Kenai

I don't think it's anywhere near 7.5% in terms of energy. E5 is typically 31.5 mj/litre, E10 is 30.9 mj/litre. Frankly, without specifically measuring for it, I doubt most people would have noticed a change in fuel economy if the swap to E10 hadn't been publicised.

It gives an estimated range based on current fuel level and recent average MPG. From the manual: Range - drive distance in km which can be covered with the existing tank capacity and with the same driving style. If you drive more efficiently this value can increase. "With the same driving style" is the key phrase - I seem to recall reading somewhere it uses a 'rolling' last 50 mile average MPG or something like that (and I don't believe this can be reset, it's a 'hidden' figure, unlike the three averages you can display). So if you do a super eco 50 mile run, downhill at 56mph with a tailwind and then brim it, it'll give you a fantastic figure. If you rag the absolute balls off it for 50 miles and then brim it, it'll give you a very pessimistic range.

Speed Cameras 😀 (Joking in case any diesel fans get upset!) Looks a nice car, whether you realised it or not when buying, it looks to be the original spec 245, so gets a few extra toys as standard such as the electric memory seats, power fold mirrors, front park sensors etc. You'll also find Sports dials in the infotainment system with it being the original 245. There's not a lot that causes issues with the petrols, waterpump/thermostat leaking is relatively commonplace so keep an eye on your coolant levels from time to time but otherwise mine has been fantastic.

In which case, a change to 225/40/18 will yield a slightly taller sidewall and provide a minor comfort increase but don't expect miracles - the ride in a vRS is going to be harsh unless you throw buckets of cash at the suspension.

See my second edit - i'd be amazed if you have 25 profile tyres on there.

No, they should be 225/35/19. I'm not surprised the ride is dreadful if someone has fitted 225/25/19s to it. Edit - as an aside, if it really has 225/25/19s on it, your speedo is probably wildly out of kilter too, probably reading a good 5 or 6 mph off what it should be (albeit in this case, you're probably going slower in reality than your speedo is telling you). Edit 2 - are you sure they're 25 profile? Having just looked to see how hilariously expensive they must have been, you can't actually buy 225/25/19 tyres from places like blackcircles or camskill, so I suspect in reality you have the 225/35/19s you're supposed to have.

The difference should be nowhere near that big, unless he really has out of spec 225/25/19 tyres on it which I very much doubt. 225/35/19 to 225/40/18 is going be a 10 or 11mm difference in sidewall height. Still a noticeable change but nothing like 25mm.

Yakima RailBar (formerly known as Whispbar) are well worth a look too, have a set on mine and they're virtually silent. The FlushBar or WingBar are probably better if you have a sunroof though, as the RailBar is very close to the roof. https://www.yakima.co.uk/roof-racks/aero-bar

What did you format it to?

No it's not. Smartlink is simply Skoda's branding for the car's compatibility with Mirrorlink, AndroidAuto and Apple CarPlay.

A 2019 plated 245 will come with 18s as standard, only the 245 Challenge would come with the 19s as standard that late in the product cycle. Be careful reading reviews of the earlier 2017 spec 245 which was a 'special edition' and assuming they apply to later cars, not all 245s were created equal. Be doubly careful because they contain nonsense like the idea of the original 245 needing 19s due to massive brakes, which it doesn't, they were just part of the aesthetic upgrades on those early cars.

Was interested to see if this would appear, as it seems VW/Audi/Seat went public a few days ago with this but couldn't find similar for Skoda - is there a link to a website for it yet? I've not had an email. On the face of it, an interesting package really but a few things i'd want to wrap my head around in detail first - is it transferable and/or refundable if you sell the car? Existing 'after sale' extended warranty product for example is not transferable IIRC, only refundable in part should you sell up. What do the services actually cover? Does it apply to fixed servicing regimes only or variable as well? My assumption would be only the basic £184 oil & inspection with filters, plugs, dsg, 4x4 all being extra but the 'minor/major' reference suggests otherwise (although I thought they'd stopped using that terminology). Even if it's only basic oil & inspection though, by the time you have £184 + £184 + £39 + £39 for two services and two MOTs, that's £322 left for two years warranty and breakdown which isn't bad. I'm guessing the pricing is actually 'from' £768 though? It costs over half that for an extended warranty alone for a year on my vRS, for all component, over 15k per year, no excess. I'd assume to get something similar from this package it'll be nearer twice the price quoted in the first post. edit - there is a site now, i've just found it after a Google - https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/all-in-service-plan Looks like one of the services would include for Air and Pollen filter and plugs/fuel filter.

We can now but they're expensive https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/michelin/pilot-sport-4-s/225/40/R18/Y/92/f?tyre=41395637

I think there's probably been a bit of confusion of terms there, the black tips that came on the PFL 230, launch 245 and 245 Challenge, which is what I assume they're quoting for, are entirely black. They could be described as 'black chrome' though, rather than gloss black, that might be what they mean by 'with a bit of chrome' - there is certainly no silver chrome on them. The ludicrous price is enough of a reason not to buy them regardless though!

Why expensive? In a nutshell probably because you're a young driver in Rochdale asking to be insured on a 'performance' variant of a car, which generates a ludicrous risk profile.

I would agree with the approach 'if you're that bothered about your warranty, don't modify your car'. People will argue until the cows come home about whether a tuning box is or isn't detectable but frankly i'd be absolutely amazed if they were undetectable in reality - they might not be as immediately obvious (assuming removed) but if you blew your engine to smithereens and went to pursue a warranty claim, i'm sure they'd find the will to dig a little deeper and i'd be shocked if there aren't stored values regarding boost pressures, fuel pressures, etc. etc. that a tuning box will be interfering with to achieve better power. Turn up because your waterpump/thermostat has sprung a leak and they probably wouldn't even bother to check because it's such a common fault.

A shot of my vRS from when I found it at the end of a rainbow!

This is taken from a PDF user manual, the details of how to use the 'maxidot' display can be found under Operation > Information System > Driver Information System

The 'long term' will reset itself eventually, off the top of my head it'll reset when it hits 9999 miles or 100 hours of driving time. If you want a genuine lifetime record of your fuel usage, you'll want to record your fill ups manually using an app like Fuelly or Fuelio

Indeed, this sort of use case is exactly why E5 is sticking around for a few more years. It will eventually no doubt be phased out entirely, but you've got a few more years yet before E5 will be vanishing.

The economy drop is going to be marginal at best and is one of the elements of the E10 rollout that I see the most misinformation spread. Consider that ethanol is generally regarded to be about a third less energy dense than petrol and we're adding just a further 5% of this to the overall blend, the total energy loss in the fuel is going to struggle to reach even 2% - this is absolutely not going to result in a 'significant' decrease in your economy. Even combined with any supposed loss in combustion efficiency, I genuinely doubt most people would have even noticed the difference if they'd simply silently rolled it out. The only reason they couldn't do a silent rollout (like they did moving to E5 from E0 originally) is because E10 has enough bioethanol to present material degradation issues in older vehicles and so there's no choice but to inform people of the change, before they start ruining old cars unknowingly. Will it be more expensive to buy? It shouldn't be, maybe it will be, again though if they weren't told I don't think people would notice - whichever direction it moves is going to be miniscule and petrol prices are usually up and down more than the proverbial lady of the night's knickers anyway.

E10 Premium and E5 Super, i've seen nothing to suggest Super grade unleaded will be changed for E10. gov.uk says: Availability E10 fuel will be available at almost all petrol stations across the UK. Petrol stations that offer 2 grades of petrol will stock both E10 (‘Premium’) and E5 (‘Super’) petrol. E10 is becoming the UK’s standard petrol grade, meaning almost all filling stations’ standard 95-octane (‘Premium’) petrol grade will be blended with up to 10% renewable ethanol. E5 (higher-octane petrol with no more than 5% renewable ethanol), however, will remain available at filling stations that sell 2 grades of petrol. Some rural, remote or very small filling stations may sell only E5 petrol as standard.

Even if it hasn't been done, IIRC I was charged something like £80 at a Skoda dealer, it's not a bank breaker.

PFL 230 will have the VAQ diff and I think it ought to have been serviced by now (hard to find definitive info, most reliable i could find when i looked for my car was 3yr/30k, similar to Haldex 4x4 cars) @e-Roottoot often seems well clued in on these more 'secretive' servicing schedules Skoda sometimes have. It took my dealer a while to figure out what I was asking for when I got mine done, so don't assume it's been done simply on the basis of having 'full skoda service history' or something like that.

Quirk of that particular brochure (although it appears there's a few different months combined for the different sections) I think, you couldn't order a manual 245 at that time