PeteVRS

Nice Yeti!! Having never driven a DSG, what does the + - next to drive mean?

I think it's a gorgeous colour Really suits the Octavia vRS too.

My insurance quotes nearly always go up significantly at renewal time so I just shop around and change, and normally end up paying roughly the same each year. It's madness really, why can't they just give me a decent renewal price as a loyal customer instead of forcing me to change each time? You can also make big impacts on your premium by playing around with the excess, courtesy car, legal protection, no claims protection, etc.

Nice one, I think cost aside the V6 + DSG + 4WD is the ultimate combination of luxury and power. They seem to be quite rare and the few I have seen on autotrader are keeping their prices pretty high

Nice looking VRS. Out of interest what did you think of the Focus - any good?

Now that Twingo looks great - orange wheels and blue body definitely work together.

Don't think the back of it was very white for long looking at the smoke in that clip!

Nice one

Lots of us here have remaps only (ie. standard clutch) and are doing OK but it's always a risk, personally I do wonder in hindsight the point of a remap where I have to be conscious of how I drive, as that seems to defeat the object in many ways. Basically, everyone who comes along to threads like this and tells you that you risk slipping the clutch and the only proper power upgrade is remap+clutch is probably right in the long run I'm afraid I was one of the many people here who got seduced by the quick and easy extra power of a remap although I have to say the Fabia is bearing up OK so far. But I know it's only a matter of time before "clutch says no". I wish there was a guide/thread which spelled out in layman's terms what the upgraded clutch options are, who fits them and how much it costs, the benefits of them, what difference SMF/DMF makes and if you need it, etc. because this is asked so often. Also, does an uprated clutch drive just like the standard one but takes more torque, or is it stiffer? Can you just go down to your local mechanic and he can order the bits and fit them?

Go for it Nick, probably best to try some ideas in Photoshop first though. Green is in keeping with Skoda but maybe not quite bright enough for you, orange could turn heads (and stomachs). I guess it depends on the colour of your paintwork. Have you considered getting some decals/stickers done instead. I was thinking of getting mine stickered up Dukes of Hazard style, but was told a confederate flag would not be considered "politically correct" and when I googled it I could see their point.

I have an Angel Tuning remap too and am pleased with it. Not noticed much in the way of clutch issues yet so hopefully it's one of the more conservative maps. I've never been on a rolling road so would be interested in the results. The best part of the remap for me is the extra grunt in-gear, it was already pretty good but with the remap you just seem to get an extra shove. Overtaking is so much easier/safer/quicker. I hope you'll be pleased with the results long term.

I would recommend 1&1 Internet for domain registration, they're cheap, you can just register domains and nothing else, you can upgrade in time to hosting too, they let you point your domain anywhere (so you can host elsewhere if you want) but most importantly I have transferred quite a number of domains both into and out of 1&1 and they don't hassle you or charge ridiculous termination fees etc. They also handle renewals for you too. Although for my websites I outgrew 1&1's hosting services, I have still kept my domains with them as they're a big company and should be reliable. You will however get a lot of recommendations as we all have our favourites! Essential facilities to look for are...ability to park the domain, redirect and forward the domain (for free), update the domain records (including mail servers and target IP), auto renewal of domain. One difference between business and personal registration is you can hide personal details etc on personal registration but for business registration you cannot normally. Some domains are also unavailable to personal registrants. I don't really think it makes an awful lot of difference these days, less so for a sole trader, might look a little more professional to register in a business name in case anyone looks it up however, and it makes it 101% clear it belongs to you. However you do it, register your domains ASAP and it is WELL WORTH the small extra investment of getting the other domain endings now, before someone gets them later (eg. if you register example.co.uk also get example.com, example.net, example.org etc. It is a sad fact of life that if you don't get them, a competitor might when your business becomes active). Good luck!

Thanks, yes lens is a full frame fish eye (Tokina 10-16mm on a 500D). It's a funny old lens as it has 180 degree diagonal view.

I think the 3008 would be well worth a test drive based on the pretty good reviews it got. Personally having had a Peugeot before I don't think I'd buy another one.

I don't have a convenient bridge/motorway near me for car trails which I'm dying to try so experimented with the old "star trails" long exposure in the garden. This was approx 3 hours exposure but created by taking sequential 30 second exposures and "stacking" them afterwards (so you get a long exposure without the sensor noise and a lot more control over the photo). In the original full size images it also captured lots of planes and satellites. I think this technique might work with cars, but at the risk of breaks in the trails between each shot.

Nice effect!

These car reviews are madness, utter madness Personally I think most modern cars are very good and the technical differences between them are minor. However that would make for very boring reviews, hence we have to read ridiculous reports that contradict each other. It's not just the Yeti, it seems to apply to all cars these days.

I've found it tends to be one extreme or the other, either people just don't realise it's a fairly quick car, I mean it looks pretty anonymous, or some take exception to being passed, but I'm not sure these days whether this is because "it's a skoda" because it is so well know they're from the VAG group. For example when I bought my vRS a few years ago I got the Skoda jokes, now I rarely hear that, it's "Oh they're supposed to be really good these days, Golf or Audi parts and cheaper". I do feel a lot safer in my vRS than I would in a Focus RS or other blingy "RACE ME" car. It's really important not to add to the problems by retaliating on the road, you're playing with your lives and others. I've no doubt this same thread is being played out on other car forums each one slagging off a different brand. I have to say I have had equally bad experiences with other Skoda drivers on the road as any other make!

Interesting post, I test drove a WRX and WRXS a little while ago (when I decided I wanted AWD) and they're great on country roads especially in the wet, but for everyday driving and overtaking I didn't really think there was much difference in-gear (mine's been remapped) between the Scooby and Fabia. Of course the Scooby would leave it standing in many other areas. As you said, the costs are much higher, when I looked into tax, insurance, MPG, I was much less enthusiastic. Shame, I thought they were nice cars, particularly the new shape WRXS in blue, but I was not really blown away by the performance and I felt I should have been.

Mine has always been a little smokey, I thought this was characteristic of this type of car rather than a problem. However, it does come and go so I guess it depends on where I fill up. Have you changed garages for your diesel?

Roof looks brilliant!! Wing mirrors OK but not the filler cap :yes:

Excellent shots - some HDR stuff I have seen looks quite false (intentionally) but it works well here especially the forest path where it's used to make the photo look "better" rather than "HDR" if that makes sense?

Nice photos, I never tire of seeing long exposure night shots like this. I like the last one the most as the sky has more interest in it

Good luck - do post a quick test report on your Leon here because we're always interested to know how the alternatives drive etc

It's a good question this, I'm the same in that I feel the vRS is getting on a bit and seems to be losing it's edge on the road as ever improving hot hatches and newer diesels come out, even with a remap it's surprising what "ordinary" motors can keep up. So I have been looking for something with more poke, the problem is you test drive something fairly quick then get into the Fabia and it's not that much slower, costs peanuts to run, tax and insure and won't require a silly loan to buy. One car that did tempt me was the Fiat Bravo 165, it has 165bhp/360nm standard and I think it looks a nice motor, but some cracking deals at the main dealer a little while ago with something like £4k off list price. In the end though, similar smallish space inside as the Fabia. I also like the new Megane Coupes, I think they look great and they have a couple of really fast ones. It's a tough one - think I may defect to petrol (due to low mileage) when I do change. In my case I want 4WD, lots of space, and something quick and it doesn't cost much - don't want much then! - must test drive a 1.8tsi Yeti.