Lofty

Thanks Gav, I'll not lie, it's been an emotional couple of days knowing she was going, testament I think to the fact that I'd done more on the car than anything else prior, and it's been a real labour of love. I'll keep the thread updated with any pics of the car I get as time goes by. I would like to say thank you to all of you who've commented, contributed etc, these positive comments are more impactful that you'd ever know. Much love.x

Update time As you know I was talking about the possibility of the Fabia finding a new home, but before that I needed to get the final mapping sorted so that it was at least set up properly for any prospective new owner. I went back to Performance Torque in nearby Wombourne, and Will (the owner) remembered the car from back when he did the initial base mapping. I discussed the fact that the car was going to be sold and we agreed for him to set the car up on not too an aggressive a set up, to make sure it was going to be as nice and reliable as possible, and not just set up for headline figures. A couple of days later I get the call to say the car is done. With the larger injectors the car was still making more power than the 300bhp, but with the downside of much greater smoke levels, so in the interest of not being a complete unsociable animal, he settled at 2.0 bar of boost and the amount of 300.6 bhp. I'm made up that the car made a number starting with a 3, and that it was at such a conservative boost level. Kind of proved the concept right I had in my mind when building the engine. End result is a car that is very fast indeed, with nearly 400lb/ft of torque it just gathers pace very, very quickly indeed. The drive back from mapping was an emotional bitter sweet journey as a few days before I had agreed a deal to sell the car to a friend who had previously bought my classic 1969 Mk2 Austin Mini from me, so I know above all else the car is going to a good home. The Fabia will be joining his other cars in his eclectic collection such as GT3 RS, Audi R8, Escort Cosworth, Numerous 306 GTI-6's and will lead a pampered life within his heated garage, much like it has done with me for all these years. So today I waved goodbye to her. Time now to focus on getting my Mercedes W124 concours restoration back underway and try not to mourn the passing of Daffodil too much.

Appreciate the kind words Gav, and yes nice spec Fabias are creeping up in price. With mine I’m confident it’s pretty unique in the market place, especially with the finish all over, so I’m looking for circa £10k for it.

Yeah it’ll not be your typical Facebook Fabia price🤣

After all these years, and all that work, I’m having serious thoughts about moving the Fabia on to concentrate on current and future projects. While strictly not a “For Sale” post it’s more of a question of if anyone is interested in discussing this with me off here, drop me a message and we can have a chat. Cheers Matt

I'm never far from a Picnic Chair. Or indeed a Picnic.

Thanks Gav, i think the last Brisky event the car saw was at Gaydon??? Although i do remember a Rockingham one as well - i remember that because my kids moaned all day!!! Both events years ago!

Not quite 12 months since the last update but the best part of... sorry! The car is out and about, albeit doing only special journeys, shows and evening drives to still try and run the new engine in, but slow progress is better than no progress right? I did book onto the Skoda Owners Club "Skodafest 2025" day held this year again at Chetwynd Deer Park in Shropshire, a mere hour from home. Bear in mind the lovely weather the UK had had the previous many weeks, the show day started off wet. So off we set, in the rain, wincing at every puddle and headed towards Newport. Luckily as we got into Newport the skies brightened and we chanced across a Shell garage with a snow foam jet wash, so a quick blast off of what was quite a grubby car saw it at least a bit cleaner. Into the show and I dried the car, cleaned inside the wheels (bloody stupid idea yellow wheels, grumble grumble) and the car looked great. The sun even came out for the majority of the afternoon and i met a number of people off here who recognised the car and came to say hi. There were prizes being awarded on the day for Best Car Prior to 1994, Best Car Post 1994 and Best in Show overall. Consider me humbled to be called up to be awarded Best in Show. Honestly my vote had gone to an immaculate Favorit in Blue that was simply beautiful, a true classic if ever there was one. So yeah, there we go, an update and a trophy. Dunno what else to say really, apart from thank you. Photos to follow.

Cheers Gav, feel quite humbled but equally chuffed to be awarded best in show. I guess it means I’ve gotta up the level for next year now! Good to meet everyone who come and said hello and talked about the car.

Looking forward to it, even given the old knacker a polish.

I know the guy who's bought this, so i've directed him to the forum.

Slight update, having used the car for a whole 4 mile journey it rewarded me by doing a wee on the garage floor. The resultant oil leak was the size of a beer mat to give some context on the puddle side. Turns out the driveshaft seal in the gearbox has given its papers in and decided it didn't want to seal anymore. Downsides of a little used car i guess? New seal en-route so hopefully i'll be back on the road asap.

Ha ha - for the amount I'm using it I may as well swap it for some shelving. On a serious note, MOT is due this week, hopefully it'll pass with it only covering 300 odd miles since the last one, then I MUST start using it or what's the point having it in the garage? I'm even toying with the idea of doing a trackday in it once it's had final mapping..... something I'd said I'd never, ever do as it's too nice... There have been some crazy ideas going round in my head about moving away from a PD power unit for Daffodil, something away from the VAG stable, it'd certainly make for a challenge. But I have got a house to finish, Merc W124 restoration to finish and a countless other things which simply absorb time.

I think they restricted them to the factory 128bhp/130PS as if they had any more it would risk impacting sales of the other "performance" VAG products on sale at the time. A 180bhp diesel Fabia would have shown up the majority of the Golf Mk4 GTi range for sure, except the V6 maybe. The 180bhp figure is 100% the sweet spot on a 130pd, using the factory small turbo they remain really punchy and flexible with none of the more obvious lag associated with the bigger frame turbo units. If you need to manage charge temps (the factory side mounted intercooler is marginal at best) then even the Forge front mounted intercooler is man enough for this power level and doesn't require surgery to the front end etc. Painted up Satin Black they even blend in to the casual observer Love the progress so far on this, it's a beautiful example.

I know... I feel bad about it tbh. I regularly say sorry to her when I walk past. Just realised it'll need MOT'ing in June again, bet it won't have done 500 miles since last one

She's Taxed. And almost ready to get out.. I reckon I'll have some cleaning to do before Skodafest.

It's probably the nicest modification you can do to a Fabia, just "enough" extra torque and power without overwhelming the other mechanical components. Almost the Fabia vRS they should have made. You'll hopefully see similar if not slightly better MPG as well, however check this via the brim to brim method as the fuel computers tell outrageous lies when it comes to claimed MPG. My last black vRS used to average 51 - 55mpg and did that for 40,000 miles, at that was at 215 bhp with a front mount and hybrid 150 turbo.

No, all of the arch liners are the same. They must have changed the manufacturing process / material used at some point post the MK1 being discontinued, as the set of new arch liners I got for mine from TPS, despite being genuine parts were noticeably lighter and a touch more flimsy than the original ones from 2006. Plus the rears had a small carpeted section in which had gone from the new ones as well. Any MK1 arch liner off eBay will fit the vRS. Just don't buy a busted up one!!

Even better! Cheers fella

Quick technical question Ryan, i've rejoined the Skoda Owners Club just now as my membership had lapsed, how do I now go about getting tickets for Skodafest?