vRSgone

Very impressive much better than Skoda official figures. I always thought mine was fast as I can beat my my mate in his 2013 Focus ST up to 60, then he catches up & he's gone. Interested to see figures in S mode, just to see how much faster (if any).

You go for it, my son - and dont forget to post the results. Going from 0 - legal speed limit in the shortest possible time is still one of the few freedoms us motorists have left (safety issues considered, of course). Most of the negative comments regarding your post seem to come from stick in the mud fuddy duddies who wish they had a vRS. Penis envy or what?

Why else would anybody buy a Fabia vRS? Certainly not for its sleek eye turning dynamic body style. Or its luxurious interior. Or its top speed (a few days ago at 6am I gave it a buzz along a motorway & at 125 mph, it scared me to death. Not the most stable of vehicles at that speed.) Nope. I suspect in most cases (as in mine) they bought it for its raw 0-60 unpretentious power. No other reason. Otherwise I might just as well bought a Monte Carlo. It still gives me a buzz being able to see off posers in their Beemers, Mercs etc. You see, the Fabia looks so innocent along side their sleek upmarket speed machines, it completely takes them by surprise when you leave them standing! As mentioned previously, after seeing off a guy in Merc SLK at 3 sets of lights, he finally caught up with me in a supermarket car park & came wandering over. Now I'm no coward but that central locking went on faster than a ferret up a trouser leg. However no worries, he was just interested in what make of car I had (Mine is completely debadged - even the Skoda badge has been changed). He was so surprised that it was a Skoda & admitted he couldn't catch me. I've had mine just over 12 months now, & I've looked at swapping it in. I've test driven Cooper S, Fiat Abarth, Fiesta ST, Clio CUP, & you can keep them all! To me the vRS is an amazing machine & apart from the headlights I have no complaints. I shall mourn its passing

5) May 2013 ( CTHE engine)

1) by telephone - out of the blue 2) to replace synthetic oil with mineral oil and firmware update 3) very smoothly. Took all day, but courtesy car waiting for me (Citigo Sports) 4) None. I did ask if my book should be stamped, but they said no, it would be recorded in computer service history. Cant really discern any difference. If anything gear changes seem crisper, & more relevent to revs. But this could be imagination. Also wheels don't spin as much, but this could be dry weather. All in all a pleasant experience from Simpsons at Preston. Thank you Simon (I know you read Briskoda!)

Hi Steve But wont that only be live when the wipers are running?

I paid £142 with a free 8gig sd card & free delivery from 3WISEMONKEYS (on Amazon). I have it permanently wired to a spare always on 12V fuseway via a 12v to 5v power module. I needed it this way because I recently had damage caused to my Fabia in a local supermarket, & hopefully if it happens again the incident will be captured on video. The inbuilt battery will only power the device for a few minutes (maximum 10 minutes), but I don't see that as a problem. As regards stopping recording when stationary, there is a software selectable motion detector. In the off position it caries on recording till you switch it off. Before buying the Nextbase I purchased a cheapo (£24), but it was useless. Fiddly to set up, almost impossible to playback, & you couldn't read a number plate directly infront of you. I returned it to Amazon for a refund (no problem) & bought the Nextbase. I am more than happy with it. Works fine in the daylight & at night, & you can read a number plate easily at 25-30 metres. Plus the software enables you to examine any incident frame by frame & print out a still picture in high definition. The GPS fix avoids any argument about time, speed or location. I'm so impressed I want one to monitor the rear of the car, in case some idiot runs into me whilst I'm parked up, hence the request for an always on supply in the vicinity of the tailgate. I tried uploading some footage, but this site wouldn't allow it.

I have fitted a dashcam to the front, & I am very pleased with it (Nextbase 402G). Quality is superb, plus onboard GPS which enables you to see journey on map. The Nextbase is a quality product with full 1080HD video. I now wish to fit one to the rear screen on the Fabia hatchback. The problem is how to provide a 12v always on supply. How do you route a cable to the vicinity of the rear hatchback door? In particular how to feed it through the flexible rubbber boot, where presumably cables for the wipers & stop light are located. Has anybody done this & if so how? Any suggestions welcome

Will do Dan. Cheers.

It would have to be a deep socket! Don't forget I've now got approx 3" of screw extractor sticking up out of the bolt! It's hardened carbon steel & a hack saw wont even scratch it. I've already bought replacement bolts, ready to replace. Thanks for the offer though. That's what this forum is & should be about. Fellow members offering each other advice & help & cameraderie when needed. I appreciate it.

Thanks for that. Hope you're right. Garage labour £200 per hour. 5 minutes should only be £16.66 then. I should be so lucky!

It's not a bolt head as such i e not hexagonal. Externally it's perfectly round, & because it's recessed into a 'U' channel, can't be gripped with molegrips or stillsons. I was told by Halfords (their guy came out to the car & looked) it was a Torx bolt & then sold me a set of sockets (wrong word really) to fit it. Turns out they are not Torx but spline. The Torx bit did successfully remove 3 out of the 4 bolts, but on the remaining one only managed to chew the profile of the bolt up. Hence me resorting to screw extractors, which has got stuck & can't be removed. Anyway it's booked into local garage on Monday to see what they can do. Just shows you if you don't know what you're doing, you're better off doing nothing

Yeah. That's exactly what they are! Fat lot the guy at Halfords knows. It was he that told me they were Torx, & then sold me the bits. Me? I don't know my arse from my elbow. May I could sue Halfords for the consequential damage. So far it's cost me 50 quid, that's without what my local garage is going to charge for getting the bolt out! And that just gets me back to square one. Whoever said a little knowledge is dangerous is wrong. It's bloody expensive.

Thanks for your help. The leather seats are coming out of a Seat Cupra & going in to a Fabia 2 vRS. Seems it's going to be a lot more trouble than I thought. A fine mess I've got myself into! Could have been worse. Could have turned up on the day (round trip of say 200 miles) & still be in the mess I am now.

Thanks for the prompt, helpful reply. That is the reason for the bolt getting chewed up then. I just assumed they were Torx, In fact didn't know the other ones (spline bolts existed) The problem now is, the screw extractor (which is stuck fast in the bolt) is hardened carbon steel. A hacksaw wont even touch it, & because of the access issues (as you know the bolt sits in a u shaped channel), there is isn't room to get any sort of power tool in, at least not without doing damage to the u shaped channel. It has been suggested that an airtool impact wrench might get it out, so that is what I'm hoping my local garage can sort out. Regarding the cable, the passenger seat is back in now & i can't remember the colour. Not gonna risk taking it out again, unless I manage to get hold of the correct splinebolt bit.

In as much that Dan the Man & myself have agreed to swap his leather seats for my vRS ones, somewhere on a wind swept motorway carpark, between Blackpool & Oswestry, herein lies the problem. In preparation for the proposed swap, I thought I would do a dry run, to see what was involved. So armed with my trusty RAF toolkit, replete with Whitworth & AF spanners, I attempted to remove the front seats. First problem. The seats are held in place by Torx set screws (whatever they are?) Not having the required Torx bits off I goes to Halfords to buy some - best part of 20 quid! On the drivers side, 3 screws removed no problem, but one would not budge. Soaked it in WD40, left it for half an hour, had another go. Still would not budge. End result - the screw head is all chewed up, & the Torx bit just spins round with no grip. I mention the problem to an engineering savvy mate of mine, who says I will have to remove it with some screw extractors. Off I goes to Screwfix for the said screw extractors & some titanium coated drill bits (another 30 quid!). Commences to drill a hole in the the Torx screw, starting off with a 2.5mm drill bit, which promptly snaps.Similar story with a 3mm & 4mm drill bit. I end up drilling with a 5mm drill bit, without the drill bit snapping. Then I insert the screw extractor, & turn the square end with my adjustable spanner. Still will not budge!!! I'm now left with a screw extractor stuck in the Torx screw. To make matters worse (if at all possible), the square end on the screw extractor is now rounded off, so I can't get a grip on that now. HELP, - anybody? Problem number 2. Front passenger seat removed no problem, but there is an electrical cable that comes up out of the floor & disappears into the bowels of the seat. The seats aren't electric or heated, so what is the cable for? Completely nonplussed!!. But it raises the question am I going to run into compatibility problems with swapping my seats for Dan's? Is it something to do with the airbags, maybe? And if so will that cause problems with the CANBUS if the seats are swapped. PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS. Why is nothing in life so simple? Answers please on a postcard Anybody that can offer some advice on removing the screw extractor or suggest what the electrical cable is, please.

In as much that Dan the Man & myself have agreed to swap his leather seats for my vRS ones, somewhere on a wind swept motorway carpark, between Blackpool & Oswestry, herein lies the problem. In preparation for the proposed swap, I thought I would do a dry run, to see what was involved. So armed with my trusty RAF toolkit, replete with Whitworth & AF spanners, I attempted to remove the front seats. First problem. The seats are held in place by Torx set screws (whatever they are?) Not having the required Torx bits off I goes to Halfords to buy some - best part of 20 quid! On the drivers side, 3 screws removed no problem, but one would not budge. Soaked it in WD40, left it for half an hour, had another go. Still would not budge. End result - the screw head is all chewed up, & the Torx bit just spins round with no grip. I mention the problem to an engineering savvy mate of mine, who says I will have to remove it with some screw extractors. Off I goes to Screwfix for the said screw extractors & some titanium coated drill bits (another 30 quid!). Commences to drill a hole in the the Torx screw, starting off with a 2.5mm drill bit, which promptly snaps.Similar story with a 3mm & 4mm drill bit. I end up drilling with a 5mm drill bit, without the drill bit snapping. Then I insert the screw extractor, & turn the square end with my adjustable spanner. Still will not budge!!! I'm now left with a screw extractor stuck in the Torx screw. To make matters worse (if at all possible), the square end on the screw extractor is now rounded off, so I can't get a grip on that now. HELP, - anybody? Problem number 2. Front passenger seat removed no problem, but there is an electrical cable that comes up out of the floor & disappears into the bowels of the seat. The seats aren't electric or heated, so what is the cable for? Completely nonplussed!!. But it raises the question am I going to run into compatibility problems with swapping my seats for Dan's? Is it something to do with the airbags, maybe? And if so will that cause problems with the CANBUS if the seats are swapped. PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS. Why is nothing in life so simple? Answers please on a postcard

Dan if you PM me I'll send you Email address

Hi Dan Are your seats still for sale? If so I'll have them, subject to them being a straightforward replacement for 2013 model vRS (seats as new). Let me know. Tried PMing you but your mailbox isn't receiving new messages (it says)

Sorry count me out. Conflicts with Middle Earth Beer Festival at Clitheroe. I have given both occasions due consideration, - Sorry. no contest.

Having just (literally) got back from a pilgrimage to the fatherland, including the factory at Mlada Boleslav, not surprisingly, I scored 100%. Thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Czech people very friendly & helpful. Fantastic factory. Never thought car factories could be so big & clean.

gonephising said;- i think the Rear Weights might just have been a last minute instruction from VW rather than from Skoda Road testers. So rear Weights of 25 kg Designed and Manufactured and applied. Lovely Made, Not cheap for 25 kg and nice fasteners. Seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut IMHO. i'm in favour of the thought that it was to correct some minor glitch in the handling. With accountants screwing every penny they can out of design engineers budgets, I cannot see them spending money on unnecessary hardware. Of course this is just the ramblings of an old senile OAP, probably no longer fit to drive a Fabia vRS. But I'll be taking mine off just in case it gives me that extra edge at the lights. Now where's that flaming socket set? Did I mention I can't find my socket set?

George If the purpose of the bumper counterweights is merely to detract from the performance a little, couldn't they have done it easier & at zero cost by tweaking the ECU? Just a thought, but hey! What the hell do I know?

I believe that the Uk is the only country in the EEC that doesn't have electronic drug testing equipment, capable of being administered at the point when the driver is stopped. Instead the police have to resort to psychological type tests such as touching the tip of your nose.I am sure some of the resident plod will correct me if I'm wrong. As an aside, according to statistics, some 30% of accidents are caused by drunk drivers. That means the other 70% of accidents are caused by SOBER DRIVERS. Wouldn't it make sense therefore to BAN THE SOBER DRIVERS and leave us drunken drivers in peace?

Should you be driving then?