SideshowBob

3/8 is fine but sockets only up to a certain size? I use my 1/2 stuff quite regularly, and am more confident 'leaning' on it than the 3/8 Bought the halfords pro kit and a toolchest & cabinet when they were on offer, I now have a nice chest with most of the tools I use often and it only cost £165 I'll fill in the gaps, and the more specific tools as and when I need em Surely though, by the time you get something like a full halfords pro kit or Teng or whatever, most people will also have a few other smaller sets knocking about in their garage by that point before deciding that it's more cost-effective to buy the lot in one go rather than piecemeal.

Welcome mate I haven't read anything about the issues you mention, but I'm an Octy Mk1 owner. Yeah there's a risk in buying any car, my thinking was the same as you - stuff it, life's too short, gonna chop my diesel in for something that's a bit quicker and more fun. Don't listen to your wife. Do a search for latest model civic problems then tell me you should be buying a Honda...

Well as expected my wife did the classic this morning, just when you think you're all packed she presents you with three more bags to fit in there. Needless to say it took those too...! My usual trick is to go to B&Q for some bits, and buy loads of additional stuff without any thought of how to get it all home. The last time I did this, I had to fit this lot in my Octy, which it did with ease although it was riding a bit lower on the way home! Childrens playhouse for the garden 10 x concrete flags 14 large bags of bar chippings 4 bags of sharp sand 5 x timber sleepers Plus I'm sure there were a few other bits and pieces. Had to do two trips with the trolley to the car which should be a warning sign that you've bought too much eh. Octavia......Transit in disguise!!

Ok so we're off on the family hol tomorrow, and wifey (bless her) had decided that there was loads of stuff we would take, in addition to a bag of clothes each, all the baby gear, all the toddler's toys etc etc plus a pram, some bags of food and so on. I was a bit unsure myself when faced with this little lot: Kit to be squeezed into hatch But I needn't have worried, the mighty Octavia ate it all and still wasn't full! It's in!! So much so, that I felt duty bound to include the baby walker, an extra pair of boots and 7 jackets. I love my car :rofl:

Mini Clubman 1100 (taught me all about leaky rads and head gasket failures) Rover 213s (don't ask!) Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 (tuned to 1.9 power when head gasket went) Nissan 200SX (Jap Import) Subaru Impreza turbo Peugeot 106 Rallye Golf Mk4 GT TDI (115bhp) My current Octavia vRS

Welcome!!

Great find, there are some fascinating photos there :thumbup:

I admit I tend to crawl over speedbumps (I don't fancy replacing snapped coilsprings again anytime soon) but haven't ever had any contact with a speedbump since I got my hatch. If I drove like everyone else in our estate over the speedbumps (20mph+) then I'd probably scrape it or sump it, so that's just common sense. A lad up the road with a Cooper S managed to sump it the other week... When I first got it, I did scrape the underside of the front valance a couple of times when parking up, and hanging the nose of the car over the kerb in front of parking spaces. Haven't done that in months though either, you quickly learn not to do it. Standard suspension for me btw. Ground clearance just doesn't seem to be an issue. Take your time when needed and don't let it worry you mate.

...must be good, to be able to fit an entire year's worth of fuel in your tank.... :yes:

Your poor vRS Sits there all sullen like an unloved ginger stepchild for most of the year...then as a treat, gets taken out, thrashed senseless down the M62 autobahn a couple of times a year on a thimble-ful of 6 month old fuel, and gets parked up again. :'( :'( I think it just needs a little lurrrrve And some fuel. Btw how you gettin on with that map?

Earlier this week I priced up getting the train (plus 3 mile bicycle ride at one side) from Leyland to Manchester, to save miles on the Octy and save a few quid. The 'season ticket' price for 1 month is £177. So I'd save about 20-30 quid (not anywhere near enough of a saving imho) and arrive drenched and needing a change of clothes if recent weather is anything to go by. I like using the train, you can kick back, put your iPod on etc, no probs. But they are taking the mickey. The old 'cheaper versus running costs of a car' argument goes straight out the window for anyone who would run a car in addition to using the train. It's only really cheaper for non-car-owners. Or for those of us who have a crystal ball and know exactly what journeys we'll need to make 6 weeks in advance...

Had to do this on my golf. You would need to remove the wheel remove the trackrod end from the hub (it's common for them to be seized if it's been there since new) undo the droplink from the anti-roll bar at this point the hub assembly should be free to drop as long as you've not jacked it up under the wishbone remove the locking bolt where the damper sits in the hub free the damper from the hub (this is a ****** to do normally - use plenty of penetrating fluid) then you need to undo the top mount: you'll need a long allen bit and an angled ring spanner, however I used a spark plug socket which has hex nut at the end, with a ring spanner on the hex part and the allen bolt going through the socket onto the threaded centre of the topmount bolt Then you should be able to remove the spring & shock assembly. You'll need spring compressors so you can safely disassemble it, replace the spring and reassemble Then refit it, at this point you'll be very familiar with the hub workings All in, about 2-4 hours depending on how much luck you have Then repeat for the other side. If you're not confident with the spanners and you can get a good price, it's worth paying someone to do it. :yes:

In my experience.... Car not warming up properly unless sitting in traffic - dodgy thermostat Temp gauge wandering all over the place at random - dodgy sender Both are easy enough to replace mate

Dammit then Those ring stickers that I bought at the ring, will have to stay in the bedside drawer until I've paid a visit in the vRS

Ok ring sticker etiquette... I've been on the motorbike twice, does that mean I'm allowed to put Ring stickers on me car?

Ok have had a butchers at the racks... The Thule roof rack kits are pricing up at almost £200, which I just can't afford :( Looking at the rear carriers, I suspect the VRS spoiler will be in the way, and the cables that hold both halves together would surely interfere with the bodywork? Unless it opens out a bit more? I need to offer one up and see if it adjusts enough to fit without resting on the glass or fouling the spoiler. I can see via the madison dealer locator that there's a dealer in my village (Leyland) - I might drop by this weekend to see if they have any in, that we could take a look at.

Blimey some quick replies there VRSerious - thanks for the offer mate I'm 'booked solid' right until we go away so I doubt I would get chance to get up to York, but I appreciate your kind offer all the same. Jake - yeah part of the problem is working out what I'll need. The other issue is price, with a holiday coming up, the Missus on maternity leave and I have a child seat to buy as well I'm on a budget whether I like it or not. I have a hatchback Octy btw. :yes:

Hi all As the title suggests, on the family holiday in a few weeks I'd like to take my mountain bike, but there'll be no room inside the car for it (I usually take the front wheel off an sling it in with the seats down). I don't like the idea of a rear-mounted carrier because presumably they must rest on the hatch glass or bodywork, also it'll be very useful to still have use of the hatch to get at our luggage and kids bits n pieces. So a roof-mounted carrier seems the obvious choice. I don't have the first clue on what bars or fittings I would need, but all I can gather so far is that I'll need (a) some roof bars and ( a cycle carrier thingy to fit to them. Any suggestions/links/do's & don'ts? Thanks in advance!

Over winter mine was producing lots of steam, but it seems these are steamy cars, with an exhaust that's particularly good at holding water when the car's idling. What I did, was hold few sheets of clean tissue paper over the exhaust for a few minutes while it was doing it. If it was oil, you'd see/smell it on the paper. On mine the paper was completely clean and smelled of nothing whatsoever, so it was just steam. Once we got into spring/summer though it stopped doing it. With the warmer weather at the moment I don't expect any more than a brief bit on startup while it's running the secondary air pump.

Mine sounds similar to both yours ( madmike01uk / Hofmeister ) on a slight throttle. I quite like that characteristic and as you say, the more boost you're running, the more you'll notice the transition from boost to off-boost. The only situation during which I'm unsure whether I have a problem or not, is on a medium throttle. Let's say you're joining a motorway and heading up an uphill sliproad (so there's a bit of load), and you're perhaps giving it 40-50% throttle in 3rd/4th gear to get up to speed. If I do that, I can feel the boost level fluctuating. I never hear any dumpvalve 'venting' noise, so I was guessing that it was the N75 aiming for a certain boost, missing it, reigning it in, missing the target, allowing more boost through etc etc you get the picture I'm sure. Is that how an N75 behaves when it's on its way out? I doubt I have boost leak because on full throttle it seems fine.

Fair point... I can hear it 'dumping' even when I shut off on a light throttle so I think on that side the DV seems ok.

If you do decide to test it out, make sure you're upright. I believe most bike ABS don't work properly (or at all) if the bike's leant over much. Personally I would try it, I'm a bit gung-ho and I always of the opinion that it's better to find out how your bike/car behaves under extreme braking or other maneouvring (sp?) before you have to do it for real. Goes without saying though, that if you try it and it goes Pete Tong, it's down to you!

According to forge: Valve Spring color coding Green - 5-15 PSI Yellow - 15-23 PSI Blue - 23-30 PSI Red - 30 + PSI My stage 1 map is running 18psi peak, and 14.5-15psi held (according to Will at P-Torque) so I would guess that yellow is ok? However could the spring be too strong at lower boost levels (ie part throttle) and be causing the lumpiness?

So surely a brand new 007p with a yeller spring, should be fine? I'm trying to decide whether it's a case of 'they all do that sir' or if there's a problem somewhere? There's no jerkiness as such, just uneven boost on medium throttle openings. Is it possible to log requested vs actual boost without the full vag-com?

Is there any way I can check for obvious problems with freebie vag-com, before I start swapping parts out? The forge was fitted at the same time as the remap so I'm not sure what hoses connected to what, with the original DV. To be fair also, it's a performance torque map and they are reputed for their smoothness.