with very little effort. Hopefully should be some photo opportunities along the way.

We're all suffering because of your decision

Had a few more problems (what a surprise) recently, Firstly being my GTV's rear subframe had some rather serious wear on it, when the OE bushes fail the steel sleeve rubs on the ally subframe, two 8mm thick blocks, one was worn in a ring to only 3mm thick. My spare subframe was just as bad so ended up putting both to one side and buying a shot blasted one from a friend for £150 (£1000 new from AR) so With that I rebuild the entire rear suspension for about the third time! But in doing so I found i had already disturbed a steel brake line... which then proceeded to leak! After buying some Copper/Nickel line and a few tools I made some lines up and got it all back together after fitting them, I bled the brakes and clutch system which provided a nasty result, 1L in and it was still murkey so I had to buy another 1L bottle which I havent got around to finishing yet. Once that was sorted, I thought Id make a start on the front suspension, 3 bolts at the top mount, 2 bolts at the base of the strut and the Macpherson strut is out and being swapped over Then my new SS Wizard exhaust turned up, so I fitted it and have been making a few minor adjustments to make sure it doesnt knock on the rear bumper but with that done, I got the car out of the garage for the first time in months and turned it around to give me a bit more space to work on the front. Around this point I cracked my phone screen and its camera so I havent been able to get any more snaps. But with the car rotated I could: Drop the front subframe to replace the ARB bushes (requires removal of bar and drilling out nut-serts) - bushes replaced with Powerflex, I also fitted new drop links both sides. New Front wishbones n bolts Replace the N/S driveshaft as it had a split boot and a dry inner joint (cheaper to swap it out) Inspect a gearbox leak - this is where its gone wrong again! So the Twinspark gearboxes all at some point in their life have an issue where swarf prohibits you from selecting 4th gear. the fix? pull the gearbox end plate off, clean the swarf out, reseal and fit gearbox end plate then refill with oil. Well this has been done before on my car, however the cowboy 1) stripped a thread on the Ally gearbox casing, 2) put no new sealant on the end plate. Hence my leak! Of a 2L capacity I was able to get around 1.7L of oil out. At the moment I have 2 soloutions, Drill, Tap and Helicoil the casing, refit the end plate... Or Swap the gearbox with the spare from the stripped GTV (which is nearly unknown, could be damaged and still needs to be pulled off the engine and inspected) Its one of the lowest bolts so Im not worried about swarf from drilling getting into the gearbox but Ill give that a go and if it goes pete tong... I guess ill be swapping the gearbox too! I also found when changing the NS drive shaft that the caliper carrier (which holds the brake caliper to the hub) was rattling about, because both bolts had their threads stripped and 1 had rattled loose and was spinning freely 3/4mm out of the carrier. Soooo swapped that with one from the spare car also (seeming to be a worth while investment buying an entire 2nd car haha) Progress will be a bit quiet over the coming months as I focus on my work and other business, but Progress will probably continue in the new year with plenty of jobs still to do!

You can only use the Skoda supplied SD card, as it is coded to the machine. A 3rd party card will be rejected. Safest way is to back-up the card first, then download the up-dates to the card. (Must do mine!!)

I sat in the Sportline at our local dealer yesterday and found the seats excellent. Much more lateral support than my L&K. I loved the design and diamond stitching. The steering wheel is very nice too. My only criticisms are that the black headlining makes the interior very dark although mine is beige so very light and airy and maybe just a matter of preference. The other criticism if you can call it that is I found the Corrida Red too light. If it came in Tornado Red, I would have sat and talked figures, the car looks that good.

Just been out in the car when it decided to rain. 2 coats of Gtechniq G5 on the windscreen is seriously good. Great repellency, no wiper judder & no smearing. Gets a 5/5 from me.

A new 'Recall' for fuel leaks that appears to just affect Audi & VW in the United States of America. http://autoblog.com/2016/10/07/volkswagen-group-recalls-fuel-leak

My VRS 230 hatch (demo 900 miles on the clock) exhibited the booming / pressure in the cabin on the pre-purchase test drive. The dealer acknowledged the issue and gave me written confirmation they would take the car back and issue a full refund if they couldn't fix it, citing they had done so on an earlier sale months back. I went ahead with the purchase (as I loved the car) and they did exactly as promised. Took a few weeks to get the relevant fix approved by Skoda, during which I resolved to definitely return the car if it persisted and for the parts to arrive but the fix did the trick right away. In essence, they repaced 4 x fittings on the hatch (the top ones are now spring-loaded), plus they replaced the 'stricker bar' (I think they called it) .... I.E. the bar where the hatch Locks onto. The boot closes noticeably firmer now versus before. It took circa 40 mins. Just to complicate matters (having read a lot of this thread) ...., I got a space-saver wheel and a double/sided boot mat installed at the same time as the warranty fix mentioned above..... which won't help those of you trying to isolate what impact those accessories might have on the booming / pressure. The upshot is they said they would fix it and they did. So there is definitely a known fix for this issue..... not sure why it was so painless for me versus the experiences of so many others on here. Credit where it's due .... so thanks to Alex and his colleagues at Progress in Letchworth Loving the car ..... but I got my first ever speeding ticket in 33 years of driving within 24 hours of ownership.... what a great car. .

Update - Oil Temp sensor wired up and working, obviously the car hasn't got one from factory with it being a City car but it's a nice thing to have so you can keep an eye on things, it seems to stick at 80 - 90 once it's all got up to temperature, will be keen to see what happens on track Thanks to Updown for his electrical knowledge

Just had to pull over for these shots

Being a tall driver (6ft 4") it took me ages to get comfortable when I bought my Superb II and was worried I'd made a big mistake However - I persevered - in the past I always have driven in any car with the drivers seat fully back however for once the Superb II actually went too far back for me! After a bit of trial and error I'm now very comfortable with the seat a couple of notches forward and a bit higher than I've been used to in the past :clap: Another tweak to allow the side bolsters to "settle" is to carefully pull the side trims outwards either side of the seat

He has the Columbus. It says so in the headline.

Quite easy to make your own.

Well, he doesnt ride a Triumph actually. Wishes he could though eh .

Cheers Brian, I think i will get it covered, last thing i want is a £6k paper weight... And the answer to your question about the oil filter George is.. its a silver VAG one..

You do realise this post was started in 2013 right?

Best 'While the car has no known issues', Go buy the Skoda Warranty. There is a post down the page with the link, or someone might post it here. Fill in the cars details, Reg no. & Miles and the cover you want and it will show a price. It might be the best £300 or less you ever pay.

I wouldn't say that our Leon 1.8 DSG is noticeably economical. We are averaging just over 30mpg from mostly urban use in the hilly Pennines. Your mileage may vary in the somewhat flatter environment of East Anglia but given that our Citigo is averaging over 46mpg for the same urban duty cycle as the Leon I would be very surprised if the Polo bettered the Citigo. @tweenster - I am a big fan of the MX-5 but would take a Cayman flat 6 over the Mazda.

Get some tyre black on your wheels Phil ;-) excited for you !

Fingers crossed that common sense prevails and due process happens without too much more pain for the families and others affected. probably beyond most right minded folk, myself included, but in the circumstances, she's probably nothing to lose, however morally bereft. Gaz

I hope she gets struck off and serves plenty time , and how on earth can you plead not guilty is beyond me , she has caused enough grief without adding to it

Welcome along to the forum!

Managed to finish the front bumper by getting the other surround plastic welded and smoothed in for the air feed. Just got to finish flaring/rolling the arches and it can go off to be painted.

Looking good Neil...... that's for the extra info on the products. The car is looking great - impressive that your young lad is so keen too!

Count me in! I'm in Brinsworth so....

Well by all accounts they are generally 300-310 but if I do get mapped to 350 hopefully I'll get 50mpg

Get your coat Nick, you've pulled...

Your choice. Please refrain from posting on my threads.....

That's what I say to my wife but she thinks it is an excuse for me to enjoy myself!

Sorry if this upsets anyone but I will do NOTHING to help a xenophobic racist government. Theresa May wants companies to list all foreign workers. That's the NHS, small business, big business, financial institutions etc etc. What next? All foreigners have to wear a badge out in public? Smacks of Nazi Germany to me http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2016/10/british-economic-policy

I bought mine from RRG Skoda in Rochdale. I pay just over £11 per month on interest free direct debit over three years for a three year service plan. Also includes free puncture repairs for the lifetime that I own the car and yes they do the video thing emailing a link with the technician talking through the condition of the vehicle. Excellent service so far.

That's mine, heated leather, black pack, power tailgate and sat nav oh and a phone holder Bought my own spare wheel off eBay, slapped a part worn on and got a second hand jack etc saved a few quid

Front brakes and AP now fitted. De-wipe Kit too...

I think the revo car has a different turbo, not sure on any details but it was at the JKM rolling road day last year http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/skoda/octavia-vrs/first-drives/2016-skoda-octavia-vrs-revo-technik

Norian, you should do some googling since BorgWarner gen 5 (bought Haldex More than 5 years ago) is a permanent 4WD since atleast 5 % of power is always on rear axle (the same feature was already in gen 4). The system also anticipates loss of traction from multiple factors and supplies more power to the back before loss of traction. Quattro also isn't the same as torsen. There's a quattro badge in my current A3 which has the above mentioned gen 5 and it is very good system for normal driving. That is why Audi is also moving towards electronic 4WD's in new A4's due to also fuel savings. Of course if you spend the hole day at ice track, then the electronic system is not as good as more mechanical system (for example torsen) due to overheating. But gen 5 is also surprisingly easy to get overstear, quite enjoyable in fact, so no reason to mock that. Of course torsen which usually stears even more power to the rear axle is even better, but again, in normal driving not a big difference. And I would like see normal tyre (or what ever tyres for that matter) that can take 220 ps and 350 nm of torque without spinning if you floor it...no way Jose... All in all, the original question is a definate no brainer; if you can afford 280, thats your choice. Permanent 4WD brings added stability in summertime, wet or dry, and in winter the fun begins at about the same time when 220 drivers start looking at their calenders thinking how long is it untill spring...

Smashing stuff, thanks! All downloaded and currently copying (slowly, despite USB3) to a flash drive. I just noticed that Skoda are quoting four HOURS for the nav to update. Does anyone have any experience of how long it will actually take? Is four hours actually accurate? If I leave my ignition on for four hours in Liverpool, I'll be coming back to no car.

Quite embarrassing I still have that Dolomite 1850 HL British Racing Green full Sprint suspension fitted and a 2.0 Sprint engine ready to go in (for the last 28 yrs). Also Ford Cortina MK 5 with a very nice 2,0 Pinto and mods , a not so bad XR2 ... And a lovely BL MINI British Open classic with the full length webasto powered sunroof , Minilite alloys,half leather interior and 1.3i ( This one is getting full y restored the now for my sons 1st car) Looks like this or will once its finished

Ah I remember the days when you had a red and a black and you were good to go That was wiring in a 8 track to a Dolomite (Now people will ask whats a 8 Track) Some might not even know what a Dolomite is....

The engine yeah. Everyone's doing them these days though

A few pics from today at the unit... Ready to continue with the front end overhaul

Going the right way now.. Hopefully get the rest in tomorrow.

This is where the wiring comes in... And a few more pics from today Not bad for an afternoons work. Getting there that's for sure.