DerekU

I have a Sealey 'memory protector' that plugs into a car's OBD port and is intended to save transitory settings (time/date etc.) when a starter-battery is disconnected. I used this when I replaced my 2021 Hyundai i20's battery, but this wasn't really necessary and I my primary interest was whether or not the Sealey product worked as I anticipated.. In the "12V vehicle battery" section of the Fabia Mk 4 Owner's Manual is the following advice: Recommendations when the vehicle is stationary for more than three weeks Disconnect the negative terminal of the 12V battery. So - as you are only going to clean your Fabia's battery terminals (and if you are prepared to reset the time and window settings afterwards) - disconnecting and reconnecting the battery should be problem-free.

This is covered in the Fabia Mk 4 Owner's Manual (printed and online versions) and this guidance is copied from the"12V vehicle battery" section of the 20.6.2022 Manual. If the online Manual is used, clicking on the "Clock setting" and "Window operation" green text will link to the procedure to be followed: if the printed Manual is consulted, the relevant page numbers for those procedures will be provided.

I eventually bought a Yesido C242 from an online advertiser called SUNSKY for the princely sum of £5.04 (£2.60 + £2.44 postage). Ordered on 03/10/25 and delivered 10 days later. The C242 is well made, sturdy, and is multi-adjustable. My primary interest was to see if it could carry a quite heavy 6"-screen Garmin sat-nav on my Fabia Mk 4 as an alternative to the car's onboard navigation system (that I'm no fan of) or using a bean-bag mount. The answer is Yes, but with reservations, as - although the C242 can be attached to my Fabia's shallow-height central air-vents - without some DIY modifications, tightening up the mount would result in depressions in the softish material that surrounds the vents. So, for the Fabia, when I want to use the Garmin, I'll stick with the bean-bag. Not a waste of a fiver though, as the C242 attaches securely to the larger central air-vents of our Skoda Roomster and will not cause damage to the vents nor to their surround.

This phone-mount is also marketed as the Yesido C242. A GOOGLE-search on Yesido C242 will identify a number of suppliers. Cheapest (unsurprisingly) seems to be via AliExpress at £9.19 including VAT and shipping - though delivery should be quicker from a UK-based advertiser.

Based on YT541's description, this is likely to be the phone mount that he bought from Amazon. https://tinyurl.com/mrwbnskp My 2024 Fabia SE L has 'navigation' but, as I'm addicted to Garmin sat-navs logic and usage, I don't much care for the Skoda's system and, like you, I use a bean-bag mount for my Garmin device. YT541 wanted a phone-holder for his passenger to use (and not to make phone calls) so a vent-attached mounting on the passenger side would avoid the bulky bean-bag approach and be most convenient.

Assuming that you want the phone visible (and accessible) to you when driving the car, Skoda do not appear to offer a mount specifically for the Fabia Mk4. The holder in this advert is claimed to be suitable for a Fabia Mk 4, but the instructions indicate that "adhesive tape" is involved in the fitting process. https://www.brodit.co.uk/brodit/vehicles/skoda/fabia/proclip-for-skoda-fabia-2226-rhd/23636 (I would have thought your requirement is very common and that a Skoda dealership should be able to recommend sone sort of 'clip on' mount that's secure but removable without leaving marks.)

It might be worth asking PSC (in Cheltenham) about this. https://www.pscautocentre.co.uk/pages/contact-us They are independent specialists and have ODIS.

I notice that - 7 years ago - you asked about disabling the cornering-lights feature on a 2019 Skoda Superb. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/459669-can-these-changes-be-made-with-vcds-on-my19/#comment-5354799 Did you ever manage to do that? (if it's possible for the owner of a 2025 Fabia Monte Carlo to easily disable the cornering-lights function, logically it's going to be via the Lights menu.)

Fabia1960 I recall you asking about your Fabia's 'sharp brakes' in July.

Earlier discussion about the problem, https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/534312-infotainment-fabia-22-plate/#comment-5961210

OK, but (as I suggested above) I don't see the diameter of the front brake discs of a Fabia Mk4 with 94bhp motor being smaller than the diameter of a 109bhp-motor Mk4's front discs having any perceptible impact on the fuel consumption. Buying-wise, it may be more important for skoda998 to be aware that the 116PS (114bhp) 3-cylinder EVO2 motor only became available for the Fabia range in the 2nd-half of 2024, together with significant specification/equipment 'enhancements' to all Fabia models. https://www.skoda.co.uk/news/details/skoda-updates-fabia-and-karoq-lineups

You could try contacting this company based in Pevensey near Eastbourne https://vasstechnik.co.uk/skoda/ If you'd prefer a Skoda agency to carry out the tasks, the following website can be used to identify Skoda dealerships in East Sussex. https://www.skoda.co.uk/apps/retailers/

As Skoda's quoted top speed and acceleration times for 94bhp and 109bhp Fabia Mk4s are very similar, the chances are minimal that their braking system's specification will be different. When I said "It's possible that' low-powered' Fabia Mk4 cars have smaller-diameter front-discs than more powerful models...", I meant models with 3-cylinder MPI (non-turbo) motors with power outputs of 64bhp or 80bhp and (respectively) inferior quoted top speed/acceleration figures of 106mph/16 seconds and 110mph/15.6 seconds. However, the original enquiry was I'm considering a Fabia for my wife, up to 2 years old. Is it worth seeking out the more powerful 115 bhp engine? Does economy suffer with the higher output engine at all? and I don't see a Fabia Mk4's brake dimensions having any real-world effect on fuel economy. For a while I owned a 2021 Hyundai i20 that had a 100bhp turbo 3-cylinder 1.0litre motor with 6-speed manual transmission. When driving on rural roads I was forever shifting backwards and forwards between 5th and 6th, eventually concluding that it would have been better (for me) if the car had a 5-speed gearbox with revised ratios. So it's POSSIBLE that, if skoda998's wife had a 109bhp Fabia with 6-speed manual transmission but did not optimise the use of those 6 ratios for fuel economy, she could obtain a lower fuel consumption if she owned a 94bhp Fabia with 5-speed gearbox instead. With a history of driving quick motorbikes and cars, overall fuel economy has never really concerned me. Nowadays I let my Fabia's SE L's DCT automatic transmission decide what ratios to select and I'm confident that, fuel economy-wise, it does a better job than if I were selecting gears myself using a manual gearbox. It's to be expected that (everything else being equal) the higher the specification of a secondhand Fabia Mk4, the higher its asking-price will be, and that factor (not just fuel consumption data) would need to be taken into account when considering the vehicle's overall 'economy' across the period of ownership.

This long 2024 forum thread discussed the brakes of UK-marketed Fabia Mk4 models. It was eventually established that the rear brakes of UK-marketed Monte Carlo models (that were the only Mk4s at that time available in the UK with the 1.5litre 4-cylinder motor) had disc rear brakes, whereas all the rest had drum rear brakes. All current UK-marketed Fabia cars have (as standard) a minimum road-wheel diameter of 15" and - to the best of my knowledge - that has always been the case since the Mk4 range was introduced in 2021. My 2024-built Fabia SE L has a front-disc/rear-drum braking system and the SE L model's standard 16"-diameter alloy road wheels. It also has the (optional) 15"-diameter steel emergency wheel + tool kit/jack that Skoda offers for Fabia Mk4s that have 16", 17" or 18"-diameter wheels. As one might reasonably expect (!!!) the 15"-diameter steel emergency wheel fits to my car without any clearance problems on its front-discs or rear-drums (Confirming this was at the top of my check-list when I obtained the car.) It's possible that' low-powered' Fabia Mk4 cars have smaller-diameter front-discs than more powerful models, but that should not impact on skoda998's 94bhp or 115bhp choices.

Regarding performance, the Owner's Manual for a 2023/2024 Fabia provides data on 6 possible motors. The two 999cc 3-cylinder turbocharged motors are said to have a power output of 94bhp (5000-5500rpm) or 109bhp (5500rpm). The 94bhp version has a maximum torque of 175Nm at 2000-3500rpm and (manual transmission) a maximum speed (in 5th) of 118mph with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 10.7 seconds. The 109bhp version has a maximum torque of 200Nm at 1500-3000rpm and (manual transmission, a maximum speed (in 5th) of 126mph with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.9 seconds. The variant with 7-speed DCT automatic transmission has a maximum speed (in 6th) of 125mph and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.8 seconds.

The 15mm-lower option is not available for UK-marketed Fabia Mk 4 cars and (apparently) in countries where that option can be chosen, it's only for Monte Carlo (or 130 Edition) models. The reddit.com discussion I provided a link to earlier includes comments by owners of Fabias with the 15mm-lower option, or by people who have practical driving experience of Fabias with and without the option. (Little profit in generalising when genuine ownership experience can be found online.) I didn't choose my Fabia SE L for 'fun' - if I had wanted a smallish 'family' car for fast road driving I would have gone for a Hyundai i20N. My Fabia accelerates, brakes, handles/steers OK and is quite comfortable. I don't consider the wheel-arch gaps excessive/unsightly and, if I wanted to tart up the car's appearance, I'd rather have it 'wrapped' in zebra vinyl than lower it .

For (say) a 2023/2024-built Skoda Fabia with the 1.0-litre 3-cylinder petrol engines, the lower-specification SE Comfort and Colour Edition models had (as standard) a 80hp or 95hp unit with a 5-speed manual, gearbox, while the SE L model (like my 2024 version) had a 110hp motor with a six-speed manual gearbox or (optional) 7-speed DCT automatic transmission. Fuel consumption will depend on where and how the owner drives the car.

There are alternatives to the Elbach products. A 15mm lowering seems hardly worthwhile to me and I'm doubtful that you'd notice any handling differences on the road between a standard-height Monte Carlo and a lowered version. I'm similarly doubtful that the 'looks' difference would be noticeable either. Also recently asked here https://www.reddit.com/r/skoda/comments/1mz2l8k/to_lower_a_fabia_4_in_factory/

An option to choose (for the Fabia Monte Carlo model) a chassis lowered by 15mm was mentioned in the "Agility" section of this 2024 Skoda Motorsport webpage. Škoda MotorsportFour things we love about the Škoda Fabia Monte Carlo - Š...As far as I am aware, this option is not available for new Monte Carlo models marketed in the UK (the UK Fabia configurator does not seem to show it). However, this August 2024 BRISKODA thread included before-and-after photos of a Monte Carlo that the owner had lowered by 30mm (rear) and 30-40mm (front). Uploading Attachment... Without knowing the cost of the 15mm-lowering option, nor whether it includes superior dampers and/or springs, it's hard to say whether the option would be genuinely worthwhile performance-wise. Regarding 'looks', the current UK Monte Carlo configurator shows 17"-diameter wheels as standard, with 18"-diameter wheels as a £905 option, and the bigger the wheel, the more cosmetically attractive the result (maybe!!)

A GOOGLE-search on car battery drain infrared camera will retrieve more videos about this diagnostic method than one can shake a stick at. (Also handy for making sneaky porn movies.)

Generally, an experienced driver accustomed to a 'stick shift' should adapt fairly rapidly to an automatic car; vice versa, with three foot pedals not two, it's more of a challenge. Why not trot along to a Skoda dealership and ask if they have a Fabia with DSG that your wife could try? I don't think there's any issue with a Fabia Mk4's small 3-cylinder motor not being a good match for the DSG transmission and a longish test drive should be enough for your wife to decide if she feels OK with the DSG or would prefer to stay with a manual gearbox.

The terms and conditions of the current UK Skoda warranty can be viewed here https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/148825d2-9edf-4ab3-b9e3-243bc38d8357 The warranty excludes "Noise and vibration related to the normal operation of the vehicle". Logically, you'd need to demonstrate the rattling noise to the Skoda dealership for them to agree that the noise is 'abnormal' and the fact that the rattle is intermittent may make this tricky. Best thing would be for you to tell your dealership ASAP about this and see what they say.

These articles compare the Polo and Fabia and should give you a well-balanced view. https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/comparisons/skoda-fabia-vs-volkswagen-polo https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-group-tests/89672/skoda-fabia-vs-volkswagen-polo-2023-twin-test-review Regarding your other enquiry about choosing a manual or DSG automatic transmission Fabia Mk4 for your wife to drive, I have a 2024 Fabia SE L with 110PS 1.0litre motor and DSG transmission and I've no complaints about the 'marriage' between motor and transmission (and I'm obsessively critical!) My wife (aged 83) is 'non-technical', has also never driven an automatic car and is definitely not going to start now. If you are really concerned about your wife getting to grips with a Fabia DSG, I suggest you let her familiarise herself with your Q5 (I assume that's an Audi Q5) and see how she adjusts to that. If your wife is happy with the Q5, get a DSG Fabia: If she dislikes the Q5's DSG transmission, get a manual Fabia.

Although there is (apparently) no online video explaining how to remove a Fabia Mk4's rear-door card, this video describes card-removal for a 2017 Mk3 with manual window-winder. The removal procedure is similar(though not identical) to that used for a Fabia Mk4 and the video includes sight of the rear of the removed door-card that resembles fairly closely the photo of a Mk4 card I provided in my posting on Monday. The following link offers various car manuals. https://cardiagn.com/ 11 Skoda Fabia-related manuals are available, including a workshop manual for a Fabia Mk4 (2022-2023). I'm not sure how complete this manual is: I looked for a couple of things that were present in the index, but were missing from the 'text'. Fortunately guidance on rear-door-card removal was present in both index and text. (And, of course, there's no charge for accessing the information.)