TRIPLE S

Bosch every time - BUT beware where you buy from as many branded spares including brake pads, wipers, bulbs etc sold over the internet or at markets are not the genuine part but cheap rip off copies...........

Mine was a PD so no problems. Don't think you can Bluefin or chip a CR apart from Shark. I went to the 'dark side' - a Schnitzer BMW 125D which with 258bhp is quite a lot of fun!

My 07 PD170 was brilliant with Bluefin, far better than standard. When I sold my car the new owner didn't want it as he suspected he would have insurance issues. Mine is still in its box with all original paperwork and disc as no one seems interested in it as I believe Superchips make a charge to transfer it to a another VAG vehicle/owner.

I thought that VAG didn't do 'new' exchange engines only rebuilds. I suffered a mishap trying to escape the flooding in Boscastle in 2004 in a year old VW Bora TDI 150 and sucked water into air intake! I was lucky and got pulled/pushed out with no other damage. I claimed on my insurance and my insurer insisted on the original engine being rebuilt when VAG were only able to supply a rebuilt engine without a documented rebuild history. The engine when rebuilt seemed to be actually even better than before, smoother, more power and flexibility. My son-in-law had it after me and sold it last year with over 200K on the clock with engine still as good as 'new'. The rebuilding however took over 2 weeks not the typical 2 days for a straight engine swop.

My son had very similar problems with his A4 and used this : http://www.dieselturbocleaner.co.uk/ A totally different car now.

When it snows and sticks its out with the MK1 feet shod with Dunlop Utilities. The VRS was not too good in snow with the original fit Continental tyres but a change to Uniroyal Rainsports improved this no end. Time will tell with the BMW as it runs Pirelli P Zero's 245/45 18's on the rear running at 40psi!?! I still have a Skoda link as my son still has my first Octavia - a 1998 1.9 TDi SLX.

Well its now a few days since I said goodbye to my VRS, It was sad to see it go but after nearly six years and 57K it was time for a new car. I have looked at many cars and even considered the Rapid but I eventually bought a fully loaded BMW 125D M Sport. Its very, very different in lots of ways - rear wheel drive, 8 speed sport auto, i-drive etc. I really liked owning a VRS despite various niggles during its time with me but with the help and guidance from this forum in sorting these out it does show that Briskoda is by far the best car forum on the web. Many thanks to all of you for a great daily read, far better than any car mag. Keep up the good work and you never know I may return from the dark side one day!

My son still has my old 1998 Octavia 1.9 TDI and it is still going strong at nearly 189,000 miles. Only replacements, apart from normal service items, have been new discs all round, a new battery, hand brake cable assembly, clutch pedal linkage and new electric window mechanisms all round. It has been serviced annually, still returns over 55 mpg and has yet to fail an MOT! I wonder if the newer Octavia models will last as well......

My previous Octavia SLX TDI reg new in Sept 1998 now owned by my son is still going strong at almost 211,000 miles. It has had a service every 10,000 miles and still manages over 60mpg and he uses the cheapest fuel plus Millers [it was Superchipped back in 1999]. The only bits to be replaced apart from tyres, wipers, service items etc have been all 4 electric window systems [drivers door twice], disc brakes and pads at 140,000 miles and a new battery in December 2010. Everything else is as it left the factory!

Update on post #628 Another 485 miles have passed without any problems. Most of this mileage has been shorter journeys or city driving with the longest being three 36 mile round trips mostly 'B' roads and country lanes. No issues seen with DPF light or regens just very smooth power delivery and excellent fuel consumption. The last 2 mornings cold starts have seen no issues in fact this morning drove away at -5deg after clearing the windows and 36 miles later arrived back home after an interesting journey on some icy country roads with an indicated 64mpg on readout - I could not ask for better! I think this shows that if the injector change etc. is done well [many thanks Ross] it can give fantastic results.

SWMBO had her Fiesta MOT'd yesterday so I had a long chat with tester [ been using the garage for over 20 years so know them well ] and he is not too happy with new test. A lot of the visuals seem to be open to interpretation e.g. changes to makers original build specification etc. CAT and DPF removal will obviously be easily seen plus the poor emmission check results so will these fail the vehicle? Modified exhaust systems, suspension and non OEM wheels, spacers and tyre size - are they likely to see a MOT fail as are changes to lighting such as non OEM LED bulbs or after market Xenon conversions? The 'New' MOT cert is also poor quality, just a landscape format A4 sized white sheet printed by the test station, it even says on it to check validity on www.direct.govuk/yourmotcheck. I personally would not trust it if buying a car as it appears to be so easy to forge or reprint with the recorded advisories removed as all the advisories are now printed on the MOT cert so if selling a car the new buyer can see all the 'non-fail' faults recorded by tester! Are there any MOT testers on the Forums who can give us all a more detailed and constructive overview?

Reading back through this subject it appears that we vRS owners are either happy with our cars or wish we had bought something else typically those with cars that run well and those that don't. I did have lots problems from new - see below quote which was originally posted in 'Injectors and the DPF' [.......When I took delivery of my car back in early 2007 I had 3 months of hell. It was rare to drive more than 75 miles without either the DPF or glow plug lights coming on even during motorway driving. No faults were recorded and dealer was as frustrated as me. Eventually the ECU was changed on the advice of SUK - I then had a different car and have only had the DPF light come on once since then and I suspect that was due to being stuck in a major slow moving Motorway snarl up for 3 hours! Two other things - my dealer is also a Superchips agent and suggested driving quality and fuel consumption was likely to show an improvement in a modified car. I went the Bluefin route and to say I am impressed is an understatement. Performance, flexibility and fuel consumption is fantastic - ignoring the first 1000 crap miles my car has now averaged just on 49MPG for the last 47,000 miles. The other thing I was 'unofficially' recommended was Millers diesel additive, this however was not a surprise to me as I have used it since 1993 in all my previous diesel cars.......] Thinking a bit more about this is there something more than just a problem with injectors, the DPF and its various sensors? As I said above I only had the DPF light come on once in nearly 47,000 miles following the ECU change. The question is was I just lucky when my ECU was changed and why is my car now running so well since the injector change. Since the the injector change I now have a greatly improved car, the performance and fuel consumption is better than I could ever have hoped for. I have now just done over 700 miles since the change and the average fuel consumption is just over 56MPG with one 320 mile round trip returning better than 60MPG. I have done this particular journey more than 20 times in the past 4 years and never had better than 52MPG. All my MPG figures are based on brimming the fuel tank not the on board computer so I am suprised but very pleased with improvement. The big question is why?

Promised update on my experiences since the injector change last Wednesday [14/12]. I ran with the standard ECU mapping for 3 days / 150 miles of very mixed driving and car remained smooth and very responsive. No starting issues and fuel consumption was only marginally different, a little higher in traffic, slightly better in the 40 – 60 mph band and no noticeable change at typical motorway speeds. Bluefin now re-installed and engine is still running like a sewing machine, flexibility seems even better. I need a few more miles to see what the fuel consumption figures show but initial indications are a slight improvement all round with Bluefin. For me the injector change has made a good car even better – long may it last!

My vRS is now back from dealer fitted with shiny new injectors and harness! It definitely feels different - much smoother and far better pickup. Luckily before taking it to have work done I reloaded standard mapping from my Bluefin just in case...... Worksheet shows recoding so waiting for SC to confirm if a Bluefin upgrade is needed before reloading my Bluefin remap.

My vRS is now back from dealer fitted with shiny new injectors and harness! It definitely feels different - much smoother and far better pickup. Luckily before taking it to have work done I reloaded standard mapping from my Bluefin just in case...... Worksheet shows recoding so waiting for SC to confirm if a Bluefin upgrade is needed before reloading my Bluefin remap.

Mine is due for new injectors tomorrow so I too will be interested to see what happens. When I took delivery of my car back in early 2007 I had 3 months of hell. It was rare to drive more than 75 miles without either the DPF or glow plug lights coming on even during motorway driving. No faults were recorded and dealer was as frustrated as me. Eventually the ECU was changed on the advice of SUK - I then had a different car and have only had the DPF light come on once since then and I suspect that was due to being stuck in a major slow moving Motorway snarl up for 3 hours! Two other things - my dealer is also a Superchips agent and suggested driving quality and fuel consumption was likely to show an improvement in a modified car. I went the Bluefin route and to say I am impressed is an understatement. Performance, flexibility and fuel consumption is fantastic - ignoring the first 1000 crap miles my car has now averaged just on 49MPG for the last 47,000 miles. The other thing I was 'unofficially' recommended was Millers diesel additive, this however was not a surprise to me as I have used it since 1993 in all my previous diesel cars. Back to the original question - only time will tell so I will keep you all posted on what happens from Thursday onwards.

My letter from SUK also arrived on the mat this morning at 08:00, rang dealer at 08:05 and car booked in for Wednesday this week for injectors to be replaced - great! Thanks to all of you out there who kept this topic in the frame and finally got a result from Skoda.

I had a similar problem with a rear brake light bulb failing whilst away on holiday a few weeks ago. Warning light came on when driving and when I checked one rear brake light bulb had failed, fitted a replacement from my spare bulb set and everything was OK - for about all of 5 minutes! Checked and all lights were on, checked brake, side, indicator, reversing and fog lights just in cases something got disturbed but everything was working fine!?! Put it all back together so got back into car and guess what - no warning light! Carried on to our holiday destination and no further problems but on the following day warning light came on and stayed on as soon as I started the engine! Checked all the lights again and everything working as it should. I called into the local garage as there were no Skoda or VAG dealers or even places like Halfords anywhere near. Explained situation and they said to change the replaced bulb I had fitted but they didn't have in stock the correct type so directed me to the independent motor factor they use. I explained the situation again and they were very helpful - the answer I got was that some brands of bulb don't seem to work consistently on cars fitted with monitoring systems. Bulb in spare bulb set was a 'Ring' P21/5W [original bulb was P21/4W but not branded]. He has seen this problem a number of times before on some VAG and Ford cars. They gave me a 'Lucas' P21/4W and after fitting everything working fine - a good result as I have had no problems since.

My injectors haven't failed yet....... spoke to my local Skoda dealer service guy a few weeks ago and he did a very good impression of the 3 wise monkeys and said what injector problem?!?! I have now filled out the Watchdog web form and also had a chat with my insurance broker about the issue and potential risk if the engine should cut out on say a very crowded motorway - he did not appear to be a happy bunny when I showed him the details on this forum!

Now that a 'VOSA Official' has surfaced and put out an 'official' statement perhaps VOSA [or even VAG] could take out a full page statement in the national daily papers. This would make ALL drivers of affected VAG vehicles aware of the situation regarding injector failures and the correct actions to take. I suspect though we will see a confirmed sighting of a UFO first.

Hi All, My understanding is that if the DPF needs to or is in a regen mode the CC is deactivated. As soon as the regen is complete the CC is available again but only after switching off, removing key then restarting. If it were the dirty / faulty contacts syndrome usually once it stops working switching off/on has no effect, only very careful cleaning or a replacement is a cure.

I suspect the MOT changes as from Jan 2012 will effect many mods on post 2008 cars including the fitting of non OEM HID lights and removal of the DPF.

I had a very similar problem with my old MK1 Octavia - fault was a sticky cold start relay, dealer diagnosed it in less than a minute and I was back on road in 15 mins. Not sure if MK2 CR has the same cold start systems so suggest ask your dealer as it is still under warranty. Good luck!

Originally posted this on "Another tyre thread !!!!" "I used Tyre reviews - tyre reviews, ratings and road tests for all car, bike and trackday performance tyres to compare tyres brands and types - eventually decided on Uniroyal Rainsport 2 at just £99 per tyre fitted from a local independant tyre depot - Conti Sport Contact 2 or 3's would have cost me at least £140 per tyre!" I have been running this set up for about 3 months now and the difference is substantial - tyre spec 225/40 ZR18 92W XL with raised rim rib. 1. A lot less road noise apart from the dreaded M42 concrete sets 2. Wet road holding is out of this world - took about 1000 miles to bed in 3. Now running at 2.35 Bar front and rear - seems to the best setup for noise, economy and roadholding.

I hit a Badger many, many years ago in a Cooper S - it wrote the car off as it pushed the power unit back into the bulkhead so much it shortened the wheelbase by nearly 2 inches! I'm just glad it wasn't a deer though - I think these may have been posted before [not by me] but this is what a deer does to a BMW!?!