Hi all. I have a 2002 Octavia VRS and am finding those diagonal struts behind the rear seats really get in the way when the seat is up and I'm loading and unloading my mountain bike, and work materials! Are they just there for extra handling improvements, and can I safely remove them, if I am just driving my car normally on the road.

If not, can they be replaced with something smaller and less obtrusive?

Thanks for any suggestions

Vince

Has been covered before and it was thought that if you removed them the car would fold in two causing instant death and destruction.

Seriously though the estate doesn't have them (appararently why the estate only came with 16" wheels) so I'm sure it will be just fine.

Hi and thanks for responding so quickly. Could you direct me to the previous forums on this? thanks again

Personally I would remove them if I was putting my bike in the back.

My 1.8t Octy is mapped to 205 bhp,& it does not have them fitted at all,I believe they were not fitted on the Elegance model.

The handling is very soft, unlike the sporty vRS, the Elegance is the Elegant comfortable car & you'd either bounce off the road or end up in a ditch/hedge if you drove too enthusiastically.

But from a safety point of view, I think you would be perfectly alright without those bars,I would assume it won't be as tight at the back obviously

So is their sole purpose for tighter handling at the limits during cornering? My car is remapped to 215 bhp, and I have audi tt wheels which have low profile tyres, but unless I am avoiding collisions etc, I never corner near the limits and rarely use the full power unless nipping past nissan micra drivers on country lanes. Is it only the VRS models of the Octavia mark 1 that has these diagonal braces?

Has anyones car collapsed by permanantly removing them?

as far as i know its just the vrs, the vrs has extra welds in the chassis for strengthening and the braces to help the rear unlike other octavias.

from a performance point of view, i would not remove.

however i have taken mine out before (albeit replaced) when i had fitted what i needed too.

I am not saying you should take them off, but i dont think you will crash if you do (legal disclaimer do so at your own risk and not on my advice )

I wouldn't worry about taking them out. They help with rigidity but if you are just cruising around I doubt you'll even notice. I've removed rear strut braces from previous cars before and not noticed the difference.

Mine hasn't got them, never has. I'm sure that they're there just to keep the shell rigid.

I'm sure it would be fine, but they gotta be there for a reason, I doubt Skoda would just say "chuck those in there to make things awkward for loading"

Had my rear struts removed for a while and handling took a nosedive. also more creaking over bumps.

Bu66ers to put back in as I think whole bodyshell may have altered while not fitted.

They do look nice in green though.

I'm sure it would be fine, but they gotta be there for a reason, I doubt Skoda would just say "chuck those in there to make things awkward for loading"

yup you are right, they are there to improve rigidity of the car, but as said the car will work without.