vRSgone

Many people were (& still are) happy to persecute Sir Jimmy Savile OBE for his alleged crimes - he never came before a court either, but conclusions have been drawn. Many victims are still pursuing cash pay-outs. Also of course Sir Cyril Smith MBE can be considered similarly So why is it OK to criticise & castigate Savile & Smith, but not Janner? Personally I believe there is enough corroborated evidence to assume guilt in the case of all three parties. I know that legally no conclusion can drawn post mortem, however I believe that the stench of corruption & intent to avoid prosecution can be attached to the aforementioned individuals. Nobody should be above the law because of rank or medical condition.

Old people should be judged on what they can still do, not just on age alone - age is just a number. I can still do the following:- Loop the loop, tail spins & barrel rolls in a Slingsby T70 (still pass my annual CAA medical). 0-60 faster than most drivers - regardless of age. Win our local pub quiz as a solo entrant (sometimes against teams of 6), 53 years a driver & never an endorsement or other infringement. Willing to put my money where my mouth is at the next Santa Pod meeting. 71 in January. Still doing what the youngsters are doing - no Viagra required. Just remember - as I am now so you will be one day (God willing) - will you still be singing the same tune then? Judge everyone on their merits not just on age alone. Remember - many a good tune played on an old fiddle.

Well worth the wait, imho. Where else would I get 1 metre of ducting for €3? - not in the UK for sure. Not sure I dare show my face in there again, but I would love to go back just to browse - shades of the 2 Ronnies 'Four Candles'

There I was in this Spanish ironmongers -or Ferreteria as they are called here, looking for a piece of flexible ducting to replace that on my ITG Maxogen, which has a hole in it & whistles like mad when you put your foot down. This ironmongers is a veritable Aladdins cave, the sort of place you could spend all day looking - no blister packs here- everything loose & open for inspection. So there I am with my tape measure looking for some ducting 105mm dia, when all the lights went out (not an unusual thing here), so I just hung on thinking they'll be back on in a minute! But they didn't & I'm in total darkness, so I make my way by touch back to the entrance, only to find the shutters down & the place all locked up. Then I realised, they shut for the daily siesta at 2pm & don't open again till 5pm. So I'm locked in for 3 hours. On thinking back I did hear the proprietor shouting loudly (in Spanish of course) - he was probably announcing he was closing. So I spend the next 3 hours in the dark (can't even phone the Missus, because my phone is in the car) Did I feel stupid when the boss man arrived at 5pm & he found me sat on the floor - did I feel a prat or what? I tried to explain in Spanglish how he had locked me in, but he didn't seem bothered or amused. Anyway I got my ducting - 1 metre for 3 euros - it fits perfectly.

Good you've got the fallback of a 2 year warranty. I believe that the latest mod for excessive oil consumption is something to do with oil squirters (whatever they are?). But before jumping the gun I suppose you need to see if you have problem?. It's not unusual to require top up of half a litre every 1000 miles or so. Any more than that & you've got a problem. I personally use 5w-40 oil which I find helps. Also maybe check spark plugs - plenty of advice on this forum.

It may not be necessary, but it's definitely beneficial! If you want to get maximum power from your engine it's a definite must. I believe that the engine management system 'holds back' the power if you run it on 95RON. The initial higher cost of the fuel is more than made up for by better mpg ( I regularly get in excess of 42 mpg in mixed driving conditions). More to worry about than mpg is oil consumption. I assume yours is a CAVE engine & if so do you know it's history? Oil consumption is a known risk, but you probably haven't had yours long enough to find out. Maybe check the history to see whether recommended mods have been carried out (if necessary) by previous owner(s). Good luck with yours. The only regret I've ever had is not getting the estate version! No doubt Goneoffskirootintootinsonofagunfromcaledonia will fill you in in more detail.

Thanks for the correction. Any comments - anybody?

Just received Email from www.sparkplugs.co uk regarding the new Denso Iridium TT (see here) http://www.denso-am.eu/products/automotive-aftermarket/ignition/spark-plugs/iridium-tt/ Any bodies opinion on whether they offer any advantage over the standard Denso Iridium range?

Any plans for a Santa Pod re-run next year - anybody? I missed last years at the last moment because of misfire problems (now sorted) I reckon my 0-60 time is 5.5secs, but thats unofficial using a GPS timer - might even be faster - who knows. Sure beats the ass off my daughters Focus ST - in a straight line anyway.

Nope. Hilary is definitely Wedgie's son. I'm not a warmonger, but we do need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the French, just as we did in WW2 (not that we got any thanks for it). There is bound to be co-lateral damage with aerial bombing, but the only alternative is hand to hand fighting a la WW1. KIlling innocent civilians is an unfortunate by product of modern warfare.

Seldom since the days of Churchill have I heard a speech delivered with such passion, such conviction & such eloquence. He must have wrestled with his conscious long & hard before delivering the coup de grace, that surely swayed many of the doubters from both sides of the house. Who knows the pressure he was under behind the scenes to vote against the motion? I am not a Labour man, but I could comfortably live with this guy at the helm, at which ever boat he sails - red or blue. But then his pedigree is excellent derived from a father of equal passion & conviction, but I fear old Wedgie would have turned in his grave - if he was alive now, if he had heard his son last night.

Here in sunny Spain I can get 98RON petrol at €1.22 per gallon (87p at current exchange rates). Same petrol from the same hole in the ground as UK sources. Can only be tax levy or greedy profiteering that makes the difference. Spain is in economic crisis too.

Newbie. I understand what knocking is & the implications it may have. What I don't understand is why when running a tuning box, the knock sensor wouldn't continue to do its job of retarding the ignition until the hazard has diminished? Surely if knocking occurs, because of, say a lean mixture, then the sensor would still do its job, regardless of whether it's a remap or a tuning box which is causing the problem? The other thing that occurs to me is that most (perhaps not all) of these so called expert remapping companies do not have the facilities, resources or even the knowledge to monitor the long term effects of their remap under laboratory conditions. I would guess it would take several hundred hours of running the engine under extreme conditions to detect any adverse conditions that may result, and perhaps only then with a detailed engine strip down. No, more likely these remaps are obtained by someone tinkering around with the downloaded instruction set from the ECU, on their laptop, & then maybe trying it out for a few hours on a donor vehicle. The simple law of economics precludes tuning companies throwing mega bucks at limited production run engines, so I contend remaps are in the same uncharted waters as tuning boxes. IN OTHER WORDS 'SUCK IT AND SEE'

I hear what you say & a lot of it makes sense, but hey! you pays your money & make your choice. In an ideal world I would have gone for a remap. Truth is not one of the specialist companies approached could remap without hacking the ECU - one thing I wasn't prepared to consider because of warranty issues. Neither could any of the said companies provide documentary proof of their claimed increase in performance! Instead I took Bluespark up on their offer to spend a day with them at their HQ in Durham. They fitted the box & tinkered with the settings to provide me with optimum performance, & then offered me a 28 day period of 'return to standard' if I wasn't happy. I was & still am.. I always run on minimum 97 Ron (Tesco Momentum when in the UK), 98 RON when in Spain. As mentioned previously, I am familiar with 'knocking', or 'pinking' as we used to call it, & I have never noticed in the vRS either with or without the tuning box. Incidentally I did have engine misfire at one point, enough to cause the car to go into limp mode. Skoda Assist diagnosed it as low fuel rail pressure, & the Skoda dealer couldn't find any fault at all!!! Edd at Bluespark suggested I regap the plugs to 0.6mm & the problem was completely solved. I have since changed the plugs to the Denso ones recommended by George, also gapped at 0.,6mm. Car runs as sweet as a nut. Here in Spain far away from the highly regulated UK motorway speed cameras, you can travel at speed knowing you are not being clocked. I recently travelled on the motorway from San Javier to Murcia & unbelievably never saw another car going in my direction. Sustained speeds of 120+mph over a 20 mile stretch, no problem whatsoever with a maximum oil temp of 105 degrees C.

As a user & fan of tuning boxes, I feel the need to spring to their defence. I have run (at different times) both a Bluespark box & A TMC box, for almost 2 years now with absolutely no apparent affect of engine harm. I am not an engineer but I have been around cars an awful long time - 55 years or more & I do recognise when an engine is running 'sweet'. I would have thought by now any deleterious effects would have manifest themselves? All I know is that with the tuning box (either make), the engine runs & sounds sweeter & certainly performs much better. As I understand it increased engine performance whether by remap or tuning box can only be achieved by 'interfering' with the engine parameters of increased turbo boost, air to fuel ratio, ignition timing and valve timing, so surely whether by remap or tuning box you are taking the engine outside of its design parameters, & thereby increasing its likelihood of failure? Has their been any documented cases of engine failure attributed to a tuning box? Either on this forum or elsewhere? I bet there are MORE cases of documented failure caused by a too aggressive remap than by the modest interference of parameters by a tuning box. I would have thought by now that if tuning boxes were a systemic cause of engine failure the manufacturers of such would have been driven out of business - bad news soon gets around. And Vrsgeorge I have TEN levels of adjustment to play with, but I am quite happy with TMC box set at number 5. Until such a time that evidence becomes apparent that tuning boxes are causing harm I shall continue to run one, & continue to enjoy its benefits- if the event it does blow my engine, - so what? I understand the risks & I am prepared to live with them. Sorry for rambling on but I couldn't allow the vicious attack on tuning boxes with coming to their defence.

I have recently completed a 1800 mile journey to Southern Spain - the longest continuous journey in the vRS. It never missed a beat & averaged 44.6 mpg which considering the terrain over the Pyrenees is amazing. Also the car was loaded to the gunnels with suitcases, 2 cats & hardly any space left to breathe! My former worries about oil consumption were unfounded- it never used a drop! The absence of speed cameras & the higher speed limit on the French & Spanish toll roads enabled me to give it some welly without fear. Although not designed as a high speed tourer, it wasn't over tiring to drive for 10 hours at a time, but I do regret removing the centre resonator box as the loud drone was uncomfortable at times; OK for wizzing round country lanes but not so good on a sustained drive. I would say after nearly 3 years of ownership, it's the best, most fun, most reliable car I have ever owned. Quirky out of fashion looks maybe, but it still brings a smile to my face every time I drive it. Has attracted some attention here, from the Spanish boy racers as Skoda's are pretty thin on the ground & I haven't seen a Fabia vRS at all. I would say look for a low mileage CTHE engine'd vRS with known service history, fit a RARB, maybe a tuning box & just drive & have fun - I've never regretted it.

Yes I agree. I don't have a great deal of faith in DYNO machines. Depends very much on the calibration & the person 'driving' it. The proof of the pudding as they say ..... and all that. I can understand your concern about tuning boxes & lean mixture. That could well account for the improvement in MPG I see when running a tuning box. However after nearly 18 months of so doing my engine hasn't (apparently) come to any harm. I check the plugs every few thousand miles & they seem OK. Of course whenever you run an engine outside its design parameters the risk of failure rises exponentially, & that must be true for a remap as well as a tuning box. I'm just about to undertake my longest continuous journey in the vRS to Southern Spain, which should be a good test of the engine condition. Must remember to load Skoda Assist European number into my phone, but hope I wont need it!!.

Just looked on the ECOTUNE website, & their Stage 1 remap is only showing a BHP output of 200 , whereas we know that a standard CTHE can output 190BHP Torque figures promise 302N/m. According to AWESOME GTI's Dyno, I'm getting better than that with just a tuning box - 206BHP & 252ft/lbs of torque. (Don't know what that is in Newtons, - I haven't gone metric yet) .Makes you wonder what's the point? But you pays your money & take your choice. Who is this Newton guy anyway, - is he the guy that discovered Apples 300 years before Steve Jobs? Just converted 250ft/lbs = 339N/m

I would consider going for this, subject to:- 1) My warranty has expired & therefore nothing to lose. 2) Undertaking from the tuner that in the event of the remap being over written by any subsequent Skoda service update, that the tuner will reinstall remap FOC. 3) The remap must offer a power/performance advantage over & above that which can be achieved by a using a Tuning Box ie in excess of 210BHP & 250 ft/lbs of torque. I think I would need to see some Rolling Road figures to substantiate their claims. 4) An undertaking that opening the ECU is at their risk & not mine. If all above is OK might be worth a punt, but at the end of the day I'm not convinced - yet.

If the Fabia vRS can't be remapped via the OBD port, presumably it can only be done by 'jailbreaking' the ECU, with all the repercussions that may have ie voiding warranty, risk of the tuning company 'frying' the ECU, strong chance of the remap being overwritten by future Skoda firmware updates. Not a task to be undertaken lightly. I'd be very wary about putting my ECU through this process:-

Can only repeat. My SWING lost the code when disconnected & I had to request the code from the dealer before I could get it to work again.

Hi I used a number plate camera from here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271943233938?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Cost? £17.58. Works a treat - even in the dark. I was after one that replaces the number plate light but I couldn't source one. Installation was no problem, apart from threading cable through the tailgate flexible rubber boot, but managed in the end. Also works OK with existing parking sensors.

My radio - a Swing - before I ditched it in favour of another make certainly lost the code if the battery was disconnected for more than about 20 minutes. I checked with the main dealer who conformed that this is so, otherwise what would be the point of a security code? - thieves could just steal your radio & reconnect it.

Who said it's all music? The head unit I'm using now also plays back video files in HD. The Hard Drive also holds all my SatNav maps. Just happens to be a 1TB hard drive - I could have managed with a lot less.

I presume you are trying to interface a portable hard drive via the 'Media In' socket? I did get mine to work BUT it took so long to launch it, the journey was over before the music started! I had the same problem with USB memory sticks- anything much bigger than 8GB & it was just too slow to launch. Must be a slow processor. I solved my problem by ditching the SWING unit & installing a cheapo Chinese Android head unit - result I can interface my 1TB hard drive or the choice of 2 USB inputs or 2 MicroSD cards & it begins playing more or less instantly.