Baillie

Depends what you're after... If it's just a bit more noise, consider a res delete on the standard exhaust.. Makes a considerable difference and cheap to do. If you're looking to go full on, I recommend Remus.. I've got the cat-back, non res with valve control and gives the best of both worlds!

The threat of "up to £1000" is only if you choose to ignore the original fine for a long period of time. It's £30, increases to £60 like a parking fine.. Except this will continue to increase to a maximum of £960~ Anyways, just fire it up every few days or use it for essential shop runs.. Wouldn't worry about it!

I believe that! Was leaving the remap until I had all the hardware I wanted.. I'm there now, so remap may well be coming next! I've never had a car lowered but from what I've read elsewhere, lower springs can help keep the car level under acceleration and help traction a little.. Still expect tonnes of wheel spin regardless but anything helps I guess!

Was lucky to recieve the muffler delete on Monday! They have a fitting guide on their website, again specific to the golf but similar enough to the Skoda. Wasn't as hard as what I was expecting, just involved some awkward angles to get to some of the bolts, success all the same! It's definitely emphasised the sounds coming from the intake and feels more responsive again.. Very happy with it! Now to decide what's next.. Springs with spacers or remap... Hmm

Just placed an order on Mountune52 for their turbo muffler delete.. hopefully that'll arrive this week if the post is still up to speed.. FYI- M52 have a 20% off code to use this weekend if you're thinking of picking anything up from them! Code is SINCE1980

That small pipe is a vacuum line and needs to be prized off. Best to use a flat-head screw driver and gently ease it off.. It'll be quite tight but doable +1 on the M52 intake.. brief write up and pics here:

Thanks mate! Really wanted something different and perfectly happy with it.. Car feels noticeably more responsive and love the noise that comes with it!

Found a couple used RacingLine gibbons on Marketplace to add to the intake, so just fitted those in between the snow and rain today.. Things to come include turbo muffler delete, H&R springs and spacers, PD billet DSG paddles and then a remap in the summer time I think!

Wee write up here if it helps any.. This is on an MK3 TSI.

I do quite like them but been toying with the idea of powder coating a darker shade (not full on black).. They're 18s on Eagle F1s As for cleaning.. I never bother with using sealant products on the alloys.. Just the old method of a good scrub and fall out remover. I use a pretty good alloy brush called EZ Detail and the fall out remover is Autoglym's Wheel Cleaning Mouse.

Much delayed video of the Remus but popped out today to grab a few clips! Will try get more of the intake as well! https://1drv.ms/v/s!AnwzThwAGP9YvULydJpCJIXO5zyt

Exactly the reason I was looking at sports cat instead of all out decat.. Had one on my previous car as well at stage 3. Thing is I never track the car, it's only used for daily driving but I enjoy getting the most usable power from cars and also to be a little different. Good effort with your setup- sounds like a monster! Leaning more toward investing in handling and sticking with stage 1.. back to the drawing board!

Interesting you say that.. If there was one thing I'd change on the Octavia, it'd be 4WD.. Personally I think it's the only thing missing. Stage 2 atm is only a thought while I was close to it.. It's on the back of my mind that anything over and above the 300 mark would become a little more chaotic to deal with.. So stage 1 may still happen! Thanks for the info mate, very helpful!

Curious if the same downpipe would fit onto the Remus in that case.. but thanks for the info! The Remus cat-back wasn't cheap either.. Are you in the Sportline Plus now then going by your info? What prompted the change?

That certainly sounds more reasonable! Was that fitted to a Remus or are you full Milltek/other brand?

Happy new year! Hope everyone had a great time over the festive period! Planning to make some more progress with my car this year and I'm at a crossroad at the moment. I was originally planning a stage 1 map but I'm only a downpipe away from stage 2 and am currently trying to source a downpipe & sports cat.. I'm realising that for the MQB they're far from cheap...... Remus are asking around £1,000 and APR are around £800.. Does anyone on here know of alternatives? I understand pay for quality- but that's a large sum of money for a bent pipe (with some precious metals, sure) Also- would you know if said alternative would attach to the cat-back Remus I have on atm? Thank ya!

I've been quiet on here mainly because there hasn't been much going on with the car, however a couple things recently.. Car went through its first major service for reaching almost 60k miles- sparks etc all changed. Happy to have received a report full of green ticks from their checks! Still driving beautifully with no issues whatsoever. As a treat for her (and myself... ) I bought an induction system to fit! I'd been looking around for a while and couldn't decide who to go with.. RacingLine have been around a long time but wanted something different from the crowd.. APR have fancy carbon but are extortionate.. Same applies to some other manufacturers out there. So, recently I discovered the Ford tuners, Mountune, have dipped their feet in the VAG scene with their brand Mountune52 (AKA M52). Their system is a little more expensive than the R600 and that's the reason I hadn't ordered it sooner. The battle of deciding if you pay more for a less known product, or pay less for a product you know has been out for longer and has a better test of time. M52 are in the middle of a 12 days of Christmas run of deals at the moment and the X3 was listed on day 1, making it cheaper than the R600.. So I bit the bullet and ordered the X3. General rundown of the X3- my honest opinion Intake was received very quickly from the guys down at Essex and was very well protected in its packaging.. Initial impressions were the finish and quality of the items are definitely on a higher end. The main differences between the RL R600 and the M52 X3 as far as I can tell are; Cotton gauze air filter (similar to what K&N use if you're familiar with them) Triple air entry system (there's an extra two air scoops on top of the housing unit- the idea being you cut away a section of the rubber seal on your bonnet to increase direct air) Includes an M52 branded silicone hose to re-route your coolant hose underneath the kit for a tidier finish (see pics) I'm not sure on the RacingLine warranty details but M52 offer a 12 month / 12,000 mile warranty on their parts (doesn't keep manufacturers warranty as far as I'm aware) M52 also provide fitting instructions or they can offer fitting for you if you live near their base in Essex. It's worth noting that their fitting instructions are specific to the Golf Mk 7 but are generally the same with the MQB platform.. I noticed there were a couple screw holes covered by pieces from the front bumper I couldn't reach. Not a big issue though- it's sealed and secured in place. As with most induction upgrades, it feels like the car breathes much better and is more responsive- and gotta love the noise! I'm super happy with the X3 and if I'd known it was this good I'd have ordered it sooner. Be on the lookout on their social media pages for discount codes.. I've seen a few when keeping my eye on them. I'm planning on getting some videos together and when I do, they'll be up here. First look after opening the box; The girth on that! Before fitting... After fitting (and a little clean!)

Drove the car to the airport and my dad came with to take the car back- got out with the engine still running, grabbed my things and off he went. Auf Wiedersehen! Couple minutes later I do the phone-keys-wallet pocket tap.... PANIC! 😓 Pulled out my car key but he was already away and with the layout of the airport, he was on the motorway by the time I realised... I had no idea if the car had a system build in where if it drove out of a certain range of the key, would the engine cut?? .. You could imagine the thoughts going through my mind of the car cutting out on a motorway.... After 30 minutes of worrying, my dad returns a missed call from me (he couldn't answer because he was driving and wasn't on Blueooth).. He phoned to ask me where the key was to lock the car! 🤣 Panic over- had the key picked up and taken back to the house.. I thought about it more though- I'd turned off the auto stop/start as I always do but if I hadn't and the car had shut itself off, would it auto start without the key?.. Curious. I can confirm though that the car will drive without the key for as long as it's stayed switched on!

Fitted the two VRS badges front and back today! Super happy with how they look (new style that comes with the new Kodiaq VRS but these are also finished in black) Bought all the badges from Superskoda but something worth noting if you're looking to do the same- the front VRS badge they'd sent with screws and a backing plate to clamp onto the grill but the VRS badge at the front has a backing plate moulded in place. Thought about drilling holes through but didn't fancy it, so took the backing plate off the new badge, filed down the locator pins and used double sided tape to mount. Job done! New badge with the backing plate and glue removed, you can see the locator pins. Filed those down so it'd sit flush against the backing plate on the grill. Pins filed down flush Backing plate that's left on the grill after removing the original badge. The original is held on with glue but did need to prize it off with a flathead as well as there's also small clips that hold it. Double sided foam-like tape fixed to the back, trimmed around the letters and put in place. Rear badge I'd masked using thin tape to make sure I get it back on straight. Badge and left over glue removed. New badge on!

Last update for now- full set of Heko wind deflectors installed. Had these on my Corsa and missed them- super handy for having the windows down while it's raining or even for some fresh air on the motorway. Reduces the "buffer" noise!

Rear badge fitted and removed the lettering for a cleaner look. Might pop black letters on at a later date but happy with it for now! Still need to get the exhaust tips finished black (not paying £100+ per tip from SuperSkoda). Debadge process was the same as above, only much quicker as there isn't much contact from the letters The VRS badges front and back will be replaced when I next get some time (over the next few days) I was a little worried with the age of the car that there might be some letter shadows and there was but a lick of compound, polish and wax solved that problem.

Got myself some coloured Skoda badges from SuperSkoda (Race Blue/F5W). To save any confusion, both the front and rear badges are the exact same size. If you've never removed badges from a car before, it's pretty simple. Heat up the badge with a hair dryer to soften the glue behind (don't hold it too close or in the same spot for too long), use tooth floss in a saw-like motion to start cutting through the glue. Repeat the process all around the badge until you need to slowly peel the rest off where the locating dimples sit. Clean the left over glue off (I used Sticky Stuff Remover from Halfrauds), clean it up with a surface cleaner so the new badge will stick well and pop it on.

After a bit of reading up about what to replace the number plate lights with, found it was recommended somewhere on here to use the Skoda part that comes with the Rapid. Be careful when ordering these as I'd paid around £20 from one site for them to only send one of the lights. I later found another website that sold the exact same part for £5. Can confirm these need coding- the error will only appear when the lights come on but they still work.

Made a start on fitting some parts (only small) that arrived on my days off. Started with replacing the wheel center caps as they'd corroded (think this is a common VAG problem). I'd ordered 4 assuming they were sold individually but turns out they sent 4 packs with 4 caps in each... At least I'm covered for a little while if they do start to peel away again!

The front bumper has been in a bit of a sorry state since I'd bought it but didn't want to fix it up until I ran it for a while to make sure all was well. Had a chunk missing above the number plate, marks from being swiped by someone reversing and multiple stone chips.. All repaired as if brand new thanks to Touch Ups in Glasgow. Highly recommended. One thing that's bugging me now is how the bumper is swirl-free but the rest of the car is covered in them... Think it's time to get my hands on a DA polisher Some pics of before; Pic of after repair;