greg_vrs

i have had problems with my power steering, I’m not a techie. i drive my car, i look after it by getting all servicing done on time and wash/ clean regular while doing so checking oil, washer, tyres and coolant and now power steering levels too. when i got power steering problems, i did what most people do and took it to the garage. id just had my turbo changed a few days before (but power steering problem was evident before the turbo blew) but awesome had my car and diagnosed it as the pump being faulty. ive since had the problem again (3 times), since they replaced the pump, and just drove the car with no power steering, it always comes back within half a mile or so. I can’t do anything now to prove it might not be the pump and get my money back for false diagnosis and fitting of a part there was no problem with when they took it off. my point being, ive spent over 300 pounds at awesome getting this fixed and it is still not fixed! they are suppose to diagnose it, not me, else what is the point in taking it there?. I know, Ill take it back, and it will cost me more money and still not be fixed! Having read this post im now well fed up, it seems cars can have so many problems with any single part even specialists cant find the faults (or are not willing to do a proper diagnosis) or know they exists in the first place? i think that now i have not started my car for only a week and it has trouble starting now that it could have been the battery all along, and ive had a 300 pound bill i didn’t need to pay for.

eh up, been a while since you posted this, what did you do in the end?? mine might have gone this morning, now with awesome in manchester. the problem i have is it is mapped, so if i change the turbo (if it is not pipes or anything else) i have to shell for a new remap was pulling at a quick enough but not mental 165 bhp, and has been mapped for years. i dont think it was this that has caused it. probably my driving as it gets a hard time. my last car was a 2.7 bi turbo s4 you see! takes the mick if it is the turbo! this car was to save me money! lol

did you get let down on the sale of the ones without tyres?

cheers mate, i thought the 205 45 16's were standard vrs? thats why im paying 30 a corner more, for the wierd size tyre? ill be gutted if they are 205 50 16's as they would have been cheaper. im not that worried, ive always had 205 45's on and they have been fine, but maybe my speedo is a little out as a result? :(

i have the 4 steelies ready, they are the 5x100's 16's with et 44 so are exactly the same as the one in the boot of my fab. i too had the same problem, i purchased the car in feb and a week later it snowed, i had brand new Pirelli pzero's (not as good as i hoped, lose too much traction in the wet) on and i got stuck several times too. Having said this, my choice for getting the right winter tyre is for grip in the cold icy wet mornings more than snow. I’m after the best performance winter tyres and i have found great reviews on Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D Continental WinterContact TS830 Goodyear UltraGrip 7 Plus Vredestein Snowtrac 3 i would defo go for 4 cheaper steelies 16"s and the money you save on these compared with alloys will buy your back two tires too (maybe) i went to awesome in Manchester who let me try the mk4 golf spare 15" on the front of mine, it did fit, just and i mean just so i guess they will not fit a 312 kit ;-( but a mechanic there said they would be fine on the standards. i chose 16"s in the end encase i up rate the brakes in the future. Best I can find for the awkward 205 45 16’s are on mytyres fitted at 130 ish per corner. 205 55’s are cheaper as are 195 45’s but im keeping mine stock. I know it will work :-) car is very low on coilovers so I dont want to risk the 55’s otherwise id get 195 55’s on normal suspension.

getting my steelies later this week from jaymd off here, best rating for wet - cold - ice - snow grip seems to be Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D's. ive never had dunlops on a car before, but they are highly rated accross the board on many tire test websites. the sp roadsmarts i had on my motorbike were awesome last winter, so i will see if the car tyres are as good as they seem? Skoda 16" steelies £80 tyres (best atm) for 205/45/16's are 380 for all 4 fitted. but £115 each on mytyres! i would size the tyres at 205/55/16's but im sitting on coilovers, very low! so best stick with what i know works!

hello, live in crewe can i have the wheels without tyres please? hope im not too late?? thanks, greg.

the stud pattern is the most important, even vw and audi wheels have different stud patterns, so no is the answer really. there are lots of old school mixes that work, some old Porsche wheels will fit my fabia but not your Occy. I need a stud pattern of 5 x 100 so passat wheels will not fit mine as they are 5 x 112 so they should fit yours? Please chip in here if im talking crap ;-) You are talking about tyre size, normally on standard cars the smaller the wheel the thinner width the tyre (205) and the fatter the height (55), and the tires you get depend on what wheel you choose and the correct offset you run them at. Im looking at 5x100 wheels with offset (ET) of between 32 and 38 ish if I get wheels that fit my car with an ET 45 I will need 10mm spacers ideally to make them fit properly. If I get 15â€s I will get 195 / 55 tyres and 16’s I will get way more expensive 205 / 45 tyres. You will need 5 X 112 for an 08 Occy (im 90 % on this) maybe 16â€s with 205 / 55 tyres would work? But im no expert on my own car yet alone Octavias.

seems crazy having to declare it to insurance, but i will so thanks for that. i dont like the tyres being stretched to take off the rims then stretched again next year to put them back on again, i do my presures when i remember normally at least twice a month. Awesome gti put my latest set on, and well they must be an awesome fit cause they never leak any air. my wife drives my car somtimes too, so the wheels are kurbed in the odd place, (lol sorry, but this is true, i dont park by a kurb at work or home and she has to park on the kurb at her work) so its not really about protecting the rims either. i saw some 16" bora alloys on the bay last night for about 60 quid (one needs repair though) they would do, or im looking at a set of golf spare wheels from the scrappy at 70 quid all new ish too? choices eh. i think the bora has 16" spare steelie in the boot, but this will be harder to get four of them. anybody else found any 16" spare wheels anywhere? or do i just keep looking on the bay everyday?

Hello all, Been on some forums before, there’s nothing I like more that swapping ideas about how to improve my cars, where to get the best bits from etc. I’m not mechanically minded at all, but I enjoy my vag group cars very much plus a couple of others :-) . I’m an IT consultant so as you can imagine the most exciting part of my day is the 55 mile round trip to work. I’ve had several decent motors now in my 7 years driving, and one awesome car (that just cost way too much to run). I tend to buy older cars (6-7 years normally) cause I feel I get the best value for money with them. The highlights for me so far have to be this http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=130388&highlight=miglior The s4 beauty that I was a little obsessed with! 2000 w reg standard s4, then apr remap, diverter valves that took it to over 300 bhp eibach pro's, tarox 10 pot's on the front and ecs's on the rear. with powder coated black gloss rs6 stock wheels. i sold the s4 to buy my wife an A2 1.4 90 tdi. and i got the a vrs :-) what a great little car it has been, had to replace the fuel tank! cause it was leaking from the top so failed mot. its an early model , is a little tatty looking as it has some front bumper damage and the odd little dent here and there, but it has full service history and has been apr remapped too also has full coil over’s so is stupidly low. ;-) i love the standard wheels ( or though they are a pain to clean ) so dont want to change anything else really. Oh yeah, I want to do something about the seats! Cause the cream / now brown and black ones were not Skoda’s best moment!

my first post, i will go to the newbies section in my lunch. im struggling to find cheap steelie16's for my fabia vrs. i can get tones of set of 15's off mk4 golfs etc, but struggling to get cheap good 16" steelies. i dont mind the 15's (cause the 195 \ 55's will be better in snow if we get any) but i dont want to take delivery of 4 wheels that might not fit over the front callipers? looking at tyretest.com theese tyres seem to do well Car winter tyres 1 Michelin - Alpin A3 [1,75] / 616 2 Continental - WinterContact TS 800 [1,75] / 342 3 Goodyear - Ultra Grip Performance 2 [1,76] / 104 4 Continental - WinterContact TS 830P [1,76] / 21 5 Continental - WinterContact TS 830 [1,76] / 476 i dont just want the tyres for the snow, just for some more feedback and reasurance in the cold and wet. my p-zero's are good but dont fancy them in the winter.