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Many thanks. I'm 300 miles south of you, so probably the second week of November until mid-March. Alan

Eeeek! Winter isn't far away. The forecast here still has 6-7 degrees overnight for the next week or so.

Many thanks chaps, Picking the bits out of those it would seem that the consensus would be to change the wheels and tyres in November, as soon as we start getting close to frost at night. In previous years I've just used the 18" alloys with original specification Continental tyres all year round, and that has been a bit precarious at times (mostly in Northamptonshire and Norfolk). This year I found a set of Audi 16" steel wheels with good Yokohama winter tyres fitted in the summer, and used them for a week whilst I had the alloys refurbished and powder coated. So, I know the 16" wheels and tyres are fine, and I'd quite like to keep my pristine powder coated 18" wheels (I think they are called 'trilogy') looking that way. That has been good guidance, many thanks - I'll look to swapping next month, until about March I should think. Alan

Good morn, I have a set of steel wheels with good winter tyres fitted that I was planning to swap to for the coming winter. I wonder: at which point do you swap wheels? I live in the Midlands, so the weather won't be as severe as Scotland. Alan

This is by far the most sensible post in this thread :-)

Hi Martin, But why not fit the whole gear knob and gaiter - then there would be no risk on breaking any of the clips? If you just wanted the insert it seems to be Skoda part # 3T0 798 117 and costs about 14 Euro plus about 10 Euro shipping here: https://www.skoda-parts.com/spare-part/3t0798117-shift-lever-plaque-skoda-22241.html ... I know, you have ordered the complete thing now, so why not fit it? It just pushes on (well, it might need a whack with a rubber mallet). Alan

This looks perfectly good to me for only £15 delivered, it is an aftermarket item but is specific to the car. It comes from Poland, but that is no impediment (we are still in the BREXIT transition): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEAR-SHIFT-KNOB-GAITER-5-SPEED-FOR-SKODA-SUPERB-MK2-II-08-12-OCTAVIA-MK2-YETI/183111976026?hash=item2aa253045a:g:eokAAOSwKb5anqpr

A Skoda dealer. Alan

I think that is a sensible way to go Lichfielddriver, the springs are really easy to fit yourself and may sort the problem. Chimaera makes a good point about swapping the shock absorbers, and it would save you quite a lot of time if you did so simultaneously (you will have to remove the springs to for the new dampers anyway). I fitted Monroe replacement dampers to my car about two years ago (I had an advisory for the right hand one) - they were not expensive and fitted perfectly, so I would recommend them. Good fortune. Alan PS. If you do change the dampers then this thread may be of some small use to you: The Monroe shocks and two sets of stretch bolts cost only £60, which I think was a bargain - if you did the work yourself you could change the springs and shock absorbers for £120 on Saturday morn and be finished by 10:00.

Good morn, Understood - parts bin engineering is not unusual. I'm guessing the Greenline has the lower springs from the sports chassis to lower the frontal area a tad and so improve fuel consumption a bit - the downside is that it will cope with speed bumps and so on less well. Chimaera makes a good point above that the front springs would have to be changed at the same time in order to correct the geometry of you decided to raise your car to standard height (and so cope with those pesky speed bumps better) - I agree with him. There is a McPherson strut arrangement at the front, so it may well be a case of changing more than just the springs to alter the ride height (I don't know, that was just conjecture on my part). I wonder whether you would think it worth the expense to change all 4 corners to get a 20mm increase in ride height for your motor car? I can appreciate that the springs fitted to the Superb are closer to their design limits than when fitted to the Golf, and so may become less stiff with use - it might be worth measuring the ride height (see Chimaera's helpful table above) to see whether your rear springs have been affected. I checked those on my motor car and have found them to be well within the tolerance given, and so have decided to leave them well alone for the time being. Getting back to your conundrum: I don't think it would be wise to fit standard chassis length springs to the back of your motor car without addressing the front at the same time - and that might be quite expensive (although far from impossible). I'd say (in my humble opinion) the best thing to do would be to replace the rear springs with new sports chassis items because that would be cheap (£50 for perfectly good pattern parts) and easy (DIY in 20 minutes/side with no special tools) - then see if that improves matters over the school run speed bumps. I don't know whether that has been helpful or not (it was just an opinion, others more knowledgeable than I am may disagree); I have learned some things from this thread (such as the colour coding for springs and the correct ride height for my Skoda). Good fortune, Alan

Good response - first hand experience is always best.

I think langers2k is right. I just checked my car (2013 Elegance estate) - I think it should look like this: ... pretty clear but no Blackpool illuminations at night I'm afraid. I should think it would be a simple job to replace the gear know or maybe just glue in a new insert. Alan

PS (to the addendum): the original springs fitted are (after the table I found attached to the above): PR Code: 0YE Weight: 5 Colours: WOOOBr (this is how I identified them) Part #: 1K0 511 115 DE

... many thanks, I'll have a look for the table and check my car against it. Alan Addendum: I assume this is the table: I think the first column would apply to my motor car (2013 Superb Elegance estate diesel), so the ride height should be 394.1 +/- 10 mm. I am guessing this is from the centre of the wheel hub to the top of the wheel arch when the car is unladen? I have just measured my car and get 392mm both sides, which if I have measured the correct dimension seems fine. I used an ordinary steel tape, which I reckon I could read to +/- 2mm (I'm a surveyor by profession, so that is realistic). Is that measurement of the correct dimension, and is it precise enough (I suppose I could set up a laser level on a tripod if there was a requirement)?

... But surely the spring rate won't reduce with use, will it? I would tend to think the more likely scenario would be that the metal would work harden and be more prone to breaking - I don't know whether that is the case, and I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong. I ask because my 2013 Elegance estate has done 67,000 miles with no noticeable diminution of the springs; I took them off to change the rear dampers last year and all was fine, so I refitted the same springs and have had no problems since. Are there any symptoms I should be looking for to indicate they are becoming worn? Alan

Ah, I see. So were you trying to raise your motor car by fitting longer springs than came from the factory? I'm sure that would be possible (of course it is, lots of Superbs are built that way), but wouldn't you need to raise the front as well to suit? I don't know the answer to this one, but I suspect someone far more knowledgeable than I will. Alan

Excellent. lichfielddriver should be very pleased at that. I'm guessing the reason is to lower the car and so improve aerodynamic performance (and so fuel economy) rather than to alter the car's handling. Alan

Really? That would solve the mystery. Good information. Alan

See below, Carlston implies you do have lowered springs, which would seem odd on your motor car. It might be worth taking a spring out (only take 20 minutes) to check as I'm guessing you want to have the standard ride height? Alan

That is interesting, so it would appear that the OP's 2015 Skoda Superb 1.6td estate already has lowered sports suspension. Can that be right? If it is then the OP's idea of pulling a spring out to measure its uncompressed height is a pretty good one to ensure he gets the right replacement part. Alan

I meant just using the table to look up the right part, it would seem that for your motor car it would be: (1) 1K0511115BS coil spring 1 paint mark 2 paint marks rear blue yellow Model data: PR-0YC Isn't that pretty helpful? I had not tried inputting a VIN; I thought the above was useful enough in itself. Alan

This is a really helpful link. Alan

... all done? Alan

Good morn Chimaera, I plagarised some of your words from a thread I wrote some years ago in the above (with a few additions); credit for the method is due to you. Alan

... I'm pretty sure you are right - the OP can check by seeing if they screw into the plastic shroud, if so they are the correct T10 screws. Alan