Big Sheep

Something is not right here. Are you sure all the figures you have quoted are correct? NB. Density of engine oil 856 kg/m3 or 856 grams/litre sounds about right

My dealer did not ask for a fee for the consumption test. I received free oil (they reinbursed me for all the oil I purchased) from the moment I first raised concern over high consumption. They washed my car every time it went in and always provide a courtesy car. The dealership was fantastic throughout. They undertook the oil breather modification without needing an oil consumption test. The consumption test was carried out prior to engine replacement.

I agree with much of what has been said above. Don't leave the car sat on the drive idling before setting off (I know this is tempting on icy mornings). Drive normally and don't push it until oil temp is at least up to 50 degrees. Don't be concerned about red lining once the car is warm (oil temp 80 degree plus). No need to sit for two minutes letting the turbo spool down unless you have just come off the motorway and stopped. I do however keep the rev's down to about 2k or so for the last three minutes (approx.) before arriving at my destination, particularly if I have been driving 'enthusiastically'. As for running in a new engine, either drive normally or if anything work the engine hard in my opinion. I think gentle running in can do more harm than good and may not help with future oil consumption. But don't necessarily believe in what you read in forums!!!

Swapped plugs today (as a precaution) after 10k miles on replacement engine. It is possible that my original plugs were reused on the replacement engine, in which case they've done 25k miles. The VW NGK plugs that came out all looked OK, but if anything showing slightly rich running (light brown deposits around electrodes, remaining areas black soot). Fitted NGK BKR7EIX gapped as supplied (0.7 to 0.75 mm). Ran fine on test run and nice smooth idle.

Are NGK BKR7EIX (2667) Iridium plugs a good choice for the 1.4 TSI CAVE engine in standard tune?

Exactly right and the same as my experience. I think this is very important to note for anyone undergoing a consumption test.

Result !!!! Those that don't ask don't get (although it may take several attempts). A lesson for us all.

Hi Brian, Welcome onboard. The relatively small number of us in the country who own a Fabia vRS know that we have a car almost unparalled by anything else for the same money. It's great for stress free commuting and can be surprisingly economical when not pushed. However I find it very difficult not to drive in a spirited manner whenever I get in the car . My vote is with Tesco Momentum 99. I never used supermarket fuel before owning the vRS but Momentum 99 is fine and can be had for a good price. This forum is one of the best!

Keep pushing. A number of us have secured an extra one year's warranty on the car (rather than on the engine only) on the basis that we had lost confidence in the brand. The additional warranty is not transferable. I did meet resistance at first from SUK over the cost but persevered until they agreed to a no cost warranty extension. At the very least you could agree to a 50/50 sharing of additional warranty cost, but in this case it would have to be transferable (they will only discuss car warranty not replacement engine warranty).

Derek, I agree with you. The dipped beam is dire. The vRS is a great car, which I intend to keep for a few more years, but the overall Skoda experience has not been good. I have owned many Fords, Vauxhalls and Fiats in the past. None have been as bad for any of the following issues (in order of disappointment level): - oil consumption dipped beam slight pulling to the left (the extent of this is dependent on tyre choice) bad condensation on windscreen (occasional) interior rattles My oil consumption on the replacement engine is now at an acceptable level and I can live with the lights since fitting Philips Xtreme and raising the beam a little, but they are still a crap design.

I was able to drive the car myself for the oil consumption test over the course of a week. I wouldn't have been so happy to let the service staff drive it. The evidence seems to be that oil consumption will be worse if a number of short trips including stop start driving in traffic are driven (as my normal commute to work) rather than long distant runs at speed. Anyway, it is important to make sure you know exactly how much oil you are using over the long term by keeping accurate records.

I'm not sure if the following can be confirmed, but it certainly needs to be explored in case where no amount of tyre swapping or re-tracking cures the problem. From thread 'My Monte Carlo is pulling to the left HELP!' (page 7): - jrw, on 18 Jan 2014 - 12:07, said: I have since found out that this is a known issue on this platform throughout the VAG range and the problem is in fact to do with the rear axle being the incorrect one. Apparently there is a LHD and RHD version and if the LHD is fitted this problem becomes apparent, more so depending on the tyres. SUK will not admit this though, nor will they come up with a solution besides changing the tyres.

Polo face lift : Polo GTI 189 BHP 1.4 tsi6 speed manual speed box option 0 - 62 mph down to nearer 6.5 sec Fuel consumption slightly improved Cost from around 19k Oil consumption - who knows!!

You've got the best colour! Enjoy the car

Talk to the dealer who sold you the car and explore the Auto Protect warranty that you have. If you fail to get the issue resolved you could go straight to the top of the SUK organisation and email Alasdair Stewart to ask for a goodwill engine replacement: - [email protected] Mr Alisdair Stewart Skoda Customer Services Select A Post 34 Sheffield S97 3FA See page 2 of thread on this forum entitled 'Which oil do I buy?'. Refer to letter sent by austenw90. This would be a useful challenge to get support from SUK outside of the normal warranty for the 1.4 TSI twin charger engine. The 100 plus Briskoda members who have reported high oil consumption would be very interested in the outcome. NB. Your oil consumption calculations will probably need to be backed up by a dealer oil consumption test.

Some of us who have had replacement engines have persuaded SUK to grant an extra one year's warranty on the car, thus giving a total of four years from new. This is usually mileage limited and non transferable if you sell the car. I would refuse any offer of free accessories as this completely misses the point of our loss of faith in the Skoda/VAG product and costs them very little. Skoda are extremely unlikely to give you an engine only warranty unless this is rolled out for others as a common policy (it hasn't happened yet as far as I am aware). I am considering the wider implications of long term ownership of this car and our faith in the Skoda brand. George is hoping for VAG to offer a 100,000 mile warranty on the twin charger engine. I would be happy with that. In other parts of the world VAG have already had to offer five or seven years warranty on DSG gearboxes due to appalling reliability (thankfully for us the European manufactured DSG gearboxes aren't quite as bad). At the very least I would press for an extra two years cover on the car (preferably transferable). I am otherwise very happy with my car and the support I have had from my dealer.

Now that we have got some momentum going, what recompense would Mk2 vRS owners who have gone through the mill with oil consumption problems like to see? A two year free of charge extension to the standard warranty perhaps? (This must be transferable). Over 100 UK based Briskoda members have reported oil consumption issues on with this car on the forum. Word is getting out and we don't want to be sitting on lemons that will be difficult to sell. Whether or not SUK have agreed to an engine replacement I think customers require better from Skoda customer services. Too many owners have been messed about and not enough compensation has been forthcoming. It might soon be time to confront Alisdair Stewart.

The orange and black combo look great

I have counted at least 35 reports on the Fabia II forums of the oil breather mod being applied. In 25 of these cases a report has followed within the forums that the mod has not worked or that the engine has been replaced. I am only aware of two people (including James I) who have reported that the fix worked. In my case it certainly made no difference and the car subsequently failed the oil consumption test. Therefore judging from the Briskoda evidence I would not believe "this fixes the issues in 9/10 cases" even if we take into account the tendency of people to report bad news rather than good. Sorry to sound negative.

brilliant

My experience: - Engine no. 1 - gentle running in - bad oil consumption Engine no. 2 - 'aggressive' running in - very little oil consumption See http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm My advice is not to run in this engine using the traditional careful approach. You can't believe all you read on the Internet but I have spoken to someone who used to build high end performance engines for BMW including the 627 bhp V12 that was used in the McLaren F1 and he is in total agreement with this. Do your own research. Don't follow this advice unless you are happy .

Agreed, unless it ended up with a new engine. IMO the majority of those that got to that stage and were denied a replacement engine should have got one. Mine was replaced and the car has been fine since. If I sold it now it would be a good buy for someone. For a daily driver there is still nothing out there for the money that I'd rather have. Once my 4 year warranty expires I will be looking to take out warranty cover via CSMA.

What a sad story. In comparison I've been lucky. Maybe it's my engineering training that helped. I've been taught "facts not opinions" and that accurate data collection is key to any technical investigation. I involved both my dealer and Skoda UK from the beginning and was able to provide a detailed log of oil consumption from my own regular checks. I even converted the oil used to weight loss in grams and consumption figures in km per 0.5 litre. I'm not saying that this is necessary but the guys at SUK are not necessarily very technically minded and seemed to take my word. I got the breather and ECU mod without the need for a dealer consumption check. The cost of all the oil I used after reporting the problem was reimbursed via the dealer. When I told them that the breather made no difference the car went in for its one and only oil consumption check (there was never any mention of a charge) and the replacement engine followed soon after. It just failed the oil consumption check by a narrow margin but according to my figures it should have been a lot worse. Note that when undergoing a consumption test the car will tend to use more oil in slow stop start short runs compared to long distance runs on clear A-roads. I got an extra one-year warranty following the engine replacement but had to push SUK for this.

Just a note about insurance. Direct Line are fine about swapping to winter tyres. I used to have to ring up every time I changed but now they have a note on my file and they don't require me to contact them. No change to premium. Also 185/55 R15 winter tyres are approved for use on the Fabia vRS.

Winter tyres went on yesterday. Vredestein Snowtrac 3's on Dezent L Dark 15" rims (from Mytyres). The 15" wheels just clear the front calipers. Dark grey alloys look OK on a green vRS. 3rd season of use and still plenty of tread on the tyres. The Vredestein's certainly work well in snow and wet. Noticably quieter and more forgiving ride than my Continental Sport Contact 2 R17 summer tyres, which now need replacing. Will either go for Avon ZZ5's at £78 a corner or Michelin PS3's at £110. The Conti's pulled straight as a die whereas my Vredestein's are pullng slightly to the left (strange - I didn't notice that last winter).