roaddetective

I of course meant I changed from the standard width of "225"/35 R19 TO 235/35/R19. Bit of a small error on my previous post.

I have the same wheels and yes, 235/35R19 fit perfectively, as I changed from 235/35R19 to help protect the alloys, as well as give a little more grip. I also changed firstly the front 2 tyres to the larger width and then the rear 2 when they were worn down. I use Michelin Pilot Sport 4s tyres which give me fantastic grip with my mapped motor.

Hi Jay and welcome to a very friendly informative site. Don't you just love these Octavia VRS motors. I am on my second one.

I am a semi retired Fleet Driver Trainer, working 3 days a week now. But I used to drive fuel tankers for a living all through the 80s. I handed in my LGV licence when I reached 65years old, due to the rules stating I need to get a full medical every 12months. As though when you get to 65 they think we are all frail and incapable and need £100 medicals every year. Anyway, it certainly is tempting to get the licence back, do all those courses again and get on the road fuel delivering once more with the wages they are now earning. Thought about it for 5 seconds and then said to myself, far too much trouble I will stay as I am thanks. By the way, I did fill up early this morning, but I was down to a quarter of a tank at the time.

That will help yes. Then just give the dipstick a short sharp pull.

You just have to pull it harder, especially if you have not checked the oil for some time. Spray some lube around the clips first if you are too worried. I check my oil level frequently, even though my motor does not use any oil, so my dipstick comes out with only a gentle pull.

I know what you mean as I fitted a Whiteline rear ARB on my last MK2 Octavia VRS TSI. That along with poly bushes and Bilstein B8 mono shocks all round improved the handling no end. Spent enough money at the moment though.

Today I have just picked up my car from VW-GROUP SPECIALISTS LTD in Swindon. They fitted a Helix performance clutch kit, AKS Sachs DMF, LUK slave cylinder and AKS braided line and billet bleed block. The line a bleed block to give the clutch a bit more of an OEM feel. Chris at VW said he felt the clutch had a 70% OEM feel to it. Got in the car and felt how heavy the new clutch was, not too heavy at all. He was right with the 70%. Gave it some gentle revs and as expected, there was a slight initial judder. That was with revs of around 1000 to 1400 revs. If you raise the revs to around 1800+ then gently raise the clutch, no judder at all. Again as I expected, I was told to run the clutch in for 200-500 miles, lots of gear changes he stated. I was surprised how soon I got used to the slightly heavier clutch, if fact after a few miles down the road it just felt as it always did. Can't push it yet with the torque on the new clutch, but getting shot of the old clutch slip will be great. Very happy so far, apart from of course that massive bill I have just paid.

Glad you are very happy with your motor, I just love mine. You think it's putting out more than 230bhp, you are probable right. Just before I had mine mapped, it was showing on the dyno as 265bhp. The guy said it was a very healthy engine and easy to get 329bhp, 499nm of torque out of it on a stage one map. Mind you, the standard clutch can't take it! So if you ever go the mapping route, be prepared for a large full performance clutch bill.

Here is an example of my petrol VRS fuel economy. I took a photo of it the other day after a drive on a variety of roads from Oxfordshire to west London. Not too bad, although it was a steady morning run. Hit heavy traffic on the M25, so that dropped mpg a little. I do drive around 18k miles a year, but my "personal" choice will always be petrol, regardless of the extra cost. Of course, if I start to really enjoy a drive, it does drop down somewhat.

Hi Jamie and welcome to a very friendly, active and informative site. How about a photo of the new motor.

Just Quartz Grey ones on my car I am afraid. I also don't like the standard black and chrome badges either.

My identical slight rattle did not appear with revs, but when going over uneven roads. So I have just bought the same round pads from Wilko and put them underneath the car on top of the fuel line bracket. Maybe, just maybe, with a bit of luck, my slight rattle that appears to originate from the rear of the drivers door or B pillar will also now have gone.

Hi DemonJD1 and welcome to a great friendly informative site. I am also on my second Octavia VRS, my last one was like yours, a 2011 Mk2.

The prices are certainly high from Kopacek,formally SuperSkoda, but they are good quality. I bought 4 badges from them and they cost around £130 from memory. I just did not want to put poor badges on my "pride and joy". The only average badges I bought from ebay and sprayed black myself were the 4 wheel centre badges.

You can if you want, remove the glued on one and replace it with a bolt on one instead, but as I used another glued on one, never looked to see how easy or hard it is to fit a bolt on one onto the grill. Why don't you want to fit another glued on one then?

Hello Gingerboy and welcome to a friendly informative site.

Hi. Initially I bought some quite cheap LED bulbs but soon regretted it, as they produced a very faint glow when turned off, very odd. I then bought some Auxito LED bulbs again via ebay, but they cost a bit more and appeared better quality. Have had no problem with these bulbs since. The strut brace was hard to find, until a member here suggested a company on Facebook, Strut Brace UK. These strut braces are made abroad to the spec of your vehicle. I was warned they take a few weeks to arrive, longer for me as there was initially a transport problem because of Brexit. The company say they have now sorted courier problems. I only fitted it last week. Be aware of course, once you start modifying your car you might never stop, with all the cost this entails. My next bill in a couple of weeks when it will all be fitted, will be a full Helix performance clutch kit, including DMF, Braided line and Billet bleed block. A bill of around £1600. The standard clutch just can't cope with the extra power and torque of the map. They do say the standard clutch is poor on these vehicles anyway. I must admit though, I spent at least as much modifying my last MK2 Octavia VRS TSI and enjoyed the car even more in doing so. Photo below showing the scuttle off and the brace fitted.

Welcome to this very informative friendly site. As an ex trucker myself, I can see your wife's point, but just put down rubber floor mats and a waterproof seat cover and you are sorted. Nice choice of vehicle by the way, very tuneable if you ever go in that direction.

You can buy from Kopacek bolt on VRS grill badges, but seeing the bolts holding it on would just not look right. Kopacek actually sent me the bolt on one by mistake, so I had to send it back before they posted out the glued on one I ordered. You use your own glue mind, I used Araldite. Just make sure you get it straight before the glue goes off. Welcome to this site by the way, as I see it's your first post.

You pull hard, no really. I warmed my grill badge up a bit first to soften the glue with a hair dryer, my other halves hairdryer as I have no hair. Lol. Then just got hold of it and pulled. It came off with a crack. Rubbed down the grill with sandpaper where the new badge goes to give the new glued on badge something to grip onto. I also bought all my new badges from Kopacek. 2 new ones at the front and 2 at the back. All chrome badges are now long gone.

I sourced the centre caps from ebay, just fairly cheap ones that look like the original ones but certainly not as good quality. Rubbed them down and then sprayed them black, the same black paint I used on the exhaust tips. I saved the original ones which are in great condition, just in case I did not like them black on the car. The black ones are staying on the car.

My last car was a 2011 Mk2 fl Octavia VRS TSI and I had that mapped with a Shark map. Never had a problem with the OE clutch either.

The hose in question is called a braided line billet bleed block, which is £250 on it's own. Just got the details of it when they sent the rather large bill I will be paying. I will just have to trust the garage on this one.

Just booked the car into VW Group specialists Swindon on the 13th of September for a full Helix clutch kit including a new DMF. He is also fitting a braided hose that goes to the slave cylinder that allows more fluid through and gives the clutch pedal a more OEM feel. Will report my findings once it has all been fitted.