DerekU

As BRISKODA forum participants may own/drive right-hand-drive (RHD) or left-hand-drive (LHD) Skoda cars, it might be worth highlighting that Bosch Aerotwin 'front' wiper blades come in two different flavours. This link is to the Bosch website's wiper-blades entry for Aerotwin blades suitable for a Skoda Fabia Mk4 marketed in the United Kingdom https://www.boschwiperblades.com/xc/en-gb/basic-page.html/-/en-gb/478dafb54dab9771f6adabf9705fe54dd0d454ee/period_5046_2949_06_2021_12_9999/SKODA_Fabia_2021 Two types of 'front' blade are shown - Aerotwin Original and Aerotwin Modular. The Original type is marketed as a set of two blades with lengths of 650mm (driver side) and 450mm (passenger side), while the Modular-type is marketed as individual blades (650mm or 450mm). Original blades are an immediate fit to the car, whereas a Modular blade requires an adapter to be attached to it beforehand. A critical difference between Modular and Original Aerotwin blades is that the AP 26 U and AP 18 U Modular blades are suitable for a Skoda Fabia Mk4 irrespective of whether the car is RHD or LHD, whereas the Original A 864 S set of blades is only suitable for a Fabia Mk4 with RHD. The reason for this is that the cross-section of the aerodynamic upper surface of Modular blades is symmetrical but the cross-section of the aerodynamic upper surface of Original blades is asymmetrical. This means that, if the A 864 S blades were fitted to a LHD Fabia Mk4, the blades would be upside-down and aerodynamically inefficient. Consequently - for Aerotwin Original front wiper-blades for a LHD Fabia Mk4 car - the A 863 S set would be required, not the A 864 S set. UK prices for Aerotwin blades vary significantly. I paid £17.15 for an A 864 S set bought from an on-line vendor in Northern Ireland. (The A 303 H rear wiper blade for a Fabia Mk4 is bisexual and fits RHD or LHD models.)

Octohere My mistake regarding the diameter of my 2009 Skoda Roomster's front discs. I've measured them a bit more carefully and, although they are certainly NOT 288mm, they are definitely larger than my Fabia's. To get an exact measurement I'd need to remove a wheel, but the Roomster's front discs are around 270mm, so may be the 276mm-diameter you've mentioned for Fabia Mk4s that have the 1.5litre motor.

No - 1.6 petrol.

I believe the diameter of the current Fabia's front brake discs is 256mm. This may seem large, but my 2009 Roomster's front discs have a 288mm diameter (and rear discs not drums).

My Fabia has a version of the on-line Owner's Manual that's accessible through the car's Amundsen infotainment system. I haven't experimented with it (other than to check it's there and in English) and I assume that it would be in Swedish for Fia's car. But it might be worth checking if it's possible to select a different language (eg. English instead of Swedish).

Besides deactivation of a Skoda car's Start/Stop system being practicable via the vehicle's OBD port and suitable equipment/software, a 'cabling' approach may be an alternative method. There are several on-line videos about this using an inexpensive 'insert cable' and the following webpage advertises a more sophisticated product. https://www.carelectronic-webshop.de/en/car-memory-modules/deactivation-engine-stop-start-system/skoda-engine-stop-start-system-deactivation-memory-module_23_26

There's a huge database of car manuals on this website https://carmanuals2.com/ Skoda Fabia manuals (in many languages) are provided beginning in 2004 and ending in 2021. This link is to a downloadable .pdf file containing an English-language Fabia Owner's Manual with a November 2020 publication date. https://carmanuals2.com/skoda/fabia-2021-owner-s-manual-116475 A 2021-model Fabia won't be an exact match for your 2023 car, but your husband may still find the information in the earlier manual helpful. The back page of my Skoda's Owner's Manual carries the warning "Printing, reproduction, translation or other use of this work or any part thereof is not permitted without the written consent of Skoda Auto a.s. All proprietary rights in this work arising from copyright regulations shall be exercised exclusively by Skoda a.s." I don't know how carmanuals2.com acquires its data, but I'm doubtful it's with Skoda's authorisation. Anyway, the carmanuals2.com website exists and, if you keep an eye on it, you might well find that a more up-to-date Fabia Owner's Manual is posted there soon.

There are several on-line enquiries about obtaining a .pdf Owner's Manual file for recent Skoda models. While there's little doubt that Skoda has files (possibly .pdf type) from which hardcopy booklets are produced in various languages for recent models, these appear to be unavailable outside Skoda itself. It's been suggested that Skoda owners that do not have a hardcopy manual contact a Skoda dealership to see if they have spare copies or can obtain one from Skoda, but (as you've found) it's questionable that a Skoda dealership would be able to have or obtain a manual in a language than differs from that used in the country where the dealership is located. You could try contacting Skoda (UK) yourself about this or, if this hasn't already been tried, ask Skoda(Sweden) to do it on your behalf.

Apparently it should be practicable to disable Stop/Start via OBDELEVEN https://obdeleven.com/one-click-apps I have liberally stuck kitchen-drawer adhesive domed 'bumpers' (examples here) https://www.fruugo.co.uk/cabinet-door-bumpers-160-pcs-self-adhesive-clear-cupboard-door-drawer-bumpers-for-kitchen-cabinets-cutting-boards-picture-frames52mm/p-89840194-187464161?language=en on certain buttons of my Fabia that I want to operate more easily by feel. (My Fabia has DSG and a Stop/Start button to the left of the 'gear lever'.)

The 'pincer/tweezer' provided as standard with my 2009 Roomster is plastic...

A basic 'rule' for the speedometer of cars marketed in Europe is that the speedometer must be able to display the vehicle's speed in kilometres-per-hour KM/H). For European countries that use a different 'distance' system (ie. the UK's use of imperial units) it is permissible for the speedometer to display speed using those units, but the KM/H rule still applies. That's why traditional UK non-digital speedometers have a MPH scale and a KM/H scale, normally with the MPH scale predominating. Regarding a UK speedometer's 'markings', the requirement is that it must be marked up to the maximum speed of the vehicle, with graduations at 1, 2, 5, or 10mph, and with values at intervals not exceeding 20mph and my Fabia Mk4's non-digital speedometer happens to have the same 20-MPH interval markings as my 2009 Skoda Roomster's. There's no doubt that my Fabia's and Roomster's speedometers are fully legal UK-markings-wise (though the Roomster's speedometer is virtually unreadable in daylight). Fortunately, the Fabia's speedometer is properly illuminated and - as offthewall has advised - speed can also be displayed as a digital value centrally between the rev-counter and speedometer dials using the controls on the right-hand spoke of the steering-wheel. (This is just an example, not a current-model Fabia Mk 4's speedometer.)

Guidance for removing/replacing the Aero wheel-trims can be found in the "Wheels" sections of the hardcopy and on-line Fabia Owner's Manual and the advice is as shown below The wording is a mite strange in places - "1. Put the clip for removing the wheel trim behind the trim close to the centre" would be better, and I couldn't find anything on my car's Aero trims that would be relevant to the standard anti-theft wheel bolt. As I've mentioned before, I DIYed a couple of 'pullers' from fencing wire to use instead of the little wire bracket/clip. These make removal of the Aero trims very easy, but I found it a lot harder to put the trims back on than to take them off. This advert is for a Fabia Aero trim https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354940197566 and this image of the trim's rear should give you a fair idea of how it attaches to the wheel. The challenge is to get all 5 'spokes' of the trim properly on to the wheel without using brute force (that might damage the wheel's surface where the spokes contact it) before banging the centre of the trim so that its rear enters the hole in the wheel's centre. The spokes of the Aero trim will bend slightly, but the fitting task would be easier if humans had an extra arm! If you are careful, there should be no need to use grease on the spokes' grip points, though a smear of wax polish would do no harm. The Aero trim must match the wheel - so a trim appropriate for a 16"-diameter wheel will be unsuitable for a 17"-diameter wheel, etc. As the Aero trim does not protrude beyond the outer edge of the alloy wheel's rim ad spokes it's unlikely to provide extra protection against kerbing damage. (Idle curiosity, but when people decide to remove the Aero trims and obtain plastic caps to go over the now-exposed wheel-bolt heads, do the caps come with a removal 'pincer'? My Roomster had caps as standard and, without the 'pincer' that came with the car, it would be hard to get the caps off.)

This link is to a 'fuel efficiency' test of the Tesla Model 3 with or without its aero wheel covers. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a30169467/tesla-model-3s-aero-wheel-covers-efficiency-test/ So, even if the Skoda expensive plastic aero inserts could add (say) 3% to your Fabia's fuel efficiency, you'd be most unlikely to notice that improvement just by driving the vehicle. There's a 2020 research paper here for combatting insomnia https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/211225703.pdf

Regarding the BLIND SPOT DETECTION WITH REAR TRAFFIC ALERT system, this forum thread may be of interest (and perhaps entertain!) https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/518083-rear-traffic-alert-blind-spot-monitor-currently-unavail/ This 2022 Parkers review of blind-spot mirrors may also be useful https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-advice/product-reviews/best-blind-spot-mirrors/ and this product gets generally good Amazon reviews https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blind-Spot-Mirrors-Cars-360°Rotatable/dp/B0777FXZY2#customerReviews One thing to beware of is that, if the adhesive retaining 'pad' is a genuine 3M product, it may be a helluva job removing the blind-spot mirror from the original mirror's glass.

I agree. There's a fair amount of BRISKODA discussion about this feature where other Skoda models are concerned. Unless there's a persuasive reason why the feature is a regular nuisance (say reversing into a narrow garage) the 'autonomous reversing braking' feature might save an accident. On my Fabia Mk4 the feature is accessed through the infotainment screen through the VEHICLE settings, then choosing "Parking and manoeuvring", followed by "Manoeuvre braking" and selecting "Active" or not. (Images below)

My previous car was a 2021 Hyundai i20 MHEV (Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle) that had a 'sailing' feature that would switch off the car's motor in certain circumstances while the car was being driven. I remember asking on a Hyundai forum why it was called 'sailing' as the Owner's Manual never used that word and was told that, when it happened, a yacht symbol appeared on the instrument-cluster. A small (but very expensive) 48V lithium battery lived in the i20's spare-wheel well, with a tiny 12V battery and a belt-drive starter-generator under the bonnet. There were plenty of i20 owner complaints about the 'sailing' feature not operating or becoming faulty and, when there were problems, the system's complexity made diagnosis difficult. I feared it and - like you - the Fabia Mk4 not being a MHEV was a positive selling point for me. Since 2021 the Skoda Octavia has been available with a 1.0litre 3-cylinder petrol motor and mild-hybrid technology (e-TEC) and, more recently, the Superb can be had as a MHEV with a 1.5litre petrol motor. In principle (I suppose) those motors and MHEV technology could find their way into smaller Skodas like the Fabia, but this article suggests that this won't happen. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/skoda/361150/new-euro-7-emissions-regs-could-kill-skoda-fabia

Skoda Hill-Hold https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/karoq_car_snow_hill-jpg/

This 2021 forum discussion may be worth reading through. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/489586-fabia-10-tsi-110hp-dsg-7-tips-tricks-advices-experiences/

A quote from one of gumdrop's r recent postings. "After many years a Ford owner, I decided to buy a Skoda Yeti, I had two, then a Fabia Kombi monte carlo and a 1.5 Kamiq, monte carlo dsg, my first automatic and now a Fabia SE-L dsg..." Regarding the title of this discussion (Fabia SE L are the suspension units the same as on the Fabia Monte Carlo 1L) as it's now been established that the standard specification of the latest Fabia Mk4 cars with the 1.5litre 4-cylinder motor have disk rear brakes rather than the drum rear brakes of Mk4s with the 1.0litre 3-cylinder motor, it's POSSIBLE that they also have different suspension units. But there's no persuasive reason to think that Fabia Mk4 cars that have the 1.0litre 3-cylinder motor might have different suspension units according to the car's 'trim'. Whether a Fabia Mk4's 'trim' is SE Comfort, Colour Edition, SE L or Monte Carlo, if it has the 1.0litre motor it ALMOST CERTAINLY will have the same suspension units. Having said that, a Fabia Mk4 with SE Comfort 'trim' has 15" wheels and185/65 profile tyres as standard, whereas a SE L trim car could have (as an option) 18" wheels with 215/40 profile tyres, and one should expect this to have a noticeable effect on handling and road-holding (ie. 'grip'). Even when a Fabia Mk4 SE L has the standard 16" wheels , the Skoda configurator website shows that 195/55 profile Continental, Bridgestone or Goodyear tyres may be factory-fitted (my own 2023-built SE L has 195/55 R16 Goodyears) and, depending on which make has been fitted, this might have an impact on tyre noise, wet grip, handling or road-holding. My 2009 Skoda Roomster's 195/55 R15 tyres were Continentals originally and these 'tram-lined' quite significantly. I switched to Hankook tyres and the tram-lining disappeared and the car now has Falken tyres that also don't tram-line. In my 60 years or so of driving 4-wheelers (and not slowly!!) I can only remember one tyre-related incident involving road-holding. This was driving at night at a reasonable speed in the wet on a road I knew like the back of my hand in a Golf GTi Mk2 16V when, on a tightish right-hand bend, the car's Pirelli P600 front tyres unexpectedly lost grip momentarily. It frightened me quite badly, but it probably wasn't the tyres' fault, just slippery stuff on the road surface. My own experience is that it's fairly easy to notice car handling differences - I owned four Golf GTi models in succession and they all handled differently. So I have no difficulty believing that a Fabia Estate Monte Carlo would have handled significantly differently to a Fabia Mk4 SE L, in the same way that my Fabia SE L behaves differently to my Roomster. But I don'y know if my Fabia is better or worse than the Roomster when it comes to road-holding and I've no intention of experimenting to find out.

As Tintowellfan has advised, ALL new 2024 UK-specification Skoda Fabia Mk4 cars that have the i.5litre motor have rear disk brakes as standard. The Fabia configurator 'sequence' that will reveal this is Trims/Engines/Summary /Standard Equipment/Safety and Driver Assistance. Taking the Fabia SE L trim as an example, in the Safety and Driver Assistance section the following extract applies to all cars irrespective of their engine size Towards the bottom of the Safety and Driver Assistance section, for SE L trim Fabias with the 1.0litre motor, this appears but, for SE L trim Fabias with the 1.5litre motor, this appears instead (Logically, it would make better sense to have the type of rear brake fitment ("Drum brakes in rear" or "Disk brakes in rear") immediately below the "Disk brakes in front" entry, but there you go...) So, to summarise. for 2024 UK-specification Fabias, all cars with the 1.0litre motor will have drum rear brakes (with no option to specify disk rear brakes instead), whereas all cars with the 1.5litre motor will have disk rear brakes.

Of the options you've listed the following are still available. 1: Comfort Package - now called "Charging Package" providing a USB-C port on the rear-view mirror and USB-C charging sockets with increased charging performance (2x front, 2x rear) -- £350 2: Variable boot floor -- £175 3: Emergency space-saving spare wheel (for 16"-18" wheels) -- £150 As has been observed above, the option to replace the now-standard drum rear brakes with disc brakes is no longer available. All the options available for the very latest Fabia Monte Carlo model can be found here. https://cc.skoda-auto.com/gbr/en-GB/extras-scenic?activePage=extraequipments&color=8X8X&configurationId=&extraEquipments=&id=GBR%3Bskoda%3B2024%3BPJ37L5%3B0%3BGYOKYOK%3Bmda20240514082659%3Ben-GB%3B%3B60007%3B60217&interior=NV&modifiedPages=trimlines&snapshotVersion=c9daccf6-51dd-4656-ab6f-eb556811d979&trimline=PJ7|Monte Carlo6021760007&visitedPages=trimlines (This may help with disabling a Volvo XC40's automatic parking brake) https://www.volvocars.com/uk/support/car/xc40/article/4e034dd7899c6641c0a8015156455109

My 2023-built Fabia's LKA defaults to ON (as the Owner's Manual makes clear will be the case). My car does not have the TRAVEL ASSIST package, so does not have LFA (Lane Following Assist). If it did have LFA, I would expect that to be an On-or-Off driver choice.

Thanks, I did wonder whether you had 'hacked' your UP's software or had some general-purpose magic spell. 😀

It's the norm for recently marketed cars to have a 'lane keeping assist' (LKA) feature that will turn the steering-wheel if road lane markings/verges are being closely approached, but - as far as I'm aware - for UK-specification cars, LKA is ALWAYS enabled when the car's ignition switched on, though the driver can then turn off LKA if he/she so wishes. The Skoda Fabia Mk4 Owner's Manual advises "The system is designed primarily for driving on the motorway" but (as you've mentioned) it's a real PITA on rural roads. There's a higher-tech version of this - let's call it 'lane following assist' (LFA) - that is also intended primarily for driving on motorways. LFA combines with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) to maintain the car's position in a demarcated lane and regulate its speed so that the vehicle can, in principle, drive itself. However, LFA does not normally automatically enable each time the car's ignition is switched on - it's a driver choice. The Fabia MK4 has LKA as standard, with LFA as part of the "Travel Assist" package. and it's quite easy to identify if Travel Assist is present as there's a ACC supplementary stalk on the steering column's left-hand side. My Mk4 does not have that stalk, so no ACC. My 2021-built Hyundai i20 had LKA that was automatically enabled each time the car was started and that was turned on or off via a dedicated 'press-and-hold' button on the steering-wheel. My understanding of Skodas/VWs is that it used to be the case that a driver could choose the default LKA setting, but I would have thought that, by 2023, a VW UP's LKA would default to On. So how did you manage to permanently set your Up's LKA setting to Off, please?

I bought my Fabia SE L off a Skoda dealer's forecourt, so the fact that it had rear drum brakes (I checked with a torch) was irrelevant. However, I was rather surprised that Skoda were (apparently) fitting rear drum brakes to all Fabia models, including those with the 1.5litre motor. If I had been factory-ordering a new Fabia, I would have made absolutely certain that there was no rear disc brake option and, if I wanted the 1.5litre motor, confirmed whether this had rear disks as standard. I would definitely not have relied on Skoda on-line documentation.