OccyVRS

Any updates with this? MQB Track Cars is a decent group on FB, but less vRS and more GTI orientated. There are many FB vRS groups, but they're all a bit disjointed. They're alright for simple(r) questions but it can be a bit hit and miss with everything else. I'm looking to keep tracking my car a few times this year! I'm South East England based, if there's anyone round there that might want to do some laps?

It's up to you. At 4mm you are at the point where performance in the wet is starting to degrade. Equally though, we are approaching summer. I would either do four new tyres and call it a day until you hand the car back, or put fresh rubber on the rear, and swap the rear tyres onto the front. You should probably expect to replace them towards winter time, depending on how often you drive.

They are definitely overdue then. How are the rears looking?

+1 for a bridge camera. They're very versatile and while they are maybe 'jack of all trades, master of none' they perform perfectly well in all trades! The Canon PowerShot series are quite popular, along with the Nikon Coolpix line. My first camera was an SX70HS. What sort of thing are you looking to take photos of? Both the PowerShot and Coolpix line are known for their superzoom capability. If this isn't something you need, then that opens up our options somewhat. Have a look on the London Camera Exchange website here. Secondhand gear is a great way of getting some nice equipment for less.

Very nice shots, Lee! I'm an aviation fan myself🙂

Not necessarily! The general rule of thumb is that you need to have the same type of tyres, with roughly the same wear, across the axles. In other words, you can have brand new Michelins on the front and year old Continentals on the back, with no issue. It's a common misconception that a FWD needs the newer/better tyres on the front wheels. This means that if/when you lose grip, you lose it at the rear, leading to oversteer. This is when the rear of the car kicks out, and is much harder to correct than understeer, which is when the front of the car loses grip. TLDR - get the new rubber fitted to the back. It's also a misconception that lower tread on tyres reduces grip. This is only true in wet - in the dry, the more worn down the blocks (tread) are, the more grip! Usually, the front tyres wear out faster than the rear, due to these being the driving/steering wheels that have more weight on them than the rear. The only reason you need to change a tyre is because it is wearing down, or it is cracking/in poor condition. The garage should be able to tell you how much tread you have left, and you can check the shoulder/sidewall of the tyre for any cracks yourself. I'm sure if you put some photos up here, people would be able to tell you :)

For those also finding this post at some point in the future, a non functioning rear washer is usually due to - 1) Faulty washer motor/pump (can you hear it?) 2) Blocked nozzle (remove the nozzle, just pull up - does water come out? If so then unblock nozzle with a pin, stick it in some hot water or vinegar, or just replace it) 3) Blocked pipe (this is a bit harder to rectify, as in theory it can be anywhere in the system. It is likely at the end, so do as above, however if still blocked you'll need to get it looked at) It's a very common issue on all of these cars, has been for a while and likely will be for a few years yet.

PS3 is quite outdated now. Something like the PS5 offers more grip, from a firmer compound that lasts longer. That said, whilst I haven't looked, I highly doubt Michelin make the PS4/5 in 16 inch - which tells you all you need to know! There's a big difference between a UHP (ultra high performance) summer tyre and a ditch finder. You really don't need anything special for your car, IMHO. I would suggest something all seasons-y from Falken, Hankook, Yoko or Toyo. Stuff from other brands will be expensive - 215s are less common and generally quite pricey.

Yep! I've no experience with Nextbase, but I don't doubt they'll do a good job. Somewhere like this might also be worth looking at - I've heard good things.

From what I understand, tuning the engines wasn't the issue - it just put more strain on sometimes flawed components that were already weak. HIPERFLO is some serious stuff, proper race juice.

@Ootohere ah, but when they went into ACT mode, the twincharged engines made sure to log plenty of codes! Although that said, if it was a pre-2012 then you didn't necessarily need to read the codes - the pistons falling to pieces usually gave an audible notification - and it wasn't just Revo that noticed 😂

If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen! At least, that’s the one where she doesn’t drop the keys down the drain

Surely though, if the misfire was mild enough to not log a fault code, it would be just the EPC light and not limp mode? EPC doesn't always equal limp home (although it does most of the time).

That sounds like every main dealer I've ever encountered - including the one that sold me a crash damaged car. I'm planning a move to York - not that I'd want to use a main dealer, but good to know that particular one is especially useless. Let us know how you get on with it - they look very sharp, and hopefully drive the same as the previous Leon FR did. For the price, it sounds like a VZ3 - really nicely specced cars. I had a 2024 Leon as a dealer courtesy car (54 miles on it), but was quite disappointed with it compared to my old Leon. It drove perfectly well, was smooth, looked good and was a nice place to be, but just wasn't the same. Then again, that's most new cars!

Haha - I meant out of the two mirror's I've removed, one smashed and one didn't! It should have a little spring clip holding it onto then motor, so you might need to be a bit sharp/deliberate with the trim tool. IIRC I just used my fingers and popped it out.

Yes, that is a good deal. I got about 30% off my Octavia, but that's another story! The boot should be the same size as an Octavia, and it should drive a bit better than the Superb (for the engine size, etc). Definitely drive it before committing to anything - but yes, the Leon's drive very nicely for the class of car they are. Is this deal with the same dealer as the Superb or a separate one?

+1 for this. If you're in limp mode, or have been, there will definitely be at least one DTC logged. Some codes go away by themselves (e.g. alarm activation stage 1), but codes logged into the ECU shouldn't, until cleared. I read misfire codes on my previous car from six years before I bought it. BTW, if you clear a DTC without rectifying a fault, this can sometimes cause a problem to 'go away'. The car will see the problem reading as the new baseline, meaning everything is fine in its world. Unlikely in this case, but just be careful clearing things if your reader doesn't have a history feature (like OBD11, etc).

Why are you removing it? I only ask as if it's to remove the mirror cap, you can just about do it with the mirror in it's lowest position. Aside from that, just be gentle when popping it out and hope for the best. I'm currently 1 for 2 on unsmashed mirror glass removal.

You'll be fine to do it now. I've been running PS5 all winter, and it's almost time to pick up some Yoko Adan's for track season!

Yes, as mentioned, you get whacked if the brand new, full list price of the car is over the threshold. Quite how VW can charge over £40k for a Passat I don't know (although a new Touareg R is mid £90k!!!). I can't comment on the new Cupra brand, but I've loved previous Leon's and Ibiza's. Cupra Leon Estate is a fair bit smaller on a Superb, mind, and it is still a reasonably large car for a 1.5.

Carista and OBD11 are much the same, except the latter is a bit better. I love mine, but I only really use it for reading the car. I've used it on previous non-ODIS cars to long code and use the apps, and it works a treat. Re remapping - I'm always wary of stuff like the RaceChip tuning boxes, let alone adaptations made through ODB11. My Octavia is a custom tune by a man with a laptop and a dyno - I couldn't recommend anything else, no matter if it's an RS6 or 1.0 Polo. It gives you the option to not only have the tune done for your engine, but also offer things like capping torque, etc. Do be aware too of the limitations of your gearbox. A remap, of most sorts, can/will bring the torque in a bit sooner - however it will also increase the peak torque (unless it's capped by a custom tuner). The box in your car is an MQ200 I believe, which has a max torque rating of 250nm (which your engine already produces). There are lots of posts on EA211 groups about the clutches going on cars with more than this. The EA211/EA211 EVO has always had issues. I had the 150ps 1.4 variant in my Leon FR and absolutely loved it - fantastic little engine, felt much larger than it was. I had a 2022 1.5 Golf as a courtesy car, and couldn't believe how rubbish the engine was, despite being 'so similar'. I bought my Octavia because of how nice the DQ200 in an Ibiza FR I had for a few weeks, and couldn't believe how terrible the same gearbox was in 2024 Leon/Arona courtesy cars. I don't remember the Golf being as bad as your Karoq, but then again it was a courtesy car - I pretty much got in, put my foot on the floor and left it there. Anyway...

What's next? I've heard good things about the 2024 Passat...

I don't think I have a use for it to be honest and I'd rather keep things simple. Certainly, I don't have any features to preheat, or any charging to monitor. I looked very hard at a Mk4 vRS, and then went and got the newest Mk3.5 I could. Yes, the interior was nicer on the newer model, but I wanted the most 'analog' car I could get, whilst still having a digi dash, ACC, etc. Part of the reason I didn't get the newer car was I didn't want to mess around with any connectivity features or have a locked gateway. Turns out my car has both, but oh well! It's a very late Mk3 FL, with some nice options (but folding wing mirrors...) so that might explain why it has it. As long as pressing the information button, and getting the 'service unavailable contact your dealer' means I didn't activate it, I'm happy! Perhaps a bit unusual for someone my age to not want tech, but if I could get a manual B7 RS4, I would. Hold the line... there's a reason I don't want that feature anywhere near me😂

It’s a shame because the service could be absolutely brilliant, with 95% of most peoples car needs being sourced, fixed or fitted by Halfords. Of course, you will find that some places do a good job and have proper staff! It’s just that most of them don’t, and it’s too late by the time you find your bloke is 17/isn't trained/doesn’t care.

Ah yes, I had the option to order the service for free, for 5 years. I stopped before clicking order/putting the code in the car. As my information button still doesn’t do anything (I get a voice telling me it’s not available and to contact my dealer), I can assume my service still isn’t activated? I’m still keen to try and establish for definite I didn’t active it (I did nothing in the car, only on the app). Excuse me for being daft - I know all new cars have these features and services, but I assumed my five year old Octavia was a bit old for it all! I know about the SOS button calling a VW emergency centre, but I presumed this went through a phone (or perhaps didn’t think about it enough) - not ran off a separate SIM in the car. I’d be keen to try it, but I do not want any sort of remote locking. I don’t trust the app, or my fingers, to not do it by mistake.