treendale

Depends where you live but it is clearly widely ignored. I'm not sure why they are not road legal, they function as well as if not better than a standard filament bulb.

I have just replaced my rear indicators with Philips Xtreme visions: http://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/xtreme-vision-py21 They're steep and are they worth it considering I can't really see them? I dunno, but they are very bright and have great visibility in terms of angle. Look great with the LED tail lights/brake lights. Good thing is I didn't need to use the CANBUS cancellers, which are these meaty metal units. There would be no space to mount them at the rear. My suspicion is that if I replaced the front indicators too (I'd like to, but what a hassle) then I'd need the resistors. Didn't bother replacing the other lights (reverse or fogs) - hardly in use. Number plates would be good at some point. Check out LEDperf.co.uk for these. (Incidentally I got the Xtreme visions for about £31 - they have discounts regularly. Still a ridiculous price for a pair of bulbs, if you think about it)

I think it's up there with automatic rain-sensing wipers i.e. a gadget. Is it that hard to do it manually? Then again, I think manual gearboxes are the way to go too..

I hope so too! I'd also assumed they were the same. I think you'll be alright, but we'll see. Worst case you might be able to flog it to another hatch owner in Perth.

The strange thing is it doesn't do it every time. Idling in neutral at a standstill, sometimes when I put the clutch in, the engine blips; mostly it doesn't. Yes, if I try to creep along by raising the clutch to its bite point, the revs will rise without use of accelerator. But just depressing the clutch when in neutral? Doesn't make sense.

Aha. I will give that a go! Makes sense, I have noticed while slowly edging the car into the garage it will raise the revs on its own. Thanks!

Thanks for the input. Well the tachometer moves, and so does the engine note, so it is the engine itself not just dashboard gremlins.

Hi all, Say you're sitting at a red light. You slip the manual gearbox into neutral to rest your left foot. When the lights change (ideally before!) you put foot on clutch and move gear shifter to 1st. Every so often, and by no means not all of the time, when I depress the clutch, I get a transient engine blip from normal idling (about 800 rpm) to something more like 1200 rpm, and then it dies back down again. I would say it takes half a second at most. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it normal? What's going on? I haven't yet been able to work out a pattern to it (e.g. if it is related to engine temp). I'm pretty sure it happens when I depress the clutch, not when I select the gear.

Seems there is some variation on whether people fill up to the neck or not (i.e. you can actually *see* the fuel sitting in the neck of the tank after filling). I always used to do this on my old Yaris just to make the most of the cheap fuel and to reliably calculate fuel economy. But I have since heard that it is a bad idea, possibly because it can contaminate the charcoal filter with liquid fuel. OTOH, this filter should be above the neck and therefore only get contaminated if you go fast round corners with a very full tank... Do you think whether this is a bad idea or not is vehicle specific? Who does what? How else can you work out the genuine economy of your car?

Just to add another race blue, this time just a standard cooking version 1.4 TSi I am afraid boyz! Now all the plebs can have this colour ;-) Freshly taken after installation of mudguards and a good wash n' wax. I love it. Not too many of these around here in Oz, hopefully that will change but for now I'm enjoying the exclusivity.

OT, but jeez some people. In a way somewhat fortunate that it was the loan car that got keyed and not yours? Were you still up for paying an excess?

PS Spenford let's see a pic of your after market LED DRLs?

I think main beam/DRL/side light is an H15 bulb, hard to find replacements that are non-OEM, though LEDperf.co.uk do them.

There's also these amber ones from Philips, but at AU$71 they're a bit pricey: http://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/xtreme-vision-py21 I bought some Osram Nightbreaker Unlimiteds from these guys the other day, a decent upgrade to the stock halogens (but I guess you're getting bi-xenons so not relevant to RS owners)

Hi Koolio, Superskoda do boot lights, reversing light and number plate lights in LED, but no indicator lights: http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/OCTAVIA-III/Lightning/ Better value IMO, LEDperf do full set of interior lights, number plate lights and reversing lights: http://www.ledperf.co.uk/leds-for-skoda-octavia-3-5e-=c=-26_551.html They also do PY21W LEDs for indicators but I think they do not guarantee that they will be error free - in fact they state that if you put more than two in, you need to add an extra resistor: http://www.ledperf.co.uk/py21w-bulb-18-leds-oranges-high-power-base-bau15s-p-1005.html There is also topLED.fr, which user "mailme" has used, but their site seems to be out of action at the minute: http://topled.fr I have been toying with getting the interior LEDs and the rear indicators from ledperf (note they are actually a french site, selling in euros), but not sure if they'll work properly. Might also struggle to justify replacing perfectly functional bulbs to SWMBO... not that she's likely to notice.

thanks mab5e - any more details on the "precise tap", and do you have a part number for the repair kit?

Are you the same GTR27 as on Whirlpool by any chance? :-) They come from rearguards.co.uk. I also want one but when I enquired about delivery to Australia, it was £75! The guard itself was about £40 from memory. I think they're the best product out there and seeing the race blue like that (mine is race blue also), I am convinced. But I am not paying that much! I will wait till my parents come out perhaps and they can pop it on the plane ;-) unless of course you're in Perth and we can split delivery. I have tried drumming up support with other octy owners here but we are a small club (just three of us on this site that I know of) edit again: ah, brissy. nm!

when re-attaching the glovebox, be careful that the brake-rod is fully extended (you may have to pull it out manually). Otherwise it will not reach the lug that it has to latch on to. For me the trickiest part was working out what "side panel" the manual was referring to. Seems obvious when you finally figure it out but the manual diagram is hopeless!

It tells me to shift down, but only occasionally; mostly I see it suggesting 2 -> 1. I think it only happens when you try to accelerate, so if you are just rolling to a stop in 4th, it will not indicate a downshift. But if you then try to plant it and the engine understandably struggles, it will recommend a downshift. On another matter - I have manual 1.4 TSi. Has anyone noticed that sometimes when say waiting at the lights, you put clutch in to move from neutral to 1st, and the engine "blips" a little bit? Say to 1200 rpm, and then back to idle, without any input from accelerator? It doesn't do it every time which may mean that I haven't quite got the sequence of events right (I think it requires a shift from neutral, or maybe not). Or is it something to do with hill assist? I don't think I only see it on slopes.

OK Nightbreakers fitted with little drama. I can clearly see a difference between the standard in terms of colour temperature. They are whiter than the fog lights and much whiter than the side lights (or are the DRLs?) that run with the low beams. I did not try driving with one standard/one Nightbreaker. However, subjectively they feel nice and bright and I think for $40 they are a worthy upgrade, and the original set can be decent spares.

hehe Peko you've got a little mini monitor for kiddie entertainment! :-) I installed my X-shades (rear windows only) the other day and I'm satisfied with the fit and performance. But why have they gone out of business? Very strange. I should count myself lucky that I didn't just lose my cash I guess!

Will try to fit them this weekend - got the bulbs last week and the car yesterday :-) First impressions are that the stock bulbs are pretty decent. I will change one bulb for starters and see if I can spot the difference.

Also... there's the big question left hanging about how to remove the headlamp. Potentially not a simple affair in itself?

That is, as you say, ridiculous. Wouldn't hurt them to have such the "repair kit" as part of the original fitting would it? I could understand it if they put LEDs in because they are likely to last the lifetime of the car. All in the name of penny-saving I guess. Do let us know what you find out about the kit.

It's at the dock now. What I don't know is how long it will take Barbagallo to get it and sort out the paperwork etc. They claimed that it's quite an involved process, prepping a car for delivery (a lot of plastic wrap to remove?). Anyway I am hoping it will be ready by end of month or 2 May at the latest because we need it for a trip down south with the newborn! Did you go with Barbagallo, Koolio? EDIT: there's one other guy in Perth, Ozoccy, who is on this forum that I now of. And a couple of Whirlpudlians. They all got ex-demos I think, first custom builds are just arriving - I ordered in early December.