Furbys Down Under - Wheels' MkII vRS

[wheels94]

Backstory:

 

Summer has just started in Australia, but even in the month leading up to it, the weather was for sure warming up. It's made more noticeable by the all-black uniform I wear to work everyday. It was made even more noticeable by the fact that my car did not have any air-conditioning. Further more, I'm a delivery driver. I spend 6 hours or so every other day delivering pizzas locally (Dominos represent ). 6 hours a day in 35+C heat with no air conditioning made me realise how badly I needed a new car, problem was finding one I liked.

 

The old ride, a 1991 Toyota Starlet Life. Had 223000kms on it as of this photo and I reckon it could go another 200000km, not a single sign of any thing wrong with it yet: 

 

Going back to my search, it had to be a hatchback, no doubt about that, definitely my favourite body type. Colour wasn't a big issue, but I had some preferences. Most importantly, it had to be fun to drive, and at least a little economical, petrol doesn't buy itself unfortunately. I shopped around, looked at this car and that, umm'd and arr'd and really couldn't come to a decision. It just so happened that my girlfriend also wanted a new car, so we went looking for one. We found something she found interesting and scheduled a test drive, but headed off to another lot on the other side of town to continue our search, just in case.

 

Just so happened that it was a Skoda dealer, and they just happened to have a 2012 vRS there. 41000km on the clock, silver, clean as a whistle.

 

Then came the test drive.

 

I fell in love with it 30 seconds out of the lot, the dealer took the wheel first and he obviously knew his way around the car and how to sell it to a young, impressionable man such as myself. We flew around a few corners, he showed off the power of the car to me and that was it. After an unsupervised test drive that I'm sure the dealer knew would consist of some not-so-legal occurrences, I walked back into the showroom grinning from ear to ear. I was sold, bought the car for $13k drive away, picked it up a week later. This is the first car that I've owned, or at least borrowed money from someone to give to someone else so that I can eventually own it.

 

Of course, had to take some BS "artsy" photo because I'm a sucker for that sort of stuff. This was taken about an hour after I picked the car up, the excitement I felt taking this photo was indescribable:

 

Only about an hour into owning it and I thought the car was brilliant, but that didn't stop me starting up a mental list of all the things I want to do to it. I'm still coming up with a complete list, and prioritising it as it grows and grows. It's looking a little something like this so far, from most important to least:

 

Future Major Mod List: 

 

• Coilovers (Probably gonna be ST by KW)
• Better brake pads+discs
• Better Plugs, not sure what's in there at the moment but I've heard Denso Iridiums are the way to go.
• Stage 1 ECU Remap, either APR or custom local job.
• Non-Res Cat-back, would love a little more volume out of the exhaust, figure this is a good start.
• Cold Air Intake, looking at VWR or ITG, the the latter seems to be harder to find.
• Replace factory Head Unit.

Future Minor Mods List:

 

• All interior and exterior lights to changed to white lights, preferably LEDs where applicable.
• New Skoda badges front/back
• Remove Fabia badge from back
• Cupra Splitter (would like to see a picture of one on a MkII Fabia first, only seen pictures of the MkI)

Wishlist (not likely to happen any time soon, if ever):

 

• Re-spray to white with a black roof. I know it's been done but by god I love that combination so so much.
• Bigger turbo
• Stage 2+ with sports exhaust to match.

 

I have a lot of plans for this car, and being in Australia where parts for any car can be expensive, parts for these little beasts seem to come at a premium. Fortunately, you Brits have done well by us in this regard, most parts end up being cheaper when being shipped here, thanks for that! Regardless, I'm planning on throwing a decent chunk of change at this car as time goes by, assuming it gets through the first 15000kms relatively issue free.

 

Found out recently that it's also had all the oil consumption related work done to it which is a big thumbs up, meaning I don't really have to be concerned about that particular thorn in the bum and it really got me looking forward to the work I want to do/get done to it.

 

Anyway, a few pictures to finish:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm hoping to keep this as updated as possible as I get stuff done to the car, though updates may be few and far between as the money I need for parts will be saved up slowly and surely while I'm at university. Fortunately, my studying will mean I wont have much time to spend money on anything else. Can't wait to eat up a few Falcons and Commodores locally, and hope to get it to a track sooner rather than later!  :clap:

 

[wheels94]

Finished off a small mod today!

 

Before: (nearly had a heart attack when the whole unit came out, before I realised it was supposed to..)

 

After (front interiors also kind of pictured):

 

 

And an after picture of the fronts by them selves:

 

 

Much much brighter all around now, really simple upgrade and really happy with the result! Just gotta sort out the headlights and boot light now, then that's all the lights done (not gonna worry about the glovebox light. Until it bothers me.)

 

Not my shoes, I swear! 

[OzFabia]

Big plans....

 

I would still keep an eye on the oil level - the fixes are not always 100%. It's not unusual for these cars to use a little oil, even when they are good ones - especially if you do lots of short trips.

[wheels94]

Big plans....

 

I would still keep an eye on the oil level - the fixes are not always 100%. It's not unusual for these cars to use a little oil, even when they are good ones - especially if you do lots of short trips.

The mechanic I spoke to at the dealer said they can still use up to 450ml of oil per 1000km even with the fixes, still much better than the 6/7/800ml that people were going through before hand though.

[Lofty]

Looks great in Silver - not seen many in that shade, suits it.

 

The mods you have planned are sensible as well.

 

How big is the Skoda network down in Australia then? Did they ever have the early Fabias there?

[wheels94]

Looks great in Silver - not seen many in that shade, suits it.

 

The mods you have planned are sensible as well.

 

How big is the Skoda network down in Australia then? Did they ever have the early Fabias there?

 

Cheers for the kind words. Figured I don't want to go too overboard with the mods, I already love the look of the car but if I can cram a few extra ponies under the hood then why not, right? A mate of mine just bought a 2014 Octy RS and wants to put a widebody kit on it, though if it looks anything like this it wont be half bad: 

 

 

As to the Skoda network here, it's definitely growing. I live in a smaller town and we have a Skoda dealer here, which is a pretty good indication of the popularity they're gaining. VAG as a whole already has a pretty strong presence in the car scene Australia through Golfs and Polos mostly, but Skoda is definitely coming up.

Edited 8 December, 2016 by wheels94

[wheels94]

Has anyone on here ever fitted a VWR cold air intake to their RS? Just been reading around and apparently they wont fit if the battery is still in the engine bay, and frankly I have zero interest in relocating mine.

 

Looking at pictures of the intake, I can definitely see this being true given the already cozy nature of the engine bay..

Edited 9 December, 2016 by wheels94

[MillsyVRS]

Has anyone on here ever fitted a VWR cold air intake to their RS? Just been reading around and apparently they wont fit if the battery is still in the engine bay, and frankly I have zero interest in relocating mine.

Looking at pictures of the intake, I can definitely see this being true given the already cozy nature of the engine bay..

If you don't want to move the battery, you're only other options are to turn the battery around 90 degrees, or get a smaller one. The intake should fit then