Carlston

I expect the upgraded front grill is more for Southern European countries where it gets very hot and they have big mountains to climb like the Alps. This would see the engine working quite hard at slow speed. The slow speed would reduce the airflow going through the radiator. Someone, somewhere has probably had this problem, so Skoda being cautious are simply offering it to everyone including people who would never experience an engine overheating problem. Unless you are driving in over 30 degree temperatures up a mountain, you may not need this. It's easy enough to keep an eye on your temperature gauge, and stop as soon as the engine temperature (water coolant temperature) goes into the red. Wait 5 minutes with your engine idling for the engine to cool down a bit, (the radiator fan should come on) and then continue your journey.

The Kia Sportage 1.6 petrol engine doesn't have a turbo and has very little torque at low revs. This engine is known to be gutless even when not towing a caravan. The Skoda 1.5 petrol engine does have a turbo and does have lots of torque at low revs. There should be no problem with hill starts with this engine. The only possible problem with a 2WD would be hill starts on a slippery road surface. However, good all-season tyres with the 3PMSF symbol would help cope with hill starts on even slippery road surfaces, although still not as good as 4WD. 4WD is a good idea if towing a heavy caravan. Not only will it help you get going on steep hill starts, but it will give you more traction when going down steep hills and using the gears to control your speed when going downhill. A 2.0 litre diesel engine will provide a lot more braking force to control your speed going downhill than a 1.5 litre petrol engine. If you rely too much on your brakes when going downhill rather than using engine braking, you will wear your brakes out much quicker. There's also the possibility of overheating your brakes if you were to use them too much while descending a mountain for example or even a big hill.

It appears that Riken and Kormoran are both made in Poland's biggest tyre factory which is owned by Michelin. It's possible they are also made elsewhere. One reviewer on tyrereviews.co.uk described the Riken Road Performance tyres in size 225/45R17 as "frightening in the wet". Another reviewer driving on 215/55R16 said "on very wet roads the feel on the driving wheel is light". https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Riken/Road-Performance_2.htm Kormoran Road Performance and Riken Road Performance look like the same tyre. Kormoran Road Performance 215/45R16 90V https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/kormoran-road-performance-215-45-r16-90-v-xl#303344123_reviewslist Riken Road Performance 215/45R16 90V https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyres/riken-3528700976434-097643 On the tyrereviews.co.uk website, tyre brands are put into three classes. Premium, mid-range, and economy. Both Kormoran and Riken are put into the economy class. Kormoran Tyres https://passenger-car.kormoran-tyres.com/products/road-performance/ Riken Tyres https://passenger-car.riken.com/products/road-perfromance/ As you can see from the above two links, the Kormoran Road Performance tyres and the Riken Road Performance tyres look identical.

Some maybe that old that they remember when a 70 aspect ratio was considered low profile.

185/65R15 tyres have more rubber contact than 215/45R16 tyres. Although the contact patch of a 215/45R16 tyre is wider, the length of the contact patch on a 185/65R15 tyre is much longer. It's been shown in tyre reviews that after a certain point, wider tyres take longer to stop a car in the wet. For example, 195/65R15 tyres stop a car quicker in the wet than 205/55R16 tyres.

You might be able to get good 15" tyres and rims for less than the price of good 16" tyres without rims. The OP would then have his 16" wheels to sell. These 6Jx15 ET29 steel rims off the Audi A1 don't look bad, and would fill out the wheel arches nicely with 185/60R15 or 185/65R15 tyres. 6Jx15 ET29 Alcar 7415 https://www.autodoc.co.uk/alcar/14750602 Continental PremiumContact 6 185/65R15 88H https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/continental-premiumcontact-6-185-65-r15-88-h#303478659 Apart from 215/45R16 tyres being expensive, they don't look right on the Fabia when viewed from the rear. The Fabia has quite a narrow track being a small car. In order to get the 215/45R16 tyres to fit within the wheel arches you have to use a narrower track than you would with narrower tyres. The 215/45R16 is fitted to ET46 rims. This pushes the centre of the tyres towards the centre of the car thereby reducing the car's front and rear track. By using ET29 rims, the centre of each tyre is moved out by 17mm from the centre of the car, thereby increasing the car's front and rear track by 34mm. When viewed from the rear, this gives the car a much wider and more purposeful looking stance. Additionally, the choice of tyres in the 215/45R16 size is very poor. Continental summer tyres are a particular case in point. There are no PremiumContact 6 tyres in this size, or even the older PremiumContact 5 tyres. You have to go back to PremiumContact 2 tyres which really is quite an old tyre now. The reason is that the 215/45R16 size is not common and top brand manufacturer's are deserting this size, which gives a much reduced choice. Here's an old Continental PremiumContact 2 215/45R16 https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=Xf87CLZDjIqW03rp.110.110966360&sowigan=So&Breite=215&Quer=45&Felge=16&Marke=Continental&ranzahl=4&Herst=Continental&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&search_tool=standard&Label=E-B-71-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-265707 Not only that, but the ride on 185/65R15 tyres is really good, and the ride on 215/45R16 is really bad. Bridgestone Turanza T005 is a competitor to the Continental PremiumContact 6. Bridgestone Turanza T005 185/65R15 88H https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyres/bridgestone-3286340889919-8899 Bridgestone Turanza T005 185/60R15 84H https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyres/bridgestone-3286340890717-8907 The 185/60R15 size is more expensive than the more common 185/65R15 size.

Don't put the Dunlops on the front or you could lose your back end and spin completely out of control. Understeer is safe, oversteer is dangerous. You might want to try something like good 185/60R15 all-season tyres. Good all-season tyres usually have sips in the tread so that in slippery road conditions (grease, mud, gravel, etc.) they grip much better than summer tyres without sips.

It looks like the 115PS 2.0TDI is more economical than the 115PS 1.6TDI. Adding another turbo to the 1.6TDI will make it even less economical. You only have to look at the fuel economy and emissions of the bi-turbo 240PS 2.0TDI to realise that there's a price to pay for all that performance.

7Jx16 ET45 (Alcar 9257) https://www.autodoc.co.uk/alcar/14750851 Vredestein Quatrac 5 225/60R16 102H https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyres/vredestein-8714692316203-ap22560016hqt5a02 7Jx16 ET45 rims were fitted to both the Skoda Yeti and the Skoda Superb MK2. 3T0601025 SPECTRUM 350601025N MOON 5L0601025E NEVIS The SPECTRUM and MOON alloy rims was an option on both the Superb MK2 and the Yeti, while the NEVIS was only an option on the Yeti. Superb MK2 16" alloy rims http://www.oemepc.com/skoda/part_single/catalog/sk/markt/CZ/modell/SUP/year/2012/drive_standart/632/hg_ug/601/subcategory/601060/part_id/2543668/lang/e Yeti 16" Alloy Rims http://www.oemepc.com/skoda/part_single/catalog/sk/markt/CZ/modell/YET/year/2012/drive_standart/666/hg_ug/601/subcategory/601060/part_id/2543668/lang/e

The only tyre and rim size Skoda list for use with snow chains on the Karoq is a 215/60R16 tyre on a 6Jx16 ET43 rim. However, that doesn't mean that some other sizes wouldn't work. It's just that you would have to work out what size doesn't cause bodywork or suspension damage. 215/65R16 is a cheaper and more common size to 215/60R16 so might be worth considering. Alternative 15" steel rims include: 6Jx15 ET43 (Alcar 7755) Note: 15" steel rims only fit over the smaller 288mm diameter front discs. My guess is that these smaller front discs are only fitted to the lower powered 115HP models, not the higher powered 150HP models. Bridgestone Dueler A/T 001 and Vredestein Quatrac 5 tyres are available in size 205/70R15. 205/70R15 tyres have the same outside diameter as the standard 215/60R16 tyres. Alternative 16" steel rims include: 6.5Jx16 ET33 (Alcar 9922) 6.5Jx16 ET41 (Alcar 8426) 6.5Jx16 ET42 (Alcar 8425) 6.5Jx16 ET43 (Alcar 9187) 6.5Jx16 ET44 (Alcar 9173) 6.5Jx16 ET46 (Alcar 8667) 6.0Jx16 ET48 (Alcar 8247) 6.5Jx16 ET48 (Alcar 7025) 6.0Jx16 ET50 (Alcar 9535) 6.5Jx16 ET50 (Alcar 9915) 6.0Jx16 ET53 (Alcar 9845) Alternative 17" steel rims include: 6.5Jx17 ET38 (Alcar 9021) Online sellers of Alcar steel rims include: autodoc.co.uk mytyres.co.uk oponeo.co.uk

The 115PS 2.0TDI is more powerful than the 115PS 1.6TDI throughout most of its rev range. The 115PS is just peak power. At lower revs the power of the 2.0TDI will be more than the 1.6TDI. The bigger engine has maximum torque of 300Nm compared to only 250Nm from the smaller engine. The bigger engine will be way more powerful from 1,500rpm to 2,500rpm than the smaller engine.

You need a multimeter or voltmeter to check the battery voltage. Check the battery voltage with the engine idling. It should be about 14V to 14.4V. If so, that means that your alternator/charging system is working. If your alternator/charging system is working, you might have a problem with faulty electrical equipment draining your battery at a fast rate overnight when the car isn't being used. You could check this by disconnecting the negative terminal from your battery as soon as you finish a long journey (perhaps at least 30 minutes) and checking the voltage in the morning. You could also charge your battery with a battery charger. If your battery voltage is still good in the morning, perhaps over 12.5V then that means your battery is ok, and some faulty electrical equipment is draining your battery overnight when the positive and negative terminals are connected.

People find alloy rims by using the OEM part number, so make sure you always use that in the title when advertising them. http://www.oemepc.com/skoda/part_single/catalog/sk/markt/CZ/modell/FAB/year/2016/drive_standart/797/hg_ug/601/subcategory/601050/part_id/2543668/lang/e The OEM part number of your alloy rims is 6V0601025A which is also marked on the back of your alloy rims. Take a look on ebay at others who are advertising them. As you will see, most are selling them one at a time and without tyres. You might want to consider removing the tyres and selling the tyres separately. As you can see on ebay, there's a big secondhand market for OEM alloy rims, especially for popular cars like the Fabia. myhermes are cheap to post items like single alloy rims and single tyres. https://www.myhermes.co.uk/ 185/60R15 tyres don't protect 6J alloy rims very well from kerbing damage, as the tyre sidewalls don't bulge out much. You might be better of fitting 195/55R15, 195/60R15, or even 205/55R15 tyres onto 6J rims for this very reason, with the 205/55R15 providing the best protection out of those three tyre sizes. This enables you to often get away with gentle nudges against the kerb when parallel parking. There's not a huge choice in the 205/55R15 size, although Uniroyal have their latest RainSport 5 in that size.

The Skoda Octavia MK3 150HP can do about 134mph depending on version, ie. hatchback or estate, manual or automatic gearbox, etc. This mean that H speed rated tyres won't be enough. You need V speed rated tyres which are good for up to 150mph. The speed category is stated in the technical vehicle documentation.

That's about five times the price of an OEM steel rim. https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheel/vw-w9680#21067630

The gearing will be a little higher when using 205/50R16 tyres instead of 205/45R16 tyres. This is most noticeable when pulling away from a standstill in 1st gear, and accelerating or trying to maintain speed in top gear. If you're not happy with 205/50R16 tyres, try 195/55R15 tyres on 15" rims. This keeps the gearing the same as 205/45R16 tyres. 195/55R15 tyres tend to be cheaper than 205/45R16 tyres. With 195/55R15 tyres I would fit them on narrow 5.5J rims rather than more standard 6J rims as this further improves the ride comfort and also helps to protect the rims from kerbing damage as the sidewalls on the 195/55R15 tyres will bulge out more on the narrower 5.5J rims compared to slightly wider 6J rims. Steel rims from 2017 onwards VW Polo/Seat Ibiza/Audi models will fit. These have a specification of 5.5Jx15 ET40. They are an attractive 18-hole design. A couple of other alternatives for steel rims for the 195/55R15 tyre size includes 6Jx15 ET35 and 6Jx15 ET38. Like the 5.5Jx15 ET40 steel rim, the 6Jx15 ET35 steel rim is also available in an attractive 18-hole design.

It's probably better to discuss this on a "What counts as a modification for the purposes of car insurance" thread". Many people buy secondhand cars and won't know what aftermarket parts have been fitted. Even if they have owned their car from new, if they haven't serviced and repaired their car themselves, they can't be sure that all the replacement parts are exactly to original specification. Not only that, but many aftermarket parts such as Bilstein B4 shock absorbers, are sold to replace more than one OEM part number so are unlikely to be identical replacements. Parts such as shock absorbers, suspension springs, brake discs, brake pads, and rims. Ultimately, it will be for the UK courts to decide what is a material or significant difference. If it was left to insurance companies, it would be all too easy for them to wriggle out of all claims. If you bother your car insurance company too much for silly things, I would expect them to either cancel your insurance or apply a hefty excess for wasting their time. Not only that, but I'm not sure someone you spoke to from your insurance company would even have the expertise to judge what a UK court would deem significant or material. I even heard of insurance companies in the UK charging extra for fitting winter tyres on their car in the winter. Apparently, some thought this was a modification and charged extra although their trade body have now told them not to be so silly as this made their car safer and the type of people who fit winter tyres in the winter are more safety conscious and therefore less likely to have an accident. Anyhow, I expect informing your insurance company of a modification would go something like this...I've just fitted new improved wiper blades and new improved headlight bulbs to my car so that I can see the road more clearly. Insurance company...it sounds like you have modified your car, so we are going to charge you an excess and cancel your policy. We will also blacklist you so that you can't get insurance anywhere else!

According to the owner's manual, 205/50R17 is one of the standard tyre sizes on the Octavia MK3, including the RS model. Scroll down to page 282. https://ws.skoda-auto.com/OwnersManualService/Data/en/Octavia_5E/07-2019/Manual/Octavia/A7_Octavia_OwnersManual.pdf?_ga=2.207813778.1455114053.1592821093-1ee510f7-a384-43a2-b916-066588a92e7b

As you're in Belgium, you might want to look at the Belgium version of mytyres for steel rims. https://www.123pneus.be/cgi-bin/skw.pl?dsco=118&s_p=Jantes-en-acier&sowigan=felgen&Hersteller=Skoda&PKWtyp=KODIAQ+4X2+1.4+TSI&PKWtypgenau=%3A523113%3A%3A1395%3A92%3A201703%3A++++++%3A57.00%3A112.00%3A5%3ANS++++++++++++++++++%3A%3AO%3AE8*2007%2F46*0249*..++

Coil springs usually break at one of the ends, perhaps the last half coil turn or so. It sounds like the break is hidden rather than worn shock absorbers causing the problem. Sachs do four coil springs for the Octavia MK3 RS. Two for the front depending on whether it's a manual or automatic gearbox, and two for the rear depending on whether it's a hatchback or estate. Whether the Octavia MK3 RS is a petrol or diesel doesn't seem to matter, as the same Sachs coil springs come up for either. Each Sachs spring is about £35 each on autodoc.co.uk plus about £9 postage for the total order, ie. not per spring. It's also best to pay their £3 or so extra charge which lets you return the items if they don't fit. Without the £3 or so extra charge, they won't pay the return postage even if they send you the wrong parts, ie. their mistake!

That looks like a problem in the US, not the EU. They may be low quality US made steel rims (or maybe cheap Chinese imports) not OEM quality European made steel rims, especially as the post refers to poor quality welding. VW/Skoda OEM steel rims and Alcar steel rims (made in Switzerland to OEM specification) will have good quality welding. They will be made in factories with very expensive high technology equipment. European steel rims that do make it to the US are very expensive because of the high shipping costs. Oponeo for example, don't even ship rims to the US because of the high shipping costs. Maybe just purchase one steel rim to begin with and see if that fits without rubbing on the front brake calipers. I doubt you will have a problem with quality EU manufactured 17" steel rims clearing 340mm diameter front discs. Skoda Octavia MK3 RS 230HP will probably have 340mm front discs. It's easy enough to make up a cardboard gauge out of an old breakfast cereal packet to check the diameter of your front discs. The next size down is 312mm and there is no bigger size than 340mm on the Octavia MK3, so if it looks close to 340mm, it will be 340mm.

The link says 73.69 Euros excluding VAT, so that's 88.43 Euros including 20% VAT. Postage is also extra from Slovakia. mytyres.co.uk are listing the OEM quality Alcar 6.5Jx17 ET38 steel rims (Alcar are made in Switzerland) for £46.

Steel Rims for Skoda KODIAQ 4X2 1.4 TSI Your car Car manufacturer: Skoda Car model: KODIAQ 4X2 1.4 TSI Car type: NS 1395ccm 110 kW BJ.: 03.2017- ALCAR Rim type 5-hole steel wheel Size 6½ x 17 Bolt pattern 5 x 112.00 x 57.00 Offset 38.00 Price £ 46.00 17" steel rims will clear the brake calipers on 340mm diameter front discs. It's not always easy ordering steel rims without tyres from mytyres. If you make a mistake the mytyres website defaults to only allowing ordering a steel rim with a tyre. The workaround is to close the mytyres website/window and start again. Keep closing the mytyres website/window every time you want to enter different car details, then it seems to work ok. mytyres also have a freephone number shown in the contact section of their website. mytyres have a freephone number shown on their contact page if you have any problems Telephone: 0808 1891233 (freephone) (Monday to Friday from 7 am to 9 pm) https://www.mytyres.co.uk/Contact.html Also try oponeo.co.uk for steel rims, but oponeo tend to be more expensive for steel rims than mytyres.co.uk

What is the OEM part number of the alloy rim? This should be marked on the rear of the alloy rim, and look something like "6y0601025m" Once you have the OEM part number, it's easy to order a new part from a Skoda dealer or search ebay using the OEM part number. Skoda Online Parts Catalogue http://www.oemepc.com/skoda/part_single/catalog/sk/markt/CZ/modell/FAB/year/2003/drive_standart/225/hg_ug/601/subcategory/601050/part_id/2543668/lang/e

If you have 6.5Jx16 ET50 rims on your Superb MK2, then fitting 15mm wheel spacers will change the offset from ET50 to ET35. Make sure the wheel spacers are hubcentric. Hubcentric means that the wheelspacers have spigots which accurately locate the wheel on the centre of the hub. The most that I would want to push the offset on a Superb MK2 is ET38. ET35 is starting to get a long way from what the front steering is set up for at the factory. It's always better to get wheels with the correct offset so that you don't have to use wheel spacers. Wheel spacers have many problems. Additional unsprung weight, corrosion problems due to dissimilar metals, extra source of potential failure, etc.