Bodge

You can get genuine OE bushes from GSF and ECP at half the price that the dealer charges. OEM for the standard Mk1 Octy RS bush (plastic outer casing, 71.4mm OD) is ZF Lemforder. OEM for the standard Audi A3 bush (steel outer casing, 69mm OD) is Boge. The different types of bush fit in the same rear beam. I changed some on an A3 a few weeks back. Getting the new bushes in was easy. Getting enough room to work and getting the old bushes out was a complete pain in the rectum. I've got all the proper tools to do the job too. Special hydraulic press and adapters to get them out and proper insertion tool. The steel bushes really get stuck in there! I'm expecting my car to be easy after the Audi. Might be an opportunity to rent out all the special tooling I have if there's demand.....

Should be identical as it's the same part number. It's a VR6 clutch kit. The VR6 Golf/Corrado used the same family of gearbox as the Mk1 RS, hence the release bearing is common and the whole reason behind using the VR6 clutch kit. If it was different you should be concerned!

Best solution is to remove the heatshield. The fasteners will have corroded to pieces, so the other option is to weld it on, but not really worth the effort. My cat heatshield went in the bin years ago.

Fastest I've recorded mine at was 150mph on the speedo, which was saved as 146mph on my satnav. It's still saved in there as a top speed trophy. It still had some balls left at 150mph too, but I ran out of balls! Passing trucks doing a 1/3 of your speed does not feel normal. Cruising at 130mph feels like nothing though. Stable, quiet and smooth. Skoda made a fast skip!

Sounds like a silly sweeping comment from the Revo man. Simple response is just to not use them. Tell him that his software is based on stolen APR software and his 1.8T remap is old hat! If your engine is fit and healthy, there's no reason why you shouldn't map it, regardless of mileage. My car's on 145,000 miles and I've had a Shark map on it for over 3 years now. The engine hasn't exploded! It's only a Stage 1 anyway, so it's not exactly pushing the boundaries.

What's going on! Why does everyone keep saying my name? I heard Jimmy Savile used wheel spacers. Just saying..........

One of your coil packs is noticeably different to the others, which probably indicates that the car hasn't been through the recent Skoda recall. Most of us have had 4 new coilpacks fitted FOC from Skoda, so it's worth dropping into your local dealership. Other than that, I'd put the standard DV, airbox and filter back in. Plus get the engine cover back on to help keep the crap off the rocker cover (the cooling voids around the coil packs can fill up with all sorts). I use this to scrub the engine http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_191162_langId_-1_categoryId_255223 Washes off with water

This is what I've used: http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/hardware/ironmongery/castors___floor_protection/-specificproducttype-castor_cups/B-and-Q-Rubber-Slip-On-Tubular-Furniture-Tips-9370524?skuId=9671229 Fits perfectly and they're black so they blend in. You just need to separate the plastic flexi pipe from the 90deg connector (twist and tug) and push this over the open end in place of the pipe. Then just clip your little stubby assembly back onto the side of the airbox. Sorted! Champagne cork also fits...... http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/246865-ribbed-for-your-skodas-pleasure/

I'd say you have that the wrong way around. A blow-out on the rear of a FWD car isn't that dramatic, but a blow-out on the front is scary as hell (steering and braking is severely effected). I understand the theory behind putting new tyres on the back to reduce over-steer, but personally I'd prefer to have better front end grip (better braking performance, better traction while accelerating, more responsive steering etc).

Took a video of my old DMF once removed to show how much play it had: Radially there was some loose movement and movement with resistance, seen at the end of the clip.

Yeah heated washer nozzles were part of the cold weather optional package I believe. You should be able to buy the bits from Skoda.

If you want to adjust the boost you should do it via a remap. Unplugging the N75 and using a manual boost controller will probably cause the engine to go into limp mode as the requested and measured pressure levels wont match up. I'd imagine the engine would have a fit, unless you had specially mapped it for a manual controller. I don't see the point in a manual controller anyway. Either the boost level is safe or it's not. My mate had a stupid little boost controller on his EvoVI and he never used it for this reason. You never want it to overboost and you never want it to be gutless, so you set it at a sensible level and leave it there. You can obviously avoid going to maximum boost yourself, using your foot.

What about sending it back if it clearly doesn't fit properly? Most of the overpriced aftermarket crap doesn't fit properly and it really winds me up. You pay through the nose for a supposed uprated part, but it's clearly not been designed properly. Sorry I'm no help, but this sort of thing really grinds my gears!

Easiest way to deactivate the system is to just pull out the relay for the circuit. It's in the relay box on the bulkhead, by the battery. That safely switches it all off, but you will get a CEL after a day or so. To permanently stop the CEL coming on, you need to have the system mapped out by a tuner (I used Shark). You can then either leave all the hardware in place, or remove it at your leisure. I've completely removed everything SAI related now. I have loose connectors left for the pump and N112 (no resistors needed), so have just tucked them away neatly. The circuit is broken by removing the relay, so there's no risk of electrical issues in case you're worried. You'll need a blanking plate for the head, a plug for the air box outlet and a short piece of vacuum hose (to neatly bypass the N112 and keep the N249 running as it should). The extra space in the engine bay is glorious after you've removed it all! If you end up fixing your pump instead, I have 3 brand new rubber pump mounts if you need some...

Nice, I need to change one of mine before my next MOT. How much was the new track rod roughly? Don't suppose you remember the sizes of spanners required to hold the rack and to turn off the rod? I know you said 34mm for the rod, but what about when you held the rack? Skoda workshop manual suggests the job is impossible unless you remove the entire steering gear, you obviously found otherwise! My old rod ends are fine too, it's the inner joint on the rod that's got play in it.

I diagnosed this same issue on my mates Mk4 GT TDi recently. He jumped to the conclusion that it was the slave cylinder and went off ready to pay someone to remove the gearbox (slave cylinder is integrated into the release bearing on the 02M)! Luckily I pointed out that it was just the pipe/union leaking. Must be a fairly common issue then. Suppose it's pretty easy to disturb if you're down in that area. Is there not an option to cut back the damaged pipe end 10mm and then re-flare it and refit? Probably not enough room......

Mmmmm very tasty. Absolute bargain. Could you sell them to a shop/tuner, if you know what I mean! They'd probably shift them on and make a profit.

Yep sure sounds like it. Only question to ask would be where the flywheel came from. Did they make it themselves or is a genuine item from VW. Genuine finished flywheel that you would order has part number 028 105 269 BX (visible on a label or packaging only). The casting part number is 037 105 273 C (which is what you'll see on the actual flywheel casting). It should weigh around 9.44kg (mine did). That's great value anyway. I bought all my parts separately from Skoda and GSF and it cost me £178.

I've totally removed the following from mine: -Suction spray pump system -SAI system I finally got around to removing the N112 and all associated vacuum pipework on Saturday, finishing off the total SAI system removal. It's made a huge difference to space in the bay and no more horrible noises and rough running on startup (pump was shagged). I got the whole system removed from the map by Shark first. Then proceeded to remove the pump and bracket first. It then took me some months to get around to removing the combi valve and fitting a blanking plate to the head. Now I've finally removed the last part which is the N112 vacuum control valve. I'm still running the dynamic DV control system (N249 and vac reservoir) though, which a lot of people also remove. The standard hoses will always be a far better fit so go with them where you can, apart from on the breather system, where fluorosilicone lasts much longer.

LUK is the OEM. When I had my factory fitted DMF and clutch kit removed it had LUK stamped all over it. I then had an LUK VR6 clutch kit fitted in its place. That was 37,000 miles ago and I've never had an issue, even with the 354Nm of torque the engine's now pumping out!

My mothers base spec '02 A3 has one of those! Runs a radio/cassette headunit. How you planning to wire it in?

Cheers for the tip. I'll stick with BWA's then. Is the engine code as easy to find as it is on the 20vT?

Sorry, should have clarified! I'm asking because I'm looking at buying a Mk5 GTi. I don't think the Octy ever had the AXX. Just thought that there may be some TFSI boffs about here that would know the differences.

Not turned up an definitive answers through search or Google, so I'll float this one out there! A normal Mk5 Golf GTi TFSI (EA113 engine) appears to change engine codes part way through production. Early cars having the AXX and later the BWA. Not sure if this was the same story for the pre-facelift Mk2 Octavia. As far as I'm aware only the BWA was used in the Octavia. Are there any differences between the two codes that would make one more desirable than the other? The only differences that seem to be rumoured are different ECU's, different piston designs and compression ratios. Any of this true? I'm sure there are some TFSI geeks around here that can help........ On a side note, Briskoda is by far the best car forum out there. Trawling through endless VW specific forums and threads has really highlighted how good we have it over at Briskoda!

Best colour. The best and only modification you should do is a Stage 1 remap from Shark. Other than that I'd leave it totally standard. Enjoy!