JerryT

for the vRS you require a VW 502 approved engine oil (read the label on the back of the can) with a viscosity grade of either 5W/30 or 5W/40. Personally, i'd go for a fully synthetic rather than a semi but that will be your choice. For topping up i am currently using Castrol Edge, which can be had for £ 30 (4 litre can) from Asda's. Other merchants/vendors are available but i think this is probably the best price you will get. Also, check out this link which provides a lot of good information on engine oils Oil Questions which i agree with.

it will be entirely up to you. If you are in D or S, then the paddles just over ride what the computer thinks the correct gear is (i.e. your manual kick down) and will revert back to D or S if you do nothing after a short while. Or, if after passing your obstacle, you can then just use the padle to shift back up. i guess though you are really interested in when after putting thecar into what i call semi manual, when will it automatically change up and perhaps catch you out, say mid corner? For total manual mode though (and most fun), knock the selector to the left (i think this can only be done from D) and you will notice (if doing this from a standstill) that the idle revs increase to about 1200 rpm which is the same as you will find for S mode. you can then change gear via either the paddles or the gear selector (forward for up, back for down) and thus have complete control. However, i haven't gone through the complete rev range to see if it will automatically change up when you hit the line, but suspect you will, and once your are into third gear, you will be starting to travel at some fairly fast speeds.

Hi Gazman, any further news on getting the Fabia sorted?

had one of those go on me in a TDI Astra, couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. RAC guy cleared the fault and then showed me where to disconnect the cable back to the ECU if it failed again. after the reset back to normal and drove to Sheffield and back no problems (350 mile round trip)

Possibly

OK, automotive is not my speciality, thats aviation, and here we do use additives to boost the quality of Jet fuels for certain applications, so on the whole, if the fuel companies are adding them, they do so for specific reasons which should only benefit the user. Simple answer to the question is suck it and see, experiment if you feel you want to. As i said, all fuels have to meet a minimum standard, some will exceed these requirements and others will scrape through. btw, i have only put V-power in the vRS since i got it.

All fuels, whether supermarket or main stream forecourt, have to meet certain standards. For gasoline/petrol this is BS EN 228 and for Diesel it is BS EN 590. Then, for the bio component of the diesel fuel there is ISO 14214 and a similar spec for bio ethanol that is used in gasoline which i can't recall at present. So all fuels meet a minimum, but that does not mean that they can not be improved. As such, my understanding is as that of adamc260, and that dependent on the final destination of the fuel, the tanker at the loading gantry of the terminal, will have additives blended into the fuel whilst it is being loaded. As we will have all seen, Shell introduced their Fuel Save fuel that claimed to give you an extra litre per tank fill. This i understand was achieved through the addition of a friction modifier which reduces some of the mechanical loses within the engine (combustion chamber)/fuel delivery system.

as per Janners comment, sounds very much like limp home mode has been enabled, and the only way to find out what is really wrong is get it hooked up to some diagnositcs. could be a whole host of things, but the good news is that you are less than three years old (well the car not you) and it should be covered by warranty. Well i hope it will be now i have said this. Had a similar problem a few years ago on a Peugeot HDI and it was a worn pipe to/from the turo that was easily replaced. So hopefully nothing major that is easily sorted under warranty.

Don't have a problem starting but find mine a little rough/unsteady if starting later in the day. I hvae put this down to maybe a bit of fuel vapourisation in the system,. settles down after about 15/20 seconds or so. Only really noticed it since it started getting warm.

Been meaning to do the fuelly thing for a while now. If i have got it right, you'll be able to see my mpg for the first 3000 miles. Getting better though, just over 40 mpg for the last tankfull

i refer you to point 5 in the original post. Nowhere on here do i actually see the words approved/certified to or anything else that gives me confidence in the product. I could be completely wrong, and it could just be a repackaged product from a reputable supplier (such as say Fuchs at Hanley) but i would be looking for a little more information than just a statement on an Ebay ad. appreciate the price is attractive, and generally when buying in larger quantities and bigger pack sizes you do get economies of scale, but i would not put it in my engine.

Agree, each to their own, just hope he keeps it to himself. Certainly not to my taste.

Thanks Heartsandminds and john999boy . Good advice from you both. Hopefully i will make it work. I'll post back in June when i return. Again, thanks for the help

Can't say i have even given it a thought. Best of all it only cost £13400 and delivery was three weeks . Admittedly it was already sat in the showroom and i'm guessing the dealer wanted to move it on.

looks good. How easy is it to take the chrome piece off the car? they look just some push fit connectors but am concerned about them being a little fragile and breaking them.

Thanks john, that picture was taken after the teach in which result in the focussed car with blurrred wheels and backgroud. If i just left it on auto even using the sport settings did not get anywhere near the result you see here. i will try out your suggestion before i go so again thanks. I suppose i was just hoping that someone would say, here the settings you need and away i go.

Took my first trip to Le mans last year and had a graet teach in on how to use my camera manually (Nikon D40) and got some great daytime shots, however, i could not manage one decent picture at twilight/night. I am suspecting that it is an f stop problem (just can't go low enough) as i only have the standard lenses 18 - 55 (f5 to f32) and a 55 - 200 (f4 to f22). If anyone can help it would be really appreciated. Jerry http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z328/jerryt1/274-1.jpg

Think i may be going the same way but i only get through 4 or 5 pieces a day. biggest thing keeping me off this time is the cost, over £ 7 a pack now. Noticed all the things you have so must have been horrible for my family. Noticed my breathings easier now as well so i know its good for me. Tried many times and hoping that his time will be the last, certainly seems to be the easiest with the additional help of the gum. Just got to wean myself off that now. Keep going, honestly you will feel better for it.

If you really feel the urge, then use the nicorette chewing gum (fruity is better than spearmint) and does not taste like it used to (the bottom of an ashtray), not the E Cig. the important part of what you are trying to do is break a habit, all you will do with the E cig is put something in your hand and mouth which may ultimately stop you reaching you goal of not smoking. hope this helps, i have been clean now for 5.5 monhs using the gum.

good point. i anticipate it will unless you do a brake upgrade, however, best not to be complacent about it and check. I would find it little foolish to supply soething that is not up to the job, but then nothing much does surprise me these days.

Mine has a 195/55 R 15 steel spare (came as standard but it was the showroom car). so not a space saver as such but obviously not equal to the 205/40 17. Looking at the fit, i don't think you would ever get a 17 in there.

do they make much o a difference?

if they are the same/similar to those on the VRS (mounted low down as if fog lights), there is a switch in the fuse box under/below the steering wheel. However, if not consult your handbook to see if it is possible.

Second that, although you can keep the lights but the grill is a definate. Fare exchange is no robbery.

Yep, 3.6 litres. Whilst the magnatec is a VW 502, also note that it is only an API SL whereas the Edge is a API SM, meeting the latest performance requirements. I note Halfords prices are pretty steep, can you get to an ASDA? i bought the 4 litre can the other week for just £ 30.