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This is useful and persuaded me that a standard air filter is best for my needs. (Years ago I had a Pipercross cone foam filter on a Rover 420 which made a great noise, but was a pain to clean. I left it off eventually as I got bored with the additional noise once the novelty wore off.)

Hi! Lovely car. 👍

I have Cross Climate 2's on my wife's Fiesta and they have been excellent. Good grip in dry, wet, hot, cold, whatever. Can't comment on their wear as I don't do many miles, but they really do grip well in all conditions on my wife's car. It's a fairly low-powered 1.4TDCI it must be said, but I do chuck it about a bit and the CC2's work very well on the Fiesta.

Hi Mark! Successful lurking for years is an underrated skill. 😊

Back from a very warm week camping in Wales. Car performance was great. Power delivery was progressive, just dialed up a bit from the original 190, which is what I wanted. Overtaking is now quick and drama-free, which is what I wanted. I don't think the car would be any better with more power without some new shocks and springs, which I won't be changing for some time. I bunged the car in Economy node and set the cruise control to 70 with tweaks to accommodate traffic, as I don't have the fancy speed-adjusting cruise control, which is an option I would be specifying if buying from new. MPG is IMO excellent on a long run if sensible speeds are sustained. (See pic with last year's for comparison. Note difference in average speed; there is a (PITA) 40MPH speed limit near Cardiff and 50MPH limit around Worcester on the M5.) Maybe the MPG would have been better last year under identical conditions, but I can certainly say it's very acceptable as it is, especially as I forgot to re-inflate my rear tyres for motorway driving and they were at 2.5 bar all round, rather than 2.5 front and 2.8 rear as I had going down. I don't have the numbers going to Wales as I forgot, but to be fair they wouldn't be as good as I wasn't trying to drive economically. Fuel for return journey was 30L Gulf super unleaded with 97RON & 5% Ethanol, on top of Sainsbury's 97RON Super Unleaded. (Which I think has 5% ethanol too.) EDIT: Looking at the pics, I really don't do many miles in a year. 😄

Tyres are way more complicated than people think. I used to buy tyres based on whether I liked the look of the trad patter and the rubber used. 😄 I have since realised I honestly haven't a clue how to choose between tyres if simply looking at them, and I rely entirely on reviews and my own previous experience. I would say that cheap tyres are a false economy, they usually have a fatal flaw: Rapid wear or lousy performance in the wet/cold being the two main issues. Noise can be another. Buy good tyres and check the date of manufacture. (In my post above it's week 37 of 2018.)

I was going to say cracks off the sidewall are fine. But that really is a bit of a canyon on yours. Personally, I'd replace. These are mine.

Congratulations! 🎊

That's me thinking everything's about me again. 😄 Seriously though, there's a part of me that's thinking "What are you doing remapping your nearly new car, you lunatic?!" But I actually think I've timed it just right. Do it just as it leaves the warranty period and gives me maximum time with the remapped car. I think that's good advice about changing the plugs, in fact a full service would be a good idea prior to a remap. 👍

An absolute shot in the dark here, but has the EGR been disabled/blanked? If so, this might be a contributing factor. If not, please keep looking for the solution and good luck!

Oh I see it now! In fact it's hard to miss now you've pointed it out. 😄 I was looking for a chain. Reminds me of this.

It's running perfectly TBH, so I'm not planning to do anything to it before the next service, though I have had the G13 coolant replaced with G12evo, as I took the silica bag out. At just 12K miles, changing the spark plugs seems like a bit of an extravagance to try and solve a problem I don't have. It'll get some hot action next week in Wales, and then get its first MOT at the end of July.

You know you've just reminded me about this, @roottoot. Thanks! 👍 Frankly, this is perfect for me, as I do generally potter about, but Tom clearly said that GPFs benefited from hard acceleration now and then. I suppose that's his opinion based on his experience, but I can't argue with the manual and a slap to the back of the head for me for forgetting it.

This is good advice! The GPF needs hard acceleration to clear it out now and then. ⬅️ EDIT: This is an opinion, contradicted by the manual. Yes, I used Angel before with my Mondeo, and was very happy with the map I got from them and this one seems to be okay so far. (Though I can imagine quite a few will be scoffing at the +41BHP gain in power for £395.) Incidentally, I was mooching about my hard drive to see what the MPG was last year, and managed to find it. As I recall, that was quite a steady drive down, because it was wet and traffic speed was slow. 51MPG isn't bad at all for that run. If I get something similar for the journey down, I'll be happy enough. If I do better, then that will be a definite win for me. It's tricky to get an accurate like-for-like comparison as even on the same route, no two journeys are going to be the same, but I'll get a rough idea of what's going on.

Got any more pics? I'm not seeing how the engine drives the rear wheel.

Lovely car! 👌

Hi Peter. One additional consideration to add is ride height. The vRS has a lower ride height and snugger seats, which make getting in an out more difficult. For most people, this isn't any kind of issue, but for older people, or people with difficulties, such differences can become issues. These issues can become compounded, for example when getting out of the car onto a slippery surface or when the car is parked facing uphill. As the other guys said, test both and see which you prefer. TBH, I think you'd be better off with an Octavia Scout, by the sound of it.

This is what I suspect. In similar bodies, different capacity engines will have an optimum speed/gear combination for peak MPG. If I simplify it by removing driver gear selection and use a DSG, then presumably it would be possible to plot a curve showing speed and MPG, that would rise, and then fall, perhaps like a crude bell curve. What I'm curious about is seeing these curves, because it's not something I've seen any data on. My own personal perspective is to favour larger capacity engines for high vehicle speed efficiency, and small capacity engines for low speed vehicle efficiency. But as I said, I have no data to back this up. The crude MPG figures given for vehiclesis no help and that's been replaced by the even cruder WLTP economy figure, which gives an overall fuel efficiency (and CO2 emission) rating.)

Yes I realise there are differences, and it gets complicated with hybrids, but the questions remain. (Rephrased) 1) Is the 1.0 TSI at 110MPH still more economical than the 2.0TSI at 110MPH? (My assumption is that it is not, though to be honest I have no science to back this up. It's basically a gut feeling) 2) Are all similar cars most economical at a particular speed? (Which I accept may vary with different shapes of car.) Now it might be that the answer to 1) is "Yes of course!", I'm just assuming a 2.0 TSI is working a lot less hard at 110MPH than the 1.0 TSI in the same body shell is. Same with 2). But I don't know, hence the question.

I've rewritten this a few times, as I've confused myself a bit trying to explain what was an initial single question. Fortunately, these rewrites have cut a lot of explanatory waffle down to two basic questions: Firstly, on the same platform, do different engine sizes have max MPG at different speeds, or is 55MPH (or thereabouts) is the optimum speed for max MPG for all engine sizes for a particular car? (Presumably, very aerodynamic cars will have a higher optimal efficiency speed to cars with poor aerodynamics.) Secondly, using the Octavia as an example, is the 1.0 TSI Octavia is the most economical TSI Octavia when compared to other petrol variants throughout the performance envelope of the 1.0 TSI? (For example, I suspect that at 110MPH, the 1.5 TSI will be more economical than the 1.0 TSI, which is probably starting to get a bit red in the face at this speed. Is that assumption correct?) Does anyone have any info/opinions on these two questions?

Unpopular colours are a great way of getting a used car bargain, as people really are reluctant to buy them, so the price often needs to be adjusted to make them more attractive to buyers. (Of course, you have to be able to live with a car colour you don't much care for.) IMO, if you're buying new, pick a popular colour to get the best resale value. If buying used, buy an unpopular colour to get the best deal.

Update on the MPG. It seems pretty good, but does require a light foot if you want decent MPG, as the remap obviously throws extra fuel in if you demand it. (Well duh! There's news hot off the press! ) But after a near 32 mile journey back from visiting a loved one today, which was 75% motorway and 25% urban, I got 56MPG, which is better than I've previously achieved on the journey, so I'm happy with that. (Running on 97RON Sainsbury's) Next comes the performance tests in Wales, which will hopefully allow me to discover the extra horses I've got with the remap. But all in all, I'm pleased to see the MPG has improved slightly, and not taken a dip, as I'd feared. EDIT: I think some of the improvement in MPG was down to the 97RON, which seems to suit my car very well indeed. (Last year's 51mpg run to Wales was on 97 too.) I think the increased MPG i get from 97, combined with the improved grunt and better additives is worth the extra money for 97.

Hi there! 🙂 What engine & trim level is it?

I think the previous owner had stuck a phone-holder and some additional 12v sockets onto various trim panels, and then the Skoda dealer took the car in, the removed the extras with less care and skill than was needed.

More economical to run and less servicing too. I darned near bought a MK2 Superb L&K 4x4, but some fool had trashed the dash and it looked slightly tatty and uncared for. Pic is the worst of it, but there was damage to the wood effect elsewhere where the previous owner had glued something to it.