J.R.

Calibration is done with a full tank and the factory calibration of every vehicle I have had has been spot on as is the range that is shown when full based on previous journeys. It remains spot on at 3/4 & 1/2 a tank but a correction comes gradually into play between 1/4 of a tank and when the low fuel light comes on, it basically "loses" 7 litres or so to create a "virtual" reserve capacity, most of us will have noticed that the last 1/4 of a tank seems to be consumed very quickly and the remaining miles evaporate before our eyes. I always drive 60 miles after the guage shows empty and zero miles remaining although with this Common Rail injection system I don't push the limits and risk running out, on all of the previous cars I would carry a jerrycan on the first tankfull and drive it till it ran out to see the real range. When it had run out I refilled exactly 5 liters from a jerrycan and given it would only have been an inch at best across the wide tank bottom I was amazed to see the fuel guage move to the equivalent of 5 litres and to see that I had 40 miles range, I drove less than 2 miles to the filing station during which time the range dropped to 30, then 20, then 10 then zero miles, the "virtual reserve" algorithm was working overtime. A long posting but the message from me is do not try to make adjustments with VCDS without first fully understanding how accurate the fuel sender actually is and how the virtual reserve works, all you will achieve is to have incorrect readings across the whole of the tank range and the cheating that goes on robbing you of 7 liters and 50 - 100 miles range below 1/4 tank level will still happen.

I surprised myself, I actually managed 15 minutes but now I have to go and lie down in a dark quiet room. If you were trapped in a lift with him how long could you control yourself before you became a homicidal maniac? 15 minutes would be my absolute maximum

Somewhere on the forum you will find a thread with photographs where I created 2 removable lidded storage boxes that fit under the front seats of my Yeti, they are clipped to the seat frame, move backwards and forwards with them, allow the full range of adjustment and are not visible unless you put your head on the floor & look backwards. They are clear plastic storage boxes from a tat shop, B&M or maybe B&Q I can't recall, they dont look much but cant be seen, two different sizes because I have a factory bluetooth module under the drivers seat even though I dont use it, they take a big volume of stuff, much more than the factory storage compartment that I had on the Octavia 2 and its much more practical to pull one out & put it on your lap to remove the lid and search for stuff in good light. Each one was modified simply with a short wooden batten, 4 screws and 2 x2mm pipe clips.

Brilliant! Thank you so much for that.

Agreed.

In the scheme of things it is (currently) a very minor leak, it only looks bad because these engines are normally clean enough to eat your dinner from. I would not be overly concerned unless it gets increasingly worse. Good call regarding a blocked breather.

I went to Lidl for some coffee pods and came away with a plasma cutter because I already have a wetsuit - Lee will know what I am talking about!!! After a lot of fafing around & at one point deciding it was faulty & I should return it I finally cracked it and got some really good results cutting a lot of very rusty 6mm plate. I have one thing I don't understand though which concerns the little wheel set it comes with that are like stabilisers for a childs bike, they are intended to maintain a constant distance between the torch nozzle & the workpiece but there are a couple of things that dont make sense. The nozzles supplied are drag nozzles with cross relief in the face intended to be dragged across the workpiece and indeed they work very well like that, if I strike an arc & manually keep a seperation I get a very poor wandering cut with lots of dross, pretty much what I expected. So OK, I think I need different nozzles to use with the attachment but the unit does not appear to have HF starting for the arc, it will not strike unless the nozzle is actually touching the workpiece to make the contact, one mm away and nothing happens. If that is the case how are you supposed to initiate the arc when the wheel set is maintaining a seperation?

On reflection I am swaying towards it being a clutch DMF problem and not transmission. In the video the transmission would be the definite suspect but in the scenario you describe,- slowly driving up a kerb using just enough power to do so then declutching with first gear still engaged there would be no rotation of the transmission as the vehicle would be at a virtual standstill. Try to replicate it by taking up the drive with the handbrake still engaged & then quickly declutching.

FrenchTone will correct any of the above if it is wrong, I suspect I have missed something regarding driving an extremely dangerous vehicle for 2 months, I think there is a procedure where they can prevent a death trap from being driven away.

The French CT test: https://www.autosur.fr/reglementation-du-controle-technique You will need to open the PDF files linked to on the page, I dont know how to do a link direct to a PDF file. The first one is an example of the pass/fail certificate, then there is one for the 133 points that are checked, finally the 129 critical failures. Over here you can fail the CT on minor, some would say even major items but not have to submit the vehicle for a retest, it is taken on trust that you will do the repairs, a world of grief awaits you if you dont and are involved in a serious accident. The critical failures require you to resubmit the vehicle for a retest within 2 months, you can however drive for 2 months with a failed vehicle, in theory you could resubmit the wreck every 2 months to be failed again paying the fee each time and drive legally for ever and a day, same thing applys about an accident though. CT's are valid for 2 years and it is against the law to sell a car with less than 18 months CT remaining, that prevents people getting stitched up buying a second hand vehicle, if they do buy a pup they can legally drive it for 18 months. In practice the law is not enforced and people sell cars all the time with less than 18 months CT remaining, an advery with "CT OK" written means it was tested within the last 6 months, for someone to be prosecuted the buyer would have to make a formal complaint. The final point which makes this system a lot clearer is that you cannot register a car in your name unless it has a CT certificate valid for more than 18 months = was tested in the last 6 months, it does not have to have passed, the system is to protect buyers, you can buy and register a wreck, as long as you know what you have let yourself in for.

When I read your descrition I thought nobody should use a lot of acceleration when mounting a kerb in first gear, doing so & then declutching rapidly might well cause transmission snatch as the torque wind up is released. I could also understand the response of Skoda regarding transmission noise in neutral being a characteristic but that is where resonance causes chatter at idle in the constant mesh gearset on a hot transmission, I would have answered your question why did it not do it from new with "as the gearbox beds in and the oil becomes less viscous the clearances increase" However the video leaves no doubt in my mind, that sound is a harbinger of impeding transmission failure and I would be as concerned and angry as you are. It could be a communication problem, the dealer describes a noise perhaps not well, the Skoda technician perhaps doesn't listen attetively as he thinks he already knows what the problem is and trots out the party line of "its a characteristic" I cannot believe he would maintain that stance if he viewed the video.

I knew that I didn't have it right, I said it was a hazy recollection and something like...................... I just retain the important basics, if I want to design something to accomodate the maximum amount of people (or whatever) using +/- 1 standard deviation from the arithmetic mean value will cover 95% of the population/sample group without requiring a lot of adjustment/compromise but to get that to 99% (ish, as I can't recall the exact figure) means a lot more adjustment to cater for very few individuals, Airline seat width & pitch etc are calculated in this manner, over the decades the size & weight of the upper 95th percentile limit has risen significantly.

Your obsessive comportment belies your declaration earlier today that you were going to block me before you got yourself into trouble.

I was brained several times getting into the drivers seat of my neighbours Octavia that was identical to mine, he is the same height as me and the seat was not forward so it took me a long time to work out what the deal was, his wife who bullies him terribly is a PORG (Tom Sharpe term) and he has to leave the seat on its highest setting all the time for the rare occasions she does drive, she pushes the seat forward but moans like hell about having to raise it. My Yeti is uncomfortable to rest your arm on the door top, it is too high but probably like most newer vehicles, on a long run I raised the seat to maximum and my arm was comfortable, the driving height and view were also fine but I brained myself when I got back in.

No, not when I am already on a losing streak! You could monetarise that with a Youtube channel or an OnlyFans page

In the depths of my memory I think I recall that +/- 1 standard deviation covers 95% of the sample size hence the phrase 95th percentile & that +/- 2 standard deviations is 99 or 99.5%, something like that, its all very hazy. It was not from school but technical college. I used it a couple of times in my career, I can also recall using anthropomorphic (spelling?) data when designing car interiors, it was before CAD and we had these 2D scale model jointed plastic body templates for tracing the outlines of upper & lower 95th percentile man & womans head & feet on the controls or against the headlining with the drivers seat at the limits of its adjustment. When I see Richard Hammond peering over the steering wheel of a supercar I often think of the sight lines that we used to draw across the steering wheel, bonnet, instrument binnacle etc, the closest that he could see the ground ahead of him would be on the horizon! That said from looking at all the same in car cameras of various presenters steering wheel heights have got much much higher in modern vehicles.

I was focussing on you because you responded to my posting with "It is actually a law @J.R.. " and thereafter evaded giving any clarification or details when asked, I see you now describe it as "updated instructions" so we are in agreement. You say my focus should be on the people that treat the law with contempt, at the risk of going round in circles what law would that be? Nothing in the thread had spoken of people treating the law (I presume you men the law in general) with contempt and I am very very dissapointed with your closing comment, it is totally unnecessary and without foundation, not what I expected of a moderator that has well earned my respect over the years.

Does it have any accessories like a dashcam? Does it have the original Skoda radio?

No but I will in future take anything that you say in an authorative manner with a large pinch of salt, as a moderator I gave credence to what you said hence my asking for clarification. I have not taken umbrage and I have not been advocating anarchy, I simply questioned a statement that you made directed to me by name, I have learned a lot from the response.

But it was you who made a posting addressed to me by name to say that it was law, am I correct to assume that you are unable to furnish the information? I agree with Lee that it really was a daft idea, only surpassed by some of the reactions to it be they misinformation by the media or the misguided spreading of false fear. It really is a non event.

With the greatest of respect it does not concern you Ken, you did not address a posting telling me that it is law that GB stickers or plates may no longer be used.

Well he would know more if you were to respond to the request to confirm the details of the law that you informed me of.

Do you really believe that displaying a GB sticker will become an MOT failure or that European Ports will refuse entry to vehicles so adorned? This subject is becoming even more Kafkaesque.

You are all missing the point, there is no new law, no laws have changed in the EU nor the UK, the UK for reasons best known to itself (probably deflection) wants you to change your GB stickers for UK ones, nobody in Europe gives a flying 4 letter word whether you display a country identifier sticker or not (most don't) or if you do whether it says GB or UK, in fact RU would be more appreciated and better understood in France. You are not going to be fined for displaying a GB sticker or having GB on your EU compliant number plates, you are not going to be refused entry into an EU country for having the wrong sticker or no sticker. You are being used as pawns, very willing ones seemingly, called pigeons in France.

Then please show me this new law, its jurisdiction and the penalties, I assume that it would equally apply to me next week in the UK driving my French registered car.