mattbvRS

I don't think it does much in the way of performance. I think people do it more to prevent the build up of gunk from the exhaust particles mixing with the oil vapours from the crank case breather. For that alone it could be worth doing to help keep things clean, performance wise not so much.

Tempted to sell mine, I rarely use CDs and have changed the factory head unit so its just sat there obsolete. If I could get £60-£70 for it with the loom I may look into digging it out! The previous owner paid a LOT of money to have it fit by the dealer when the car was new going off the old invoices I have lol.

What mods have you done out of interest? Take if you've done a bit more than the basic stage 2 and hybrid to get that sort of power @ the wheels? That would equate to around 250-260bhp @ the fly removing the 12-15% transmission losses. Not meaning to **** on your parade by any means, just sounds a rather high @ the wheels figure for one of these unless it's had some serious work done

I know the feeling when you see a car you love sometimes logic goes out of the window. Been there and done that myself in the past. Sure most of us have! Always haggle, dealers make a fortune from inflated prices and you can bet he didn’t pay anywhere near his asking price for the car. Buy cheap and sell dear = more profit for him. If he gets ALL the cosmetic defects sorted out and is willing to do a deal on price then it could be a good buy. I note you say it drives well... I drove a few before buying mine and the difference between a good one and a bad one is night and day. But if you only drive one you’ll not know. Need to drive a few different ones to get a feel for them I found.

That's some good going. Goes to show if you look after a car it will look after you!

Springs on standard dampers are fine and do improve the handling providing you go for a 'sensible' drop of no more than 30mm. Beyond that is where you can and usually do run into issues. If you want to go lower then you really should look into aftermarket shocks or a coil over kit. Common sense would dictate that you check the standard shocks are good before you fit the springs.

For a daily I'd go with Eibach springs on standard dampers/shocks and also change any bushes that look tired. Should improve things no end while still maintaining the ride quality. RARB is also a good shout on the Fabia. Both springs and rarb are on my to do list for this coming summer lol.

I wouldn't be put off buying an ex-demo car any more than I'd be put off buying a well looked after high miler. You can save an absolute fortune and you usually get all the extras on them as well. I had a Corsa VXR Nurburgring before I chopped it in for the vRS due to a change in circumstances and I bought that ex-demo, 8 months old and got a very good deal. It had ALL the optional extras and the remainder of manufacture warranty left. Yeah ok you can't say for sure it hasn't been ragged... but unless it's brand spanking new you can't say that about any car to be fair. If the deal is good I wouldn't be put off!

You can't really go wrong, just pour it in and fill the tank. One bottle is usually rated to treat up to 60l of diesel so easily enough for the Fabia tank. You could add it to 1/2 a tank or add two bottles to a tank for a more concentrated effect if you wanted. I wouldn't use it all the time though once a year at every service should be enough to keep it clean.

The FORTE diesel treatment gets my vote. Really good stuff! You can't buy it off the shelf as it's meant to be a dealer/trade only thing but you can pick them up from eBay. I run a bottle through at every service to keep things clean, the first time I used it I noticed a fair bit more black smoke than usual but it settled down after a while and my MPG also increased slightly so it must have cleared/cleaned something. I see it as preventative maintenance to keep the fuel system and components in as clean a condition as possible. Won't do any harm.

Echo what others have said plus a few other bits but I am very OCD! Carry out a full service (all filters and fluids) If the cam belt and water pump haven’t been done for a while I’d probably get them done to be on the safe side. Just make sure it’s timed up properly as that will affect how well it runs, your mpg and what sort of power you will get. Check the boost hoses, they are prone to leaking because of the crappy standard clips and adding more boost will make them more likely to go if they are already on their way. You can pikey mod them or get aftermarket. Remove the EGR valve to see if it needs cleaning. If it’s gunked up chances are the inlet manifold is as well. Both can be removed and cleaned. Could also do the EGR delete if you fancy at the same. Think that’s about it. Exhaust and de-cat don’t really give any more so not worth it in my opinion unless you don’t like the look of the standard back box lol.

If the injectors are suspect run some of this through... http://www.forteuk.co.uk/product.php?id=51/Advanced_Formula_Diesel_Treatment As yours is fairly high mileage they could well be clogged and not producing a good spray pattern if it's been driven like miss daisy a lot and run on supermarket fuel.

That does sound very poor, my old Type R and VXR used to do about that and both were modified! If you’re doing a lot of short stop start journeys and the engine isn’t getting chance to warm up then mpg takes a nose dive but even 28MPG sounds poor. I do short journeys during the week and I see at worst mid to low 30s. There are some basic things you can do/check that could improve mpg... Are the tyre pressures are correct? Brake pads aren’t rubbing and the wheels spin freely? Wheel alignment is straight? Air filter is clean, free from debris and the front intake pipe isn’t blocked? When it was last serviced, was the correct PD oil used? (Very important not just for mpg) Tried running some FORTE diesel treatment through the system? Very good stuff and worth a try. If the above don’t improve things then I’d get someone with a code reader or VCDS to see if that brings anything up.

Tbh I'd rather have the ST TDCi Mondeo than the Jag... but each to their own! Running costs will be slightly more but can't see them being too horrific. Plus a cheeky remap takes them to around 180bhp and a nice chunky ~300lb-ft torque, so should feel quite lively! From what I've read they don't seem to have any major issues other than similar to the Fabia regarding the DMF and clutch being expensive to change if it fails.

Looks lush. I need to attack my SE with a machine polisher once the weather gets better to see if I can tidy up a few marks on it. Would love to get a full re-spray after seeing yours! Good price as well!

I’m quite new to my vRS, only had it a few months so I’ll probably be keeping it for a good number of years! I’ll probably get something like a BMW 330d once I’m done with it. Stick with some sort of sporty diesel. Been there and had a few hot hatches in the past, can’t justify the running costs any more. If I want weekend fun I’ll get a nice bike for that side of things. At the moment I love how cheap the vRS is to run! Does about 25-30MPG more than my last car, half the tax, tyres are half the price etc.

Good tyres will only do so much. This time of year with the sketchy weather you won’t get much grip with summer tyres especially as the temperatures drop. I’ve read that Uniroyal Rainsports are meant to be a good tyre for use in wet/slippy conditions. I’m surprised you say the Prada 2’s are good in ‘all conditions’ from what I’ve read they are shocking in the wet lol. I know this isn’t what you asked but an LSD will make the world of difference. The difference really is like chalk and cheese! It doesn’t completely eliminate wheel spin but it helps put the power down a lot more cleanly which is what you want really. My last car had one and tbh if I end up going past stage 1 power in the vRS I think I’d get one fit before anything else. It’s all good having more power but if you can’t put it down and use it...

The vRS is a good car but dynamically it’s a long way off a hot hatch in terms of handling and driving enjoyment. A Stage 1 mapped vRS can be fun and give some hot hatches a good run but eventually they will catch up and get past as the gearing is generally better top end. I owned an EP3 Type R for almost 4 years. They are a fantastic car for the money and the engine/gearbox combo is one of the best I’ve used. Definitely a very fun and engaging drive but coming from a turbo car you may find it a little strange at first. Worth a test drive though! You do have to adjust and learn how to drive it properly to get the best out of it but once you do it’s very rewarding. If you want a nice lump of torque lower down though the LCR maybe the better car for you but it's heavier and doesn't handle as well as the CTR out of the box.

Who told you that lol. The oil takes LONGER than the coolant to hit it's operating temperature. Sometimes a fair bit longer in cold weather. See this... http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2011/05/keep-your-engine-alive-the-importance-of-oil-temperature/

Short term, not much. Long term... probably cause premature failure of seals, gaskets, turbo and other engine and engine related components. The oil pressure is a LOT higher when cold and the thermal shock on the metals the engine block and components are made from won't do any good either. Basically drive with mechanical sympathy until everything is nice and warm. I usually let the car idle for ~30 seconds before driving off in the mornings. Once the temperature has reached ~90c give it another 5-10mins for the oil to get up to temperature (this takes longer than the coolant) before driving enthusiastically.

As above! Interested in this, my top boost hose is starting to feel a little loose lol.

Other than making sure the car is mechanically sound and well serviced there isn’t much that you need to do to support a stage 1 map. As said above good tyres are IMPORTANT and are often overlooked. Correct alignment will also have a bearing on how well the power is put down and the behaviour under braking so I’d get that checked and adjusted if needed. But that's a given on a standard car as well! Personally I would look at improving the handling a little to tighten things up in that area but it’s not a necessity and can be done as/when you want. I wouldn't say larger brakes are a necessity either. Not unless your experiencing fade on the standard setup.

Could be worth a try then! I'll let you know if it cures it for me or not.

I've seen mine flash on sometimes but for a barely a second or so on cold starts, never seen it stay on for any noticeable length of time in mine. If the light is staying on for a long time in your mates car before it goes out I'd suspect an issue with the glow plugs. They are a serviceable item. I believe the earth strap is prone to failing on them so maybe worth checking that all the connections are good and it's not frayed anywhere but failing that it's not uncommon for them to go. Just be careful when replacing them as I've read they can be a bit of a pain and if they snap in the head it's a head off job to get them out!

Mine's started to do this in the mornings, fairly annoying but once the engine is warm if you switch off and switch back on again it seems to go away... until the next cold start lol. Going to check and try cleaning the external electrical connections to the sensor (plug end and as much as I can get at of the electrical prongs). Don't expect it to work from what I've read but worth a try before I go buying a new expansion tank.