chrisgreen

Well I've just bought a 540L soft roof box (not a bag) from Halfords. It's big (70mm wide, I don't have the length to hand as it's not on Halfords Web site) but fits on both by Fabia II Combi and on my Superb III hatch, so will be absolutely fine on a Superb III Estate. https://www.halfords.com/motoring/roof-boxes/halfords-advanced-540l-soft-folding-box-341259.html It comes with both T-bolt fittings (not mentioned on the web site) and hook-style U-bolts. The latter is good if you are only fitting the box short-term (and being a hook rather than a full U-Bolt, they don't crush your bars. The fasteners inside the box are geared so you can't overtighten.

I think I might try and cover the offending metal with some of this: https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/black-self-adhesive-felt-sheet-a4/5728371000.html

You may find that there are a couple of plastic fasteners attached to the carpet flaps at the back of the mat (where it meets the rear seats). These just pop out - it is unusual for these to even be fitted, more common on the Rapid (the saloon-shaped hatch) than the Spaceback.

You would need to replace the whole seat, not something that can be retrofitted to the existing chair as the frame mechanicals are different.

It just lifts out. It's not attached to anything, it just rests on top of the metalwork and covers the wheel well.

Hi all Earlier this year I was fortunate to pick up, at a very good price, a very lightly used set of genuine Superb III roof bars for my 2023 Superb Hatchback. This morning, I finally got round to putting them on the car for the first time in order to test fit my new roof box. Anyway, when fitting the bars to the car - which I am well versed in doing as the genuine Superb bars use exactly the same fitting mechanism as the genuine bars I had for my Rapid Spaceback - I realised there was nothing covering the metal clamps on the sides that would come into context with the door frame and exterior of the car. Now. I’m sure that on my Rapid ones, those bits of metal that hook into the holes in the doorframe came covered in foam rubber on the side that would come into contact with the bodywork. But on the Superb bars there was nothing, and no sign that there ever had been. If anyone here has the genuine Superb III hatchback roof bars, could you please have a look at yours and tell me if there’s anything on those pieces of metal that go into the door frame to stop them coming into context with and scratching the paintwork? Thanks Chris

Of that list - get the Goodyear's - its what I have on my Fabia. Excellent tyres.

Part number will be stamped on the inner rim, either on one of the spokes or near the hub. If the wheel is still round, just get it refurbed. Quick and easy, and really not that expensive.

There were a variety of different wheel designs and sizes offered. Get the part number off the eBay wheel and compare with your own to be sure. Also - do you really need a replacement alloy? Can't it be refurbished (or have you bent it out of shape?)

That’s MIB2 facelift tech, so sadly not plug and play.

I’m assuming this is the later, facelift integrated head unit tech rather than a Swing-to-Amundsen or Columbus upgrade? If so, that post-dates my experience of replacing head units in a Rapid I’m afraid. But I do know a dealer should be able to recode a component to work with your car without issue, as even the facelift hardware doesn’t lock for life to a single VIN. The dealer’s ODIS system can recode that.

Not having Maxidot is not a problem. I did this upgrade in my mum’s poverty spec Fabia II Combi (switching from a Swing to an RNs-315 with integrated Bluetooth module). Without Maxidot you can’t get turn-by-turn in the instrument cluster, that’s all. Making the change doesn’t break anything. Making the move from a Swing to either an RNS-315 or RNS-510 (with integrated Bluetooth): you’ll need the head unit (obviously), a magnetic GPS antenna (this goes on the metal crossmember behind the dashboard) and the Skoda mic that fits inside the roof light cluster. It’s plug and play after that. Plenty of guides on here in this very sub forum. Also look in the Skoda Rapid forum, many members there (inc me) have also done the same upgrade. I can’t comment on the RCD-510.

Don’t waste your time adding just the Bluetooth unit. The Swing radio is dreadful. Remove the radio, and source either an Amundsen (RNS-315) or a Columbus (RNS-510) - both of which come in variants with an integrated Bluetooth module (and both of which are cheap because VW has stopped producing new map updates for them. Not only is this a factory-fit drop in upgrade, this approach will 1) add the missing Bluetooth capability to your car, 2) still keep it to factory specs and 3) you will be amazed how much better the audio output from both of those head units is compared to the Swing.

Best option for all season tyres is either Michelin CrossClimate or Goodyear Vector AllSeason. Both tyres are excellent in all conditions. Don’t waste your time with any other all-season makes. Nobody comes close to these two. However, for Winter-specific tyres, my recommendation is Uniroyal Winterexpert.

Just to close the loop on this (and in case it's helpful to anyone), I ordered the roof box today. Decided in the end to go a different direction. I ordered the Halfords Advanced 540L Soft Folding Box (with help from a friend's staff discount). So quite big (540L - 140L bigger than the Amazon one I was looking at), but much easier to store, and hooks around the aero bars rather than using U-Bolts. There's also the possibility that I could replace the hooks with T-bolts in due course. But given I only need the roof box 3-4 times a year at most, this seemed like a good balance of size, cost, ease of fitting and ease of storage when not in use. It's also openable on either side. It folds flat and folds over (and has a storage bag) when not in use.

I think you might be flogging a dead horse either way @bfg101 based on that information.

As above, you need to have made at least 20 posts (please make them worthwhile, not just 20 posts for the sake of it) in order to unlock the direct messaging feature. It’s a measure to reduce instances of members getting spammed.

The shorter Amazon Basics roof bars arrived about half an hour ago - and they are a perfect fit! So, with that sorted I'm turning attention to roof boxes. From Halfords, there's this one (which I can same some money on via a friend's staff discount): https://www.halfords.com/motoring/roof-boxes/halfords-advanced-470l-roof-box---black-338374.html From Amazon, this slightly smaller one seems to offer very good value for money: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TANGZON-Extra-Large-Roofbox-Opening-Waterproof/dp/B0C77CLCQX?th=1 Both have claws that wrap around the bar, rather than T-bolt or U-Bolt fitments (and they are geared so you can't over-tighten them).

Get the cheap one - it fits. I have one in the drivers side rear door of mine.

@Colin170CR I completely get your mobility point. Three years ago I got rid of my Rapid Spaceback (mine was one of the very first ones to arrive in the UK) after 9 years of good motoring for two primary reasons - 1) it had the most uncomfortable seats outside of a church pew and 2) getting in and out was a bit awkward as it was even lower than the Superb (by design, I didn’t lower it or anything). Had it not been for the seats, I would have continued to live with the slightly awkward getting in and out for a while longer. I replaced it with a brand new mk2 MG ZS SUV (1L petrol automatic, top spec). Getting in and out was much easier due to the higher riding position. But that was its USP. The boot was 30L smaller than the Spaceback, the interior electronics were riddled with software bugs that MG never bothered to issue fixes for, the engine was unrefined and drank petrol - 36mpg in the real world and while the seats were a huge improvement over the Spaceback, they were not designed for the ample British backside. I may as well have been driving a fridge freezer. It was a capable but forgettable consumer good. So after two years I pxed it for the Superb. Best car purchase since my Rover 75 back in the mid 2000s. Yes. Getting in is a bit awkward due to being lower down (getting out is fine though), but that is the only compromise and one worth making for the rest of the car.

I wouldn't - unlikely to be a tidy retrofit, plus that middle section of the rear seat is nowhere a grown human would want to sit out of choice.

A quick update. the Amazon Basics roof rails arrived the other day. Very good quality aero rails with T-channel and rubber filler strips for both the top track and the lower foot track. One problem - There were too sizes available and I bought the cheaper of the two, which turned out to be slightly too big for the car. Even with the clamps set as far in as possible, it wasn't quite enough. They are going back today and the other, smaller, size is arriving on Monday. But, beyond that I'm pretty confident with these. Build quality seems very good, supports up to 75KG load (which is in line with the roof boxes I'm looking at), has the option for T-track attachment of the roof box or a bike holder (I already own a Thule roof bike holder with T-fitments), easy enough to maneuver and fit on my own and seem to grab the Fabia's rails firmly when done up (was able to test this with the ones going back). Oh, and the replacements are still £15 inside my budget, so all good there. Next challenge is going to be the roof box. Went to Halfords yesterday. I'm looking at boxes in the 400L+ range. After looking at what they had, I have decided that I need a box I can open from either side (mainly to make it easier to get it on and off the car and attach it), and ideally one that's easy to fit and undo (so no U-bolts). The Halfords Advanced 470L and Thule box of a similar sizer have these great claw fittings that wrap around the roof bar and are geared so they can't be over tightened. That said, the cheapest option Halfords had at the size I want with all these features is £440! More than I wanted to spend if I'm honest. There's one on Amazon - the Costway 400L box - which has all these features and is only £250. Anyone have any experience of this one?

Hi @ColinD The way I see it, the size of the car is irrelevant. The relevant question is, do you need two cars in the household? If the answer is yes (and I suspect it is), the solution here is to keep the car. As you've said, it is a good car in great condition (with some minor and normal wear and tear work in need of doing, so not an issue). Given the money already invested in the car, which you won't recover selling it, you are better off keeping it if there's a need for two vehicles in the house. Replacing with a "smaller" car is unlikely to deliver any meaningful insurance or fuel savings, and you will be less happy driving it. The current generation Fabia is very impressive (arguably the best - and biggest - iteration yet), but it's a small car and rides/handles like one. Fix the Superb, keep it, bask in the warm glow of happiness that comes from driving a car you like being in.

Are you stopping for a particularly long period, or are we just talking about stopping at traffic lights? Are you engaging the electronic hand brake when this happens?

Thanks. Will keep those in mind. I happened to spot that Amazon was doing its own Amazon Basics ones on offer for just over £40, so I grabbed a pair. They are arriving on Monday, so we will see then if they are any good.