Alex-W

I think age does make a difference, also who you're insured with. Young drivers have to go with certain insurers to make it affordable and quite often those insurers are not going to like any modificaiton. That said, I think it's also a slightly different world now than 15-20 years ago. Back in the late 90s/early 00s when max power was all the rage people were putting wheels on cars worth more than the car itself. Alloy wheels were not standard on many cars and wheels got stolen all the time. Now, youngsters aren't so into that, they drive round in brand new pcp eco wagons and get their kicks out of the brand new smell rather than the fart popping exhausts and fake dump valves or subs that fill the whole boot. Now everything comes with alloys and most youngsters leave their cars standard. So I'd imagine that to an insurer a person changing wheels now is more just a consideration of what's insured than a red flag that the owner is a tearaway about to park up in mcdonalds and do burnouts, then get the wheels nicked before dawn.

I think ultimately, the leg length is fine, it's the width that'll determine it. The car has a longer wheelbase than a golf, but is the same width. Basically, depends how wide the adults in question are, as to how comfortable they'll be.

If you're upgrading for looks, I'd go at least 17, maybe 18". Tbh 18" looks small on the vRS Octavia however on a non vRS car you don't want to go ott otherwise it'll look ridiculous and not suit the car. The O3 has 19" as a factory option so it fitting isn't an issue, but whether it suits the car or not will be. Personally I'd stick some other slightly bigger skoda or vag wheels on it. Putting fancy looking wheels on a non vRS car just looks like you've turned up to a nice restaurant in old ripped jeans and a £200 pair of smart shoes, it'll stand out like a sore thumb.

The main benefit of auto folding mirrors is that you don't forget to unfold the passenger one and only realise when you're heading down the road with nowhere to pull over. I tend to fold my mirrors in a fair bit when I park any car, generally when I'm parking at the side of a road or in a car park with narrow spaces to save them getting knocked. I often forget in my Honda which is manual and have to stop, lean over and unfold it. That said, it wouldn't dictate what car I bought, it's not a game changer.

Ironically another reason I only looked at the pfl was actually the seats as the leather wasn't available on FL. Agree the half leather ones aren't that great but the full leather is nice. I've heard the LEDs are superior in terms of brightness, although I've not seen it first hand and find the bixenon ones ok. Depends whether that's really a factor or not I guess.

In what way? I just looked up some pics of them on auto trader out of interest as I couldn't remember a difference when I looked and it looks more or less the same to me. The exterior is obviously subjective as personally I don't like the split headlight look myself.

Sure, although I think that reason is the minority. Usually if you NEED it for work, you get the allowance or the car supplied. Many people are getting a car on finance because the one they want costs far more than the one they need, but they don't have the cash. You can buy a reliable car that more than capable of munching up the miles with no issues at all for under £10k. Buying a vRS Octavia isn't a need for transport, it's a want for a shiny thing. If you just need transport you guy and buy a 1.6 astra or a kia or whatever for much less money. The reality is we live in a world where people want things now, don't want to wait and are willing to both pay that extra in interest and also take the risk of the commitment of the outgoings. I've known a number of people who have got cars on finance and then are screwed when they want to move house or have kids or whatever as their outgoings are such that it's too restrictive. It's all personal choice and what you feel comfortable with.

Granted, with a house it's not often possible. Although a house generally appreciates at a greater rate than a mortgage interest, so it still makes you money. I hate the whole money laundering questions thing. I've walked away from a car before because they started rudely questioning how I would have cash and started telling me I should take out their finance deal and invest in my house with the cash. Even my wife lost her rag at that point. Most garages I went to asked me about my finances before even asking me about what I'm looking for in a car. They have a car, I have the money. They want to sell the car... questioning where I have got the money from or thinking a second hand car saleman is qualified to give out financial advice is both rude and also breaking regulations I believe. With my present car I just paid on my debit card, job done. Didn't even get a phonecall from the bank, weirdly. The fact that the buying process was without all that 'how are you going to finance this' questioning was part of the reason I went to that garage. First one is a 220. No black exhausts, no colour logos. It's a well spec'd 220 mind. The second is (was) a 230.

Mine is the pFL 230, that I specifically went for as it's got the diff (amongst other things). Bascially when they did the 220, the 230 was made available with extras such as the diff, full leather etc. When they did the facelift, the 230 became the entry one (no diff) and the 245 had it. Then they dropped the 230. For me, having it was more about being able to not get caught out on roundabouts when it's wet and the torque suddenly causes a random understeer. I've driven a FWD with a mechanical LSD for many years and found it very useful so didn't want to go backwards. You can have a quaife diff fitted to any of them for about £1500 mind. Or ideally, just pay cash. Personally I'm a big believer in just spending money I have and no more. Ultimately, you pay less. I'd always rather go without and save, then spend the money and not have a future commitment as you never know what's round the corner. You can then start saving again. Otherwise you're basically paying interest for ever. But I'm probably not in the majority with my philosphy!

Just bear in mind that the the facelift 230 doesn't have the electro mechanical diff. That's only on the preFL 230 and the FL 245.

It does make me wonder though, that if Skoda think to get 270bhp in a superb then it warrants having that upgraded intercooler and turbo, how running the smaller stuff at 320bhp is not without compromise. After all, car manufacturers don't spend money when they don't have to. That compromise may be risk, that they're not willing to take, I don't know.

Regarding temps, I don't mean that the engine the water or oil temps will get higher, I mean the air inlet temps for short periods. Running higher pressures will increase the inlet temps due to the compression, and the turbo spinning faster so the inlet air would increase in temp if not cooked sufficiently by the I/C. Ultimately this could cause detonation if it got too high. I presume (please correct me if I'm wrong) but the likes of a golfR will get 300bhp with lower intake pressures due to being able to get the same flow with a larger turbo and less restrictions. Obviously the turbo heat soak will be time dependant, the compression heat is instant. I have no idea what the danger zone is and genuinely wonder how close remaps get to it without hardware changes and wonder what the air inlet temps are in a remapped car in comparison to a stock one. This is mainly my engineering head being interested tbh.

I'll be interested to hear whether this causes any issues with the clutch over time. If those dyno figures are accurate, that's a 50% increase in torque near enough and 25% more than the Golf R that apparently slips in oem form. Also, with standard hardware will this not generate a higher than normal intake temp due to the std intercooler and the increased pressure? Not sure if this is monitored anywhere? Just curious.

That's still quite a few miles considering. Since the beginning of lockdown I've done 109 miles 😂 It's not really about how many miles you do, but more about journey lengths. But if you don't want diesel, then that's your preference.

I would have thought that with that mileage it's worth looking at the 2.0 TDI. More torque, better economy, no risk of the issue.

By typing on a phone that plays silly buggers with most of what I write...

If you want to save as much money as you can, you need to buy privately and sell privately. Ultimately, you pay a premium from a garage as they need to cyber risks such as warranties, cover all those costs prime get covered before they buy such as the be tyres, brake pads, upcoming service etc. People don't like to spend much money privately as there's risk, you have to hand over a wedge of cash with no legal comeback when it goes wrong. Garages need to cover all their overheads and other indirect costs such as fees, marketing, cleaners, etc etc. They also need to actually make profit too, otherwise it's not really a viable business. You sell a car privately and you think the cost is just the advert, but it's taking you time and effort. Staff have to be paid for all the time they aren't making sales too. My current car as the first car I've bought from a trader, not even a dealer and the lack of value compared to my previous cars grates on me, however I do appreciate why that price difference is there. My wife's car cost half what mine did, in a private sale, is pretty much as high a spec tbh and we've had less issue with it in 4 years than the Octavia has in 1, despite doing maybe 6 times the miles.

Yep, that one will always split people I guess, although Michelin have made a point about how tyres should perform down to the limit.

Tbh in the height of summer I'd take them to the limit myself. I don't advocate having bad tyres in any way but the limits are where they are for a reason and tyres should be able to operate to that. In the summer, the amount of tread is pretty irrelevant anyway as it's not trying to disperse much water, if any. I ran mine to just under 2mm this last winter only around the 2mm mark did I find the wet grip reducing. That's PS4s.

You can change one Axel at a time of you want...

The one thing I'd like on my car is the panoramic roof. Other than that the standard 245 should come with all the electric stuff I'd have thought. I've not heard a canton system but the standard system isn't great, however I wouldnt have ever paid the premium they demanded from new for it either! Basically, if you can get canton, great. One thing you can't get though is leather seats....

I got this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303018934747 Maybe a 25-30mm lip. Fine for normal use and dirt.

Fair enough. I guess if you can ensure that you're also following the handbook and not driving in temps over 7 degrees (as it says to swap back) then you're following their instructions. Although I suspect that you're supposed to tell the insurance company anyway. Easy way to find out.. next time you speak to them say 'hi, if I change my tyres to ones that are thinner, have a compound that when over 7degC is inferior to the OEM supplied one and is fitted to wheels of a different type and value that ultimately changes what you need to replace if my car is damaged or stolen... do you need to know?' 🤣

Just to throw this into the mix.... You're talking about changing the tyre size from 225mm wide to 205mm wide. Are you declaring this to your insurance company? Given that you're reducing the contact area with the road by 10% via using aftermarket parts you may find you have issues if you have an accident especially if the accident is can be attributed to you having less than sufficient grip.

I looked at getting it activated but couldn't really see it was worth the money myself. The main thing I need it to do is make and recieve calls and play music from the phone. It does both of those through Bluetooth without the need to plug it in. Generally the 72 messages i may recieve from various WhatsApp group chats can wait, if somebody had something important to say, they can call me. Google maps is better than the built in sat nav, however the main advantage of the sat nav is the dash display. Having to look at the main screen isn't convenient as it's right out your view, so being restricted to that is a downgrade. I'd rather put my phone on its holder on the windscreen (much easier to see without detracting from your driving) and just use that screen of I want to use google, it's more useful. Or put up with the standard sat nav as it's not terrible. IF it connected without plugging the phone in and the dash directions worked I may have been persuaded.