RainbowFire

Oh you really really must have an old one. On the Felicias I had there was protection against this: the door-cards had a piece of plastic that was raised around the pull-up, so you couldn't do this trick. It was OE as well, so it wouldn't offend the "purist" in you. It's Skoda part number: 6U0867109A and looks like this.... .....remember you'll need four of them. I'm sure a gentleman with your vast experience (35 years or somethine wasn't it?) won't need help in installing them. I know someone who probably has a box of these, but, nah, you hate him too. What you see is a problem from the 1990's, that was solved in the 1990's. (Other cars recessed the pull-up so you couldn't do this. You pushed it down to lock and pulled on the handle to unlock.)

Very very nice

So, it's your fault it keeps raining then! Nice one! What colour combo did you get?

"Security" staff have no teeth in most places, they are very much a case of "stop, or I'll say stop again". I've yet to hear of the police actually catching someone in the act of contents theft. The convenience features do indeed open new holes. Proximity locking/unlocking is about the most useless technology ever, and has exposed the world to the "relay attack" . Keyless start is awful too, partly because it's so simple to by-pass, but also because: you go to take your wife somewhere, she has her keys in her bag. you approach the car, it unlocks, you get in and press the start button. You drop her off at the hairdressers and drive to Tescos to get some beer. You park, and press the stop button. As you didn't check (because the car was unlocked) your keys are at home on the table. Your car is now immobile and unlocked. Not so convenient. Keyless also has a sufficient range on it to allow the car to be started when the keys are nowhere near the car. (In some cases 50 feet away!) "Old-Skool" tech (a bladed key) stops this from arising in the first place, and isn't really a ball-ache to use. Yes, modern cars unlock in the event of collision/submersion. A "top-bolt" solution only needs to be live when the car is not, so the bolt would only be engaged when the doors are locked *and* the ignition is off, to prevent being buckled on in the event of an impact. Early on in evolution the impact protection system was live all the time (even when locked and car was switched off) so a quick thump in the "right" place would trigger the air-bags and unlock the doors. Another hole made in security by bad thinking. (Bad thinking still applies, lookup how easy the Focus STi is to steal how anyone thought that design was a good idea is beyond me).

So you degenerate into name-calling, well done you. Interestingly, the conversation had been quite civil up until that point (despite your provocative efforts), but as usual your true colours shine through. Your glasses obviously need checking (try not using purple lenses) as I've stayed away from "your" topics and replies for quite some time (the last time we crossed swords I was reminded about a few things by someone higher up the food-chain), so the woeful accusation of trolling "everything" you say is epically incorrect. You don't like my opinions, that's fine by me, I don't like your arrogant, disrespectful behaviour (especially towards new members), but it's apparently something that has to be lived with. This is an open forum and as such there is open conversation, regardless of who opens the topic. If you want to have total control over a thread, become a moderator or use a different forum. If you don't like what you read, you *still* have the option of using that ignore button, but you've not found it in the last 5 years, so I doubt you'll find it now.

The topic is open to other participants (in fact to all members of Briskoda). I'm not preventing anyone from giving an opinion, so far only two others have chosen to do so. Maybe others don't feel it's worth their time to contribute. Whilst you might feel it's your thread, it's still not your forum and you don't get to dictate who can and who can't post or reply. As ever, you are free to block/ignore people as you feel and see fit. A plate would give a closer (narrower) fit, and require a better wedge to defeat. Plus a metal plate would have changed the leverage setup and fulcrum, and thus require a longer lever to have the same effect. Whilst the sentimental value of a Felicia is, indeed, incalculable, the actual market value is very easy to calculate. Whilst you may well fawn over your precious Felicia because you "rely" on it to get you around, if it went missing, there would unlikely that you'd be stranded beyond the ability to use public transport for a few days, whilst another car is acquired. (Vancouver is hardly an isolated city) I suspect there are more people view their Felicias are transport than have any sentimental attachment to them, they really are just cheap cars, cheaply made and easily replaced (by something better equipped, easier to maintain, more economical etc, and not by something you scoffed at as being "modern". There were better cars around before Felicia showed up.) Given the lack of participation, maybe the rest of the Felicia owners don't feel the need to expend such time, effort and money on a "feature" that would cost more than replacing the car itself. The videos are funny BTW. Not sure you understand how glass works though: it's not as fragile as you think, so a failed assault with a brick is not indicative of there being film on it. (I would humbly suggest maybe researching on how glass breaks, and why a sharp-force attack is more effective than a blunt-force attack.)

I think you vastly over-estimate the value of the Felicia by some considerable margin. Mind you, you've jumped again, from theft from the vehicle to theft of the vehicle. Slowing down the vehicle being stolen was covered earlier (Disc-Lock). If your car is of such value, the thief will turn up with a flat-bed/toe-truck and have it away to be dealt with later. (Especially if they "see" it's been tuned) You could go the other way and have a quick-release steering wheel, but that might cramp your style at the night-club. Felicia parts are worth nothing and are already easy to get hold of, so no chop-shop mentality here - neither would someone be desperate enough to have a Felicia stolen to order. (The one or two that are special enough to be desirable have proper security systems fitted) Thieves don't bother breaking in to a vehicle if they have only imagine there's something valuable inside - imagination is a wonderful thing, but rarely yields practical results. Plus, thieves rarely enjoy putting effort in for no gain. A Felicia is not particularly comfortable to sleep in (most cars aren't) One could fix a plate (metal, plastic or rubber) round the edge of the door so no wedge could be used, but that would ruin the looks and aerodynamics of the Felicia. A metal plate would probably hinder the backdoor though. (One would *almost* think that this subject has been thought about and covered in many places over many years and not just on a low value asset. Doors with multiple claw-locks for example, so the door is claw-locked to the frame in multiple places. What defeats these things, every time, is cost over advantage. No-one (sane) would spend hundreds of pounds/dollars to secure a vehicle worth little more than a bag of chips.) Ricardo has already said that he'd rather the car not be damaged/stolen than get stuck inside it. Still, at least one can only get stuck inside once. So we already established security over safety. Mind you, you could also install a "pull here" tag to remove the film in case of emergency.

Wow! That incident made a statement, and feels far more personal than oppurtunistic. And yes, security is all about making someone not want to bother with the ar$e-ache of breaking into your property, and getting them to move along to someone else's.

So, having watched the film videos, we're pretty much agreed that film would be a good start to the glass not being broken in a hurry (especially given the commentary on the 2nd video). So unless you are planning to fit unbreakable/bullet-proof glass (not a cheap solution, nor one that, I suspect would be available on 20-year old cars) Your idea of installing a solenoid and a locking-pin (actually one for each door) would require a redesign of the door and chassis/framework, again somethinig that has already been done over he evolution of car design to make the door itself stronger. Again, I doubt any (sane) human being will be up for cutting doors and chassis around to retro-fit such devices. And what about cars that have no window frame on their doors and thus nothing to lock your security pin into? Or one with no roof maybe? (Something that few Skoda owners would have experienced.) You're still looking at trynig to over-engineer a solution, when there's a simple one already available. (Ooo I felt the breeze from somone's cape as they flew by, and here we are suddenly in a different section of Brisky. hmm)

No, you're reading things that aren't there, again. I didn't suggest you left your car unlocked. Maybe you should actually read what's been read before jumping to (the wrong) conclusions. Maybe you should read "you" less personally. (It's a subtlty of the English language). As I've already said, theft is usually a crime of oppurtunity, ensuring those oppurtunities are kept to a minimun is in the car owners best interests. Doesn't matter what "clever" solutions you can think of, if you don't respect the basics...... Better locks are already part of the deal. Things have evolved somewhat since the days of the Felicia (actually before the days of the Felcia too). But you weren't talking about locks, you were talking about the glass and the door. The door gets bent because locks are better protected against such devices as a Slim-Jim, so the protection is curcumvented. You picture almost has it right though, something like a hasp and loop would make a better deterrent, just needs to be placed better (in fact you've already marked where it should be installed). Installation of the hasp would require bolts and ny-lock nuts, and drilling of the roof-frame. Want the glass not to break? Easy, 3M clear flim 10 minutes to install, road-legal on the front windows and (if the correct one is bought) will help keep UV out of the car, and hence cooler on hot days. You can fit some of that really trendy "limo-tint" to the back windows too, that would stop them from breaking. There have been great advances made in the world of Perspex, that cold be used as ot won't break......but it does melt easily, leaving no sharps for the thief to injure himself on. Once-upon-a-time you could remove the front or rear windscreen and gain access that way.....untill windows were bonded in instead. Why not make the doors flush-fit? No gaps to get a wedge into then. The videos are good fun to watch, sadly all old-tech (like the Felicia), so not even dead-locks for example. Fit a good 2-way alarm system, one that notifies the key-fob if the car is tampered with. Much less grief than trying to install security on a car that is long since been superceded (several times!). Would give you access to some useful tech too. (such things as remote unlock, remote tailgate, coming home/leaving home lights, auto electric window closure, shock and microwave sensing alarm system.......all that wholesome 1990s tech ) It wouldn't be hard to fit a "Pea-Soup" machine to the alarm either.... http://www.smokemachines.net/buy-car-smoke-screen-security-system.shtml No, I don't hink you get the point (probably deliberately) Things haven't been "left as they are" technology has moved on, doors are stonger and vulnerbilities have been eliminated, progress has been made. It's just no-one has gone to the effort to trying to retro-fit this to a dwindling number of old, cheap, vehicles. You're looking for a solution that simply has no problem if one remembers to look after one's property carefully.

As long as you kept the numbers/markings in the correct position, you could do as you wish. Moving the numbers/markings would effectively change the speed calibration.....not a good idea.

It matters not what percenage flip, or have impacted doors......1 death or live-changing injury is not worth any "upgrade" in security. Or are you suggesting that property is worth more than life? If you find your car vandalised......it's still just a car, and very easily replacable. If you have had stuff stolen from your car, it's still replacable, might be an inconvenience for a few days, but you'd get over it, and learn to keep things out of sight. Contents theft is easy to reduce: don't leave anything of value on display. Thieves don't break in to cars on the off-chance something *might* be in th glove-box/boot/under seat, it's not worth the risk. This sort of theft is one of opputunism. If you've been the victim of a targeted theft - you're into a different ball-game anyway. Get into the habit of locking the car when you leave it, even at a garage forecourt when paying for fuel. If you can't be bothered to look after your own property properly, why should a car manufacturer?

Well, the light sources in the cluster are white bulbs, so if you went along the scan/transparency route then you could have whatever colour combination you wanted. That would give you "different fron the norm"

Yes, they'd fit. However, to the best of my knowledge, the Fun's had rev counters, so there's no "clock" version. Not seen them in other colours. The Funs were yellow because the trucks were yellow You could do a scan of them, colour them as you see fit and print on to transparency, cut and fit. Depends on how much faffing around you're up for I supose.

Remove temptation: Don't leave anything of value on display. Use some physical security.... http://www.disklokuk.co.uk/ Or similar o what the car in the picture has 30 seconds to physically break into a car leaving the glass and door-frames intact, with a tool small enough to fit in your pocket. It's actally not that hard. (At one point all you needed for certain cars was half a tennis ball.) 2 minutes to steal a Ford Focus ST, with only a small break in the glass. (Includes time to defeat the "security" system) (And No, there won't be a discussion about how, or where to get the tools from. But there's a thing that rhymes with "Dougal" that you can use to find out for yourself.) You can make things more secure without too much effort, but there's a trade-off: security vs safety. Most people would rather live with a car that can be broken into, than one you can't escape from in the event of an accident. Glass can be made to stay intact and not shatter, but in the event of a flipped car, the windows become your way out, and one death because of a failure to escape a vehicle, would be one death too many. (I doubt that "system" in the picture is effective: whilst the loop may be bolted through the top of the door, I doubt the hasp is anything more than screw through the roof. If you've brought the tool to jemmy the door open, you've already got the tool to defeat that "lock". All it's done is add 2-3 seconds on the time to break in........not effective at all really.)

Originally made for the Felicia Fun Truck.

Yes, but you need to check. RNS 310/315 (aka Amundsen/Amundsen+) *can* have Bluetooth, they *can* have Bluetooth that's not been activated too. If you look at one of the stickers (right-hand side I think - it's been a while) there will be a "MAC Address" and looks like 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00. If it is all 0's then the unit does not have Bluetooth. If it's a mixture of numbers and letters (A-F) then it will have Bluetooth. However there was a load of units shipped with the Bluetooth not activated.....you'd need someone with VCDS to activate it for you. There is no "pop it open and pop in a board" option. If you want to update the maps on these units, be prepared to part with an arm and a leg though. :( :(

The problem with LEDs is they probably won't work as well as an incandescent bulb. Reflective headlight technology (as opposed to projection) is based around the origin point of light being in a particular position in relation to the reflector for optimum performance. Putting an LED in may well emit more/better light, but it won't necessarily where you want it (just look at when people put HIDs in reflectors: bright light everywhere, except on the road). There has also been an on-off debate about the best colour for fog-lights, there is a general feeling that a more yellow light is better due to it's longer wavelength. As a whole we tend to use white because of style. Most LEDs are 5000-6000Kelvin, which is very white, coupled with an incorrect beam-pattern, you could easily end up with a wall of white light in the fog, instead of lighting the road. Unless you are following the path of "OE Only" and how much you actually want to use these in fog, you could replace them with a set of projector fog lights, or a set of driving lights relayed via the mai-beam.

.....and works very well too! Choice of cameras can be a little limited: you can get ones that replace one of the number-plate lights, or replace the tailgate release handle (just end up with a narrower handle), or number-plate surround ones. Depending on your luck, you may need to relay a clean power feed, as running one straight from the reverse ligh can be dirty and mess the picture up. I had one on my estate and managed to get it so you could just see the tow-ball in the screen

This is true, however, it's not new either, and has been discussed (and argued, and had swords drawn) so many time on here it's un-real. Previously testers had been failing them on wrong colour or beam alignment. I think the spirit is to stop the HID/reflector combination that the boi-racers like to have in their Corsas. The odd thing with the Elegance is that it has washers, and can have had HIDs from the factory (it was an option). The plastics on the headlights are actually designed to take an HID ballast, even if HIDs are fitted (cheaper to make basically). Given that, even under May's regulations update, a tester cannot remove a cover to inspect an item, and that projectors are on all MKII's, it would be interesting to see how many retro-fit kits get the owner a fail. Also, IMHO, someone needs a kick about the new regs: someone thought it would be a great idea to exempt cars over 40 years old "because they are usually well maintained." So those cars that should really be tested because of older safety technology (drum brakes for example) now don't need to be tested. That'll be interesting when someone runs into the back of your shiney Octavia in their 1974 Morris Marina with drum brakes that have been worn right down........ What's the betting the instigator of that has a couple of old Jags kicking around that won't pass their MOT.

As Mike says: go and buy a car that was designed to do "fast" straight of the production line. Messing around with a Felicia to make it go faster is pretty much a waste of time, money and more importantly money. If you are in the UK, an engine swap for anything other than an identical unit, now requires paperwork to back it up, from a proper garage. If not you could easily end up with watching your car disappear on the back of a low-loader. You'll need this paperwork for your insurance company too, otherwise they're drop you, fast -or- if it gets stolen, you'll get the money for what a bog-standard 1999 1.3 Felicia GLX is worth. (Less excess, should round out to just enough to buy a bag of chips really) From a technical aspect, as Mike says: you'll need to upgrade the front of the car. From what I recall not much actually fits the front of a Felicia in terms of suspension, I think the most common direct-fit is from a MK1 Focus. There are a few bigger brakes threads on here (again, non-VAG parts though) Lookup Teflon Tom's build thread on his 1.8t, it will show you how much of a ball-ache trying to make one fit is. I think he was far more successful with 1.4i from a Polo (I can't remember which engine code he had) The alternative is to try and track down the uprated components that were used on the competition cars. There were a couple of guys on here that had/built them. The competition cars were 1.3i's too, you you've already got a good base from which to start. However, if you have the time, money and people willing to take it from you and give you the right paperwork.....the sky is the limit......there's a Felicia with a Golf VR engine in it (professionally done, so properly uprated parts as required, usually found for sale for around £10k) and there was tell, a few years ago, of a Skoda Fun with a Mitsubishi Evo engine and running gear in it, so all the power *and* all the traction.

What you probably have in the torches is a reflector that was designed to go with that bulb. This is why technically, HID and LED are illegal, and beyond that fairly awful in reflectors. The basic premise is that a reflector designed to take an H1 bulb, is designed to produce a beam based on the the source-point of the light. HIDs and LEDs don't have the source-point in the same location, hence will produce a different beam pattern. Projectors work differently, but can still be affected by a vastly different source-point. (When I upgraded my Octavia a few years ago, the burner wasn't quite in the correct position, but the beam-pattern was quite different. If you have a torch were you can unscrew the reflector, whilst leaving the bulb attached to the torch body, point the torch at a wall, unscrew and watch the beam pattern change (ignore the rotation effect). For dipped beam it's not just about output, it's about the correct beam pattern output. You can always tell when a Corsa-boi has done HIDs as you get blinded when they're on dipped-beam. I upgraded to LED in my car (not a Skoda). The dipped are projectors, and produce a much brighter light, in the right place, with a very very well-defined cut-off. The main-beams are reflectors, but seem to have a slightly narrower beam than the halogens. (Mind you, having a car the doesn't have a CANBus to the depth that modern ones do, certain helps the fiddling around aspect )

Always intruigues me when people say such things. The Skoda Felicia is a cheaply-designed car made out of cheap components ro be sold into a cheap market, and yet so much is expected from them. If the maker had made a car out of expensive, hard-wearing, components, then it would be more expensive to buy and run. (Just look at 30/40 year old Land Rovers) Maybe this means you bought the wrong car in the first place, or bought the car for the wrong reasons? One of the other groups I am in, there is almost a weekly post about "how to put a bigger engine in my car". Thing is, it's never about putting, say a Nissan 2.0 engine into BMW 316. It's about putting a BMW 2.8 engine into a M40B16. The simple, and most frequent answer is: "Buy a 328 as you obviously bought the wrong car. It's cheaper, quicker and easier." In VW realms it's usually "what can I remap my 1.2/1.4 engine to?"....why not buy the car with the biggest engine in the first place.

I vaugely recall having similar issues - I ended up burning a CD-R (not RW) at the slowest speed possible and it worked. (Is odd sitting there watching a CD not burn at max speed......takes me back to the 90's )

I had something similar with my Scout. I found that somewhere in VCDS there was a reset option which did the trick. Having sold my VCDS, I can't do a screen-shot.