nta16

Yeah I'm exactly like that too. Even just using the top coat "varnish" it looks like a 5-year old has been using a glue-gun. The door mirrors are fantastic plastic anyway so it's only about show to those that want to look at such things, and a layer of dust or dirt hides such things. As long as metal isn't exposed to rust and something's filling and sealing any gap in "paint" all can be sorted later if it really must. Look on the bright side, the door mirror might get broken off before then. 😁

@Stonekeeper IIRC, which is always hit 'n' miss, way, way back the Beemers abroad, possibly Germany, had it to change at 3 mm, possibly to feel more like the Porkies, remember when they used to de-badge the Beemer 1.6s and the telly program A-B was on (first I remember in widescreen, on 4:9, and the reps wanted an 'i' on the boot badge. I remember the 1 mm but not that it was so recent (to me) to change to "1.6 mm over . . .". A number of years back I had a ride in a 3-wheeler Grinnall Scorpion (1l Beemer bike engine) single wheel (wide for the time) at rear and, after the ride, I noticed how low the tread looked and mention this to the owner/driver to be informed for the vehicle 1 mm was allowed.

Having had old cars from my earliest driving days I've experienced having to use the gears and handbrake to help with braking on occasions never the less having a pedal go straight down unexpectedly is startling, even clutch or accelerator let alone brake pedal! For panel lights you may already do this but I'm in the habit of checking all the warning lights that should come on do when turning the ignition on, I never just put the key in and start the engine, then when the engine has started quick check that gauges are showing what I would expect and no warning light on that should not be. Of course a light being intermittent or coming on and off when it should not just about rules out its use if it is giving a false report. Do not put off checking the dash lights as it may be something trivial and easy fix or might be the start of more troubles or serious stuff. Personally anything electrical like that I start at the battery terminal post clamp connections (and main earths) and go forward from there, but you might start at the dash and go back. Sod's Law which ever end you start at the problem will be at or nearer the other end unless you are lucky. Good luck.

Again part worn is about more than tread depth, sidewalls can literally be given a good bashing by some drivers with potholes and kerbs, use, abuse and possibly neglect. On a car that does higher milage and much more frequent tyre changes they may work out good value or even perhaps put on a car that gets little use and mileage but it's all a gamble, to a lesser extent bit like buying a used car, yes they are (should be) checked to meet a minimum standard and some may exceed the standard by more and lot more than others, possibly good cost savings, possibly not so good. Not so long back we replaced two tyres I'd had fitted new after three years (23k-miles) because they were cracked radially all the way round on the inside face out of sight, plenty of tread depth on them.

You are finding a range of 10w-50, look at all aspects each oil offers and perhaps compare with the oils that you have used and liked and those you disliked and thoroughly disliked.

If you shop around you can sometimes get some good offers, particularly if stock has to be shifted for the latest models and fashions of tyres. A lot of tyre fitting places might suggest you go on-line even on their own websites to order the tyres from them to be fitted by them but for lower price - such is the world now. Many tyre retailers happily offer mobile services, bricks and motor shops cost a lot to run and rely on customers to come to them which is often no one when it's quiet trading times and too many to cope with at busy trading times. Careful not to be sold extras that aren't really needed or can do much. Like wheel alignment often but not always, a free check can be useful to review and consider later or if there is very uneven tyre wear on old tyres or damage and/or lots of wear on the suspension and steering, since the MoT. Low usage of the car year round but then periods of more intense use (as happens sometimes with "classics") is often a recipe for more issues and incidences during those periods (breakdown, running repairs and recovery often with those "classics"). Good luck.

@D.FYLAKTOS I can't remember, I think you have access to Red Line and Amsoil products have you contacted them to see what they recommend for you, if not why not give them a go.

At least the Viscosity Index (VI) is shown as DIN ISO and not just DIN. As I put before I would not give too much weight (regard) to VI numbers, the other information is shown already.

Hi, welcome. You will probably be better looking in and/or asking in this site's 'Fabia Projects' and 'Performance & Tuning Upgrades' forums, hyperlinks at bottom of this post. Here's an answer you might not want and ignore - if the gearbox is anything like the (5-speed manual) gearbox fitted in my wife's 2015 MK3 Fabia and Ford saloon box fitted in my old "sportscar" a quickshift is a waste of time for performance unless the box has been uprated, modified or built for fast road use as you'll just beat the slow synchros, particularly on the old clunky saloon (hatch/combi) VBW box. And you're not short of cabin room either. Good luck regardless. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/205-fabia-projects/ https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/212-performance-tuning-upgrades/

There are good and not so good tyres in even the better brands and their models of tyres. Personally I wouldn't go for tyres in the group shown as "Budget Tyres" on the following page at all and the ones in the group shown as "Economy Tyres" on the same page may be alright, or some of them, but I would avoid them too. I would look at the group shown as "Mid Range Tyres" and above. Take the reviews with a pinch of salt unless the review is for a car that's the same make, model, year and driven like your dad's will. Example list of groups. - https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/ I would suggest fitting a set of four new tyres if possible. As was put on my elderly neighbour's car that I used to drive round the block a number of times then 3 weeks later take it on a 15-mile journey and 3 weeks later drive round the block a number of times, and so on, just to keep things moving on the car including the tyres When my neighbour decided he wanted four new tyres I arranged and took the car for a set of four Kumho Ecowing tyres (forget the model number) and the car was better riding, braking and road noise after. If you mean your dad's 2011 Vredesteins are with about 2.6mm tread then that's fine, as far as it goes, for tread depth, and no cracks is great but how hard is the 13+ year-old "rubber" that it might be (greatly) reduced performance for handling and braking. Your dad's car might very easily be provoked into being tailhappy no matter how little power it has and at low speeds. As the Vredesteins have lasted 13+ years without cracking that might well be another brand to consider. Only larger, deeper cracks and holes on just the section of tyre shown in your photo. -

Have you got the ignition on or the engine running? Have you read your car's Owner's Manual? Have you got any aftermarket things fitted on the car (alarms, wotever)? Did you sort out the other issues on the car (I forget what they were)? If you don't have the paper printed copy of the Owner's Manual for your car then you can get a free VWŠKoda download of a pdf from the following VWŠkoda site. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models HTH.

Tyres are a very important and generally unrated complex component, an important part of brakes, steering and suspension systems (much more important than the engine). It can depend on the tyres initial storage before fitting, then use and storage when on car as to how they age but in that photo that tyre at that point doesn't look good generally to me - but I'm not an expert in anything, just have decades of experience of owning and driving cars daily on our roads, some 20-50 years old, and of other "classic" (over-valued, over-priced old) cars and their owners, some who should have known better and some new to "classics". Below an example of old (27 years at the time) tyres that looked very, very good or excellent (I forget) and had lots of tread depth on them, the owner (MR R G Everitt) long ago put photos up as advice and warning for other "classic" car owners and allowed me to do so too. Of course your dad's tyres might be fine (????? ! ?????) and they might go on so for a good while yet - but- if you're cleaning his car for him you might value him over any inheritance and prefer to see new fresh tyres fitted. All the people that responded after changing to new tyres agreed that they wished they had done so sooner.

Millers Oils you may remember is a favourite of mine, I used to use 15w-50 and 20w-50 Motorsport Classic High Performance oils (under presentations) in the MG Midget and currently use EE Performance Engine Oil C3 5w30 in my wife's Fabia, not that the car deserves anything special (other than a lump-hammer). The viscosity of 20.0 at 100°C would be nearer the top than bottom of the 50 weight range so more margin in that respect from dropping into 40 weight range. How much that would suit you and your various exacting summer needs is a different matter, possibly you might prefer the engine noise from it but who knows if it might go a slight notch or partial notch into the less desirable parameters you set and possibly read from your dash gauges. I stopped spending lots of money on buying hi-fi equipment when I finally realised I was listening far too much to the equipment and nowhere near enough to the music. Now I have no hi-fi what so ever and am more than happy listen to music on mostly any equipment that everyone else has lo-fi or hi-fi or expensive hi-fi. You can't beat the most limiting factors, in your case it's your car and you.

Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 10W-50 Ester Fully Synthetic Engine Oil Kinematic Viscosity at 100ºC - 18.17 mm2 Kinematic Viscosity at 40ºC - 116.5 mm2 TotalEnergies QUARTZ RACING 10W-50 Kinematic viscosity at 100°C - 19.8 - - - Kinematic viscosity at 40°C - 127.5 - - - RAVENOL HVE High Viscosity Ester Oil SAE 10W-50 Viscosity at 100 °C - 17.15 mm²/s (DIN 51562-1) Viscosity at 40 °C - 115.0 mm²/s (DIN 51562-1) Above, just figures that give some limited comparison information of the oils when fresh and unused. If you add to this list the name and figures of the oil you are currently happily using it will give some limited idea of of these figures as a comparison.

Tyres are often about fashion and marketing/sales so an older tyre can be better than the ones that come after or replace it - but other side is newer tyre can be better. You'll ned to research hs51 against hs52 for your make, model and year of car for the sort of conditions and use you will put them to or want to drive to on occasion perhaps. All tyre manufacturers will have some models of their tyres that are better or not so good to others in their brands and ranges, and ones that suit your needs and wants more and less. Let us know how you get on and what you decide. You normally can't really compare a fresh tyre against a used tyre because of the wear difference and getting used to the differences, and driving, both in same or similar conditions, which takes at least many months or year-round or longer depending on if your driving use and conditions change. In the late 1980s when I had my third (non-VW) Škoda I went from a set early Eagle F1s to a set of less expensive harder wearing tyres the chap that fitted them advised me to take it easy on the new tyres even after I'd run the tyres in as the new ones wouldn't perform as well as my F1s with wear on them, he was very right.

Be careful on this as some VI figures can be a bit wooly not all follow the German DIN or ISO and then I don't know how useful this figure and standard really is for what it measures, perhaps or technical expert can say.

No you are incorrect in that I was not refereeing to the composition but was refereeing to comparing viscosity with previous oils figures in this thread which were gained from TDSs and web pages. (I forgot VI and will go back to that now.)

I've also found a "mid-range" tyre(s) that cracked badly well within a normal lifespan and use of other tyres on that car and other cars we've owned. A neighbour had a couple of obscure Chinese tyre brand tyres that didn't last as long as most other tyres before they were badly cracked between the the treads. I couldn't find any trace of one of the names on the internet but then there are so many Chinese tyre manufacturers and some names come and go so quickly. That is not to say all Chinese tyres should be dismissed.

Depends on the warranty you had but it might not have been covered anyway (not sure if that might make you feel better or worse). I don't know if you picked up there are two "repair kits" IIRC one has black plastic bit and other white and different part numbers, you will have to check and confirm details for your car, there are lots of posts on this subject as you say. On a search of Briskoda posts here I found TPI 2060686/3, see if you print off copies of below and place them in the various hands of the service desk staff, manager, technician/mechanic, garage manager, garage principal it might help them to go and look on their various databases that will tell them of this issue VWŠkoda Dealership/garage or not. Perhaps they have never heard of "dieselgate" or garages mis-selling financial products, well (perversely) trained by VW and/or others - or are true innocents in this world, ahh, bless their cotton socks. HTH. 2060686.3 - Fault Workshop! Leave vehicle only in position P.pdf

I was wondering what a comforser was not thinking it was a brand of tyre. It's from Shandong New Continent Tyre Co Ltd, one of their brands, Comforser. Perhaps they are yet to fully learn about UK roads and weather. Budget is just a marketing term and used by some as a category the name and description doesn't necessarily relate to to good or not quality and value in itself, same as any other name to groups or categories but personally I wouldn't use any tyres the 'Tyre Reviews' website calls budget but I could be doing some or all a disservice and they are fine, for gloried shopping trolley car use that are driven sedately around towns and villages on short journeys. The tyre labels last I heard are the tyre manufacturers marking their own work and anyway measurements at only certain points can allow for design and build to look god at that point which is fine but may not apply too much to other points over a range, and then there can be fiddling by the manufacturer to look good at that point (some VW owners might recognise this practice).

Yes but that is for warm and hot running engine you are also concerned about MPG in the cold of winter and presumably don't want to be changing oil for the cold weather (winter) and hot weather (summer) like many decades back. With figures and comparisons you do have to compare apples with apples, the figures need to use the same perimeters of testing to get the results (API / ACEA, ASTM) and bear in mind any figures relate to fresh oil not used in your engine for x-miles. Better oils will offer greater margins for longer and remain nearer their fresh figures for longer. Unless you can find results for how long this might be you can't really know and have to go on your common sense and experience and be timely with your oil changes. But much engine wear is just about the journeys you make where the engine doesn't warm enough for long enough to fully protect the engine. So it's not just about how quickly the engine warms from cold start but that the engine warms fully. Part seconds and seconds at lower oil pressure, as long as the this goes to normal after, are less important than the many minutes (and accumulated many hours) the engine is below this or never achieve it on journeys. Old engines have proven potential to run for hundreds of thousands of kilometres with just usual and timely servicing and maintenance on "standard" engine oils.

With tyre reviews they do need to be for the current model and exact model of tyre and relate to the same vehicle and style of driving and then of course are still subjective to some extent at least. Mr Muscles himself when reviewing and doing tyre tests, on the few videos I've seen, uses a BMW on track(s) which doesn't always compare well with everyday driving on our 3rd-world roads.

Are you a chemist or fire-safety expert then, normally you compare with technical rather than safety data sheets. Following is link to the technical data sheet and pdf (2-pages), note what is on the webpage for the oil "All indicated data are approximate values and are subject to the commercial fluctuations." - https://www.ravenol.de/storage/app/media/product-pdf/Tds_1115101_en.pdf Tds_1115101_en.pdf

Depending on how viscous the oil is and subject to it being suitable and applicable to your engine and use of engine a good oil in 10w-50, 15w-50 or 20w-50 would be suitable. You seem to have milder winters and hot summers where you are than where I am and for more old British cars I used 15w-50 or 20-50, yet with the same engine in the Midget (without oil cooler) the current owner uses 10w-40 and he knows about engines. Just use a good appropriate oil.

I'm going to vary slightly, I normally got to 3mm and summer light rain can make roads greasy so not thinking of tread depth now but caution when drying when it's wetter the stuff on the road surfaces can be washed away more, so swings and roundabouts. I've just replied in Fabia Mk3 so won't repeat here - but I had forgot what number Pilot Sport are on but the PS3 appear to still be available - but of course as with anything you do need to check and cross reference to confirm accuracy or amount of accuracy of any info.