Tailhappy

Sounds perfect. I fitted the Jabba rear bar and when I removed it for refurbishment I REALLY missed it. Should have been there as standard. The 1.4 16v without the bar is much better on the bends than a vRS without one. With the bar the vRS is better. What would the 1.4 be like with the bar I wonder 🙃

My vRS is completely standard apart from one (in my mind very important) modification. Larger front brake disks. The first week I owned the car I had someone pull out of a turning that had a red light so hit the anchors. We stopped but it felt 'taxed' and the stopping power felt less than the car should have. So I had the Audi TT disk upgrade, and it was perfect on the few times I needed to scrub of speed quickly. Also a simple bolt on rear anti-roll bar was another early upgrade which I have appreciated on twisty roads and in Milton Keynes (lots of roundabouts). Otherwise totally standard.

Modern tech laden cars like EV's really are built down to a price. I can't see them lasting as well as a Mk.1. It's almost a negative - look after your early Fabia and it will likely just keep going - but you will end up with an much older car than everyone else (if that bothers you) as outlives the competition.

Parked up today. Can't believe how massive cars are these days. I could hardly get out. It makes me want an even smaller car!

Yes it will be all new with new calipers. If you can get genuine VW ones all the better. Ask to keep the old ones as you can refurbish for spared yourself if needed.

Really you need to completely disassemble the caliper so that all parts can ne assessed, cleaned, replaced if needs be and put back. The handbrake mechanism is part of the caliper. It's like a cam that pushes the pads out a little and utilises the automatic wear adjustment. So as the pads wear the handbrake stays in adjustment. You will need a rebuild kit from Big Red or similar and important, a pair of very long nose circlip pliers for master cylinders and the like. To release the circlip holding the handbrake lever mechanism in the bore (it pulls out through the cylinder after removing the cable holder lever at the rear). I thought I needed new cables but once I serviced the calipers they were working like new. the problem with insufficient action or binding is most times down to the handbrake mechanism sticking as i said. Honestly its not a good design as all that stops water and dirt getting in is one rubber seal at the back. I have seen the video on cleaning. It will get you by, but its not really enough. I'm betting that by now it needs new seals around the piston at the least. If you take it in to have work done it's difficult to guarantee they do the work perfectly. Even my known good garage told me they 'lubricated the mechanism' after mine started losing handbrake power. I'm suspecting the just sprayed around the pivot. It didn't last. I'd suggest asking fora full caliper rebuild and being Frank with them too.

I had exactly this issue. The 'freeing off' basically is just them working the handbrake lever mechanism on the caliper. This jams up over time. I had my brakes jam on with lots of smoke so it's important to get it sorted. I had 2 refurbished calipers fitted by the garage but these were no good after just a year. What happens is the steel rod that connects into the rear caliper to operate the pads gets rust, gunk and scale in between it and the bore it travels in. I have had much better success rebuilding the old calipers myself and fitting new seals and most importantly removing and cleaning out the handbrake mechanism. The handbrake when working well is very effective, but it's a fragile design and so it needs regular inspection. Once the mechanism starts sticking, it's needing service.

It was almost new just over 700 miles. It may have been faulty but it never lit any lights. It had enough power too. Just the thrum of the 3 cylinder engine through the steering wheel caused me issues which I've never experienced in a 4 cylinder car.

Not to be dismissive but if you do want to maybe go for one of the newer 1 litre 3 cylinder vehicles do take a proper test drive. Two years ago I wanted to take the family to Cornwall for a funeral in something larger than my Mk.1 Fabia or Estelle. We ended up hiring a Peugeot 2008 however the vibration from the 3 cylinder engine over the long drive damaged the nerves in both hands and forearms. Took over 2 months to heal and I still get odd feelings now. 3 cylinders are all the rage but they are not for me.

Ok update time. It turns out that the belt fitted by my garage and the belt suggested by the motor factors are wrong. 1180 is what it is supposed to be but 1183 is what was fitted. 3mm too long. This doesn't sound much but it's a proper difference on the tensioner. With the 1183 it's much further around and noticeably lower tenson on the belt. This causes it to slip and polish and then slip more. Fitting the correct belt has solved the problem.

Thanks both. I've confirmed everything is routed correctly. The only thing of note is the tensioner, whilst free and working, is one of the plastic pulley ones. Littens I think. I just replaced it with genuine VW with the metal pulley. The spring on the Littens is very different to the VW one so let's see how this works out.

Good call on the plug! Something to try. You wouldn't happen to have a link to the thread with different routing of the belt would you? Correct and incorrect?

Thanks JR. I'll double check routing later but I'm 99% sure its fine. The alternator pulley is freewheeling and locking fine. Looking through old threads could a battery that's failing be a possibility? But even at full charge rate the alternator shouldn't slip surely? I don't think it's an AC compressor problem as that's working fine.

After the car has been left for a few days in the colder weather (2005 vRS) and I start the car I get a shriek noise that lasts around 5 to 7 seconds. On popping the bonnet I can then feel the aux drive belt is hot. I fitted a new belt and tensioner but no change. I have also replaced the alternator pulley which was jammed. Both alternator and air conditioning compressor pulleys move freely when I remove tbe belt and spin them. After the screeching has gone on a few seconds it goes away and is gone for the rest of the day. Has anyone had anything like this? Any thoughts appreciated.

I was chatting with her about electric cars. She had some interesting thoughts but was on the whole luke warm on them (due to the screen) and the fact she would need to go and sit in a rather lonely car park in a rough area to charge was unappealing to her. She is happy with her Estelle 130 - but I asked what if it was written off. So she suggested an easier to find Skoda but still simple. Fair enough I guess. I wonder what the market for a completely simple EV would be? Wind up windows, basic kit, nice to drive, reliable. If anyone could make one it would be Skoda.