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Wolfsburg to Mladá Boleslav.. Fabia vRS modest upgrade.


wolfsburger

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Hey all, thought i'd log any progress on the Fabia that I initially planned on just maintaining it as its my daily driver. My wife got got a promotion at work which came with a company car, so I decided to keep the Fabia vRS which she had been using for the last 3 years, that mean't that I could ditch the Volvo.

 

Here we have it a bog standard vRS don't think it has a single optional extra on it :dull: still it's clean and has been a solid car from day one.

 

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I signed up to the forum and perused the sticky threads to see what common faults may crop up and would need addressing, then moved onto build threads and before I knew it I was in the Classified section looking for upgrades.

 

Didn't take long before I thought about lowering it, it's bloody high as standard!.. I bought an unused set of KW V1 coliovers from another forum member for £500 which was not to be sniffed at, I ran the same coilovers on a Mk2 Golf i'd owned in the past and they are by far the best i've experienced. I'm not one to jump in and get parts bolted on as I acquire them, so thought as I wasn't really in a position to get other parts straight away, I would bide my time and get as many less expensive components together as possible so they could be fitted in one go, I'm not the handiest when it comes to cars, so anything that I'm not sure about I leave up to my cousin Steven who luckily for me has his own garage BnS Autos they're located in my home town of sunny Oldham :biggrin:

 

Dropped it off on Monday to have the following fitted:

 

KW V1 Coilovers
Febi f/r top mounts
Meyle HD drop links
Lemförder track rod ends
Febi ball joints
Meyle Rear wheel bearings
Meyle Front wheel bearings
Seat Ibiza Cupra rear bump stops
PSB wishbone and rear anti-roll bar bushes
SuperPro FARB bushes
Whiteline rear anti roll bar
312mm/256mm calipers/carriers 
Brembo High Carbon Discs & Brembo pads

I also got new genuine nuts and bolts for most parts that where being replaced

 

On the lift, excuse the filthy state, but once I get it back, a reight good scrubbing will be given!

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Here are all the crusty old parts which where removed, apparently the brake disc back plates just crumbled off  :o

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I bought a set of Golf Anniversary front/rear calipers and carriers from ebay for £88 which I was well happy with the price, they arrived whilst I was on holiday, so I just dropped them off on my return to store at the garage. They where stripped down to be checked, cleaned and repainted in Pantone 348c only to find that one of the rears was completely seized and unusable, one of the front carriers had been repaired previously with a helicoil and the other one had knackered threads, so they where no good to me. So I managed to get another pair of carriers off ebay this week and dropped them off. Needless to say I have opened a PayPal case to try and get a partial refund.

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The calipers have come up nice though, i'll just sell the others on if I can and try to recoup a bit of money.

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Rear axle needs a rubbing down and some paint on it, I'll tackle that along with other cleaning up here and there.

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So that is where we are up to so far, Steven is painting the 2nd set of carriers today and hopefully get it back on Saturday, he said he's not rushing painting as the others came up so well with 3 coats of primer and paint, so be rude not too.

 

Future plans in this order:

 

Replace the intake the with PD160 variety which I got off one of the many Facebook Fabia Breaking pages, seriously there are so many pages with people breaking cars which look like they have plenty of life left in them, it's untrue!

Get it remapped to improve economy and performance.

Fit the Xenons I got off @hutchysrs50 B) along with the Cupra splitter I got off @gav_is_con

Get a nicer and more importantly darker interior, not a massive fan of leather, so maybe will have to see what crops up.

Get the 2 small shopping trolley dings sorted.

Sills painted as there is some surface rust.

Rear bumper needs painting as a kind neighbour who didn't own up scuffed it parking up.

 

Ultimately I'd like to take it on track for a bit of fun, especially now all the handling should be spot on.

 

Edited by wolfsburger
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Forgot to mention wheels....

 

The standard alloys are well past their sell by date, none of them hold air, I've now got 6 standard Spider alloys after buying another 2 to save money on a refurb. Only 2 of them hold pressure. So I've been adding air every couple of weeks, which is such a bind. I'll be selling them all shortly!

 

I'd love a set of BBS split rims which in my opinion work so well on a multitude of cars... But I've been down that road twice before with my Mk2 Golfs, they look the business yeah, but they cost a bomb and they are a nightmare to maintain especially polished ones :D

 

So with that in mind and my rapidly dwindling budget I set out to find something from the Skoda range but still 16" so after missing out on a couple of sets on here I managed to scoop a set of Octavia Spiders on eBay for £67, they must have somehow gone under the radar. They where a bit rough around the edges, but they are currently at Ashton Powder Coatings being refurbished in Black Chrome, then they'll be fitted with a set of Goodyear Asymmetric 2 tyres which I dropped off at the same time...

 

 

Screenshot_20170818-214337.png

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I like your style getting all of the bits together then a mass upgrade B)

 

Would be interested to hear your opinion on the KW V1 and how they compare comfort wise to the the standard suspension, drive in drive out so you will have a good comparison on the differences.

 

Goodyear Asymmetric 2 tyres are a good choice, I have them on my VRS and my favourite tyre so far, suit the VRS and a good all-round tyre. 

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That's how to do it, good man!! Also great choice of colour of the Spiders. Been meaning to get mine redone in the same or similar.

 

I love the V1's and much improvement over the standard; less diving on breaking and bonnet rise on hard acceleration. Firm but comfortable ride and prefer it over the standard suspension in my missus' TDCI Ford Fiesta. 

Edited by jars
Fat fingers
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1 hour ago, duck said:

I like your style getting all of the bits together then a mass upgrade B)

 

Would be interested to hear your opinion on the KW V1 and how they compare comfort wise to the the standard suspension, drive in drive out so you will have a good comparison on the differences.

 

Goodyear Asymmetric 2 tyres are a good choice, I have them on my VRS and my favourite tyre so far, suit the VRS and a good all-round tyre. 

 

Cheers, I didn't see the point in doing it piece meal, plus I couldn't just buy everything in one big hit.

 

I'll post inital impressions tomorrow, I can pick the car up tomorrow so i'll be going for a good drive to see how the upgrades compare.. I'm expecting it to be firm but fruity :D

 

1 hour ago, jars said:

That's how to do it, good man!! Also great choice of colour of the Spiders. Been meaning to get mine redone in the same or similar.

 

I love the V1's and much improvement over the standard; less diving on breaking and bonnet rise on hard acceleration. Firm but comfortable ride and prefer it over the standard suspension in my missus' TDCI Ford Fiesta. 

 

I was torn between standard and a darker colour but I think I chose the better option, I'll soon find out.

 

The suspension has got to be a massive improvement over standard, I've run lowered cars since my first Golf GTI 1996 so I'm no stranger to a firmer ride, I hope the KW's on the Fabia are equally as good.

 

It's the bushes I'm unsure about, I hope the PSB are a good choice :sweat:

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10 hours ago, hutchysrs50 said:

Excellent list of upgrades, had no idea you were doing so much to it, will be like a totally new car!

 

Yeah I thought while the suspension was being replaced it made sense to replace or upgrade the bushes, brakes and other components. 

 

I wasn't going to do anything other than lower it, I blame everyone on this forum for building nice cars and giving me ideas :D

 

 

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3 hours ago, Lofty said:

Now that's a lot of progress in one go!!

 

Regarding the PSB bushes, they're fine in the Fabia, I have those on my yellow one and Cupra bushes on my black one, I'd say the Cupra are a touch harsher if anything 

 

 

I've just got home from picking up the Fabia and I'm over the moon, the ride is fantastic, yeah it's firmer but not harsh at all.

 

@Lofty The PSB bushes I cannot complain about they're nowhere near as harsh as I'd expected them to be. I've read a few posts about people saying having poly bushes has ruined the ride, I certainly don't find that at all.

@duck if KW V1s are within your budget I highly recommend them.

 

Next job is to get the geometry sorted and I'm going to see a chap about corner weight being set up. Here's a couple of comparison pictures, I'm leaving the ride height as it is for now, too low and it'll ruin the handling, it's nice to have the option though 

 

Before [excuse the scaffolding, just had a loft conversion done]:

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After:

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On 9/14/2017 at 15:57, wolfsburger said:

Forgot to mention wheels....

 

The standard alloys are well past their sell by date, none of them hold air, I've now got 6 standard Spider alloys after buying another 2 to save money on a refurb. Only 2 of them hold pressure. So I've been adding air every couple of weeks, which is such a bind. I'll be selling them all shortly!

 

I'd love a set of BBS split rims which in my opinion work so well on a multitude of cars... But I've been down that road twice before with my Mk2 Golfs, they look the business yeah, but they cost a bomb and they are a nightmare to maintain especially polished ones :D

 

So with that in mind and my rapidly dwindling budget I set out to find something from the Skoda range but still 16" so after missing out on a couple of sets on here I managed to scoop a set of Octavia Spiders on eBay for £67, they must have somehow gone under the radar. They where a bit rough around the edges, but they are currently at Ashton Powder Coatings being refurbished in Black Chrome, then they'll be fitted with a set of Goodyear Asymmetric 2 tyres which I dropped off at the same time...

 

 

Screenshot_20170818-214337.png

How did you get a set of 16 spiders for £67!! can’t  find any :(

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1 hour ago, Declan958 said:

How did you get a set of 16 spiders for £67!! can’t  find any :(

 

2 sets went up I  the same week on here recently, one of which was only a 20 minute drive away for me, I missed out on both.... the set I bought came up on ebay, I had to travel to North Wales for them so probably about £15 in fuel and an early start on a Sunday morning to beat the traffic, but worth it as they looked far worse in the picture than they actually where :o

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  • 4 weeks later...

Minor update, MOT this week and one of my freshly painted rear calipers had a leaking bleed nipple, replacement caliper on which now needs painting :wondering:

 

Went to my pals garage to get the tyres off the alloys swapped onto the steelies that i've finally got and cleaned up, everyone is a different shade of black and I painted one myself due to it be a scabby mess, but didn't cost much so can't grumble, never been a fan of black on black, but I am really liking the black steelies, if only they where a bit wider B) they're also bloody close to the front calipers being a higher offset than the standard spiders.

 

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Gonna give it a damn good clean, polish and wax and just enjoy driving it.

Edited by wolfsburger
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Nice one..!! Car looks Good :)

 

I remember doing the same thing with mine...Saving, buying parts bit by it and then doing everything in one go.

 

When I picked her up after the work was done it was like a new and totally different Car..!!!!!

 

Keep up with all good work ;)

 

Matty

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  • 10 months later...

A massive career change has put paid to any big plans I'd had for the Fabia. But I've kept the car and used it daily and I'm happy to say it still hasn't missed a beat! 

 

Fitted the Cupra splitter and ripped it off a few months later on a low kerb, then re-fitted it. It's a little grazed on the near side, so I'm contemplating ditching it.

 

had toyed with the idea of selling the Spiders, so didn't fit them until today :D

 

I gave the car a damn good clean and polish as I'd neglected that department, it came up good, so that spurred me on to fit the alloys.

 

I've also wound the coilovers down more, they are at their lowest at the rear now, I don't like the idea of removing the rear adjusters to go lower so that is it as far as ride height goes.

 

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I've seen a fellow members car running wide steels and they look fantastic. So after fitting the Spiders I dropped the steelies off at my pals for the tyres and weights to be stripped off. I'm going to get them banded by a local firm originally named 'Banded Steels' I'm thinking nothing crazy as I don't like aggressive poke, so 7.5J front and 8J at the rear will look nice.

 

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Had the car on the ramp at the garage as I noticed a leak. Turns out the intercooler is on the way out, so I've bitten the bullet and ordered a Airtec Seat Sport style FMIC and pipework as well as a egr delete kit, so they are going on as soon as they arrive. Then I will need to find somewhere to have it mapped (recommendations welcome).

 

That's where I'm up to as of today, I'll update again when the Airtec is going on.

Edited by wolfsburger
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Turns out I have bought a Piper decat downpipe and a Miltek system, I was scratching my head wondering where the Miltek stamp was on the downpipe, then it was pointed out to me that it looks different to the Miltek offering.  Emailed Piper and they confirmed it, I'm happy with it none the less. 

 

Got home from the 40 odd mile round trip to collect the exhaust to see the same firm had listed a Cupra Tdi for breaking, so I went back for the strut brace. A productive couple of days. Not bad fuel economy, I pottered on the M62 around 70mph with the odd overtaking manoeuvre :biggrin:

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Edited by wolfsburger
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With yours being a BLT engine I’d not believe the dashboard mpg figure, both of my BLT cars massively over read on the dash. True figures on my black one are between 53 and 56mpg (calculated the right way) where the dash regularly shows 70+mpg

 

Good work on buying some mods though, it’ll come together nicely 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 02/09/2018 at 16:01, Lofty said:

With yours being a BLT engine I’d not believe the dashboard mpg figure, both of my BLT cars massively over read on the dash. True figures on my black one are between 53 and 56mpg (calculated the right way) where the dash regularly shows 70+mpg

 

Good work on buying some mods though, it’ll come together nicely 

What is the correct way to calculate mpg?.. it was good while it lasted :notme:

 

Bought a GTB2056vk, PD150 head bolts amongst other things which I hadn't planned on, but things keep coming up at good prices :o

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Fill the tank, either by letting the filling station pump click a few times or use the "vent" mod to squeeze an extra 12 litres in and fill it to the brim of the neck. Reset the trip meter, drive the car till it gets low enough to refill, refill the exact same way as before, the work out how much fuel you've used exactly to cover the miles showing on the trip. That will give you the exact MPG, which will be quite different to the trip computer display.

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  • 5 years later...

Mega thread bump... 

I sold this to a regular customer of my cousin's garage back in 2020, it is still going strong, MOT history check shows it still wants for nothing, not a single advisory!! 

 

.....I'm back in the game now after flirting with a short lived Subara Forester!

New thread here: 

 

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