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Is a white line RARB worth fitting to counter body roll at standard driving speeds (not track), daily commute etc. Background. Stock suspension all replaced with cupra bushes (too harsh, but won't fail) and rest of suspension poly bushed all round front. Rear axle bush is OEM rubber, replaced. The front is stiff/ heavy and the rear rolls, but not excessively. Would a RARB help? Although I'm comparing oranges and lemons, a full replacement of the suspension on an Astra petrol with polybush, new shocks, springs resulted in very little body roll. Interested in hearing about people who have fitted to their car (reliability of product, noise, handling, etc). Not tracking car. Is ground clearance due to drop links , bar an issue? Kerbs, potholes, speed bumps? Thanks

I read about this on fabia.VRS.com Topic is discussed elsewhere on this forum. I contacted Dark side motors 'up road from me' in sunny Yorkshire. They said adding a smaller diameter hole in gasket than present would result in it blocking sooner if EGR retained. That made sense and I lived with it. Cleaning EGR annually will help perhaps. I bought some stuff bristled brushes to clean out the gunk from my car's EGR. Just watch no metal gets pushed into manifold. 3 Allen key bolts to remove ASV and gain access to EGR. One hour's work once you done it before. The EGR speeds up warm up of car coolant and engine oil so I didn't want to blank off. Also, might be an MOT fail on emissions?

Have you used front washers since changing pump? If not, you got plumbing wrong.

Winter grille (upper) very effective at reducing warm up time. Got an extra 2mpg (trip computer reading), like for like driving. Don't block lower grill as well, unless you want car to overheat. Biggest gripe with car is not having heating elements / demister in front window glass. Lethal combination is the condensation on glass (both sides!) with low sun on cold mornings.

Out of interest Quick question - does the tensioner not select the correct tension itself, like the Fabia mk1? I have changed Fabia timing belt myself. Does the Octavia 3 150 bhp TDI not have self tensioners? Anyone changed the Octavia 3 150bhp 2l timing belt themselves (of course use the locking key!)

Hi, it's the Octavia 2l diesel 150bhp. I also got a Fabia 1.9vrs. Car is on 36k miles but overdue on time, as it is every 4yrs. The offset spanner tool would save a lot of taking apart. I plan to do every 20 k miles as like most oil related maintenance the service intervals are way overstated in my opinion by manufacturers. I did a parallel engine oil change on both cars yesterday. It cannot be overstated the difference an engine oil change can make. Much quieter. After 5k miles I could smell a hint of the diesel in the engine oil, from the regenerations and interrupted ones. The Fabia, without DPF, nothing. Tip I picked up on here is to dip the oil filter in the fresh oil before inserting. There is a moment of no lubrication on starting when using a dry oil filter. Unfortunately, on the 2l Octy there are cables foiling access and it is a messy affair. I will do some more measuring and take a punt on whether to get a long or short offset spanner and report back if I found the correct one. Thanks

Whilst doing an engine oil change today I took a few pics of the gearbox dsg filter housing. It has 4cm of access above it before the battery above it. Taking the air hose and air filter box out would not help. Large Hex/allen female sump plug (above 10mm). Q is this the DSG filter? The bottom image is as viewed directly from above. There is plenty of room to get that offset spanner and long extension bar in there, saving taking out battery and its holder etc. Looks like the short tool would suffice

Great guide, thanks. Quick question. If you remove the battery, how can you connect VCDS / OBD2 port if vehicle has no power. I know a few people have opted for reading gear box temperature using a surface IR thermometers like used to read a child's temperature. Is it possible to remove the gear filter using the offset 24mm tool and easily reinsert a new paper filter element? Did you use long or short tool? From what I have read it looks like the long one on common rail engines. Short on petrol? There is a 4cm length difference so important not to waste £17 or so on wrong tool. I'm always happy to avoid dismantling the least number of parts, etc. Thoughts? Cheers

Does the filter or cap foil on the underside of the airbox? I can see it and get my hands on it etc. I have the pressurised fill tool through bottom of the DSG gear oil sump so I would not need to fill from above via filter. I read the nice guide on superb forum.

Hi all Anyone know whether a long or short offset spanner is needed to loosen the 24mm hex filter housing on a Octavia 2016 2l TDI 150bhp? From my research there is about 4cm between the two offset spanners which avoid the need to remove the airbox etc above the DSG oil filter. Thanks

Apologies Pab and thanks John

Thanks. Not too fussed about radio logos, most stations have one displayed already. Useful info. I will update with Pab's firmware/software first using my own 32gb SD card. To transfer to infotainment do I need to select the update option within the menu of Amundsen once the updated SD card is inserted? Thanks

He already provided a link a few weeks ago that I have yet to try. Will Pab's link cover all software eg phone compatibility, maps , radio logos etc. I got put off when Windows warned me of insecure site etc Here is the update SW update to:- (Removed) Yes, on Columbus update guide video, a generic 32gb SD card is shown but on Amundsen the video guide on Skoda update portal it suggests using the original Navigation SD card. Q What should I do tonight? Use Pab's weblink. Download to HDD then unzip to spare or formatted Skoda Nav SD card (which has first been copied as a backup)? In the car --> settings there is a 'update software' selectable option to further confuse. In the sticky for this forum about Amundsen mib 2 Sasha states that the software update should not be needed as not available to general public. I am updating as my infotainment is regularly crashing. Probably due to the new mobile phones connecting with the infotainment. Can't say for sure though, might be hardware. This is where Pan kindly stepped in to help. I just want to update without messing things up. Help appreciated.

Here it is, thanks.

Hi all, I am doing the first update on an Octavia 3 L&K due to excessive lag and random shutdowns of the infotainment. The map currently installed is ECE 2016. On the update portal http://updateportal.skoda-auto.com/ I have found about 7 maps with various combinations of the countries of Europe. All are number ECE 1, ECE 2 with a month/year and so on. The software is a large zip file (6GB or more in some cases, 13GB). Q1 Which do I need (I'm in UK). I assume I need ECE 1 2020 Q2 I am not sure whether I have Amundsen or Columbus. I think it is Amudsen based on info on this site. I have a small display screen, no CD slot (just 2 SD slots). Q3 One further Q. Can I use any 32GB SD or do I need the one supplied by Skoda (security chipped?). If so, the Skoda website states to Format the card. Would it be wise to copy the SD card first? Q4 Are the updates for mobile devices and radio station logos separate? Thanks!

My exhaust has done nearly 90k miles and 13 years, which is pretty good for an exhaust. When the exhaust starts to blow what are the recommended options? Wino said not to buy a substandard exhaust, I agree. You don't want a noisy exhaust (or maybe some people do). I once did a full exhaust change, including catalyst rebuild when I found the lambda/O2 sensor on another car (Toyota Yaris) was welded in place. I found the new exhaust (ECP) didn't quite fit like the old one. The manifold I suspect had been changed as the dealer metal manifold to exhaust gasket was too small. Can Kwik fit stuff match OEM or is it worth paying for dealer part? Personally, I don't want a noisy exhaust for effects with a few bhp extra. Thanks

Anyone cleaned their EGR out and want to post a few pics or mention tools needed etc. I had a look around engine bay. It appears at rear middle / nearside of engine bay. One of the hoses is labeled egr. This is 2l diesel 110kw 150bhp engine. A few hoses connected either crimp compression clips or flat screwdriver jubilee compression clips and torx screws. Thanks

Anyone replaced their heat shield clips recently? Sounded like exhaust was falling off, but after prodding around it was a clip that was corroded. Others didn't look too healthy, neither. I have searched and an old thread showed a part number N 903 350 05 Only listing online I could find is for 4 clips and about £15 from US. Dealer is a bit far to travel. Apparently, they cost 20p 8 yrs ago. So, that's alot of inflation to nearly £4 a clip. Are they standard sizes or bespoke to the car model? Thanks

Hi, After bushes were changed I had the alignment tracking done. The steering wheel was slightly out and the car pulled to right slightly. Interestingly a spirit level over tyre of 1.2m length confirmed one wheel was out of alignment Kwik fit have the Hunter machine and offering free alignment at moment, with no obligation to have it done if out. I had it done 3years ago with them The caster is off on near side. After Cupra solid bushes were fitted it is still off. The car pulls slightly to left, despite toe being aligned. Is this caster way out or going to cause issues? I read the difference between left and right wheels should not be more than .30 degrees. It is .36degrees. It was more like 0.5 to 0.6 previously. Caster does not affect tyre wear. Can subframe be adjusted? Will this cause any issues uncorrected? Thanks