A&Rblackline

Ah, thanks Fishyhooky. If it’s still playing up, I’ll get the car booked in for the fix.

Thanks for the replies. I’ve been tuning into the DAB stations by just looking them up on the list, and have only put about 6 stations in, including our regular national BBC stations. Just got back in from a drive and it’s still iffy reception. Just in case the aerial was loose/corroded, I unscrewed it and checked the thread and it’s like new. I’ve just been into the advanced part of the settings menu and spotted something called ‘DAB - DAB tracking’, so I’ve ticked the box on that to see whether that makes any difference. I’m going for another drive in a bit, so will report back. p.s. FM reception is absolutely fine, but Radio 6 is DAB only:(

We picked up our latest Skoda yesterday (2016 Yeti L&K) and have been out and about in it trying out its gadgets. I’ve noticed that the DAB radio really struggles to pick up any radio stations. The area we live in is rural, but not particularly hilly - and our car immediately prior to the Yeti was a 2016 Octavia, and prior to that one, a 2011 Mk2 Octavia VRS. Both the Octy’s had DAB and their reception was loads better on the same rural 25 minute commute, with signal only dropping for a few seconds through one village. The Yeti’s DAB only gets a signal for about 2 or 3 minutes during the whole 25 minute journey, so I’m wondering if there might be a problem with the aerial. What do folk reckon - is the Yeti DAB particularly c**p, or do you reckon we might have a problem with ours? FWIW, the car has 3 months of its original 3 year warranty left, so we’re keen to get stuff fixed while it’s still covered by that.

From what I can see, it doesn't look like Skoda do the variable height boot floor for the hatchback. So, I'm just wondering about making one myself out of MDF/plywood. I guess someone on here might have already done this - if so, do you have any tips or a thread on it? (I've spotted the thread on making one for the estate, and I guess it's not that different - but I am thinking of making mine from scratch, as I guess the ones in the current and Mk2 estates are different lengths(?)

Nice one Jonny5ive:)

Hi, Another 'special edition' buyer! We put a deposit down on a silver one yesterday. We've already got an Octavia estate that we've been really pleased with, but were looking for something to replace our ageing Renault Kangoo MPV. The difference between driving the Kangoo and Roomster is like going from...er...and old French van to a Rolls Royce - we couldn't get over how quiet and comfy the Roomster is, but with just as much, if not more, practicality than the Kang. The car is already at the dealers (they got 4 in a couple of weeks ago, but sold two on Sat). I can see why they're going quickly - I thought there had to be some catch, but apart from the restricted colour choice, it's an SE...but £4k cheaper!! The wife prefers the Roomster's in darker colours, but when she found out the price difference, silver was suddenly not a problem;) Can't wait to pick it up now:)

"We've had ours for a couple of weeks now (it's one of the special editions). I asked the salesman the same question. He confirmed that they're the same engine and that it's just a remap, but then started going on about how other parts of the car need to be upgraded to take the change. I doubt he's right as this one is mechanically identical to the 105bhp as far as I can tell (eg rear disc brakes). Yes, I think you're probably right about the rest of the mechanicals being the same (I noticed that the brakes are the same on the special edition that we looked at). I can't imagine that the gearbox and clutch are going to be different and, even if they are, I can't see them being too stressed by the modest increase in bhp(?). I wouldn't mind getting it done but don't think it justifies the cost, and I wouldn't want to pick it up from a service to find that it's been switched back." That would be a real pain to say the least! I think I'd only have it done when the car has gone out of its warranty period, as I'll be taking it a local independent VAG specialist, who is used to dealing with all sorts of modded VAG cars. If I had the time and money, I'd love to eventually modify the car (inc. suspension & brakes) to around 200 bhp, but keep the exterior as close to original as possible - but then I love the whole 'Q car' thing....which is why we've also currently got a Octy VRS:)

I like the French guys approach to bike racks - especially as I've got some suitable bits of wood in my garage (told the wife that my random collection of scrap wood and metal would come in use someday ) Thanks for posting the links Johann. As my bike is a bit of monster truck of a mountain bike (a long travel full-suspension 29er in size large), I took it into the dealers to try it in the back of a Roomster - with the seats removed, I could lie the bike on the floor with front wheel removed with no probs - but I'd prefer it to be fixed upright to avoid the frame getting damaged. Also looks like the latter will give the option of leaving two back seats in, which would be great.

Hmm...interesting thread. We're looking at getting one of the special edition 1.2SE's (the 86bhp version), and I'd wondered whether it'd be re-mappable to 105bhp (probably only do this when its out of warranty). My guess is that, apart from the ECU map, there's no difference between the 86 and 105bhp engines - can anyone confirm? FWIW, I know a guy who works on BMW Mini's for a living and he bought a second hand Mini 'One' (75ish bhp) and had that remapped to the 'Cooper' tune, which I think gives about 95bhp (ish). He said the One/Cooper engines are exactly the same apart from tune, so I wondered if the 1.2 tsi's are? He reckons that as long as you don't go crazy with a 'maxed-out' bhp map, the engines are normally absolutely fine with it - what do people think?

Top-notch bit of DIY Fatwomble - thanks for posting the pics. We're looking to replace our current MPV (Renault Kangoo) with a Roomster, and I was wondering if anyone had come up with their own arrangement for carrying mountain bikes inside (my wife was going to order the Skoda bike carrier with the car, but I didn't fancy £180 for it). Came up with a similar arrangement to yours for our Kangoo (with bits of galvanized channel found in a skip) and it hold two bikes upright by their forks - only thing is it does look like it's come out of a skip!!, whereas your version looks 'proper'. I like the way you've fixed it to the load loops - thanks again for taking the trouble to post, you saved me few quid p.s. for anyone who wonders why bother carrying bikes inside - we were targeted by professional bike thieves about 18 months ago. Apparently, the thieves have spotters who clock high value bikes on cars, they then get one of their scallies to follow you, either to pinch the bikes when you park up somewhere, or in our case, follow you home, so that they can break into your garage/shed/bike store later on. We're now careful when we load/unload the bikes and keep 'em covered inside the car when travelling. The Police said that it's a fairly common problem at mountain biking trail centres - Just wanted to warn others.

Well, what a coincidence - I upgraded the bulbs on our new Octavia yesterday afternoon. Looking at the previous threads on this forum and other reviews, I went for Ring Ultima Xenon bulbs http://www.autobulbs...b-55W-pair.html I did the dipped and main beam bulbs at the same time. They're a straight swap and (according to the packaging are completely legal). Went for a test drive over the moorland roads last night and the difference is immediately noticeable - seem to get a longer throw and more even spread of brighter light on dipped, and on main beam...basically, it almost turns night to day! With the seemingly longer throw of light, I was a bit concerned about dazzling oncoming traffic, so I drove along some busier stretches of road to see if anyone flashed me on dipped beam - but no-one did, so I guess they're OK. (oh, FWIW, I'd got a full tank of fuel onboard). The car I'd had immediately before the Octavia had got 'proper' factory fitted Bi-xenons, so I really noticed the difference going back to normal halogens....like candles in jam jars! The light from bulb upgrade seems a bit softer and more yellow than the Bi-xenons and there's maybe not the same 'daylight effect' in dipped only, but the throw of light seems similar and, IMO, they're a massive improvement over the standard bulbs. p.s. know what you mean about deer probs., as there's a couple of herds of red deer that lurk about on the moors by us. A friend wrote his Octavia estate off after hitting one of 'em at 70mph (really lucky it didn't go through the screen )

Can I also say thanks for posting your 'how to' guide. I tried to get the headlamps out to change the bulbs last night - and failed! Then I tried again today after reading your guide, and hey presto, job done in half an hour The only other tip I can think of adding is that, if you have a late model Octavia II (with the 'wrap around' type headlights) - I found that to release the headlamp unit, it really helped to squeeze my hand in to where the wiring connector is plugged in, then push the unit forward from there - the units seem to pop out far easier this way than trying to wiggle them free from the front (even with loads of effing and blindin', my headlamp units wouldn't budge without this push from the back).

Thanks for the suggestions - some of the products on the bilthamber site look really good. Rob, I know what you mean about the porosity of normal grey primer, as I've had the same problem as you with a previous car that I had - although it was a 'classic' pre-galvanised Fiat......which might have had something to do with it!! I've found a couple of small bottles of (old) etch primer in my workshop, but FWIR they don't play nicely with modern eco-friendly topcoat paint - so might give your suggestions a go. Cheers.

Just after some advice for priming the bare metal on a small repair that I'm doing to the bonnet of our Octavia (a cricket ball sized lump of ice was thrown up by a lorry, and it hit out car at a closing speed of about 120mph!). The paint has been chipped off down to bare metal and there's a pea sized dint. I've cleaned the metal and smoothed the ragged edges of the paint - but realized that I've abraded the galvanised layer off the metal.....duh! I've got some normal grey acrylic primer, but wonder if I should put some sort of corrosion inhibitor on first. If anyone can give me some sensible advice, it'd be much appreciated. TIA. p.s. as a temporary fix, I've just painted a thin layer of grey primer on to keep the moisture & road salt off the bare metal.

hi Rob, I've just PM'd you re:wheels. Cheers.