Colin170CR

Are those dummy or active exhausts?

I find getting "my leg over" is difficult at the best of times A dodgy left knee & increasingly painful hip joints make for a difficult ride

I have a 280 but no way of getting under it to have a look. I found this on the Super Sprint exhaust website. I think this is the stock layout showing the various heat shields. For more pics have a look here https://www.supersprint.com/ww-en/skoda-superb-sedan-wagon-4x4-20-tsi-280-hp-2015.aspx

Talking of '70's Viva's, here's my old 2.litre 1968 Monaco Blue GT with Black bonnet & vents. From memory the vents were dummy so they just added extra drag! These were the days when you modded your car to the hilt or to what your wallet would allow. My 2 litre had a stage 3 head & hot cam, tubular exhaust headers, twin Webbers, neg camber front wishbones & Wolfrace wheels. When I got it in '73 it had 4 tail pipes which were stock! I changed them for 2 x Thrush side pipes with no silencers. God it was loud & attracted a lot of attention from Plod. I really miss that old car. Rare as rocking horse poo now as well. Now I'm older & wiser & my boy racer days are long gone. I now prefer to fly under the radar with a Q car.

With the AC on check the temperature in the vent outlets which, depending on the ambient temps, should be around 8-12c. If the outlet temps are any higher then the gas charge might be low & it probably has a leak somewhere. Note that legally nobody should just add more refrigerant to any system without having 1st done a pressure & leak test on the system (environmental legislation punishable by substantial fines up to £200k under F-Gas regulations). https://www.coolingpost.com/uk-news/200000-fines-f-gas-violations/ A nitrogen pressure test will find any leaks (luminous dye additives may help for small leaks). Any found leaks must then be repaired or parts replaced followed by pulling a vacuum on the system to dehydrate the system. A vacuum of at least 300microns or better still 500microns / 29.92Hg should be held (with the vac pump off) for at least 1hr, although most Auto AC tech's would only hold the vacuum for a few minutes before recharging the system. As such only a fully qualified Auto AC technician should carry out this work.

A 280 + Stage1 Revo = 360bhp. Tyre wear is minimal although I did did get some abnormal tyre wear on the rears at 40k. Rear camber adjustment needed.

After my annual mileage dropped from 30k to around 6-8k I decided to switch from a S2 Superb 170 Diesel to a 66 reg 280. Double the power & no wheelspin in any weather conditions, which was quite common in the old 2WD 170 diesel on damp roads. The extra power of the 280 is very useful when needed, even more so now I've had a REVO stage 1 remap done. The only downside vs the old diesel is the increased fuel consumption which hovers around of 25/26mpg around town & up to 36mpg on a run also, 99RON fuel is needed for best results. That said with far fewer miles being covered I can live with higher the fuel consumption & now I've experienced the capabilities of 4WD I don't think I would go back to 2WD unless it was a much lower powered model.

You have been busy.

Snap. Really good & lasts quite a while.

Sounds like a sticky / squeaking electric damper / flap in the vent system. Or the damper / flap is scraping the duct - perhaps when it operates going from outside air to recirculated air. Spraying said WD40 or something similar into the ventilation intake might do the trick but is a bit hit & miss. If you can narrow the noise down to a more specific location then applying WD40 or similar might be more effective especially if you can get a long straw to get to the working parts. I suspect a bit of digging & investigation will be needed to expose the offending item.

I gave up after 2 sets of replacement Skoda emblem wheel centres which all corroded within 18 months & went with all black plastic ones, nothing to corrode & they match the car colour.

Think I'll do a pre-emptive strike. I have just ordered

OK. Mine is at 47k & 16 reg so just about in the same window. TBH I haven't noticed any hiccups - yet, but you never know.

Good work. I think this is an issue many of us will face at some point if we keep our cars long enough. What age / mileage is your 280 when it started playing up?

Impressive work Alan.

After a message came up on my dash a new battery went into my key fob yesterday. This is the 2nd battery that has gone into this particular remote during my ownership. The spare has not had one yet as it's never been used. For safety both keys live in a RFI proof tin in the house when not being used. I have also recently fitted a K&N engine air filter & replaced the pollen filter.

Very snazzy Alan. Difficult to do?

At least you get to eat the culprit.

I guess Carfile don't have the overheads of a You Tube channel, TV advertising, & an excitable presenter waving a "stick of truth" & throwing suitcases & rear parcel shelves into hedges..

I don't do finance deals to buy cars but I see no reason why this shouldn't work more than once. Alternatively, if you have the cash just play hard ball with a dealer & ask for the same terms or better, or use a broker. A quick check on Carwow indicates the average savings below on new Superb's & I wouldn't mind betting you might even get more discount on a 280.

Try turning AC off. If noise disappears then it could be the compressor clutch / belt tension. Noise seems to be coming from left front side of the engine & if it's speed related then look at the belts & pulleys. Engine mileage? Is it manual or auto?

Looks like my front wing L&K badges are trying to come off by themselves! The lower curly bit has come loose on one side so I'm now considering removing them as they keep getting caught on cloths when washing the car. As for your rear end (so to speak), I think I favour some badging but not too much, to keep people guessing.

It could be a bunch of reasons but it sounds very similar to the "Saw toothing" problem I & many others had on S2 Superbs which resulted in an on/off resonance at 60-70mph caused by cheaper tyre makes &/or wheel geometry problems. Check the tyre wear, tyre pressure (front & back) & have the front & rear wheel tracking / camber checked. Out of whack tracking / camber can result in tyre rumbling which is more audible on certain types of road types e.g. concrete sections of motorway. A 4 wheel alignment & tyre change finally sorted my 2010 S2. Not sure if this problem has been carried over to current S3 models but it is entirely possible for a similar problem to exist - especially if cheaper tyres are fitted. My current S3 rear wheel camber was out of whack which resulted in dramatic inside rear tyre wear down to the canvas & a slow puncture while the outside tyre tread depth was still at 3-4mm so don't take anything for granted. A 4-wheel alignment has hopefully cured the problem. It could also be a rumbling wheel bearing - mileage? Jack the car up & spin each wheel & see if you can detect any noises or grumbling. However, wheel bearing noise is normally a more continuous rumbling & not an on / off resonance.

I can see why it took 1.5 days!

Nice. What products have you used?