February 17th

See February 16th and subsequently Feburary 15th

That said after hundreds of miles in the black car i now know it deffo has less power, it deffo has less brakes, the suspension is definitely fresher and the standard seats are no where near as good as my Recaros.

That said in isolation a standard Fabia VRS is still a great car

February 18th

Commute to work and back all very dull

February 19th

Commute to work and home again in the evening both uneventful.

February 20th

Trips to work took twice as long due to ridiculous traffic

Drive home same old same old

February 21st

Standard VRS rear seat back put back in to fill the only remaining gap due to expecting to need to carry passengers

No passengers carried.

Does look wierd though with 80% black seats and 20% light grey!

February 22nd

Commute to and from work no excitement here.

February 23rd

Locked in garage all day, didn't see the light of day

February 24th

Busy old day for a change.

Car was removed form the garage so that the oil soaking up cat litter could be removed.

It's done it's job nicely and now ther is just a dusty dark grey stain where the oil once was.

Has also served its purpose outside on the tarmac where the stains are gone.

Then as it was dry (still freezing but dry) I gave both cars a quick wash to get rid of the thick film of winter grime.

Mrs Pasty's car took an hour, mine just 20 minutes. No really sure why either!!

Then took my car for a spin to halfords to pick up some autoglym interior shampoo spray to set about cleaning the removed VRS grey seats ready for sale.

Popped some air in the slowly deflatig tyres on the way back, loss wasn;t as bad as recent trips with the rear passe.nger side slow puncture only down to 24psi

Final trip of the day was to meet a fellow member and pick up another 'spare' turbo and a set of eibach lowering springs.

Turbo will remain in the garage ready for the inevitable pop from the red car.

Springs I'm not sure. I may fit them or I may not; it'll depend on fitting prices to be honest.

Worst case I can always sell them on.

Essential - Air - 20p

Extra - "Spare" Turbo & Eibach Lowering springs - £200

February 25th

A blocked motorway that i don't even drive on turned a 15 minute commute turned into 45 minutes with a back log if clogged A roads and ridculous people blocking a roundabout!

Made up for it when i had some clear road though and a quick blast though all of 3rd and 4th gears soon had me forgetting my travel woes.

I do still truly love this car.

February 26th

Quick commute to work this morning as i was runngin late (i.e. got distracted playing xbox before work!)

Luckily yesterdays traffic issues weren't repeated and all went smoothly.

Did clean my windscreen though as it had got a habit of steaming up super quickly recently, amazing how that doesn't happen when it crystal clean.

It did also dawn on me that i should probably chase up the remaining part of my interior.

I dropped it off at the upholsterers over 3 weeks ago (for 2-3 weeks of work) and haven't heard anything since.

Try to contain your excitement people but there will be a service coming up soon!

I know try to keep it cool until then.

February 27th

Nothing of note quiet and simple commutes to and from work

February 28th

Another dull day in Fabia paradise.

1st March

Commutes to and from work all good in the hood capped off with an evening trip out to a local pub for some food with some friends.

First time Mrs Pasty has taken a journey wrapped up in Recaro loveliness but apparently they are "awful" and "squeeze too much" and the side bolsters "leave nowhere to put your arms".

1 meal and 3 pints later she drove home and all was changed.

She saw my points about them being much better from the driving seat as your arms are on the wheel and they were much more supportive.

So there you have it.

Mk4 Golf Recaros.

Great for drivers.

Poor for Passengers.

March 2nd

Car remained firmly in the garage but while Mrs Pasty was off shopping and cinema-ing (that a word?) I did bring the old seats indoors to get them cleaned up ready to sell.

From this

to this

and from this

to this (i'd only done the right hand side of the base but snapped the pic as a kind of live before & after shot :p)

and overall from this

to this

All with the help of AG Interior shampoo and a cloth (with a little help from some 1001 where needed)

Just need to get the large rear back rest out of the car and in and done and bring the passenger seat in from the garage.

then i can do a proper for sale thread and clear the space in the garage

March 3rd

Day of rest on Sunday so the car did not see the light of day

March 4th

Early commute untroubled by traffic.

Commute home trouble by traffic and took loads longer than it should have.

March 5th

March 6th

March 7th

yet more mid week dullness I'm afraid.

in fact it was that dull i didn't have anything to write at the time nor can i remember anything to write now!

March 8th

Car remained firmly in the garage as a cricked neck meant i worked from home.

March 9th

It's moved!!

all the way out of the garage so i could get the final interior pieces out for cleaning (which are now for sale over here) before being reversed back in again

Me and my car do truly lead an action packed rock and roll life style

March 10th

Another lazy sunday meant the car didn't move.

Sometimes i swear i can hear it sigh as i shut the garage door on it on a Friday night.

March 11th

Commute to work and back all pretty uneventful.

Although i did partake in how highcan we get the MPG challenge unfortunately no very was all i could come up with,

35 on the way to work and 50 on the way home. pretty shoddy average although i do reckon to work is uphill while going home is down hill

On a more interesting note (couldn't really be less interesting could it) but i finally got round to calling the upholsterer working on my final Recaro rear seat back.

I handed the final part over to him over a month ago for "about 2 weeks" work.

To be honest he was an old guy seemingly running his hobby as a business so my expectatinos of time were not high however a month was enough to chase him up.

At first he had compeltely forgotten who i was.

Then i prompted him about having a Fabia seat back to work on.

Nope doesn't ring a bell.

It's red and black and recaro.

Oh yeah that one. well i haven't actually started on it as i fell out of my caravan in February and smashed my arm up so haven't been working.

Oh any idea when it will be ready.

Well i can probably have it done in the next couple of weeks.

Well i'd heard that before so I shall be making a trip over there to collect it and source alternative upholsterers.

March 12th

Dull dull dull.

Although i did find that i've managed to reverse into the metal seat backs i've had stored at the back of my garage meaning a put a couple of marks into my rear bumper.

March 13th

Another pair of dull commutes.

Did get smoked (literally) down a slip road by a guy giving his mk2 Fabia TDi the absolute beans though!!

made me smile

March 14th

Fuel stop on the way to work this morning

Fuel - £51.60 - MPG - 44.60

Drove out to the upholsterer and collect my non-worked on rear seat section.

Poor old guys was properly beaten and bruised and couldn't lift one of his arms so no wonder he hadn't managed to do the job!

The hunt for a new upholsterer begining tomorrow

March 15th

Dear Diary

I am rubbish at writing in you.

That said nothing interesting ever happens!

Thanks.

Cliff