Phil-E

I'd say it's more than just the pure book figure of of the KW output. I have zeros fears joing the Autobahn with "just" 90kw. Even when it's been fully loaded with 3 adults, a dog, a boot full and 3 bikes on the tow bar. But then a decent 200nm of torque between 1500 and 4000 rpm and a DSG gearbox helps get effortlessly and safely up to speed.

I had a Daihatsu of some description as a hire car for a few days. It's was so terrible I can't even remember what model. Or was it even a Daihatsu... I've no idea now! Lol It has some crappy little engine in it with horrible gears. Genuinely terrifying... Especially since where I had to join the Autobahn the first time is in an unrestricted section, long straight and very smooth... So the traffic tends to move fast!

Diesels tend to have a slightly higher idle speed. My 1.4 TSI 122bhp with A/C off etc idles at 650rpm. But can be higher with higher electrical load or cold temps etc. But it reacts the same as the newer DSG cars as above. As I start to lift my foot off the brake the idle rases to 1000rpm and the car creeps forward.

I'd say there's still a lot of NA cars on the roads. And although E10 has been available for years here, the uptake has been very slow here due to people's reluctance and uncertainty. I've also had a few people I know say that their cars run like garbage on E10. But one of which was an Astra J 1.4 16v that I drove shortly after and it turned out the coil packs were bad. Lol. The other being a Mini One 1.6 that apparently idled poorly and got really bad fuel economy. But all very subjective.

Don't forget that E5 and E10 means up-to 5% or 10%. There's no minimum required content. So you could buy E10 that only has 1% in. From what I understand in a turbo car there is basically no difference in power between E5 and E10. There can be a greater effect on power and economy on naturally aspirated engines.

Do you know which spark plugs were fitted?

Ah ok! So that's how they're doing it. Here in Germany they have separate E5 and E10 pumps.

Is E10 much cheaper than E5 in the UK? Here it is between 4 and 6 cents per litre cheaper. Which is barely anything really. But over the year it's still a saving.

The pre -Fl didn't get AFS so no.

Hard to say whether it's geniunely a fault or just your inexperience with the car and gearbox. If you push the throttle all the way down there is an additional switch that is the kick-down switch. Basically hitting this overrides any currently drive mode and will kick down to the lowest possible gear. It's possible that with a speed of around 50mph or lower that the car is capable of using 2nd car and it will take it all the way to the red line. Which yes would seem like the engine is "screaming" but certainly not a bad thing or harmful. As for it not shifting up again then that could be to do with the incline you were on, the gearbox deemed the current incline, revs, speed and engine load to warrant staying in 2nd. And you won't get an immediate shift up anyway especially if you've maybe panicked and eased off it holds the lower gear initially until either the revs get too high or you ease off for a good few seconds and then it starts going up the gears again.

I've been using E10 for a year in my car. I did fill up twice with normal E5 (as they had problems with the E10 tank at the station or something). I notice zero difference between E5 and E5. I believe that a higher ethanol content is good for a turbo petrol as it's more knock resistant? I'm currently just driving to and from work 7km each way, driving a couple of KMs to the supermarket and that's about it. Getting 6,9 l/100km (41mpg) but this is gradually getting better since the service and spark plug change. Current range of just over 1000km per tank. I've also found a different route to work that although takes a couple minutes longer it's a very quiet and economical route (been getting as good as 5,3 l/100km - 53mpg on these trips).

There won't be a fuse for this. The oil pressure switch is connected to the ECU. You need a fault code scan to see what the actual problem is. The oil light being on indicates a problem with oil pressure. And the engine light being on could mean anything. Impossible to tell without diagnostics.

Unfortunately not. Otherwise that defeats the whole purpose of having s security code. If you're lucky it may be written in the radio owners manual or sometimes it's on a sticker on the back. But you'll likely need to use one of the cheap eBay services where you give them the serial number and they're able to generate it somehow. I've used one before.

I've seen this advertised over here in Germany too. Just tried it out. Clever idea. My 3 words are in German. I assume this is an international system? If I typed in the English it would work and vice versa?

Sounds like they've done something wrong when fitting the tow bar. Where was it fitted? You still have warranty on the work they've done so they'll have to rectify the problems for you.

It's possibly the fairly common issue of the accumulator cracking. It then looses hydraulic pressure and the solenoid can't work properly. There's a relatively cheap repair kit available.

I actually ended up changing my oil(s) a few thousand KMs ago. Didn't end up buying any special fill tools or anything and managed to fill the oils with some hoses I had lying around etc. Then that combined with an engine oil change and spark plug change the car is running so beautifully. The gear changes are just sublime and smooth and mostly barely noticeable. But then they were like this before to be fair.

I think it must build on the underside of the valve (the exhaust side). I just know I've read posts etc from many people where they're suddenly having fault codes even though the valve is deactivated and it turns out the valve is partially stuck open which throws an engine light. So the sure fired way is to blank and deactivate.

Yeah and I once drove from York to Germany via channel tunnel and it knocked around 10mpg off with 2 bikes on our 1.9 TDI DSG Octavia roof. With the tow bar rack it barely makes a difference it seems.

As for the bike carrier. I'd honestly invest the money and get a tow bar. I've had one for the last few years and it's come in handy on a few occasions. Carrying the bikes on a tow bar rack is also much better than on the roof.

If the EGR is only deactivated and not blanked out it can over time accumulate soot and start to open and get stuck. Ideally you need to blank it at the same time.

Probably doesn't have a module 46. They got rid and it's all in central electrics (09 I think).

I honestly don't get why the UK hasn't fully adopted all seasons or winter tyres. Am I right in thinking they're not even an option from new in the UK? For me all seasons are a bare minimum requirement and wouldn't drive on anything else.

A good example being: https://youtu.be/_LtuyukrF8A

Is this really from a cold start or a cold "warm" start (with slightly higher ambient temps). This engine does a weird cat pre-heat with ambient temps of like 20c or above. The exhaust can be loud and gurgly and the engine tends to jolt around a bit if you try to drive off. That's because the valve timing is changed and I think an air pump or something runs I've read somewhere.