Camlobe

Yes, but it is the CO2 level that sets the tax. I should have pointed out that different variants, eg Estate, can have slightly different CO2 levels, so the tax can be different. And, this is Road Fund type of tax, not BiK, not that that will be relevant, in this case.

I have a 2010 1.4 122 bhp, and while I like it, I'll try to provoke you to consider a slightly later car. If you can afford it, the later version, with a slightly raised power output (140 bhp?) attracts a zero tax classification, due to being cleaner. There is a later 1.5 engine that in some ways even better, but with tightening regulations, it is no longer zero rated. For the DSG, and pleasure of driving, it depends what kind of driving you do; on a motorway, seven speeds and not much to do, the car is a pretty relaxing place to be. On the other hand, if you are on it, on a country road...well, you'll want to put it in 'manual' change mode, because, under those circumstances, the DSG has a habit of choosing exactly the wrong time to shift, in a way that can't yet be reproduced by human intelligence...must be designed by aliens, who are far more advanced in matters of artificial intelligence than we mere humans are.

There is a lot of that advice that I'd consider questionable. Tyre over-inflation probably works to a very minor extent in a straight line. Round corners, with anything other than a billiard table flat surface, the car will tend to patter wide, so it depends on what you mean by speed. The EGR valve probably does work, if you clean it in the right way, so that it reduces recirc flow. Anything else is probably neutral, or a fraction of a HP at best. Do you have an O2 sensor? Diesels often don't, and if you don't have one it is hard to clean effectively. Filters: Air filter could make a difference, but Oil won't Not very keen on greased calipers; first, any grease that can get to the wrong place when hot is bad. So you might use a copper based grease, but choosing one of those that doesn't attract brake dust is hard, because if you do get brake dust sticking, or any dust sticking, you'll get brake sticking. Engine re-map: The OP outlined some objections. Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about the water pump, which will probably go at the same time either way, but I would be concerned about the potential for belt failure if iy has been left too long (and that applies, more or less, whether you re-map, or not).

De-ionised water should be fine. I recently had to top mine up, and went with Comma, because Halfords had it, and it is a respectable make. I don't think there is much difference - assuming it is from a brand that is respectable enough to have tested to the specification, I think the basic ingredient will be identical, and only the bittering additive and any additional lubricant could be different.

(Really, this isn't in the right place, there is a more up to date thread where it should have gone: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/489055-how-deactivate-door-open-sensor-octavia-2011/) I doubt it will help anyone, but just in case,here are a couple of things to consider: If you've got a clamp-on current meter (for this kind of thing, it is helpful, I keep meaning to look in to one, but the need hasn't yet arisen) you can monitor more than one line at once. Anywhere you can find a cable/big bundle of cables, you can put your clamp around. If you find a bundle that is taking current, you can start a 'binary division' approach with that bunch - divide it in to two, and keep dividing 'till you get to a single wire. Err, while not what VW recommend, I'd even start on the cables, say, after five minutes, to get a 'short list' of wires that are most likely to need further attention. One further point, at one stage (late 90's/early 2000s?) VW did have a problem with something slightly weird like Marmoset attacks in Austria taking out ignition cables, and causing cars not to start/misfire (I don't remember the exact details). Hence, or otherwise (as they used to say in exam papers), I would have a look around the area of the mouse attack, just in case the mouse fancied something more substantial to go with the foam.

it really shouldn't. The 'Industry standard' is to test all modules with shorts to both supply and ground (except for the obvious exception of testing ground to ground, which would be useless, ground to battery, which will just blow a fuse, and things like the Coil Drivers, which are difficult to protect, without worsening the function.) This testing will result in a higher current, and for a much longer period than adding a capacitor, so the output should be undamaged by the capacitor. There are ways of damaging outputs (ESD, inductive spike), so you may be better placed worrying about those.

For the engine, you've got a choice of a Ford Duratec V6, a Ford 2.0 Litre Diesel and a 122 bhp 1.4 litre VAG petrol (only once, I think, but I can't be totally sure of that). It is really odd that they all seemed to lose about 1-2 mpg, given that they are all such different engines. In that case, and slightly on topic, RedEx doesn't to do anything to make the situation better. Back off topic, up until recently, my local Esso has been slightly cheaper than the Tesco within a few hundred yards, and now the prices of both have gone up, and the Esso is, I think, 0.1 P more expensive than the Tesco. I didn't expect to see the Esso as the cheaper of the two, but it had been that way for 6 months plus. I've only tried Asda's fuel a few times, but every time I had the same experience

Sorry, I take on board your comment about Tesco - the only two supermarket fuels I'll use are the odd splash of either Tesco or Sainsburys higher octane stuff, but that's in with a diet mainly of Esso or Shell (when I go passed a Major that is close to a Supermarket price.) At first, it seems a little surprising that the Tesco lower octane stuff outperforms (in emissions/economy, not power), but maybe they have added more of their octane-boosting additive (alcohol?) to their more expensive blend. There are a few caveats; the actual test runs aren't long enough to show anything other than really gross carbon deposits , while they have a conditioning phase, they don't say what fuel was used in each case and these are results on 2012 fuel. You've probably provoked me to try the Tesco lower octane stuff, but who knows how long an experiment that needs. Still not trying the Asda stuff, though.

...but there is no regulation about 'detergents' in fuel, and detergents are added at the last stage by the Tanker driver. Also, the profit margin on fuel is, on average for the UK, five pence. The cost of the additive package is about five pence, too, so you can see the temptation to cut back the quantity. If I was a Supermarket or other seller who wasn't going to lose business by having an ok, rather than good package, I'd feel the temptation. Tell me you wouldn't! Incidentally, I always lose mpg if I give the car a splash of Asda fuel (so I don't anymore), although it is probably 'cost neutral' with the loss of mpg balancing the low cost, but I just don't like the idea. But that is a seller who has, at least on average, a lower quality fuel in my use case (both Petrol and Diesel, for a previous car).

OK, what you have tried is good, and, if that made no difference, it sounds as much like 'too many volts' rather than 'noise', although: is still really quite suggestive of noise. I'd still try a capacitor (or two) to ground - ensure the leads are short, and try to wire it with a short earth connection as possible, and with the other wire coming in, and over the cap, as close as possible - like half a four wire configuration, if you can imagine that. If you go 'two capacitors', a relatively big one and a relatively small one would be ideal. (Don't think that 12 volts is the max voltage and should be used as the voltage rating - it is only under odd conditions, but automotive testing is done with a source that can be 100 Volts for a reason; this far back in the car, and with a length of wire, you can probably get away with 50 volt caps, as the caps themselves will tend to suppress the worst voltage peaks, but in an ideal world, you'd go 64 volts or higher, if you can't do testing with an appropriate source. I've just though of one other possibility - if the signal wire back from the camera has a high capacitance, that may be involved in the poor signal. It is less likely that this causes total failure to operate, but it may degrade the signal enough to cause corruption.

It shouldn't really be necessary to use a relay to clean up the supply, but that doesn't mean that it isn't. The voltage that you have is quite normal for a car, so that shouldn't be a problem...except, perhaps if the camera isn't well designed. If the issue is that there is noise on the voltage supply (and usually there is, although the camera ought to survive it) it would normally be possible to reduce that to an acceptable level with a combination of a series inductance (a clamp-on ferrite core) and a capacitor to ground. The trouble is, it could be either the absolute voltage value, or noise on the supply. Really, it should be that the camera should work with the values of noise and voltage found in typical applications, but apparently it doesn't. Where are you getting your earth?

I'm not sure it is that lucky. During development, there is testing for load dumps (lead to the battery goes open during normal operation) and field decay (alternator regulator temporarily loses control, and has the energy stored in the alternator field windings to get rid of), which should cover this (for DV, PV and re-testing, say, yearly to demonstrate ongoing compliance), but it does stress electronic parts unnecessarily, and under no circumstances would i do it, because if you do blow something, even though it shouldn't happen, it will be expensive. If you can't put the new battery on a charger for ~half an hour before you do the swap, to ensure that battery starts off charged at a suitable level - 12.5 volts according to Varta, then, if you've got the engine running, use jump leads to parallel the batteries for a short time. Some cars lose their codes, but these don't, so code retention shouldn't be a concern..

You can also buy the Icecontact 3. I really don't know anything about that beyond its name, and it may even be a grey import, but you can get it. I'm not sure what you meant by that: So, in winter you would be naturally drawn to the 'winters' or the 'all seasons', but, in summer you would be better served by the 'Sport Contact', the 'premium contact or possibly the 'eco contact'. So which is the one? Also there are some severely daft prices on Conti tyres. £520 isn't even the daftest price on the Sport Contact 5 (although not by much). Why would you pay that for a tyre you could get for £80? I am truly amazed. Is there really a valid market in either the stupid or the very, very desperate? I can't see you ever getting any return business, except amongst the drivellingly incapable. (That was a 'Y' rated tyre, but before you think that was the reason, you can also get a 'W' rated one for £567. Bizarre.) The only time I've seen comparable pricing is on a few trackday tyres and some alpine tyres (not even most trackday tyres, which are rather more sensibly priced), and there you can, at least, understand they are a somewhat niche product...and the Alpine jobs have lots of rubber and are niche. Ho, hum.

A couple of things, not quite directly on topic, but relevant: No one in this thread has considered other thermal effects. As the oil warms up, it evaporates off any condensation in the oil. From this point of view, you want to get the oil up to somewhere around 80 C, to get any condensation to evaporate off moderately quickly. I'm sure this isn't as bad on modern oils as it was on older oils, but I have had an issue with this back in the 80s, but the 'Aunt Minnie cycle' where there is stop-start cycling and the engine never gets up to temperature are always worrying, even if someone has done a test to show it is ok, under one specific set of conditions. At the other end of the temperature range, HTHS ratings are usually measured at 100 C, If the oil temp is above that, you will be degrading the oil faster than has been allowed for in the service schedule, irrespective of what the schedule says. (It may be that you are better off in the variable service schedule, in this case, because the software may compensate for the increased temp, shortening the service interval, not that anyone will know how much faster the oil degrades at the higher temperature. Well, maybe the oil manufacturer does, but they don't tell VAG. so that goes nowhere.)

I think you may have found a Tyre Depot with these tyres that they have an excess of. As far as I am aware, depots tend not to send tyres back to the centre, if they can avoid it, so their preferred route will be to sell directly, if they can. It may be that the next depot is short of these, but they won't tend to equalise the supply, unless they really have to, and maybe not even then.

Sorry, yes it can make a difference, but probably not that much. There is an article here on Manufacturer specs, generally. The bottom line is that Man specs freeze the tyre specification at the initial level. If the tyre spec changes - and tyre manufacturers can change tyre specs annually, and an OE spec will stay at the old level. Broadly, tyre manufacturers aren't going to redesign a tyre for a vehicle OE, but they may tweak the spec a bit. By this I mean they may set tighter limits on some parameters, for, say, Mercedes. Which all sounds good, but remember that bit about being stuck with the older spec of tyre.

My elegance does not have auto-dim wing mirrors, so it looks like MicMac is correct on that. Folding wing mirrors it does have, but they only seem to fold if you operate the window full close from the remote. Actually they must fold in if you hold down the remote lock button down or something, but I don't know exactly what. As you can guess, it isn't really a feature I have much use for.

Well. you are completely right it sounds like ageing shoe menders, although it isn't necessarily. The driver electrics doesn't connect to the LED directly, as it would be inefficient, and dissipate lots of power in places where you'd rather not do that, so there is intermediate electronics. That will contain a big-ish inductor as part of the voltage translation circuitry, and that can cause a voltage kick on switch on or off (or there can be something that gets through from load dump, field decay or alternator fast transients). Now these ought to be suppressed, and it isn't too difficult to do it, although testing is a bit obscure, and can be a bit sensitive to minor-looking, almost-nothing. changes. So, what works on a Golf may not work on an Octavia, even though they are nominally the same. It shouldn't be that bad, but it could - just about - be. There are some manufacturers I'd trust to do a good job of this, but they won't be the cheap ones, who are 'no name' aftermarket suppliers.

You do want to check the brakes, but be careful; the disks themselves could be really hot, so use caution, checking around the area, rather than the disks themselves. For reasons I've never really understood, as JR says, it is more often the rears than the fronts. In doing this, ideally, you would want to coast to a stop/use the gears, as using the brakes will confuse things by putting heat in to the brakes deliberately.

In theory a lot is down to the quality of the fuel that you use. If you use fuel from the big fuel companies, the quantities of detergent additives ought to be fine, etc, etc. Supermarkets and minor suppliers may have less of a reputation for quality fuel (as opposed to cheap fuel) to protect,and may cut corners as much as they think reasonable on detergency. In your situation, I probably would give it a shot of additive and a bit of an 'Italian tune up' (engine suitably warmed up, of course), just in case it helps. It is probably more to do with what you do on the previous tank full, rather than the tank that you go in to the MoT with, though.

No, as commented earlier, the target will be something above 70% charge - and some other manufacturers are worse, targeting more like 50% charge. The point of this is to allow 'room' for the regenerative braking of the 'micro-hybrid' system without overcharging the battery This is considered normal operation, these days. Now, I will admit that while I see the point, I would prefer a slightly higher percentage, particularly as the battery ages and loses capacity, but it is what it is.

The inference of fabdavrav's document (essentially, what new stuff is in the systems of Bluemotion cars) is that it can't be common across all VW cars, or there would be no new stuff to document. And, obviously, there wouldn't be commonality with pre-smartcharge cars, and there may be other steps in between. Generally, it doesn't need to know the current accurately. It knows the voltage and you can make rough-and-tough-but-good-enough implications from the voltage. The latest cars do more, in an attempt to chase increasingly small fractions of fuel economy, do more, but you don't have one of those. So, I will ask again, what do you hope to do with this information, because if there isn't another way of doing it, it looks as if you aren't going to do it. It is designed to pass the current, but I doubt that it is used for measurement. Firstly, there are many other paths to ground, which go the opposite way through this connection. These are mostly designed to be low current, but can be high current fault conditions, and there are a few exceptions - lights, HRW, heater, air con, gearbox, engine (ok, that's probably more exceptions than non-exceptions). The other thing is that this connection would have to be a predictable and consistent connection. The tempco of copper wire is relatively high and a little corrosion at one of the connections would really mess it up. Additionally, it isn't uncommon for stranded wire to loose a strand or two over age, and that will also mess it up. It is possible to get around these factors, but generally it isn't considered worthwhile to do it.

Correction: I was confusing the results of three tests: Tyre reviews own test, Sport auto all seasons test and ADAC all seasons test ... and i thought I was only confusing two of them. Note that while the ordering of results is quite different, the cause is that in countries with predictably hard winters (Germany) snow performance is evaluated a lot higher than countries with only vague probabilities of snow. I know a lot of Scots and Country Dwellers will feel the criteria haven't been fine tuned to their needs, but that's why you have to look at the individual test results, not just the conclusion. And tyre reviews look to have the link for the Sport Auto test wrong (I had my suspicions!), so you probably have to find that manually.

From what I've heard (and maybe I've heard wrongly), the German requirement is for tyres with the 'three peaks' symbol. The rule suggested to me was change when the clocks go forward and the clocks go back. My objections are it is too cute that would be too long a period on the cold weather tyres here (although a bit longer on the cold weather tyres is better than not long enough) I'm currently running 'Nokian D3' tyres year round (1 year) on an Octavia and my observations are: they are certainly safe in summer conditions from this one tyre pattern, I'm generalising (guessing) that all tyres with sipes are poorer in traction than even tyres with more of an M+S/cross-climate pattern, but without the sipes I'm not completely happy with the setup, but that's down to needing more tyre width as much as anything. I think 10 mm wider, or preferably 20 mm wider would be better, and then I would be happier given the reduced traction (not cornering grip) on siped tyres, I'd be happier on all seasons the only real 'winter' conditions I drove through last year was a bit of slush, and they dealt with that well - you could hardly tell it wasn't dry or damp. I'm sure all seasons would have done just as well wear is lower than I expected - I expected softer, lower temperature, rubber to be noticeably poorer than UHP summers, and it is quite the other way around And on 'tyre reviews' review of 'All Seasons' - I Note that the Bridgestone Weather Control 005 came in a mid-table position in their own test. That would be actually one of the tyres I would be more likely to go to than the tyres higher up the list - poorer snow perf than most, but good in the wet/cold conditions that are most common in the Southern UK. That the Vred Quatrac Pro (lower still down the list, but better wear, in another test) has the better wear is quite likely to persuade me, though. Be completely different if I lived in Scandinavia, though.

That would measure it, but not directly log it. You could connect it up to a data acquisition system, but that would be overkill. There is probably a Raspberry Pi solution. if you have one of those. Of course, you have to ask what you are intending to do as a consequence of making these measurements? There may be an easier way, after all, the automotive world has existed for many years without needing anything other that voltage measurements. You can argue that it is not ideal in some circumstances, but they've made it work.