akron

We're all so grateful for your opinion and will pass it on to the FIA. McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh blamed Ryan for the scandal yesterday, suggesting he had encouraged Hamilton to withhold information from the officials. An FIA spokesman recognised that Lewis had not instigated the issue, and welcomed his apology, but said it was possible that the matter could be taken further. "We recognise Lewis's efforts to set the record straight today," the spokesman was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper. "It would appear that he was put in an impossible position.

I recall something about that too. :confused:

You say "used to", does that mean they no longer offer that option? Thanks for at least making the enquiry on my behalf. Much appreciated, and most helpful. If I don't have any success with N.U., I'll be getting in touch to do some business in 5 months time.

Someone has informed me that the horrendous cost of insuring a 'new to the road 17 year old lad', can be substantially reduced if he is willing to restrict his driving to daylight hours and with a limited mileage. Despite a google search, I cannot find anyone that appears to offer this....unless you can tell me otherwise of course.

I actually went to watch this event, and i can assure you it was well worth the trip. A truly awesome massive entry, and having also been to Le Mans in past years, I can quite honestly say that their is no comparison between the two....as good as Le Mans is.

Plus as well filter less.

You're turning into the exact opposite of a ch av, whatever that is? Go the full hog, and go and have a blue rinse and get down to specsavers for a pair of bottle bottom bi-focals too. Tartan rug on the back seat for the white scottie dog, and you'll be there!:P

Precisely, people normally look at me gone out when I say i don't like 16v. Our new fire appliance at work has a 3.0 16v turbo diesel and you have to set off in second way too many revs and not enough bottom end torque. Great fun in the wet though ( 10.5 mpg average :eek:)

I have to agree with the above fuel consumptions, I prefer the 8v over the 16v just because I prefer torque to revs. The 8v is imho a lot easier to drive because of this and group 2 insurance in the classic spec.

More expensive than my local Skoda independant, he is £90 for a basic and £120 for the more in depth service.

Source; Biodiesel Outlets in the UK Section on 'cars ok on bio diesel' In terms of official compatibility, despite the majority of diesel vehicles on the road being fine on 100%, only a handful of companies will officially approve their vehicles for 100% use. The companies that have approved 100% biodiesel are VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda. They have approved all their cars built between 1996 and 2004 on 100% use of ”RME” Biodiesel (Biodiesel made from Rapeseed) providing it meets the specification DIN41606 (which was later replaced by EN14214).

Now there is a very good question. I've read on another motoring forum, that kerosene can be used as a thinning agent for your veggy oil to help with starting problems etc. I don't know how true this is, and more to the point, i don't no where you can purchase it from, or the legaity issues with using it in diesel powered car. Any takers on this one? My mate is running his 55 plate Fabia vRS on a mix of approx 25% Shell, and 75% pump bio diesel, and has been doing so for the last 5 weeks. The report coming back to me is that he finds the car considerably more responsive under acceleration, but no difference in mpg. NO starting up issues. The pump bio fuel is APPARENTLY a 50% mix with the usual diesel anyway. Don't know if that's normal or not. His wallet seems to be benefiting too at the moment @85p pl He's running his off roader...a 1996 Tdi Land Rover Disco 300, on aprox 2/3rds pump bio and 1/3rd Asdas veggy oil, and has been for the past 6 months with NO ill effects. Once again. appears to be more responsive, but a bit slower on initial cranking up when cold.

Why not get a generic lock-able cap from Halfords (or similar) and keep the key in the ash tray?

Well my best mate who's got an 28 month old Fabia Vrs with 45k on the clock doesn't whine in any gear. I know as I've driven it. Quiet as a mouse. Looks like your service dept is going to busy fixing 3 whining gearboxes in the future p'raps?

Sounda like a bit of a 'cop out' to me that tbh. P'raps someone with specific Skoda mechanical knowledge would care to comment?:confused:

Tried SkoSpares? I have used them before and very happy with their service, courier as well so no hassle with RM

Can anyone with an older/early Fabia inform us where exctly any rust, if any, has started to show through yet? I've seen an estate on an W or X I think it was, with a completly bubbled rust ridden tailgate. It appeared to be the original one too, NOT as I thought, a replacement following crash damage. Original dealer sticker and glass id markings.

I'd agree on that. Makes a thouroughly dull 'blue rinse' car look almost interesting...imo.

Cheers. ...and I quote from the report....The newcomer is set to go on sale in September, So YOU were right, and I was a month out. So does this mean all 03 reg's are ex press and pre production models?

So are all these 03 reg vRS's ex. press and pre production models then? :confused: I thought all such cars were scrapped after they'd finished being abused by the press etc., bit like that 53 reg Astra that Hammond backed into 'accidently when they filming the tractor episode. I suspect it was already on it's way to the crusher. I can't believe I've never seen 03 reg ones before last week. Still trying to find out when it was first officially released. Could have sworn it was late 2003.

Have read of a few similar cases in here, and my mate had to have his rebuilt as it was so whiny. It WAS knackered apparently, but all done on warranty. Had first gear selection problems when cold after that.

Well knock me down.:eek: You learn something every day! I genuinely thought I'd found a one off. My apologies. Just when was the official release date then?

Must admit, it's a first for me. :confused: I thought they were released in Oct 03, which would make it a 53 reg at the earliest. It was definately a vRS, and it was definately an 03 reg. I stood next to it and checked it over inside and out. Hope I wasn't seen.

Not unheard of, but a bit low on miles for that tbh. You had it re-mapped by any chance....not that you'd be wise admitting that on here on 2nd thoughts. Gearbox does seem to be a weak spot on some vRS's. Defo warranty claim I'd say. Sounds like a bearings problem.