spiderbarks

I love the old girl to bits; been washing and waxing it since about 7:30 this morning! And plan to keep it for about 3 years. £2k is considerably more than I was looking to spend. RARB, upgrade the bushes, and get 4 decent tyres is the plan and see how it feels after that. I don't need it to be a Lotus Elise, but just to provide a bit more confidence when throwing it around. Most of the time it sits at 70 on the motorway - which is why I bought it in the first place; decent economy, with enough poke to overtake. Just want to make it that bit better for the occasional B road adventure. Thanks again for all the input.

Cheers for the input. So RARB seems to be pretty much unanimously agreed on, and then replace some bushes. Mat - not keen on any further vibrations in the cabin, so will probably leave the engine mounts for now, but cheers for the reply. Don't suppose you know of a multipack of premium upgraded bushes that cover every joint? I'll start with that and see how much of a difference it makes. Then if harder/lower is the only other option we'll see. Cheers minters.

My VRS is in the garage having its bearings looked at, so this morning I drove the Mrs (my old) '03 plate Fiesta to work. I'd forgotten just how well that thing handled. It's got virtually no power, but I'd feel confident throwing it at a bend at 80 that I'd probably only feel safe doing at 65 in the Fabia. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it just seems balanced and responsive, whereas the VRS feels very front heavy and slow to respond. Now I understand the big diesel lump up front doesn't help matters, and i'd still much rather drive the Fabia, but it got me thinking what could be done to improve things.... So, what would your guys 'must-have' handling upgrades be, that are the best value for money? I don't want it lowered, as I've got a thing about cars being standard, but anything that isn't immediately visible I'd go for. Done a search and it seems anti-roll bars are recommended, but I'm not even sure what they do!? Cheers Skodogs.

Just in case anyone else / anyone new is in any doubt, this resolved my issue (so far) completely. Ordered the 9mm gasket. Drilled it out to 11.5mm as suggested. Armed with nothing more than an Alan key and a can of WD40 I even managed to change it myself. And being the mechanophobe I am, that's quite an achievement! This difference is astonishing. The judder has completely gone, and it just feels smooth and lovely, like I imagine it always should have. Thanks again Skoda internet people for the heads up. A £2.50 fix that I wouldn't have had a clue about otherwise!

Those seats are delicious.

Interesting to read. I'm a tech guy, I can build a network that spans multiple sites but I've always shied away from car maintenance. Fitting new stereos / hands free kits / subs / Amps etc.... Easy. But anything that involves getting oily worries me for some reason. Especially bits that could kill me (brakes / steering). Maybe it's time to man up and give it a go!!

Not sure on it front on, but somehow looks a lot better from the side.

It was my understanding the connects should go in one end of the space you have there (where the multi changer normally would). If it doesn't fit id say they've sent the wrong one. For future reference, the modern Kenwood keys work a treat, had mine out in under ten seconds.

What do we want.... Pictures When do we want them..... Etc

What a splendid forum full of helpful folk. Thanks again.

This is the 9mm gasket I assume? http://www.skodaparts.com/product/fabia-egr-gasket---special-25863 Seems drilling that out to 11.5mm to avoid it bringing on the light after a month or two then fitting it seems to resolve? After reading yet more threads, think I might have answered my own question.....

Cheers fella. Na, no intentions of changing anything. Don't know why, but I get a sense of purity driving 100% standard cars. Every old school hot hatch I've owned has always been reverted back to standard if anything was modified. Did the 14mm gasket cure your mates completely?

Have had the Mk1 VRS for a couple of weeks now, and apart from the M5 incident, am loving it. 60mpg (according to the computer) on my 25 mile commute. Enough tug to get past most stuff that's dawdling. Feels nice and solid. It's been Skoda main dealer serviced every 10k. Only niggle I currently have is what i suspect to be EGR judder. Any gear (but most noticable in 3rd/4th), if the revs are between 1600-2050 AND I go from coasting to super-gentle acceleration (ie following someone through town) then there's a slight hesitation. Feels almost like a mis-fire. If the revs are outside this range, or I'm accelerating hard there's no judder. It's only when going from coasting to gentle acceleration. The clutch feels fine, no slipping at all, and everything else seems solid. From what I've read on here, that sounds lie the EGR valve being a whore. From what I can tell Skoda issued a fix which was to replace the gasket from 23mm to 14mm. I've also read this doesn't necessarily help. I've read some people went to 9mm, but this then caused the EML to come on after a few miles. Or there's the full EGR delete. Questions I have if any one has definitive (or experience backed suggestions) as there's seems too many threads to find anything conclusive: 1) EGR deletes - will need remapping to silence EML, and may lead to higher emmisions / MOT failure? Wanted to keep the car standard, so not too tempted by this. 2) Is it possible to get the 14mm gasket still - was having trouble finding one. 3) Might a good clean sort it out if it's not been done for a while? 4) Any other suggestions... Really loving the car, but it's not nice to drive super-steadily at the moment. Would love to get to the bottom of it without handing it over to the local indie for them to spend hours changing unnecessary things. Appreciate any input.

Opinions I can do. I prefer the grey buddy.

I'm unsure of the technical difference between the two, but to be cat C or cat D the car must first be "written off" by the insurer. What that means is that in their opinion, the car would cost more to repair than it's worth (ie you get panel damage to the whole car, and it's a 1994 fiesta with 300k miles on the clock. Cost to repair = thousands. Cost to replace vehicle like for like = 300 quid. So in that case they'd write it off, and just give you the money to replace the car. It would be registered as such. However, say your mum gave birth to you in it, and it had huge sentimental value, you could buy it back, repair it, and put it back on the road (at huge expense). It'd then be legal, but a cat c/d repaired. In my case the cost of repair is less than the value of the car, so it's not written off, it's just repaired. And that's pretty much it. They just fix it.

No, it won't be CATC or D if that's what you mean. It's just a standard repair. I'll obviously keep the documents and inform any new owner 'cos I'm an honest guy, but nothing will show up officially. I believe that's only the case if the insurers declare it uneconomical to repair, and give you the value of the car as settlement, rather than repair it. At that point you can offer to buy it back. Regarding claiming - it would have been around £1k. although i could have covered it, my best guess is that the excess + raised premiums for three years won't come to that much. It was a fiscal decision, not one through necessity.

For anyone that's interested: Took it to the local indie bodyshop (cheers SEVrs), he wasn't confident of a repair looking decent so recommended a replacement of the bumper. After speaking to Skoda his quote for replacing/respraying the whole bumper (apparently it's one massive piece), and the number plate surround was £550. With the expectation that the guy I hit would probably be looking at the same, the call the the insurance company was made :( Not looking forward to the premium hike in October. It's been booked in for next Thursday to have the work done (as above), plus the chap at the insurer's repair centre said the a/c radiator needed replacing too as it was damaged (although I'm fairly sure this was old damage, but - not complaining). Now the only decision is, do I pay an additional £450 and get the bonnet sanded back and resprayed, and all four wheels refurbed at the same time. With all that done, there'd be very little coosmetic damage anywhere on the car....... sorely tempted!

Not to give away too many personal details or owt, but that literally couldn't be any closer! Smashing, I'll drop in and have a word on Tuesday. Cheers pal.

Excuse all the typos, autocorrect is a pig. English is my first language, honest!

Will do VZO. He did seem like a perfectly reasonable bloke. No anger, no cursing, just wanted to get on his way. Felt worse that I'd got his week holiday off to a hit start. FTD, I did have a shift or through the parts for sale section, and eBay but the only stuff and could find would also need spraying blue to match, so if a repair is possible to the one I've got I guess that'll be cheaper. And yes, my plan was to wait and see what he comes up with (after he gets back next week). If he's looking to get a full repair and respray that'll cost loads, I'll just get mine done too on insurance and take the hit on my premium next year.... If he can get it done for around £200 then I'd look to get mine done as well, which is why I was looking to get a ballpark figure on how much to pay having never had to have work done before. Ash, appreciate all the time you've taken to reply buddy. For no clue on this sort of thing, so it's good to have a basic grasp of what to expect, appreciate it.

Thanks Ash. Sounds reasonable. Quote shopping on Tuesday it is....

Cheers for the reply buddy. Annoyingly it creased the lower part of their boot. It was a Zafirra, and left a line just under their number plate. The guy shares a unit with a panel beater so said he might be able to sort something. We'll see. As for mine, the towbar went through the lower grill, and bent the lowest, front most part of the bumper. Got no idea about bodywork so don't know if that's a repair or replace kind of deal.

One week to the day since I picked up my new VRS SE. Washed, polished and detailed it. Got it looking immaculate inside and out. Was in stop start traffic in a massive tailback on the motorway, and in a stupid lapse of concentration introduced it into the guy in front's tow bar. Was only doing about 4mph, so the damage isn't monumental by any means, just absolutely gutted that my new pride and joy got a battle scar so early on in our relationship. Waiting to see if they guys going to claim massively and I'll have to put it through insurance or whether I can foot the bill sensibly, so my question is this: Damage to mine is the lowest part of the bumper needs replacing, including the lowest part of the grill. All the rest is fine. What's your best guess on how much that'd cost to get done, and if there's anywhere near Gloucester you can recommend through past experience. Cheers in advance, and remember - if you're moving forwards, keep your eyes pointing the same way. It's been years since I've had a knock in a car, my driving is normally impeccable. Grrrr.

I just paid £5.5 for one. Similar mileage, same age. Was one owner, full Skoda history, and immaculate, but none the less goes to show what people will pay for an SE. I'd say start at 4995 and see what happens.

Just bought 404. Second owner, Gloucestershire.