My Fabia is a bit unwell at the minute - its started pulling slightly form side to side when cornering and under braking, the crusie control is failing to slow me down and the brakes appear to be woefully underpowered compared to those on the Superb and on our old Golf Mk3.

Dealership is going to look at it on Friday but they are taking the vRS wheels off and putting the old ones back on. Got a vRS on order to replace it as they don`t know why is malfunctioned!

Must agree the brakes are a bit weaker than the Mk 1 , but nowhere remotely near as bad as my daughter in laws Punto.

Cruise control is used to maintain speed, not to slow down in the case of a downhill descent. Modern engines dont have any significant engine braking.

VRS wheels? Thats likely to be the problem - maybe its triggering the traction control.

Edited 19 September, 201015 yr by xman

to hear your having issues with your new Fab. I take it by the post title you have rejected the car :yes: The cruise thing, I'm assuming it's failing to retard the engine power on a downhill road section. Does it still pick up going uphill :wonder: With my Yeti I very very occasionally get a quite noticeable cutback in power which initially appears to restrict pick-up going back uphill in a dip.

Oh obvious question but did the garage match the car to the new wheel set-up; camber, toe, ecu, etc. (if there's any difference of course).

Regards,

TP

Sorry to hear of so many problems so soon........I certainly agree with you that the brakes are very poor on the Fabia ...dont think you`ll get much joy from the dealer if its anything like the one I bought from....they just laugh and say they are ok...Hope you get sorted quickly..

The brakes are very good on my Fabia. Do you mean you have faulty brakes, they are of inferior design or you have a foot like a hobbit?

Have a look at the vacuum return into the servo. Wasn't clipped in properly on ours at the factory and eventually came loose leading to no brake assistance and a nasty near miss on a country road. It is a push fit connection which needs a bit of force to clip in. If yours isn't in properly could explain why they seem weak. SUK assure me they have followed the issue back at the factory so hope ours was a one off and this is not the problem you have.

Edited 19 September, 201015 yr by Black

Sorry to hear of the problems you are experiancing, hope it gets sorted and all is well with your fabia ownership after this.

Davy

Have a look at the vacuum return into the servo. Wasn't clipped in properly on ours at the factory and eventually came loose leading to no brake assistance and a nasty near miss on a country road. It is a push fit connection which needs a bit of force to clip in. If yours isn't in properly could explain why they seem weak. SUK assure me they have followed the issue back at the factory so hope ours was a one off and this is not the problem you have.

Hi! The brakes on my 2008 Fabia 1.9TDI 105 Estate are not a patch on our new 1.6TDI CR 105. They need a lot more pedal pressure and generally seem weaker. Could you please point out where to look for this push fit connection?

It's worth a look before taking it back to the dealer.

Thanks.

Edited 19 September, 201015 yr by virgo17

Have a look at the vacuum return into the servo. Wasn't clipped in properly on ours at the factory and eventually came loose leading to no brake assistance and a nasty near miss on a country road. It is a push fit connection which needs a bit of force to clip in. If yours isn't in properly could explain why they seem weak. SUK assure me they have followed the issue back at the factory so hope ours was a one off and this is not the problem you have.

Now that you mention the vacuum servo, I have noticed that when my engine is turned off (1.2 70bhp), the brake pedal goes hard straight away (lack of vacuum assistance) - which didnt seem right to me as the servo should have reserve for 3 or 4 applications. Something to check me thinks...

how do wheels 1 inch bigger mechanically affect the car? i can't see why replacing thr 16inch with 17inch wheels can affect the traction control or anything mechanical.

My Fabia is a bit unwell at the minute - its started pulling slightly form side to side when cornering and under braking, the crusie control is failing to slow me down and the brakes appear to be woefully underpowered compared to those on the Superb and on our old Golf Mk3.

Dealership is going to look at it on Friday but they are taking the vRS wheels off and putting the old ones back on. Got a vRS on order to replace it as they don`t know why is malfunctioned!

I don't understand why the wheels should affect things because they are the same width tyres (205) and the diameter is within 1%. I don't know which brakes are fitted but I have the DSG model which appears to come with the same size discs as the vRS and the braking is very powerful. My wife has a 1.2 HTP with much smaller discs but the performance of these is very good so it appears that there must be a fault as suggested in previous replies. I find cruise control very good at controlling speed on downhill sections. Best of luck getting sorted.

Aprevious thread showing the different discs is here http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/165865-are-these-fabia-atria-wheels/page__p__2025145__hl__atria__fromsearch__1entry2025145

Edited 19 September, 201015 yr by Fatbloke

Must agree the brakes are a bit weaker than the Mk 1 , but nowhere remotely near as bad as my daughter in laws Punto.

Cruise control is used to maintain speed, not to slow down in the case of a downhill descent. Modern engines dont have any significant engine braking.

VRS wheels? Thats likely to be the problem - maybe its triggering the traction control.

Never ever evr seen the TC light come on - even when I have given it heavy footed driving

As for the brakes, you can feel the cruise control applying them on gentle slopes but the brakes don`t get applied at all on anything other than very gentle slopes, its quite worrying to look down when the cruise control is set to 30 and see its up to 60!

Its fine going uphill, powers up nicely even retards the throttle a bit if it comes inot the boost range.

dealers have got a vRS on order that they have said they would be willing to replace my car with if it want to.

Edited 23 September, 201015 yr by Ross Chapman

The brakes are very good on my Fabia. Do you mean you have faulty brakes, they are of inferior design or you have a foot like a hobbit?

Ha ha not at all - our Superb stops like its hit a birck wall, my Fab seems to require you to almost lock the brakes up t even begin to slow down.

Put it this way - our Mark 3 Golf Ryder stopped faster!

Never have the slightest problem with the brakes on my (59 plate) Greenline. The brakes are strong and fairly predictable unless stamped on by a clumsy learner, when the ABS will kick in early. I have the upgraded ESP giving the car rear disc brakes, though!!

They are no worse than any other vehicle of this class I have driven.

As for the brakes, you can feel the cruise control applying them on gentle slopes but the brakes don`t get applied at all on anything other than very gentle slopes, its quite worrying to look down when the cruise control is set to 30 and see its up to 60!

Never heard of Cruise Control applying the brakes before.

Gaining speed on downhill gradients is the same for every car I've ever had other than very low geared diesels with a lot of engine braking, even if running CC.

Odd.

Never heard of Cruise Control applying the brakes before.

Gaining speed on downhill gradients is the same for every car I've ever had other than very low geared diesels with a lot of engine braking, even if running CC.

Odd.

No me neither, even the handbook suggests it's up to the driver to slow the vehicle down while descending an incline;

 The cruise control system is not able to maintain a constant speed when driving on

steep downhill sections. The weight of the vehicle increases the speed at which it

travels. One should shift down in good time to a lower gear or slow the vehicle down

by applying the foot brake.

Can only think Ross is describing an excessive 'throttling back' of the engine by the ECU, similar to what I suggested on my post above.

TP

no its definaley braking, other half was following in the Superb and you could see the brake lights on my car flickering on gentle slopes at the same time as I could feel the brakes being applied.

Seem to have cured the pulling from side to side though - had to do an emergency stop to avoid killing Bambi and the pulling has stopped ever since!

Very very odd!!!

Odd indeed Ross. I have the same model 105 as you and although my brakes havent pulled left or right yet, I wouldnt want to have to try to avoid Bambi in it...Wonder if its anything to do with specific models like ours.Going to check the pipe clip into the servo to morrow. Seems you`ve got a good dealer where you live, I wish I had...

been in and been looked at, was indeed a loose clip, they have checked everything else was ok and its all fine.

Was told that despite the fact its till running in it was the healthiest example they had seen of the Tsi!!!

Still got the white wheels on as have decided now that I will definately be keeping it and not going for the vRS, I love it once again!!!

Glad you are sorted out. When you say the clip was it the one connected with the servo?

I have no idea, the service technician took it down to the service area, it was down there for half an hour then he brought it back.

Brakes feel stronger now!

Have to say, being a bit of a technical idiot, I haven`t actually looked under the bonnet yet so I don`t know what goes where and what does what!

Called in to the branch I bought mine from yesterday and got a pleasant surprise....They took this issue seriously and within a few minutes a technician appeared to see me,got a job card made out and took a look. They test drove it, put it on the testing machine and specifically examined the clip on the servo. All this without having an appointment. Everything appeared in order they said but things do appear better in the braking dept now...so hey ho here`s hoping ..1000% better than their branch a mile down the road from me whose idea of a brake safety check was to send it out with the service receptionist for a run round the block!!!!....seriously

Edited 26 September, 201015 yr by paully

The problem with mine was the end at the engine. I have a TSI. The fitting is not to dissimilar to a hozelock connection. It needs to be pushed fully in with a bit of force before it engages. It can appear on and tight even when it is not clipped in properly. Problem with mine was that it came off fully and we lost all servo assistance. Engine was really rough at idle afterwards because the engine was sucking in extra air through the connection. Soon fixed at the roadside and the SUK response was excellent. Not a good fault to have though.

Edited 26 September, 201015 yr by Black

The problem with mine was the end at the engine. I have a TSI. The fitting is not to dissimilar to a hozelock connection. It needs to be pushed fully in with a bit of force before it engages. It can appear on and tight even when it is not clipped in properly. Problem with mine was that it came off fully and we lost all servo assistance. Engine was really rough at idle afterwards because the engine was sucking in extra air through the connection. Soon fixed at the roadside and the SUK response was excellent. Not a good fault to have though.

Where exactly was it on the engine? want to check mine myself just to be sure that its still not loose.

My Fabia is a bit unwell at the minute - its started pulling slightly form side to side when cornering and under braking, the crusie control is failing to slow me down and the brakes appear to be woefully underpowered compared to those on the Superb and on our old Golf Mk3.

Dealership is going to look at it on Friday but they are taking the vRS wheels off and putting the old ones back on. Got a vRS on order to replace it as they don`t know why is malfunctioned!