Today I got a Felicia 1.3 GLi - after looking around on the internet, some questions already come to mind...

1) There was apparently a recall of Continental tyres - does this only affect certain years of Felicia? The car is a 1998 R-plate, and the spare is brand 'new' as in 1998 and there is another exact same tyre on the rear which is a 2004)

2) There is nowhere in the book about timing belts. What are the recommended intervals, and is it an interference engine? The car has done 53,000 miles

3) The engine says MPI on it - does that mean 12valve?

4) The steering is quite heavy - the recommended tyre pressure is 29psi - anyone care to comment on variations on this that they use? My girlfriend will be getting lessons in this car

Thanks in advance for any assistance

there's not a timing belt as it has a chain on the 1300cc model, there is no specified change interval as such, just replace it when it gets noisey:)

an interference engine is any engine where there WILL be valve to piston contact in the event of timing belt or chain faliure, which will cause damage

mpi refers to multipoint fuel injection, and it has 8 valves

1) There was apparently a recall of Continental tyres - does this only affect certain years of Felicia? The car is a 1998 R-plate, and the spare is brand 'new' as in 1998 and there is another exact same tyre on the rear which is a 2004)

As that tyre is 10 years old, it's best changed anyway as current recommendations are to replace any tyres that reach 6 years old - they can look perfectly fine, and pass an MOT and everything, but what can tend to happen is the tread can separate from the sidewall especially at prolonged motorway speeds. This happened to a tyre on my GF's car, as it was a low mileage car it still had the original 10 year old tyres on it.

But as it's a spare I personally would probably leave it, and if it comes to using the spare, go straight to a tyre place to buy 2 new tyres.

RE: Tyre pressures, you should be ok with 31psi on the fronts to help ease steering, just watch out for the steering wheel going side to side at speed.

+1 what they said

1.3 is a timing chain

I run mine with 32psi all round.

Age of tyres shouldn't matter but check they aren't deformed/cracked.

My sister had the same tyres on her car since buying in 2005 but they did look shabby. Cleaning/waxxing helped but as the steering wheel vibrated badly this year revealing one of them buldging. 3 replacements later and the car drives smooth.

On mine I put the the conti spare (prob sat in the wheel well from new) on after rotating the tyres sometime in 2006.

2007 needed to change it as it wore unevenly and started cracking and since put the new one as my spare.

Before I forget. Welcome to club Felicia!!

As others, except that if the fronts are well worn you could get an instant improvement in steering weight from some replacements, and it's a good time of year to get them done too (dark and wet).

Also on that subject, try sitting closer to the steering wheel, and steering from the shoulders touring car/rally style, rather than straight-armed and working from the elbows formula car style. Oh and your GF won't necessarily know that all cars don't have steering that heavy (if it really does; my sis made heavy weather of steering her Micra, and I thought it was too light, despite being used to cars with PAS).

Edited 27 November, 200817 yr by KenONeill

^^What Ken says.

Only time I really notice my sisters Micra is not power assisted is parking. But the steering isn't too heavy anyway.

This is my first Skoda and I'm very impressed with it.

The Steering on mine does not seem heavy at all though not "light" at the same time.

Mind you the first couple of jobs I did when I got it was put air in the tyres and changed the wiper blades.

I run mine with 32psi all round.

2007 needed to change it as it wore unevenly and started cracking and since put the new one as my spare.

thanks - my dad thought it would wear quicker too, so i suppose it is worth using it for a while

i tried 31 psi all round and that seems to be ok - just as long as it is not illegal to be above the recommended?

As that tyre is 10 years old, it's best changed anyway as current recommendations are to replace any tyres that reach 6 years old - they can look perfectly fine, and pass an MOT and everything, but what can tend to happen is the tread can separate from the sidewall especially at prolonged motorway speeds.

well i will be driving no more than 5 miles at a time until march (when i need to drive 500 miles in a day!)

do you think i will be ok to use it then replace just before the big trip?

Forgot to add also had the tracking done so all tyres should be wearing normally.

thanks - my dad thought it would wear quicker too, so i suppose it is worth using it for a while

i tried 31 psi all round and that seems to be ok - just as long as it is not illegal to be above the recommended?

That's arguable. It is technically a C&U offence for your cold pressures to deviate from the manufacturer's recommendations, but other than in cases of gross over or under-inflation I've never heard of anyone actually being done for it. Indeed, some non OEM tyres actually benefit from slight differences from OEM pressures; for example an Octy on T1-Rs needs to be 2PSI up on standard all round to prevent excess edge wear.

Whats C&U?

Shorthand for "Motor Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations". It covers most or all of the legalities regarding what a vehicle must have and do, how to fit auxilliary lights...

c&u makes no mention of tyre pressures iirc, in such a case you would be prosecuted for getting a puncture, and we all know that isn't true

4) The steering is quite heavy - the recommended tyre pressure is 29psi - anyone care to comment on variations on this that they use? My girlfriend will be getting lessons in this car

32psi or 2 bar is good all arround, if steering wheel feels to heavy try a smaller tread, like 165/70R13 wich are the stock,