travs

Yes the XLR is very good. I have mine in Race+ - throttle like a hairline trigger. Muuuuuch better. The diesel to petrol comparisons do also flag the torque/power comparison. When I had the car remapped, the biggest difference was noticeable at higher speeds and not throughout all performance. It wasn’t until the intercooler and larger charge pipes made a noticeable increase all through the rev range.

You think all drove the same? If so, then it sounds like yours is the same. Although as long as you drove all facelifts then you should have the same experience but if the test drives were pre-facelift then the previous generation engine had a different turbo with different flow-dynamics which may have made it seem like the turbo kicked in more sudden. If you have a facelift then it’s a DNFE engine which is an excellent base for tuning…but good to let the warranty expire first for sure.

"New car smell for cyclists"

Engine cover from the ea888.4 is what would be in the facelift....but without trying to be a pedant, the crossover date is probably not exact for all parts. lllparts has bodyparts "to 7/7/2019" and "8/7/2019 onwards" so I think that's where the physical changes occurred on things like the front end, rear roundel to SKODA etc but not everything; there's probably a few early facelift cars that still have the DNUA (ea888.3b) engine. I was told by a tuner that there are some early S3 8Y which should have the ea888.4 still with the ea888.3b which caused some upset when they had work to do planned on the model rather than VIN which would have told them. Anyway! Looks great - another tidy little addition!

Absolutely - its all very well being descriptive about processes and the order of them, but ultimately its down to the owner as to how they want the car to look. The traditional view of a ceramic coating is that, given its longevity, you want the car looking as perfect as possible beforehand given you "lock-in" the condition, but that's individual's prerogative. The coating will provide a level of protection from chemicals, UV and ease cleaning being more difficult for contaminants to adhere to. That's sufficient benefit for some without having to have the paint in showroom condition. You can get consumer products for about £40/£50 - as long as the paint is clean and decontaminated its ok. There are arguments that going over with a polisher will help adherence but there's no guarantee on that. As for protection, I personally tend to use Carpro's (Hydr02) as its easy to apply and remove with a jetwash. mist on, jetwash off almost immediately. Gyeon, G-techniq and Labocosmetica all have similar products although Carpro also have it in a snowfoam form too. The latter is probably better in sunny situations as I can easily get highspots if its too bright and warm (high spots are where a ceramic coating has been left on too long/not cleaned off leaving a haze in those patches). I have used one-step polishes with a protection in but its all situation-specific.

International Detailing Association trained and certified here and trained at UK Detailing Academy. You can do what you like, it’s you car but the general trends are based on research and understanding that changes and grows over time. Waterless/Rinseless products aren’t bad per se. They’re just not for this place. They were developed in California where there have been regular issues with water shortages and hosepipe bans. It’s not that it doesn’t do the job, it’s a shortcut that compromises on results because of the scenario it wasn’t developed for. Water-based products are simply better because they’ve been developed for longer by more companies. Generally the stages for cleaning: Rinse (remove obvious contaminants cheaply with water from your jetwash) Pre-wash (snowfoam, citrus - they don’t both need to be done, do it properly, do it once); very generous rinse here to use the prewash to get rid of contaminants Wheels/tyres - alkali/ph neutral cleaner is fine unless really burnt on nasty crusty brake dust then you’ll need an acid-based product. Iron fallout - start around the wheel on the body, if there is responding colour-change, spray a bit further along. If there is no indication by colour change, don’t bother doing more as the chances are low there will be any. Safe Contact wash - 2 bucket method is standard but there are single bucket methods. Tar remover - generally lower half of the car, starting behind the wheels. Clay if you’re going to polish. It creates marring damage in pulling out contaminants, so no point unless you correct it. Rinse low pressure to drag off spare water. Dry (air dryer and/or microfibre drying towel). Wash media is good quality clean microfibre - washmitt for cleaning, soft-tip brushes for panel gaps and corners, and microfibre towels for any. Delete stages as you don’t want them. Protective products can range from hand waxes, spray waxes, spray polymer waxes, hybrid ceramic and/or graphene waxes, ceramic coating, PPF.

Can attest to the rear quarter. Had that window smashed by a flying stone and it’s about 400+change from main dealer only to get the glass and it comes with trim that goes above and below the main window…but I can’t remember whether the autoglass bloke reused the existing chrome strips…I don’t think they used new ones But either way just wrap ‘em

Front control arms but no feeling through the steering wheel? That would be annoying as I'd definitely go for the rear first port of call.

Clutch pack and oil…but no idea how they interact. What oil was used when you had it changed? Maybe slightly thicker and needs to warm up before it lubes properly?

Good that it’s getting worse - eventually you’ll find the problem when the problem part falls off. Kidding - have you looked at engine and gearbox mounts?

Nope - the wheels will still miss the arch as they compress. Looks much better now. Enjoy!

But it does need verification. This is an anecdote and there are tons of other variables which aren’t factored explained or potentially even obvious to the guy’s whose car it was. Despite that it’s definitively the fault of the oil. Despite what must be thousands of cars being used with that oil? Despite no information on how he’s driven it? Whether he’s had the car since new and always had the servicing done immaculately? If there isn’t a trend to support the same thing and there is evidence to support that the oil has been identified as causal or at least contributory in this case then have to tak it with a pinch of salt. The motor oil guy may support certain aspects of oil type and additives, but if there isn’t large volume data to support that in this situation, then you can’t draw any firm conclusions that it’s not circumstantial, same with the body colour or age of the car, or whether it’s a DE, UK or US car etc. While it’s a shame the engine was needed on this 9-year old car with entirely unknown history, the only thing I take away from this is how sensationalist the internet is.

Now sold.

Picture: hilarious. ABT - just a corporate deal surely? I always thought previously the Leon was the slightly experimental one. Reported as setup a little more lively than the Golf and Audi. The ABT ones just seemed to exacerbate that. Wiki says, power to 345bhp, bodykit, quad tailpipes, uprated shocks, 2 degrees negative camber, brakes. So that’s most EA888.3 Stage1 remaps, a few grand at Maxton/reiger, BBK upgrade, Bilstein B6, topmounts. Couple of Engineering teams plan out a series of run-out models, cost it up and get the green light from the board as continuing the theme of the wild child younger sister. Done. Skoda doesn’t have an equivalent model as they never had an AWD version of the Octy. The singular reason I discounted it. If I’d done what I have to a Sportline Plus rather than L&K then it would have been closer to it. Maybe with a front lip and rear diffuser section.

Hmmmmm…. @Cairus is it possible to remove the FEC code for SatNav, so it doesn’t try to load? Then plug in the USB to see if the maps will update?

That reads like they did less but charged more - is that right?

I don’t think you need it given how carefully you drive the car Rob. Aaaand you had that oil in the spark plug well potentially from the cam cover gasket; if so, thinner oil may leak more…?

Just for awareness - I recently took the DS2500 pads off the rear (kept the fronts) and went back to standard pads. They developed a squeal after a couple of thousand miles and the only way I could reduce it (but never got rid completely) was to do a few heavy stops and get the heat into them. After some normal (ie gentle) braking the noise would start to escalate again. Have since read that on the 280s the rear brakes are quite big in comparison to the fronts and tougher pads aren’t really needed unless you’re going to work the brakes. Hopefully you won’t have the same experience but if you do, that’ll be why.

There may well be .5 models. It’s rare that all pre-facelift parts were all used up when the last pre-facelift rolled off the production line. Have been told there are some early 8Y S3s (should have the Gen4 engine) with the Gen3 engine. Scandalous. And I had an Audi S4 99.5 (mid-facelift - still had a manual clock in the dash).

But in reality they’re off the radar - it’s not a criticism, just the reality. And I expect most owners appreciate Skoda is still not a flashy brand; even the vRS with its respectable image is still “in its place” below S, R and Cupra (although the god-awful Cupra logo makes it a close run thing).

…and faster than an Octavia vRS 🤭

Its something to do with losing the FEC (Feature Enables Codes) aka SWaP (Software as a product) when you move from very old version like v0156 - I think they get deleted as part of the update but I don't know why. By the time you get to around v270 onwards you don't need to worry about it as the codes seem to remain. v270 itself is junk. I also don't know where you find them or how you update them as they've never been an issue for me. But search for FEC codes and you will get plenty of data. As I've mentioned before, you NEED v308 as a stepping stone from older versions to newer but you can go traight from there to the newest (as far as I know is still 332). I don't know which stepping stones may also exist from previous. Mine was v270 when I first bought the car. The local dealer updated to v306 when it was in for a service and then I've researched and updated since then, hence not knowing much about the earlier processes.

Not as far as I've seen and not for me. There's so little knowledge about them that the chances of it being nicked because its a 280 is low because: there are so many other models with the same engine that have a more desirable badge joe public doesn't even realise the 280 exists as a model which "has the Golf R engine in" the only obvious external identifiers (aside from the badges) are brake size and real exhausts. both pretty niche. Other one I can think of are the DSG oil cooler and for that you have to notice the front nearside portion of the lower grill is open and notice the cooler behind there. Even more niche. In other words, the value you place on it is entirely your own. I've de-badged mine so unless someone observes cars other than reading badges, it might as well be a 1.4. I'm not going as far as putting a TDi badge on though.

To Correct: First 280: 280bhp CJXA EA888.3 non-GPF pre-facelift Second 280: 272bhp DNUA EA888.3 GPF pre-facelift Third 280: 280bhp DNFE EA888.4 GPF facelift. The first and second is literally the addition of GPF. No structural changes, change in ECU/map etc. The 3rd was a whole different engine. Short block probs very similar, but ancillaries, turbo, as well. Biggest thing I've noticed is where the diverter valve feeds in to the inlet pipe from the airbox on the Gen4, but didn't look into what happens on the Gen3. There's no spur on the pipe from the airbox though...found that the hard way when buying a second-hand part...

By the way, any deposit should be entirely refundable in principle. They may say that there is an admin/cancellation charge but that should be minimal. Any potential risk to a deposit is being used as a leverage tactic to get the sale. Doesn't mean the car's a dog, but it does mean the sales guy is BSing; meaning he's either motivated to sell (meet targets) and/or a bell-cheese. So if you're 50:50 on the car but the paid deposit is pushing you either way then factor it out. They return it or you sart getting direct regarding consumer rights.