travs

Someone not giving you a price unless you place an order is an immediate red flag to me. Plenty of places will be able to fully price up the work for you and also break it into its component elements. Never commit to anything unless you’re making a fully-informed decision.

Good point on the washing actually - microfibres are basically two types of plastic fibre; polyamide and polyester. One is good at trapping oils, the other at trapping water. Which means, washing at over 40degrees melts the fibres and kills the effectiveness. No hot tumble drying or sticking on the radiator after either. There are dedicated MF towel cleaning products (eg Carpro MFX) but otherwise some guys advocate chucking in some white vinegar or baking soda to help pull the oils out. Try to do a MF wash separate to other laundry as they’ll pick up lint from the other fabrics. And Stoner’s is a very respected product…I think perhaps moreso in US as it’s an American product. Substitutes Acid for Alcohol-based active ingredients which act as a solvent rather than surfactant.

Admittedly, sarcasm got the better of me for the rear windscreen and carpets. But the subtle front-end differences I think are quite material in reality

The classic old old old old school window cleaning was vinegar and newspaper. Newspaper because it absorbs and doesn't drop fibres...and vinegar contains acetic acid which is a great surfactant that lifts grease away from the surface. Acids tend to be a little draggy on surfaces (and risks causing marring damage to clearcoat), which is why they tend to be used in certain scenarios or as last resort. Glass is one of the certain scenarios as it is much hardier. Windowlene contains acetic acid which is why its still a successful glass cleaner. All the more successful products will tend to base around an acid. For media, I've found waffle-weave microfibres tend to be really good - something like Rag Company "Dry me a river" are my go to but there are plenty of competitors. As far as contact washing - any brushes or sponges will lead to clearcoat damage over time as they are just too abbrasive. Best way is microfibre washmitt and while people will advocate a 2 bucket method (or 3 for a separate wheel bucket), I prefer one bucket with clean water (and grit guard in the bottom) and car shampoo in a pump spray to get it on the car. Spray it on, panel by panel, use the wash mitt, rinse the wash mitt in the clean bucket, then move on. Working from top to bottom.

https://the-ida.com/page/italy_chapter This might give you an idea of who's around. You should be able to have just the spot done for pretty low cost - I used to charge c.£40 for spot polishes. Yes ideally you'd have the whole car done as it will look much better but, in my experience of people that I dealt with, that's just as much about being passionate about cars having perfect clearcoat than just trying to upsell (just google-image search before and after machine polishing images to see) but ultimately its your car so don't be pushed into anything you don't want to do.

Ok you didn’t criticise but Inwas answering the points that OP thought it was on the paint, and at the time we didn’t have pictures of it. And you didn’t ask if he’d had someone look at it - you asked “have you tried machine polishing it”. Which is still not the first thing to go for. We can only go on the info and words at the time. A year old suspected sap/glue could still be broken down and removed with the right products. But I agree, since then, the picture identifies it immediately…in which case best practice is still to attempt to use chemicals as it’s the least aggressive method first. And like I say, you’ve got to use basically the same products to clean and decontaminate before getting a machine on it; and a detailer worth his salt will talk to the customer and ask rather than breaking out the Rupes. We’re at the solution now and I absolutely agree that he should seek a pro to do a proper job on it to avoid any complications or further unintended damage.

@cloudres That marking is effectively a bird bomb that has now gone into the clearcoat. It’s a couple of reasons, mainly the paint has got hot, the clearcoat softens and the stuff gets absorbed. Depending on how acidic it is, it can eat its way through waxes and into the clearcoat but it’s not some Hydrochloric Acid it’s sometimes made out to be. If you’ve tried a handful of products, the last one being the main one that would have worked, then you’ll have to remove the contaminated clearcoat with polishing compound and most effectively with a machine polisher. In order to do that properly, you need to make sure the area is cleaned and decontaminated first to stop picking up contaminants with the polishing pad and causing further damage. If you don’t have experience in doing all of that; then I would advise looking on IDA or PVD for nearby Detailers to deal with it for you. Removing clearcoat doesn’t require ceramic coating. It’s a hardy and long-lasting paint protection but it’s not tied to paint correction. There should still be plenty of clearcoat left (unless the paint has been polish lots before but a pro will check it with a paint depth gauge first). A ceramic coating (not a ceramic polish, not a hybrid ceramic wax, not a ceramic topper) will provide the best level of protection (aside from paint protection film) but it’s not bulletproof.

You read that OP asked for a chemical solution as well though didn’t you? International Detailing Association methodology along with common sense approach is to start with the least aggressive method first. As an aside, I don’t see the logic in criticising someone for answering a question for being too detailer-specific when having already suggested machine polishing. Jumping straight to that is much more likely to cause more damage to the paint than fix the, at that point, unknown issue.

Tbh I thought it was a pain having the Gen4 (lack of parts, crappy recall on engine cover), until I researched and realised the hardware is exactly the same as the others (so I search fmostly for Golf Mk8 R for engine parts) and the map gives insane gains. You sure about yours? The way I saw it, CJXA is the original 280, whereas 272 is DNUA when the GPF was brought in and it dropped to 272. I may be reading it wrong though

There has to be an element of unknown I guess for all those manufacturers that make stuff for others. I knew a company called AB Automotive who made a part, which then got shipped out to US to be incorporated into the brake light switch for some Ford trucks. No-one would have hear of them and not known their pedigree I suppose. You'd hope Autodoc do their DD on suppliers...

A lot can go out the window when the warranty expires. Otherwise you're just held to the requirements for that which seem to subordinate conscientiousness. As soon as my warranty ended, it was all about finding a VAG specialist who knows and cares. They even did non-warranty work within the period, like the proper way to do the Haldex oil change etc.

I'd swerve eBay - not because there aren't any good ones, but there's a lot of chaff created by bad ones. Start with reputable tuners/suppliers which, fortunately for VAG, there are a good few options. MRC, QST, CLP are 3 straight off the bat. I tend to get from Awesome GTI as I seem to have become a RacingLine fanboy and they have a decent raft of RL stuff but I think they also work on the cars too. Even the place that did the Sleeper Edition REPerformance or something like that? See what they suggest and set your expectation...

https://storage.googleapis.com/racingline-server-resources-public/8R and friends/Racingline Software Release 2022-12A EA888 Gen4 Continental Turbo.pdf Interesting doc. Leaving this here

You just want to be sure this is a reputable seller who knows what they're talking about and not just copy-pasting stuff that sounds impressive. I don't know enough to comment, but you'll find an experienced engineer could either read this and tell you its important stuff and would make a difference (provided its provably built) or equally stuff like this is utter word salad.

RacingLine don’t sell direct. I went through AwesomeGTI as I think they have a pretty good relationship I think and seem to peddle quite a few RL products. There is a RacingLine shop but they only do hardware and don’t sell maps. The map is really smooth as far as I’m concerned. The most notable difference in the real world is top end where the standard output starts to run out of puff. This thing just keeps pulling into 3 figures on private roads without breaking a sweat.

I’ve just done it - seems to work fine. Download the whole folder, extract to the root of your usb stick and you’ll see the data and meta folders extracted. Ditch the other zips after that so there is just the Data and Meta folder and that’s all you need. Took a tiny bit longer to do than 306 to 308 or 308 to 330 but not much 👍🏼

Jeez - at least you get a cheap improvement to performance. Pretty sure genuine dealers should use what they're told by Skoda to maintain warranty but perhaps after that there's some licence to manoeuvre...

Found this folder for RW v330 if that helps - for EU it needed v308 and I can't see that anywhere. So I would download 330 anyway. Try and install it and if it isn't supported it will tell you straight away. https://mibsolution.one/#/1/9/MOI3/Preh/RW/Skoda

Yep it’s exactly what I’ve got as needed it for my ECU remap. The main thing that all the DSG remaps will do is increase clamping pressure to stand higher torque generated. TVS build a number of other factors into their maps, I think the remaining ones probably tend to do less (certainly don’t say as much) but may change shift points and shift speed too. The TVS deal might be with lower stage ECU combo perhaps? I bought my RL ECU and DSG remap with the flash at home module. Its basically a one-price includes everything - so I have Stage 1 High Torque on there at the moment; if I fitted an intercooler I could just plug in and remap to Stage 1+ for free. That’s plugged into the laptop or I can do it via Bluetooth to the iPad or iPhone too. And it includes resetting the stop-start to off by default. And it also includes the ability to Flash to Zero. As an anti-theft measure you can map it to nothing so the car would never start. I can put it back to standard, flash to account for 95RON, flash to low torque versions. The only thing you don’t get is a RR session at the time but I can take it somewhere and get it tested whenever. That was £966 for everything (ECU map, TCU map, flash module). I think that was a Black Friday deal. It’s currently 480 for the TCU, 900 with remap and 198 on top for the module if you don’t want to take it somewhere. If you do, replace the 198 for whatever they charge.

There’s a good few ideas to upgrade either keeping the same size as original and moving to drilled/grooved discs, or moving to larger discs - but you’ll need different caliper carriers and potentially calipers (not sure on that) so can get expensive. There isn’t a simple swap like there used to be Octavia vRS mk1 to Fabia Mk1 vRS. All disc size setups are either FWD or AWD. Yours as AWD will be 340mm front and 310mm rear. Both swts of discs will be vented. Ignore anything that says 312mm front and 300mm rear as that’s for the FWD setups. It’s amazing how many places get it wrong.

Always start with the least aggressive method first. Don’t try machine polishing until you’ve tried a few things first. There’s a few products you can use - start with a decent panel wipe (basically used to get rid of any leftover oils/waxes after polishing, traditionally IPA); Garage Therapy Zero is a decent quality product. Next, look for Tar Remover type products (some may say Tar/Sap Remover; they’ll basically be an organic solvent of some type like toluene or xylene. Not in direct sunlight or on hot paintwork. Spray on, let it dwell (sit working), gentle agitation with a clean microfibre and then rinse off. Don’t use petrol or Naphtha as it can melt the clearcoat and you may see some discolouration to it. if chemicals don’t get it off, next would best be using a clay bar or clay towel. Keep it lubricated and gentle pressure, small circles moving about. This will marr the paint so if you’re fussed about that, then a machine polish will be needed to tidy the clearcoat up. Polishing will be the last resort - it’ll need to be decontaminated proper anyway to get the best results. Will take it off but I’d try the above first before moving on to manual removal. Also, if getting a polish, get a one step or a medium cut. Might as well have something with a bit of bite to it rather than getting a fine cut finishing polish and find it doesn’t touch it. Let us know how you get on.

Ha. Just seen a complaint about 19’s on Reddit.

My guess on these things is new grills, new bumper for the grills, new headlights to fit the new bumper, new front ends to mount the new bumper. Then bonnet, front wings, loom, possibly rear windscreen and carpets.

Congrats on the swap. Hope it goes well!

Quickest way to get a lot of dirt and muck off is a citrus pre-wash or snowfoam. Jetwash anything that you can physically see just with a pre-rinse blast first. Then use the snowfoam or citrus prewash all over the car, let it dwell and then a thorough rinse. This removes as much stuff off without touching the car reducing the resulting marring from moving contaminates across the plant with the contact wash. Other ways you can cut down contact washing workoad: 1 bucket method. The ‘clean’ bucket is to get product on the wash mitt to put on the car. Instead, put it in a pump sprayer and get it on the car that way. Agitate with the wash mitt which you then rinse in the rinse bucket. Only 1 bucket needed. Multi-mitt method. Have one clean bucket with about 6 mitts in. Pick out one, use it to clean a panel/section. Then put it aside and don’t touch it again. Get the next clean mitt out the bucket and clean the next section etc etc. Danger is if you run out but don’t forget you can use both sides of big microfibre wash mitts. Then look at either Gyeon Wetcoat or Carpro Hydro2. When the car is clean you mist these on and jetwash off. No touching needed. I loved Hydro2. It’s quite expensive for the bottle but you buy a mixer bottle and dilute 1:6 with water. Or you can buy a snowfoam variant or a lite pre-mixed version.