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Hello! 🙂 Is your L&K front-wheel drive or 4x4?

I think @Breezy_Pete has the solution here: disable the ABS completely and see what happens when you jam on the brakes at low speed. If the wheels lock, then there's your answer. I think this is what you want. https://manuall.co.uk/skoda-fabia-2016/ (Image below is a grab from page 166 with highlighting and arrows)

So anyway, I got my car remapped at Angel Tuning in Banbury, where I'd previously had a remap. (Mondeo 2.2 TDCI) Tom (the owner/operator) asked me what I was looking for. I said I like the linear power delivery of the 190 engine, and basically wanted the power of a vRS 230, without compromising everyday fuel economy more than absolutely required. I know you can get more out of the 190TSI engine, but 230ps is plenty for me, as I'll be using it with no other mods to brakes or suspension. Tom said the changes he made were an increase of +41.3bhp (seems awfully specific, especially as no rolling road was used) and an extra 38.9ftlbs of torque, with the DSG response improved also. It all came to £395. Here's the part where people usually gush about how much more lively and responsive their car is after the remap. Phwoaaar!!!! 😈 However, given that I drive around like a pensioner most of the time, I've only really noticed the extra power a couple of times: Once when applying a little squirt of throttle in high gear, I felt the car push forward a bit more powerfully than previously. (This was in Drive mode) The other time was a quick accelerate from a set of lights down a local dual-carriageway to give the GPF a blow though. It got up to speed quite quickly, but without feeling a sudden kick of power, it was all very progressive and linear, which is what I asked for, I just noticed that I was going faster than I had expected when I checked my speed. (That was in Sport mode) Both of those events was with the car filled with 95 RON, as I wanted the map to be done on 95 so I knew it would run without issues on 95. I've just filled it with Sainsbury's 97 RON, so I'll see how that goes the next time I use my car. (I haven't driven it since Sunday, which is when I filled it up after a run.) I'm off to Wales on holiday soon, so that will be the acid test of what sort of success the remap is. Tom's told me if I'm not happy with it, he's willing to tweak it to suit my needs, which is fair enough. The fuel economy seems to have taken a little hit, but it's early days yet. I know it's easy to assume I've been razzing round enjoying the power, but I really do drive very economically most of the time. 👴 That said, the odd burst of acceleration when joining a motorway may use enough extra fuel to have a noticeable detrimental effect. Hopefully the long drive down to South Wales should give me a better idea of how economical the map is on a run, as well as finding out how the extra power I've got feels when driving around down there on the A-roads, instead of pottering round the West Midlands in busy traffic. If I come across a rolling road session opportunity, I might give it a run on that to see how it measures up. So far, I'm not unhappy with what I've got, but I'm not "Wow! Amazing!" over it either. Which, given I wanted to keep the linear power delivery and I drive economically, is probably how it should be.

If there's a fault in the ABS system so that ABS kicks in when there is no loss of wheel traction, then presumably there would be little to no difference in the behaviour of the ABS system regardless of whether it was wet or dry. So if the issue happens just as much in the dry as in the wet, then it would indicate a fault in the system. If you can only get it to happen in the wet, then it sounds like the tyres are not gripping the road correctly.

Roll on the 360-degree camera with IR for clear viewing at night!

I'm late to the discussion (as always), but it seems like having the puddle lights under the mirrors come on while reversing would help in this regard, too.

Point the damaged area so it's in sunlight on a hot day to get the whole area nice and warm, then try again. It'll be easier to flex the plastic into place when it's warm and there's less risk of breaking anything.

According to HJ, they're having a laugh. You got a great deal on your sale! Remind me never to try and sell a car to you. 😋 Comparing the prices of the blue Blackline I looked at, HJ seems to be consistent, if a little clinical. 62-plate vRS TDI with 60K miles = £9050 63-Plate vRS TDI with 51K miles = £10800 A £1750 premium for a car year younger and with 9K less miles seems reasonable to me. Though on the forecourt, I think the appeal of the MK3 over the MK2 (for me, anyway) would make the MK3 a more desirable car to go for, and might let the real-world price be bumped up a bit from what looks reasonable on paper.

Hello!

This was a real deal-breaker for me on several cars. I always asked myself "Am I getting £n000 extra value in the new car?" The answer was usually no. Eventually I just had to accept the fact I fancied a change and was wasting money on a whim. The benefit of being such a tight git was that it gave me an extra couple of years to save up and so I got a Mk3FL instead of a late MK2 or very early high-mileage Mk3. Oddly enough, I recently checked the price of a car I had looked at in 2018. The advert is from July 2018 and the car had done about 30k miles IIRC. It was a VERY nice example, but the sales lady really wound me up by trying to add on a few hundred quid in "dealer charges" when we went to do the deal, and I got cold feet and walked. But I digress... The price check was from Saturday 18th June 2022, and I bumped up the mileage to 60K miles. Four years and 30K miles extra on the clock and the price has dropped barely a grand? Bonkers!

What do the online price-checkers say? I've found this site to be useful. https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/ TBH, I usually use it to see what a particular car was, but the prices on HJ seem to tie up with the actual market prices pretty well, even if they don't give an accurate value of what a particular car is actually worth, they do reveal what they're being bought/sold for at that time.

I'm sure once I got used to an EV, I'd love it and would never look back.

When I bought my current car, I bought it with the intention that it would be my last car, as I intended to look after it and keep it for many years. It will most likely be my last ICE car, unless either something catastrophic happens to it, or something unforeseen happens and EV use suddenly gets much more expensive. But I can see me driving an EV if I do have to replace my Octavia. Our needs and desires all change with age, and continue to change. You don't just stop changing with you hit 30, more's the pity. I'm pretty sure by the time I'm in an EV (probably some time in my late 60's at the earliest), I'll be delighted with it, and will have the spare time to chill-out while it charges. But right now, I really like my brum-brum ICE car, even if it's not as nippy as an EV. I don't mean to get all pseduy about it, but I like the feeling that it's somehow alive when it starts up. I wouldn't describe myself as a petrolhead, but there is always a slight visceral pleasure in starting up an ICE and hearing it idle contentedly. Maybe I'm a bit weird, but I really like the sound IC engines make. I suppose this is why Skoda piped fake engine noise into the vRS. (Do they still do that in the MkIV vRS?) I think I'd miss that in an EV, but as I get older, I think I'll miss it less.

I'm hoping it'll keep my gaiters supple. But I'm also going to use it on my window rubbers and door seals. I spray it into a little pot and then brush it on, to minimise waste. It should last a good while.

Thanks for sorting out the link @john999boy

Well I tried AutoVolks Solihull, and found them very good, both friendly and helpful. They did everything they said they'd do, at the price they said they'd do it for, and by the time they said they'd have it done. Their workshop is small but organised and they seem very busy and have a lead time of 2-3 weeks for work. Very sound, down-to-earth people. I will definitely be using them again.

This may help.

Thanks guys! That's a relief. They've always stayed in place until now, but to be fair, I haven't jacked the car up that many times. I was using some of this stuff to keep my rubber's supple. Not sure if it's a waste of time, or might do more harm than good, but I'm going to give it a go. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00295D0HY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I jacked the car up and when I took the wheel off I saw this. Is it supposed to be that when the car is jacked up? I thought it was supposed to stay in place, and just stretch. I had a look at the other side and the gaiter was locked in place stretched out as I expected to see it. Then (perhaps foolishly) I touched it and it contracted and sproinged up to be the same as the other side. 😒 If it's not supposed to be like this, what's the fix please folks?

It's quite recursive.

The dashcam is hardwired and has a voltage detection that switches the dashcam off when the voltage drops below a certain level. So if at a junction, and the car has just started, the voltage dip during starting could fall below the "switch off" voltage, and switch the camera off just as the numpty behind drives into the back of me. It's not a big problem, and I can tweak it to suit, but right now I'm happy enough with what it's doing.

I suppose while they're hogging EV charge points they're not hogging disabled spaces they shouldn't be parked in. 😏

I've bumped up the voltage at which stop/start is permitted (mainly to stop it knocking off my hardwired dashcam at an inopportune moment) and it was a surprise the other day when the car actually had the engine turn off, as stop/start now works so infrequently. (Probably because of the parking mode on the dashcam.)

Living in the Birmingham area, chances are if you tick the wrong people off, you'd come back to find your car missing, on bricks or burnt-out. If I was a car thief, I might use charging apps to see where there are no free chargers, i.e. there's an EV tied up ready to be nicked. It would make life a little easier. Already some Tesla's can be very quickly cloned and stolen and I doubt car thieves will be slow in working out how to easily steal most electric vehicles before long. I can imagine a booming industry in "Charging Security" devices to beat the thieves.

An emergency button "for those moments when you think"? How very 2020's! Edit: Posh voices with "urban" language is so incongruous. ""It daahs luke sick, daahsn't it?" 🤣