Hi, I have driven Skodas for the last 20 years.

 

I am at the moment going through a mid life crisis and have bought myself an Octavia VRS 2ltr petrol 200 bhp.

I have fitted new 19" DRC alloy wheels - K&N TYPHOON INDUCTION KIT ,BACK CAT MILLTEK SPORTS EXHAUST - PERFORMANCE REMAP adding 50 + bhp -  plus lowering springs.

 

I would very much appreciate some advice concerning the running   --- ie long runs short runs.

 

At the moment I am not working so all I am doing is short runs 4 or 5 miles - Supermarket etc.

 

I am concerned about blogs that I have been reading stating that it could be detrimental to the engine like the Skoda VRS if it only does short runs.

 

Could anyone in the know give me some sound advice please.

 

                        Regards.

 

                                Mick.

 

Welcome.

 

I'd hardly class a vRS as a midlife crisis car - its far too practical for that! The perfect dad's taxi with a bit of go, in my case.

 

Regarding short trips - I would have thought the petrol should be fine for that sort of thing, tbh. The occasional long run wouldn't hurt, though. You've probably been reading up on us diesel owners who need to avoid regular short journeys.

mine's only a 1.4, but lots of short trips may have lead to the battery going flat. 2010 so maybe it's reached the end of its life. I charged it, it measures ok and is behaving fine now though.

It's just a warmed over shopping trolley - nothing overly special.

 

Short runs will affect it the same as any other 4cyl vehicle.  Not recommended but it beats walking in the rain

Sounds very nice. Your oil won't be up to temperature on the way to the shops, so personally I would take it easy and not thrash it. Having said that as it is a second hand car you don't know if the former owner or owners were as careful. My commute is 9 miles of A roads so when the engine was warm, most days I'd rev to 5000 rpm in 2nd gear when pulling on to the last road. This was to try to prevent carbon build up which afflicts some cars, I believe because they are run in urban areas I.e they are sat in traffic a lot. Whilst it may have been a futile practice my MKII never suffered from poor performance so perhaps it was the right thing to do. I do the same in my MKIII.

As for the shopping trolley comment, 99% of cars on the roads fall into that category. The really special cars are those that don't exist. I.e they never get caught in traffic jams and are invisible to GATSO...... unless they are SORN-ed

As for the shopping trolley comment, 99% of cars on the roads fall into that category. The really special cars are those that don't exist. I.e they never get caught in traffic jams and are invisible to GATSO...... unless they are SORN-ed

Indeed they are.  I'm not being a snob, just a realist.  They might be one of the largest purchases we make but in the end they are an appliance like a TV or dishwasher.

I do approx 20-50miles a week in mine saying that it's normally in one or two trips

The short journeys would help your can but shouldn't do any lasting damage as long as the services are kept up to date and the like.

Might be worth once a month or so taking it for a blast on motorway mine loves motor ways and will do more mpg at 70(ish) then at any other speed

BLIMEY brad1.8t  I bet you are a right laugh at all the barbies.

 

Is your second car electric ??

 

OK - on the good advice -  I will take the VRS in for an interim service  - before the full and give it a good blast down the Motorway.

once a month.

 

OR just for brad1.8t - I will throw all the dirty plates into it - have it remapped to channel 4 and hope for the best !! 

Keep a top of services too

Personally mine is the ideal transport for a Grandfather of one - with another on the way 

 

I would just workout a way of giving it a good A road blast on a regular basis, just to blow the cobwebs away :-)

 

If doing a lot of regular short trips, it might be worth investing in a decent car battery conditioner / charger, personally I have a Ctek (others available) with easy connectors on both of our cars.

 

Grandma has a Mini Cooper S Clubman, another quick shopping trolley in our household.

Run it on super, service it annually and take it for a proper thrash once a week.

 

That'll probably do the trick.

BLIMEY brad1.8t  I bet you are a right laugh at all the barbies.

 

Is your second car electric ??

 

OK - on the good advice -  I will take the VRS in for an interim service  - before the full and give it a good blast down the Motorway.

once a month.

 

OR just for brad1.8t - I will throw all the dirty plates into it - have it remapped to channel 4 and hope for the best !! 

I actually am good for a laugh.  Nothing is sacred & very little is taken seriously.