This is a great project! looks really smart

This is a great project! looks really smart

Thanks, Very little will be done this year, I really like the car as it is

Just had a quick read and this is a very neat and well kitted octavia

Considering octavia estates in a few years for my next car I think :p

Just had a quick read and this is a very neat and well kitted octavia

Considering octavia estates in a few years for my next car I think :p

Thanks for the comments . Theres no better car than the Octavia Estate

A couple of weeks ago I retro fitted a Bluetooth kit, I bought the Bluetooth module (5PO 862 335 C)/Aerial/Cradle/Cover from Timmyboy & the Wiring Harness/Microphone from Shark Performance

The kit ready to be fitted

Installation was a doddle, I followed the guide on Octavia-vrs.com but routed the wiring under the steering wheel column which saved removing the clocks.

If you are thinking about retrofitting one of these kits the Wiring Harness that I bought removes the need to cut into wires as shown in the above guide & allows the kit to be easily removed when you sell your car on, the most difficult part of the fitting was getting the wiring in behind the HeadUnit.

The Bluetooth kit worked 1st time however the module I had bought didn't integrate with my Blackberry contact list so I have since bought another module (5K0 035 730 B ) from Gizmob and within a couple of minutes of picking it up from the Post Office

Hey Presto

Very happy with this kit & recomend it to anyone wanting a handsfree kit

Matthew

I love builds like this. All about the little OEM+ mods to me, they add up to make a large difference! FYI, my 2003 L&K has tinted mirror glass too... very useful!

I love builds like this. All about the little OEM+ mods to me, they add up to make a large difference! FYI, my 2003 L&K has tinted mirror glass too... very useful!

My mk1 Elegance came with standard mirror lenses, I upgraded them to tinted too, Such a worthwhile little tweak that makes the world of difference

As the Caravan season is back with us (after a year of no holidays) it was time to look at sorting the low rear when towing.

Here is an old picture of when the car is hooked up, The caravan nose weight is only 70kgs and in the boot I had a 2tonne trolley jack/axle stand and a few tools and while it doesn't look as excesive as others on the road there are no children in the car or luggage in either car or caravan.

Another design flaw (IMO) is the towing electrics, they are angled down to clear the bumper (rather than swinging down out of the bumper and being horizontal) which causes the Caravan electrics to ground occaisionally. While this is only a minor point I don't want the cable wearing through while driving. I guess this wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't have the lower sport suspension.

From reading other threads my choices were either Mad Spring Assisters or Grayston Spring Assisters, Being a Yorkshire Man I decided to try the Grayston Spring Assisters due to the price & positive reviews (not to mention I've seen them selling on ebay 2nd hand for more money than you can buy them new for, incase I don't like them).

Fitting,

Very simple, Put Spring assisters in a bowl of boiling water/Jack up the car & support it properly/remove the wheel/clean spring/lube spring with washing up liquid/remove spring assister from water and apply washing up liquid/slide into position

Lower car slowly and make sure the spring assister stays seated in the coil

Finished

It took approx 20-30mins to fit both sides & has raised the rear of the car by approx 5mm which IMO makes my car sit better as it always looked lower at the back than the front.

The Ride

It has changed, the rear is a little more firm when un-laden and perhaps a little more woolly but not to a point where your driving style needs to change to compensate. As they are so easy to fit I might remove them and only fit them when towing the caravan but for now I'll leave them in place for a few weeks to get a proper idea of ride quality in various situations.

I havent tried towing with them yet but might be taking the caravan away for my parents to use this weekend so might get to try them out this weekend.

Matthew

Not much of an update but

Golf seats removed some time ago & Car now advertised For Sale

What're you getting instead..??

Ford S-Max 2L tdci Titanium with Entertainment Pack and Half Leather. On a '58 with 60k and FSH. There are a few marks here and there but you have to expect that from a people carrier.

For such a big heavy car (compared to the Octavia) its quite nimble and nippy (until Sharked ) and its so much more comfortable than the Octavia which gives me bad leg ache (even driving short distances).

Spec pinched from advert

Metallic Sea Grey.

1 Owner,

Full Ford Service History,

Supplied Serviced,

Taxed & With 6 Months Warranty,

Partial Leather Seats,

7 Seats,

Factory Fit Rear Seat Entertainment System With DVD Player, Headphones & Remote Control,

Rear Door Blinds, Rear Privacy Glass,

Front & Rear Parking Sensors,

Dual Zone Climate Control,

Bluetooth Phone System,

CD/Radio With DAB.

Multi Function Steering Wheel With Audio Controls

Cruise Control, Auto Lights & Wipers,

17 Inch Alloy Wheels,

4 x Electric Windows,

Electric Mirrors,

New Genuine Ford Mats,

It might not be to everyone's taste but it covers off all but 1 of our requirements (towbar but can be fitted later) and I don't think it looks all that bad IMO

Good cars, them

Good cars, them

I'm hoping so. I was pleasantly suprised during the test drive. Roll on next week when I get to see what other toys it has

What most people still fail to realise, is that even the most basic Ford (excluding the Ka, as it's really a Fiat) handles better than lots of so-called "sports" models from other manufacturers.

If I had sprogs, I'd be tempted by the 2.5T S-Max

What most people still fail to realise, is that even the most basic Ford (excluding the Ka, as it's really a Fiat) handles better than lots of so-called "sports" models from other manufacturers.

If I had sprogs, I'd be tempted by the 2.5T S-Max

Funny you should mention that, we looked at one but decided the fuel bill would be too great (especially when towing).

But the noise!

What most people still fail to realise, is that even the most basic Ford (excluding the Ka, as it's really a Fiat) handles better than lots of so-called "sports" models from other manufacturers.

If I had sprogs, I'd be tempted by the 2.5T S-Max

You're going to get banned again if you keep saying things like that.

Matt, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you had the Skoda and how much has it cost you - capital costs like depreciation and mods, not typical service costs over the period?

You can tell me to **** off if you don't want to say

A few rough figures

purchase approx £9k

p/x £5,300

Owned 2 1/2 years 55k purchase mileage/now 80,600miles

service/day to day costs £1,500

Mods £1k but some will be removed and put up for sale to recoup some ££ for the S-Max

The joys of motoring (watching money dis-appear down the drain)

A few rough figures

purchase approx £9k

p/x £5,300

Owned 2 1/2 years 55k purchase mileage/now 80,600miles

service/day to day costs £1,500

Mods £1k but some will be removed and put up for sale to recoup some ££ for the S-Max

The joys of motoring (watching money dis-appear down the drain)

Cheers, looking at your sale thread, I thought the mods would have been a little more and good that the turbo was done just after you bought. Although your "running costs" seems a bit higher than I would have thought. Swings and roundabouts

Seems quite reasonable, could have been a lot worse.

Cheers, looking at your sale thread, I thought the mods would have been a little more and good that the turbo was done just after you bought. Although your "running costs" seems a bit higher than I would have thought. Swings and roundabouts

Seems quite reasonable, could have been a lot worse.

Service/Day to Day costs seem quite high but its had 3 services (inc Cambelt) / 3 MOT's / x4 17"tyres / New discs & pads (front) / 2 new dampers etc. Figures are from my head and rough estimate.

Also the mods have been quite cheap as I've sold some things off to offset the price, OEM bumpers were sold and returned 1/3 of the cost of the vRS ones (I was also really lucky as they were the correct colour so didn't need painting).

Like you say, swings and round abouts. Cars are expensive to run

Service/Day to Day costs seem quite high but its had 3 services (inc Cambelt) / 3 MOT's / x4 17"tyres / New discs & pads (front) / 2 new dampers etc. Figures are from my head and rough estimate.

Also the mods have been quite cheap as I've sold some things off to offset the price, OEM bumpers were sold and returned 1/3 of the cost of the vRS ones (I was also really lucky as they were the correct colour so didn't need painting).

Like you say, swings and round abouts. Cars are expensive to run

I don't think you've done badly at all there.

Cars are expensive to run but they're an even more expensive hobby. So a hobby for little more than running the car isn't bad.

So a hobby for little more than running the car isn't bad.

Might have to try that one with SWMBO!

A few parts now up for sale see here

Closing this thread as the car is no longer in my ownership.

Have just started the next chapter, My S-Max

I hope you've all enjoyed reading what I've done as much as I've enjoyed owning & tweaking & hope its gives you some inspiration for your cars.

Matthew