sleeper77

I drove a Nissan Qashqai for a day that had Michelin Crossclimates fitted all round. Although the steering in the Qashqai is vague & overassisted, I think the CCs did a very good job in minimising tramlining from my bad local roads. Also they seem to have a good weight to them as the steering was direct & no play or weirdness that I could tell. This was in dry weather, but I have driven with new tyres in the same conditions + on the same roads which have been rubbish. So imo the CCs get a thumbs up from me.

Not yet, but looking into it. I want to get a RARB installed first before the uprated bushes (decided to get some TT ones). The only thing stopping me getting the RARB is my car insurance. When I had the Fabia, I wanted a RARB installed so I called my insurance company (the guy on the phone thought I was on about an anti-rollcage. Had to explain to him again ), & he replied they could not insure the car. Hopefully this time I can get the RARB installed with no hiccups from my insurers, will call tomorrow. Just to add about steering deadzone, from my experience it seems to be an issue with cars that suffer from understeer, worse if it has electrical assistance. I drove a Fabia Mk 3 a while back & the overly assisted + light steering made the straight ahead position very vague. My old Fabia Mk II had more weight to the steering (I changed it via VCDS), & although it generally improved, again striaight ahead felt numb. I recently drove an almost new Nissan Qashqai, & although that had no deadzone & the steering felt more direct than all the Skodas I have driven, again driving straight was very numb because of how overly assisted the steering is. I think the suspension is ok & normal for what the car is. The main issue imo is the 18" Skoda OEM alloys which are too big & heavy causing jittery steering. Also the uprated bushes may help for more firmness & stability. The only previous performance car I owned prior to the Octavia was a 1997 Honda Prelude. It was stock, & the handling was better than the Octavia. I think one reason was the double wishbones the Prelude had, something I learnt much later. The best way to find out or test for deadzone is the following from my experience. Find a nice straight road with nobody about. 20 mph is enough for this test. Move the steering slightly left & then slightly right. If there is no change in the car moving either direction, then the steering has a deadzone (zone or area of no movement input). It is common with the VRS & other Skodas from all the ones I have driven. This is why there seems to be a good number of Skoda owners modifying their cars with RARBs & better bushes for eg, to improve the drivetrain & make the car more direct as it should be.

Remove me from the list please as I cannot attend on the day.

I had the PZero Neros on my Fabia 1.6. Despite the car having only 105 bhp, they were very prone to wheelspin. Also they created vague steeering feel. Changed to Goodyear ASY2s & made a heck of a difference. Pirellis were fine when I moved them to the rear.

I'm in. Mk II Octavia VRS.

Excellent Brad. Many thanks. I always see that you put good information on these forums & glad you posted here. Reference your advice... 1. MOT was done recently by dealer & they did not point out anything about bushes & mounts needing replacing. But I could always get a 2nd opinion. 2. Looking into getting this done when warranty runs out. 3. Going to have to find someone nearby for VCDS. 4. Might go for a Whiteline, Eibach, etc.. rear swaybar but what you say is also an option 5. Tried different pressures & lower seems better for firmer steering 6. Again, like 2 I am looking into getting these fitted. 7. Read from others the improvement they can bring, will have to do more research 8. Same thing as 7. 9. Going round in circles, this car just seems to throw off everyone :S 10. Tbh, I don't want to spend money on tyres again having just installed the AS3s, but I would not mind recommendations. Although the AS3s have made the ride more comfortable, they have shown the flaws in the mediocre drivetrain because of the softer compound. It was difficult to notice this with the harder budget tyres I had previously.

Cheers for the further information. Ok, I tried the autoscan with VCDS Lite today but I think my cheap cable from Amazon cannot find the modules required. Did with the Fabia but this time no dice. It has only found one which was for the DSG gerarbox. Nothing else. But I will have to find out where I could get the assistance changed if I cannot do this myself. I also might go back & get the alignment done again if it is still vague. Steering is also a bit more twitchier, not a lot, but when I first had the car it was heavier & more stable/planted at motorway speeds. The RARB is very tempting to install once the warranty runs out. Heard more good things about this when doing more searches online.

Cheers LordRaiden84. I will look into getting a RARB as one of the first mods before doing a remap which was originally my first priority. Thanks langers2k for confirming it is possible to change the assistance. I will do an autoscan tomorrow & post the result. I also saw this on a thread you posted..." I tried the TT RS for a while but changed back to 69 as I didn't feel it made a significant difference to my normal drive." Maybe its not worth doing afterall?

Thanks for the replies & help guys. I cannot adjust the assistance on mine, as it is the facelift version. When I had my Fabia Mk II, I adjusted the steering weight with VCDS, but on my Octavia when I tried it is not available. Also nothing on the Maxidot system. Once thing I noted. Yesterday it was raining & warmer than today, but the steering felt firmer. Today it was colder & dry, but the steering felt lighter. Is there a reason for this? Also I would have thought the Goodyear Asymmetric 3s would have improved steering weight, but it has not so am wondering if this is contributing to the odd steering. I will check the PSI again when the car has not bee used for some time, but this is not the first time such a sympton has happened.

No. I owned a Skoda Fabia Mk II & now have a Skoda Octava VRS Mk ii (facelift version). Best thing is they have passed MOTs with no advisories, & both I bought 2nd hand. Bad is that both have given me steering alignment issues. Before this, I had Japanese cars, & Fords which never gave me any problems with the steering. Since owning Skoda, this seems to be a common issue. Also the places I take it to cannot figure out what is causing the alignment not to be correct, & this is with Hunter equipment. Also on the Fabia, before I p/exchanged it, there was a wheel sensor issue. Now with the Octavia, I suspect it has an oil consumption issue as the warning light came on sooner than expected even though I do low mileage, & yes the oil was low even though it had been fully serviced 10 months ago. Also had coolant sensor issues the dealership could not find (?). And of course ongoing steering alignment issues which might be my luck but spoke to someone else that had the same issues on their Octavia. If I cannot get these issues solved, then I might go back to Ford which in the time I owned them, only gave me wear & tear problems as they were old cars anyway. Also I liked them more for their steering input which was much more direct. Rant over.

Hello. So I have had my Octavia Mk II VRS for almost a year now & am relatively happy with it. However, the more I drive it, the more flaws I find. Mainly the steering + handling. In fact, it is the only things I find flawed about the Mk II. The steering feel can be vague at times, & it seems there is a deadzone when driven straight. Now I know there are hundreds of threads discussing WALKs, RARBs, Poly bushes etc... But I find there are too many opinions which mods are best for which purpose. So I wanted to ask, which mods are best to improve both steering feel & handling for normal road use only? This is what I was considering. Get the WALK & Bushes: - WALK - heard it adjusts caster which can make the steering heavier which is for me is a big plus so it gives the impression of improved feel. Someone said it is only noticeable when doing track days, so if this is true then it would be no good to me but I want to know from someone who does have this fitted to their Octavia for normal road driving. - Poly or Audi TT Bushes - read this can improve how direct steering can be. Maybe this will minimize the deadzone too. Also will need wishbones or control arms. Was also considering a RARB, which I have learnt can make the car more planted on corners, but this I want to make a last decision. So what would you recommend for heavier & more precise steering? I know trying to get steering feel on these cars like the hydraulic only ones is nigh on impossible due to the electric systems in place, so I will not expect miracles on this aspect. Just for the steering to be more planted on straights & more precise when taking slight turns left & right. I don't need super planted cornering as this does not bother me, well not yet anyway. Btw, I have done an alignment done which has improved things & have Goodyear Asymmetric 3s all round (which I suspect is too soft for this car which seems to also affect the handling, tyre pressures are fine when I checked). All help is appreciated.

I want to give an update on these tyres. Now I have done over 500 miles with them on the fronts, they are starting to settle in very well & the car is driving much nicer than it ever has. Good steering feedback, feels a lot more progressive & precise. Driving in the rain felt very reassuring. So overall, I do recommend these tyres. The only thing is compared to the Asymmetric 2, they take a lot longer to settle but hopefully this means the AS3s are more durable than its predecessor. Now all I have to do is get rid of the nasty budget tyres than are on my back wheels (Autogrip Grip 500 - do not get them for anything!) as they have given me more than a few scares.

How many miles have you done with the AS3s? I also had Potenzas on my old Fabia & they were very noisy tyres.

I have the GY Asymmetric 3 fitted to the front of my car, & here are my opinions. The reason I went for these was because I had the Asymmetric 2 on my Mk II Fabia which I owned previous to the Octavia VRS Mk II I now have. The A2s were excellent, great feedback, super grip both dry & wet roads. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the A3s. Gives floaty steering, poor feedback, & grip nowhere as good in both dry + wet weather as the A2s. I think Goodyear have gone for comfort instead over performance on the A3s. The only pros I can give it is that its the best tyre I have had for absorbing bumps or driving on bad roads, & its fairly composed on the motorway. I think I will go looking again for the AS2s if they are still in stock anywhere, or go for Michelins or Continentals which will give better steering feedback then move the AS3s to the back wheels. Overall, not only am I disappointed but gutted too.

For a Cat C car, I would look at other Mk I Octavias around the same price range imo which have a cleaner record.

Thanks for the reply. I just hope the dealership are looking at the problems properly rather than just a visual check. For 1. the latter would be best to try first imo. Also I have heard it could be related to a water pump issue which I am hoping it is not. I will update when it has been to the dealership. Cheers.

Just want to say hello to all fellow Skoda owners & fans. I joined this forum when I had my Fabia, & the information I found here was really useful when I had some issues. Now moved on to an Octavia VRS & will keep on checking for more advice from the great members here. Cheers.

Hello everyone. This is my first post on the forum even though I am a long time reader, so please be friendly to me I have two recurring issues with my Octavia. First is that the coolant warning light on the dash comes on but I cannot find any problems. The fault seems to be triggered by cold & damp weather. When the weather is warm & mild like we have been having in the UK recently, there is no coolant warning light when I have started the car after not using it from the previous day. However, when I start up the car around when the weather is cold + damp say around 0530 hrs, then the coolant light comes on. I have checked the coolant levels & all is fine. No leaks either, & the engine temperature is always stable + never overheats. The 2nd issue I have is a screeching metallic sound coming from the rear nearside wheel when steering either direction. It only happens from cold when I start up the car, but after around 5 minutes it is gone. I have had the car looked at by the dealership I bought it from & they cannot find anything wrong. I bought it 2nd hand back in November 2016 & it has another 6 months warranty left. I have booked it in with the dealership again to take a look at these issues which keep on happening. If anybody has any ideas about what they could be then please let me know. Cheers.