jhp168

I was wondering if forum members might be able to give me a steer on something. A kamikaze pigeon went head first into the front of my vRS the other day. As far as I can tell, the damage seems limited to a broken front grill - the black moustache shaped bit located under the Skoda badge, and on which the vRS badge is clipped. I can't see any other damage to the engine just behind the grill, and as far as I can tell I have got rid of any residual feathers etc...most of the carcass fell off as I was driving home. I initially booked into a dealer for a check over the car and a replacement grill, but it seems as if I would need to drive the car to and back from the dealer at least twice because the part wouldn't be in stock. Also I am being told the grill is part of the bumper, which seems to increase cost significantly. First of all, am I being paranoid about the possibility of some stray object (smaller than a pigeon) ricocheting up through the gap in the grill and on to the bits at the front of the engine, possibly causing damage? And does anyone have any experience with replacement grills - are they part of the bumper - and any thoughts about ordering parts online and getting a body shop to separately install? Thanks for any assistance with this.

I would say it isn't the deepest and most rounded bass I have ever heard. I have Focal Chorus 706 speakers in my living room which, for standmounts, have very good bass response. Relative to those, the standard speakers in the Skoda are lightweight. Even so, I can still clearly pick out bass tones in a way that remain pretty well integrated with the rest of the music. I suppose if pushed I would probably push the bass volume up a notch, but it's a marginal decision. My car was an early 2015 registration, although I don't know for certain when it was built. Perhaps they improved the quality of the speakers, connections and/or Digital-Analogue conversions over time?

Well, I shall bring this unintentional monologue to a close by saying that the issue turned out to be the fact that the first time round I copied the top folder "Music". Second time around, I copied the individual artist sub-folders instead and we're off to the races. All the music in my library available in my car. Now if only the Bolero had a search function...

Hmmm...hit something of a snag. Downloaded my 424 albums all in the same format. Only the first five are playing. The rest, according to the Bolero, contain no playable files. According to the manual there is a limit of 1000 sub-folders but there are only 424. Not sure what's going on here. Any thoughts?

Just to follow up on the sound quality question. I read the thread you linked, and it sounds like there is something of a consensus that the Bolero isn't much cop. Saying that, I've just been down to the car and happened to listen to a few tracks. They varied from Daft Punk's Tron Legacy soundtrack, some singer/songwriter stuff, close miked rock with a lot of sibilance and Also Sprach Zarathustra with the 15-20Hz bass pedal at the beginning. I can't say I noticed much harshness, nor anything lacking particularly in the bass. I don't expect it to sound like my living room hifi, and it's a big step up from my nine year old base spec Passat estate, so perhaps that subjectivity is deafening me to the system's faults relative to higher end car audio.

I went for 320 so I wouldn't have to compromise listening to tracks available either on my SD card to on Google Play through the bluetooth connection. Mine suffers a bit from jitter and it's nice to know I won't be trading sound quality for the lack of annoying pops.

Before I bought the 128GB I had a 32GB SD card in there. I'm a developing audiophile but I haven't noticed any issues with sound quality using the SD card to play from. Bluetooth is a bit less reliable, with occasional pops and jitter, and the USB socket barely charges the phone quick enough to maintain a level charge when it is playing music.

Well, I've bitten the bullet and bought a 128GB card which should be big enough to copy all my ripped music. Rather foolishly my tired brain decided to go ahead with the 20 hour (!) copying process before checking to see if the system would recognise it. But the handbook says it will accept any card formatted in Exfat, which used to be the issue with bigger cards in older systems. The biggest pain so far has been realising the Bolero won't play ALAC encoded lossless rips, only FLAC. So I've had to re-encode everything in a duplicate iTunes library and then load it up. If all else fails there is always Google Music on Bluetooth, the venerable CD and the DAB radio, so I shouldn't be at too much of a loss!

Thank you!

According to my dealer and VAG-tec you can retrofit the Columbus but I don't know if it's the most recent version (it's been updated recently, hasn't it?) Costs upwards of £1500, can't remember the exact price. They tend to offer the Kenwood almost immediately as a cheaper option.

Hi all. Just taken delivery of my nearly new vRS hatch, and it's fitted with (only) the Bolero system. I'm prepping my music files on my computer to copy them over to an SD card to use in the car, and realised that even in mp3 form I've got way more than my 32Gb SD card can handle. I'm a bit OCD with music - I like to have my entire library with me if I'm going portable, and this goes for the car library as well. Does anyone know what is the maximum capacity SD card that can be used in Bolero. It's a 64 plate and so, I guess, the MY13 version of the system? Thanks in advance.

Picked up my nearly new vRS TSi hatchback in rio red metallic on Thursday. Haven't done many miles in it yet. Has the park assist but otherwise standard kit. Having it detailed and valeted on Tuesday ready for its first serious drive up to Stoke Park for my 40th on Sunday. Aftermarket tint and satnav are likely upgrades in the not too distant future. Can't stop wandering outside with a cap of coffee to just stand and gaze at it. I'm in the minority but a huge fan of the colour. It's even drawn admiring looks from the F-Type owner next door!

193) jhp168: Rio Red Metallic vRS 2.0 TSi Hatchback with Park Assist; otherwise standard kit. Only 2 days in and lovin' it!

Just realised my thread title sounds like a cryptic crossword clue. Hello there. I'm James from London. Just about to take delivery of a early 2015 Octavia vRS TSi hatch. Rio red, the definitive Marmite colour I gather. Looking forward to being part of the Skoda community and participating on the boards.