Hi all

Had my furby vRS since May and love every minute driving it .......

have a couple or 3 observations / questions

1. have noticed white marking / spots on the black trim on the inside

of the door panel by the armrest ...cant really see what causes it ?

was wondering if it could be rain spots getting on the trim when I

get in the car in the rain ......whats the best thing to clean this trim

2. Have noticed on 3 different occasions now when first driving the car

when its maybe cooler weather ...... that a row of rugby ball shaped

mist balls form along the bottom of the windscreen on the outside

they go when the wipers are activated but reappear several times

before finally dissapearing ....... now thats opened the door for some

wise cracks no doubt

3. The brakes ........ not much confidence with them ...... I cant believe how

inconsistant they are for a car of this performance ....... during the working

week I drive about 150 miles a day in a Peug Partner diesel van ...... and

the brakes are far far superior to the furby ..... always a solid pedal with plenty

of bite and stopping power ..... and I am driving on mostly A /B roads and country

lanes and I dont hang about .. the furby brakes seem to have varying pedal

movement and sometimes feel like pressing on a sponge and leaves me

wondering if its going to stop/ slow down ..... and I`m not talking about high

speed slowdowns just normal driving like approaching junctions or coming down

a slip road about 50mph ........ I have even done the brake bedding in routine

that was suggested somewhere on briskoda

I know the answer is to upgrade the front brakes to 312mm from the octy .....

but I dont see why this should be an extra expense for a decent brake .....

even my previous car a Mitsi carisma 1.9 tdi had better stopping power

maybe I need to visit the dealer to get them checked out ... in case there

is air in the system ..... :thumbdwn: .

thats the end of my whinge :(

2. Have noticed on 3 different occasions now when first driving the car

when its maybe cooler weather ...... that a row of rugby ball shaped

mist balls form along the bottom of the windscreen on the outside

3. The brakes ........ not much confidence with them ...... I cant believe how

inconsistant they are for a car of this performance

The mist balls are a result of having the aircon on. They represent areas of the screen that have been cooled by the aircon (and remain cooler for a while even after it's turned off) and hence condensation forms on them first. Nothing to worry about.

The brakes on mine were awful to start with. It seems difficult to bed them in properly without glazing the pads. One thing that cured mine was washing the car, and then putting it in the garage instead of driving it staraight away. The discs rusted overnight, as they always do, and in the morning the first application of the brakes took the rust and the glazing off: result, good brakes. Try it and see if it works for you (it might be a free fix!)

Cheers,

Bryand

A few of us have fitted 312mm Octavia/Audi TT (and others) brakes to the Fabia VRS. A vast improvment at a good price (

The white marks on the inside of the door seem to be from where your hand rubs against the cloth...mine has it. I tried rubbing them off with my hand, but they got worse

A damp cloth did the trick.

The brakes are inconsistent between different fabias, some people complain of a spongy pedal and not enough power yet mine are the opposite, too much for a small amount of pressure, with the lack of engine breaking I have had to change my breaking style totally, but you got used to it .

At 10,000 miles my brakes are just fine, I never have any confidence problems with them. One thing, though it obviously won't apply to anyone on here, have you noticed how many people drive on their brakes? You get behind these people, and instead of anticipating the next corner, they zoom up to it and then apply the brakes. This surely is one of the reasons for having bad brakes; the disks, pads, calipers and fluid must be red hot!

At 10,000 miles my brakes are just fine, I never have any confidence problems with them. One thing, though it obviously won't apply to anyone on here, have you noticed how many people drive on their brakes? You get behind these people, and instead of anticipating the next corner, they zoom up to it and then apply the brakes. This surely is one of the reasons for having bad[/i'] brakes; the disks, pads, calipers and fluid must be red hot!

Thanks to all who replied to my questions ...... ref white spots and mist balls

regarding the braking issue..

I have been driving for about 40 years including rally driving 1965 - 1985 both

tarmac and forest ......and know what brake fade is like :eek:

so I dont think its my driving / braking causing the problem..in fact I try to use

the brakes as little as possible ..... and for normal everyday driving I like to keep

at least 2 or 3 cars length depending on speed at the time .....

this is when I find the brakes less consistant they just seem to lack bite

( my pet hate is tailgaters ) although I am 59 I dont drive like an old fart with

one foot on the brake and enjoy the odd thrash when traffic conditions allow

we have some nice B roads / country lanes yer in zummerzet ooh aarr

as previously stated ..... my diesel van gets driven constantly harder than the

furby ...... and the brakes are superior .... maybe I should see if I can fit them

to the furby

The brakes are inconsistent, but they do stop you well, it just takes some time to get used to, but its just one more thing that makes the car seem very vague to drive at times.

I've posted about the brakes in the past - they are less than awe-inspiring in the beginning. With 13k on the clock, nearing 14k rapidly, I've got used to it.

I must admit I'd like more feedback too, but the actual braking power is sufficient (for non-track before that gets mentioned )

The 312 upgrade apparently gives more feedback, and a more gradual control, with of course more braking power again

I cant bring myself to uprate the brakes yet, perhaps if I drive on with upgraded brakes I'd do it too, but I'd definitely have to go for a different insurer

The white marks on the inside of the door seem to be from where your hand rubs against the cloth...mine has it. I tried rubbing them off with my hand' date=' but they got worse

A damp cloth did the trick.[/quote']

Yes, a damp cloth removes them - also on the right side bolster of the passenger seat where I sometimes rest my hand. It makes the fabric appear worn. What I don't understand is that I cannot always make the marks on the side panel with my hands. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn't.

The brakes are inconsistent between different fabias, some people complain of a spongy pedal and not enough power yet mine are the opposite, too much for a small amount of pressure, with the lack of engine breaking I have had to change my breaking style totally, but you got used to it .

I have noticed inconsistancies between fabia vRS's.... just between different cars. my friend has one of these says his brakes are crap. I've never had any problem with the brakes on my vRS (came from a C2 GT, and the brakes on that car are awsome... [won the junior 1600 rally this weekend too..]) but I'm happy with the brakes on my vRS, my friend who says his are crap, drove mine recently , and said they are MUCH better on my car than his! can't figure out why...... maybe it's just one of those things....

Yes, a damp cloth removes them - also on the right side bolster of the passenger seat where I sometimes rest my hand. It makes the fabric appear worn. What I don't understand is that I cannot always make the marks on the side panel with my hands. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn't.

Yeah i get exactly the same... strange isnt it!

Yes, a damp cloth removes them - also on the right side bolster of the passenger seat where I sometimes rest my hand. It makes the fabric appear worn. What I don't understand is that I cannot always make the marks on the side panel with my hands. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn't.

They seem to hoover off to :P

RE the brakes, mine were really crap then just seemed to sort themselves out. I do over 100 fast miles per day, with plenty of roundabouts etc and motorway sections and they only fade if I'm being silly (driving badly if I'm being honest) and the inconsistencies in braking performance seem to have vanished too. I now have complete faith in them

About the same as SteVRs, my experience that is

They sure are capable of slowing you down, but the first 2k miles I scared myself once or twice, with the total lack of braking (and wasnt exactly used to great braking capabilities with my Rover 100...)

Definitely settle the brakes. Then the 'rust' trick already mentioned will get rid of glazing, after which time they should be fine

I think the brakes are a bit incosistent, some days they feel really sharp, others a bit vague.

Mind you, compared to all the other cars i've owned (second,third,fourth hand Vauxhalls, Renaults and Fiat) they feel superb!

Read in CAR mag this month they were having trouble with poor brakes on an Audi A4 V6 TDI long termer and Audi suggested three 100mph to zero emergency stops in quick succession. Result? Vast improvement in braking. Might be worth a try...

Read in CAR mag this month they were having trouble with poor brakes on an Audi A4 V6 TDI long termer and Audi suggested three 100mph to zero emergency stops in quick succession. Result? Vast improvement in braking. Might be worth a try...

Thanks tried a simular brake bedding that is posted somewhere on this forum .....

from memory it was 3 x drive at 70 and slow down to 20 this was to warm the

brakes ......... then do 2 x 70 to emergency stop and on the last one keep your

foot pressed hard on the brake pedal for 2 minutes ...... did notice some improvement

for a short period ..... but then ...... you know the rest :(

anyway I`m on a weeks holiday soon so I think I will get the dealer to check them out..

Once again thanks to all for your replies

Regarding the advice in CAR- I think the dealer said to him it would either cure or kill the brakes!

I drove a vRS for the first time on Sunday and thought the brakes were really good.

Strange to get advise to break the speed limit by a manufacturer (!!) Let's hope they also recommended a private road or track to safely perform such an action.

Was it from Audi in Germany? If so autobahn 100 MPH is ok.Wouldnt like to stop on one though!!!

Same here I must admit.

I'm guessing Germany, clear road, not in fast lane, you may just about get away with it. Not something I would advise you to do on a UK motorway.

Imagine you do emergency stop and someone hammers into you at some pace. You'd be toast.

Ouch :(

easy way to bed in brakes is keep foot down on exelerator and press left foot on brake ps dont do it in trafic

The advice was from a mate of the journalist who was an Audi tech. Not through official channels!

Apparently he found a quiet road and tried it and it worked.

easy way to bed in brakes is keep foot down on exelerator and press left foot on brake ps dont do it in trafic

Although it doesn't work on the DBW Fabia which just cuts power to the engine when you press the brake pedal :(

Chris