Former

You are quite right to highly value tyres as they are a very complex component that are often misunderstood and overlooked or not given the prime importance they deserve. In Aus for some reason some owners run their tyres at well over manufacturers' recommendations I've never found out why. I understand that the tyres could be manufactured differently to suit Aus conditions and road surfaces but this would be taken into consideration by VW, at least t for the make, model and sizes sold with the models. Modern cars for decades now have had the fashion for oversized wheels and wide over short tyres, kinda party frocks and high heels which is fine but not best for normal drudgery, race track smoothness great but real world roads not always good. You have two different makes, models, sizes, age and wear of tyres on the two axles so that might give effect to road hold, handling, ride, comfort and noise. You have 18" alloy wheels, unless they are very special wheels they will be heavy, heavier than if they were in 17" or 16". A 215/45 r18, 93 tyre will probably be heavier than a 205/45 r18 non XL tyre, the XL could make a difference to the tyre overall - but with the heavy 18" alloys there's not going to be much odds to the car with any of the weights. You can look anywhere on this site and you will never find me praising the VW engineers unnecessarily, quite the opposite, but within reasonable limits they wont have the standard suspension far out using factory spec components and parts (longevity and quality of parts is a different matter perhaps). The unsprung weight on the four corners is already quite heavy a little more wont upset it. 215/45 r18 against 205/45 r18 nominally only gives 6mm (0.2") difference to sidewall height but then the tyre is XL so presumably stiffer sidewall. You have not got a lightweight sports car you have a heavy, high-rised 5-seater with luggage and possible roof rack and bike rack vehicle where the driver is quite remote from what's going on because of all sorts of electric and electronic driver "aids" and safety devices, insulation, entertainment, ****Nav, phone interreference and interruptions. 215/45 r18 against 205/45 r18 nominally only gives 6mm (0.2") difference to sidewall height but then the tyre is XL so presumably stiffer sidewall. Within in a restricted range the size, width and height of tyres and wheels doesn't make as much difference as perhaps quality and type of tyre fitted, a good 16" wheel with good 16" tyre would probably give a more comfortable and perhaps quieter ride (cabin noise is different to road noise) than the same 18" wheel and 18" tyre, their might be small differences in ride but if required adjust driving will overcome those I'd say and could give improvement overall. You would need another Aus 2017 Scala driver to suggest which tyre might suit you, meaning make and model (and even size) but they'd need to be driving similar to you, similar environment and use, and then you've only got to look at tyre reviews to see one man's meat is another man's poison. You could look and/or ask on the Scala forum here. - 'Škoda Scala' - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/384-škoda-scala/ Generally you'd be better with four tyres of the same make, model, size, age and wear - I assume yours isn't one of these where all four wheels are always driven - have the tyres at the correct pressure, all checked when the tyres are 'cold' with the same reliable pressure gauge (or at least consistent). Despite not being Friday night sparkly 16" wheels and tyres are easily enough especially as you are prepared to put the best tyres on them but you might get a better range of high-performance at 17" but I don't know. These are probably not the answers you were expecting but you are in the 'Tyres & Wheels' forum and not the Project, Styling or Performance sections. 😁 HTH.

Depends on how old your Skyline was and even then IIRC they were rammed full of electronic driver aids unless from the 1960s, try something like a Ford Cortina, or Capri to get more of an idea, no electronics on the brakes or crude and (softer) suspension. The length and width of the wheel corners and weight, along with all the electronic aids of your car and restricted directness to the driver could normally cover general wear, tear and sloppiness to a good extent so when it becomes really noticeable things have possibly got got to a later stage of wear, tear and sloppiness. You could try driving with air-con, heater blower, the infotainment and all other ****Nav, communication and entertainment devices, all off, lower the windows and listen for all the thumps, rattles, squeaks and crashes some VWSkoda models might have then start with looking at the area that's the nosiest and others going back to quietest. For squeaks you could spray the areas one at a time with a good long lasting lubricant like GT85 just to quiet them so you can better hear where thumps, rattles and crashes. Even if you have a lift, big prybars, muscles and/or bodyweight trying to find wear and breaks isn't easy as it's not the same as the weight of the car moving about on the road but an experienced knowledgeable person will have more idea where to look and what to look for and how things might feel. You must always consider that there might be more than one area of fault and that they might interact or combine to give an effect. HTH. A couple more forums you could look in on this Briskoda sites for possible ideas or information about what to do, where to go, who to see in Ireland may possibly be (I don't know as I've not looked for Superbs or Ireland) are - Superb Projects - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/209-superb-projects/ Performance & Tuning Upgrades - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/212-performance-tuning-upgrades/ Tyres & Wheels (can also sometimes cover suspension matters) - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/213-tyres-wheels/ Skoda Dealers - Republic of Ireland - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/57-skoda-dealers-republic-of-ireland/ I've no idea if Superbs have active suspension (a mate had a Superb but that was a number of years back and not for too long) but if so obviously you need an appropriate level scan tool that covers your model and year and whoever owners it or uses it isn't too lazy to update it's program for your car (that can make quite a difference with correct diagnosis). There are four pins on Ireland for VCDS (or other owners) that might be near you and might be able to help with a report, wipe codes or even diagnostics, but again you'd have to ask as I don't know). - Briskoda VCDS Owners Map (click me)

More work than discs yes, but my 47 years of driving I've not found them that bad at all (but I've never own a VW UP). In that time until a couple of years ago for 30+ years I ran various over-priced and over-valued cars called "classics" as dallies, for work, commute, holidays and tours in UK and parts of Europe. The last one was my one and only car for about 16 years and the drum and shoes were good even the cheap replacements drums I stupidly put on to balance the front uprated pads. I loathe farting about with my own car and not that good at it all all but I might as well balls it up as pay the professions that I had to redone a lot of their work anyway. The only difficulty I once had, because I did have the correct tools, was fitting shoes to one side, a mate had always moaned about it but until I'd not had problems previously and the other side of the car was as usual fine. With "classic" car parts during the last 20+ years often being of ****-poor or abysmal quality (and English and European) I did have a rear wheel cylinder leak whereas originals seem to last years and decades but that wasn't the drum or shoes, callipers from such location also leaked. One of the reasons I bought my first (real, not VW) Skoda was because they came with 24-month warranties and the car I got was a Skoda HQ car which they kept until 6k-miles, so 2 months old and about the same price as a 3-year old (Mini) Metro which would have problems at that age. I remember the "poor" quality low-priced Daewoos and their excellent showrooms without sales staff but with computers that could show the cars in colour options unlike the Rover Dealer's computers and moron Life on Mars cops type salesmen, and Daewoo were such low quality they only offered 5-years warranty at the time whereas the high quality Hondas only gave 2 IIRC, even VW were good quality still then and 2 years(?). Most things about working on cars are a PITA, except stupid wheel bolts that can be a pian in the back as well. 😉 Don't get me going on all the extra German coolant and oil numbers and specs, and the extra tools need to do simple jobs on those cars and the stupid airbox, front suspension, . . . And I can imagine how much worse it'll be on a 2023/4 car as I drive my neighbour's - good job VW gives a 7-year warranty, no wait that's in Australia, only the "low" quality marques offer 7 years in the UK. I understand the Euros aren't sponsored by any German marques, I wonder why, the field of dreams and all that. 😁

Just out of interest roughly where do you live? Your stated location to me seems to be some sort computer or keyboard thing, I've no idea as I've never typed and don't do the three or four finger spread across a keyboard for what's supposed to be a short cut, if I can't generally find from a right-click menu I curse the programmer. I live in a part of England that doesn't that often get that cold but even on a coldish summer's day or night I would never have an accessory oil cooler without a thermostat to it.

Hi, welcome. Back effects front (you've probably never driven a rear wheel drive car) front effects rear, one side effects the other, that's why you want you car suspension in balance (tyres are part of the car's suspension as well as braking, steering, road holding and handling ride comfort and noise, tyres are very important). Tyres also need to be at the correct pressure and your car loaded correctly, if you regularly carry half of your tool shed in the boot or have a 25-stone mate that regularly sits in the back or front passenger seat this can make a difference. Do you have any where near you that specialises in suspension set ups and knows what they're talking about and doing (that's not me) perhaps a sports place they're often not as expensive as you think and less costly than places that just fit parts that don't cure the issue, lots of places have the gear but no idea, however the 4-wheel alignment place have told you a rear bush has gone. VW Skoda seem to fit not the best or poorer quality bushes and front dampers at least in my experience of my wife's 2015 Fabia, and brakes and keyfobs, VWs and VWSkodas are not Toyotas or Hondas. If you got on to the Skoda Superb Mk III (2015 - 2023) forums and have a look at the threads and posts on these topics you'll probably find loads of info and a sunnier disposition to German marques, particularly VW and VWSkoda, than mine and you can start a thread there too if you want. Skoda Superb Mk III (2015 - 2023) - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/299-skoda-superb-mk-iii-2015-2023/ HTH.

What makes you think you need an oil cooler. Older cars but with similar old engine like yours would have from factory didn't have oil cooler even in warmer climate countries just lower opening 'water' thermostat and perhaps different 'water' rad fan. If you are lugging heavy loads uphill a lot or towing (in an old 1.3 petrol though?) you might have a need but otherwise not usually. Yes if you have an oil cooler you want a thermostat with it otherwise it's the same as not having a 'water' thermostat in cold weather, the engine will take longer to warm up and then may not reach proper operating temperature in very cold weather or shorter journeys in cold weather and the oil could be overcooled to work efficiently and fill with nasties and need changing even more frequently than it should already. Oil wants to be at about at least 90c on a journey or engine use, ignore the coolant temperature gauge 90c as they are often biased to read a rock steady 90 when well above or below or moving around and it's coolant temp not oil temp. For examples only - http://www.mocal.co.uk/products.html By riser plate do you mean a sandwich spacer plate at the oil filter mounting, if so there are different types and varieties, connections only, ones with thermostats perhaps, full and non full flow so it may depend on the filter type normally used it's position on engine and experiences of others as to which to use and not use for your circumstances. There may be a factory or accessory oil cooler fixing kit that includes connectors and hold clips for the hoses. You do not want the rubber hoses unclipped to be cut or worn through by engine or car movement as you can then have a loss of a lot of oil and oil pressure. Unless you are lugging heavy loads uphill a lot or towing (in an old 1.3 petrol though?) a better solution may be to use a very good quality proper (fully) synthetic oil that will deal with hot and much colder temperatures better and offer wider protection with better margins for longer and continue changing the engine oil & filter at book time or distance whichever is soonest. HTH.

I think you might be confusing VW and particularly VW UP (and Skoda Citigo?) with other manufacturers drums brakes for the amount of servicing and awkward work required, as I put I'm not against rear disc brakes, had them on my cars and they're on my wife's 2015 Mk3 Fabia, I know there are many rear drum brakes that very infrequently get any attention and never serviced regularly once a year. I had to take my mate from Northampton up to Lanarkshire Sherriff's Court in the 80s for him to loose his driving licence there, we went in my Skoda Estelle 2 which I told him I was not going above 50 mph as a wheel bearing had gone very noisy and I was waiting to replace. He was a sales rep so used to travelling at 90mph at least, hence his predicament for being caught by a VASCAR Police patrol car, as they were then, at three figures. Even though we set off in plenty of time he whined about the speed more than the bearing so I relented and had long spells at 60-70 before dropping back to 50. We arrived so early in Lanark that we had to wait for the tea-shop type cafe, IIRC opposite the court, to open, court didn't start until 10 am and then he wasn't first case. He got legal representation from the AA or RAC but he still lost his licence and thus his job. IIRC I travelled back at 70 just to cheer him up.

Revolution counter, Speedometer cable 002409191B seems to be available but at the prices I'm not sure of the quality, I'd stick with factory original. I must admit I thought you were previously referring to the plate clamp. For your MoT and emissions if you service the car before and clean parts not normally included in a service (that's just about everything with Dealership/ garage/mechanic service as they just do an engine oil& filter change) this will help reduce emissions. So too will having the engine well warmed before the start of the MoT. I also suggest two full tank fulls of Tesco Momentum99 or Shell V-Power or similar for their added additional cleaning packages have the petrol so that it's being used before, during and just after the MoT. A couple of years back my over priced over valued old car called a "classic" failed it's MoT on something I forgot to check so I arranged for the retest as I was handed the fail note, when I went back the tester had passed duties over to a younger lad and we both chatted and watched as he checked the bit that had previously failed with the car on the lift. As as we did so a drop of oil fell on the young lads face and we laughed, bad mistake he added oil leak as an advisory. Technically that was incorrect but I let it go, next year I wiped the underside clean of any oil just before taking it in for the MoT. With an old British engine they say if it's not leaking then it means it's run out of oil. 🙂

I didn't say there weren't good reasons and wasn't thinking of you or anyone else in particular and those that do choose discs out of fashion and ego are perfectly entitled to, we all have vanities. I totally agree that life is far too short to be farting about with cars more than necessary, I've wasted far, far too much time and money on cars so know this better than most, I was a very, very slow learner. VW (Skodas at least) don't seem to always have the best quality brakes on their cars but I've never been a fan of VW or believed the very out dated marketing hangover of "German engineering quality", certainly not this century or millennium at least. As I think I put before drum brakes are better for wet and damp generally - but obviously not if you have certain VW Skoda products - I didn't need to clean the rear drum brakes on my previous cars with them every 6 months just once a year as part of a service and I prefer the self adjustment of pads and discs - but again VW Skoda factory discs brakes from factory aren't the best (like their front dampers and suspension bushes). My wife and I have learnt from her mistake of buying a VW product so we won't be repeating it.

Probably pure coincidence that stuff is on the internet and telly researchers, and then later perhaps panic stations for some when they find out about what's on the internet and telly researchers. I think (VW) Skoda UK will be putting in some great distance between this matter and themselves leaving the Dealer to sort it or suffer it, perhaps, if applicable, some appeals for compromise to the Dealer from the Motor Ombudsman or Retail Motor Industry Federation organisations but they'll not work on those that are criminally bad or just plain criminals. It'll be interesting to hear what Skoda UK CEO Matthew Bowden and the Executive Team have to report back to you, do let us know if you can, at least until they don't allow it. After all this time and aggro for you someone collecting the heap of a car and calling it quits doesn't seem like it'd be fair recompense for all you have been put through, but you might just want an end to it to get on with your life as you did before this con sternation started.

Funnily enough I saw this only last week when looking for a link for PlusGas, I'd definitely give it a try as I don't think PlusGas is as good as it used to be but perhaps that's rose-tinted glasses I only went to it when my drip can of Rapideeze finally run out. I use up most of my lubricants doing free work for neighbours and often give them the can I'm using so get down my stock quicker. Just recently with one neighbour that I'm doing some regular "gardening" for (with Chinese motor, and carb, mower that he manages to abuse and neglect when I'm not around) I started using the (second and full) can of GT85 I'd left with him and when it ran out I said he could buy two and give one to me but I bought another three cans and took one over to him to have, Sod's Law he'd bought two cans but they'd not arrived. His, when they turned up, were £12.74 for the two 400ml cans (mine £2.75 each), I've told him countless times not to bother with Amazon, my wife picked mine up at ASDA or somewhere. As I no longer have old over-valued and overpriced cars (called "classics") my needs are reduced but I always believe in letting chemicals do the hard work where you can (and have lost what little muscle I had, but the fat returned) I'll keep an eye out for it because if it saves hassle when farting about on cars it's worth every penny to me, my neighbour who had all the garage tools has now moved away, luckily I never needed the 5' breaker bar, probably best as when he lent me one his longer knuckle-saver spanners to get at something in a tight space I tweak'd up too much and stripped the thread, doh, I would have been mad at myself but I know I'm an idiot and at least I'm cheap to employ (as long as I don't break too much).

To me the most unnerving bit is unclipping or disconnecting any plastic connector and they all seem to vary as to how you do this and don't suit my stubby little sausage fingers and hands and those aged plastic near to heat too add more fear, after that getting at the sensor might be 'fun' but removal and replacement of the sensor is just unscrewing it and screwing it back in (without twisting the wires), easy - that of course is until it isn't. 😆 Thing with doing it yourself is that you can allow yourself all the time and patience you have available to do just this job without time and work pressures to rush/bodge it to get on to other stuff.

Why wait around for recovery, it can take a very long time now, with a manual foot pump reinflate the tyre and drive home or to the nearest suitable pub and phone for recovery from there. Do Not rely on the silly TPMS to tell you if a tyre is below pressure and/or going down, by the time it does you will probably already know, check your tyres with a reliable or at least consistent pressure gauge as regularly as required.

All, every single one, of the cars I've had over 40+ years came with their own sets of alignment tools already on the cars, called wheel studs. 😁 Each to their own but I'd not want a set of various sizes of these alignment tools as I'd never want my wife to get another car that needs them. A couple of common misconceptions mentioned already, that alloy wheels (with tyres) are lighter and that there's a real need for rear disks instead of drums on such cars as standard Fabia's, the rear discs are on often for the same reasons as the oversized wheels and tyres, a matter of fashion and ego. What is often overlooked is that a big contributor to braking is good quality and condition tyres. Discs go rusty through lack of use and/or poorer quality. I hope VW improved the quality of its front dampers and suspension bushes on the MK4 to that on my wife's 2015 Mk3.

Using the correct oxygen sensor socket for that sensor will help and not too much or indirect leverage. My choice of penetrating/releasing agents are PlusGas or better still for this and other general longer lasting lubrication GT85. Obviously you don't want to be drip gravity feeding or spraying any stuff on a warm or hot exhaust (or spilling any 3-In-one oil on a cold exhaust, wow the fumes off that next time you start the engine, guess how I know).

Yes they will both probably be inaccurate by similar amounts. 😁

ETA; The sensor can also be tested on a scan tool or with a multimeter to confirm if it might be at fault. Cheap Chinese sensors are a gamble often and even aftermarket parts can be less than perfect match, personally I would go for a good Japanese make, which it maybe from factory.

Be aware that some people just take an error code from a scan tool as the answer, which sometimes it can be but not always, it may be from where the issue is reported rather than the cause of the issue and replacing the reporting sensor can be shooting the messenger. Also be aware German marques particularly, including our dear VW, have always thought it clever to have very complex, intertwined and involved (and interfering) computer programs so the scan tool has to have specific programs for the VW model and year, this is more so with cheap and/or generic code readers and scan tools. Plus the programs have to be up to date or errors or misinformation can be presented, many scan tool owners and mechanics/technicians, engineers, can be too arrogant and/or lazy to be bothered to update scan tool programs.

I would not fully rely on any free or low-priced phone App but it should give a reasonable general idea of heat differences for general home use, again different surfaces can throw off less reliable readings.

I don't mean a scanner, a scanner is not the only diagnostics tool available and most time not the first diagnostics tool you should use, I meant the "smart" phone (they're not) App(?) that gives thermal imagining and temperatures could be used as a diagnostic tool sometimes, I'm sure there will be some videos of some Americans using this to demonstrate what I mean. I'll wait for winter results, see if 3:47 remains or returns or it extends.

Can't remember the word but IIRC that could give inaccurate readings on what you're bouncing it off. Apparently if you have one of these "smart" phones (they are not) you can put on something that gives thermal images and temperature for low cost, also use as another diagnostic tool sometimes.

It's not rocket science, just "Simply NOT Clever", things are a LOT easier if you get a car designed with these, beneath the German engineers obviously but available from others -

Loads of info on the site about using Erwin, I've never used it. There's something about you can pay 7 euros and have a frenzied download of loads of info on all sorts as long as you have the recording and storage equipment all ready for the flood of info. But I'd guess if you have an account it depends on the type of account what you can get and do. Last independent garage we tok my wife's VW product to for a service balls'd up the entry and said there was no choice in the drop down menu for what had previously been entered by the Dealerships, this garage listed it as IIRC "Inspection" but you know what it's like with garages / mechanics / engineers they can never admit to themselves let alone others when they make a mistake.

Shown - "brake fluid service", (I've no idea about DSG (thank gawd)), "dust and air filter" - cabin filter, "air cleaner element" - engine air filter, "spark plug" -hopefully it means more than singular, and "Recall" - a rare event a VW admitted recall. I don't know if the rip-off, unnecessary (£429) rubber cambelt change is listed as the last "Complete record" my wife got was just before the robbing bastards done so, plus my wife can't stand to be in the place any longer than absolutely necessary and hasn't asked for the print-out of the "Complete record" that I request her to get.

Ask for the "complete record" have it printed out, pay nothing nor offer to, it your VWSkoda car, they are VW Skoda Dealers.