Cruise Control question

[Fitzwilliam]

Hi,

In the next few days I’m hoping to buy a 2011 Fabia VRS which unlike my last 3 Skodas does not have Cruise Control fitted. 

I was wondering if it’s possible to have CC retrofitted to the VRS and if so how much would it cost to have the conversion done.

[LGM]

@Tech1e is your man for this! Fitted cruise control to my Monte Carlo about 5 years ago. 

[Fitzwilliam]

Thanks LGM, how much was the cost ?

[LGM]

16 minutes ago, Fitzwilliam said:

Thanks LGM, how much was the cost ?

To be honest with you I can’t remember  but I know it was cheaper than the dealership. 

[Tech1e]

£330 supplied and fitted. 

[Fitzwilliam]

Thanks for that Tech1e, will give it some consideration, bit of a trek to get to you as I’m in South Yorkshire.

Edited 30 January, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

@Fitzwilliam, enjoy the car, but my advice would be get it and see all is well and servicing and maintenance up to date and then when sure the car runs well,

then look at making changes like the CC, but not before running it a few weeks.

?

Where or who are you buying it from & have you done due diligence?

Edited 30 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

Hi Skoffski, have seen photos and video the dealer put on Autotrader, car looks mint, was serviced in December, alloys damage free, new tyres. Going for a test drive this afternoon. This will be my 4th Skoda and my 2nd VRS having owned a VRS Fabia diesel for 4 years, all my previous Skoda were pretty well trouble free.

[Ootohere]

You are entering with a new Lottery Ticket with a Used Mk2 Fabia vRS.

 

On a 2011 vRS expect it to need a Water Pump sooner than later if not already replaced. regardless of miles covered.

So maybe £500 ish.

 

Servicing would be Spark Plugs changed at maybe each 20,000 miles not 40,000.

Check if the Service Campaign was done on the DSG.  '34f7' there should be a sticker in the Spare Tyre Well.

Get the service and warranty records from Skoda and know if the Original Engine, and if it has had Breather Mods & Software Update & maybe Oil Spray Jets & Software Update 

or maybe the car is pretty much as it left the factory.

 

?

Who is selling it, i will have a nosy at the Advert and the MOT History?

Edited 30 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Ootohere]

?

Is it the Yellow one?

If it is then check well the front and rear discs. They were an Advisory on the MOT, but that is usual with MK2 Fabia vRS.

If a set of 4 discs and pads are required that is under £120 in parts.

Edited 30 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

Yes it is the Yellow one, I picked it up a couple of hours ago, saw the advisory about the brake discs. The brakes certainly work well enough and don’t produce any noise, see how it fares at the next MOT in July. The dealer spent quite a bit on it so I think he’s pretty diligent, got a receipt for almost £500 for a service and replacement of all 4 suspension coil springs and the 2 bottom front suspension arms and a set of new tyres. I’ll go over it with a fine tooth comb and see if there is anything that needs sorting, I’ve got 3 months warranty on it.

It’s a very impressive machine, my first drive in an auto after nigh on 50years of driving, the DSG changes are so smooth, very impressive, as is the intake roar from the supercharger when you boot it from low revs.

[Ootohere]

Good.

You never know until you check, maybe the insulation is off the Supercharger.

Cars can be remapped and you might not know.  The springs that were on might not have been the OEM or the Dealer Fit option.

At some point maybe check if the Ballast Weights are still on the rear crash bar.

?

Is there a sticker in the Spare Tyre well showing '34F7' as carried out on the DSG?

http://skoda-auto.com/services/recall-actions

 

[Fitzwilliam]

Checked out if there had been a recall with the link you posted but it came up empty. Found an OEM set of front and rear discs and pads on ebay for £105 delivered which isn’t bad.

[Ootohere]

Best not get OEM as they are crap.   I used Ferodo Discs & Pads. Nothing special but corroded slower than OEM ones.

 

As well to do the brake pipes at the same time,

& put on stainless Braided if you do not know when the Brake Fluid was changed. Kill 2 birds.

[Fitzwilliam]

Took it out for a short drive this evening, mainly to fill up the tank, uphill and down dale route, trip computer read just over 43 mpg when I got home which was a little disappointing as I was driving in “economy mode”, mind you it was -2 degrees C. Thought to check the tyre pressures after having a bite to eat, as I anticipated they were all low at 32psi all round, have put them up to the recommended 36/35 front/rear, should help the economy a tad. Spoiled by the Citigo Greentech which would do anything from 55-70 mpg.

Noticed that when going down a slight down gradient the gearbox refused to go into 7th gear even when I used the manual shift, the gearbox brain obviously thinks a bit of engine braking is necessary though I doubt you’d get a deal in 6th.

[Ootohere]

33psi front and back was always what i set any time of the year.  Summer or winter tyres.

?

Did you reset the TPMS?   Hold the botton in.

 

It should refuse to be in 7th doing down hill off the throttle if not needing the accelrator.

& when you use 'S' it is 6 gears you have not 7'.        On ice snow i use back to 'S' to slow down without braking, or manual downshifts & i go back to 'D' for upshifts.

 

Your car should be able to do 55 mpg plus taking it easy. Super Unleaded and Clean Air filter and cool air. cooler the better once the engine is up to heat.

Maybe 5-6 miles till the Oil shows 50*oC, and in cold weather below 6*oC to around freezing it can be 20 miles to get to 80*oC and maybe never 90*oC if it has 5w 40 FS Oil in.

Edited 31 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

Not used S mode yet just tend to override D with the paddles when needed then after a bit of time with no manual changes it reverts back to D automatically. I think I’d be very happy if I manage 55mpg I suppose at 50+ mph keeping in 7th is should be possible.

[Fitzwilliam]

Gave the brake discs a visual check this morning and they appear to be in pretty reasonable condition, I’m wondering if the car had not been driven for a while and had some surface corrosion on the discs when it went for the MOT which made them look worse than they are. Checked the service record, looks like the previous owner/s went in for overkill on the service and maintenance front, in 55000 miles it’s had 8 oil changes, 3 gearbox oil changes, 4 air filter changes and it’s on it’s 4th set of spark plugs. Gearbox oil, engine oil, air filter and spark plugs were all replaced 2500 miles ago and it had another engine oil and filter change 6 weeks ago. With all I’ve heard about oil consumption I think I’ll get into the habit of checking it on a weekly basis. Are there any tell tale signs of the water pump failing or does it expire with no warning ?

The dealer said he replaced the coil springs because of a lot of corrosion on the originals.

Edited 31 January, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

Good.

8 oil changes are correct on fixed services, 9,400 miles / 372 days or sooner.

Air filter good as well, at Major Services and not every 4 years.  Pollen filter every 2 years.

Spark Plugs as well are good, @ Major Services, each 2 years is long enough.

 

Water pump can last or some give up sort of from 5 years / 50,000 miles on.   Maybe just a little Coolant loss.

 

The 3 DSG Oil changes is odd really in 8 years,  there should maybe be the Service Campaign one.  But no harm done changing the Oil which is filled for life.

 

I have a feeling the owner was a member here.

There was a Yellow vRS with a similar reg number in the 'Mk2 Fabia vRS Owners Register' thread when i joined the forum.

 

RE Oil, 

Just dip cold and see where it is on the Dip stick. Post here where it is.

 

Then the Jabozuma check.

Just start the engine and stop right away.  The oil is up in the Oil Filter.   Dip it and hopefully Oil at the top of Cross Hatch.

 

Then once the car has done at least say 10 miles and oil at operating temp dip the oil after a few minutes stopped on the flat.

I expect the oil to be were it was with the Jabozuma check.

 

You only ever need to dip Stone Cold after that, you know where the level should be, On the flat bit above the Cross Hatch will have 3.6-3.9/4.0 litres of oil in.

That is OK.  3.6 litres exactly is a bit low IMO.

 

Edited 31 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

Checked oil level, it’s at the max level as shown in the owners handbook so should be easy check when/if it falls. I assume like any engine, oil consumption depends a lot on how often you cane it, I’m 67 later on this year and much as I like the odd spirited drive it’s not something I do very often. I bought the VRS for the look of it, the colour, I love yellow cars, my VRS Tdi was yellow as was my Citigo, and the practicality, but the main reason was because I recently developed arthritis in my knees, particularly my left knee, had about 6 weeks of physio which has helped but it never going to go away, hence my going automatic for the first time in almost 50 years of driving. Getting the Cruise Control fitted will help out with the other knee on long journeys, I gave up looking for a Yellow VRS with Cruise Control and I was looking for quite a while.

Btw you mentioned the pollen filter but there’s no mention of it in the owners handbook, with it having Climatronic Aircon it surely must have one, my old VRS Tdi and the Citigo had them because I replaced both of them myself, just find sprawling in the passenger footwell to look behind the glovebox a bit difficult at my age :-)

Edited 31 January, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

I have only a left leg and drive using standard pedals and have never used the Cruise Control other than to check how it used petrol.

It uses more than just driving and lifting off and taking corners off the throttle IME.

 

Last night you said about MPG and 7th gear.  I think you will find that the sweet spot is at 2,400 rpm or just below and that is just over 70 mph.

If you have a Stage 1 remap that might be at about 2,200 rpm. 

That is on turbo, and the supercharger comes in on demand below 3,500 rpm if needed.

 

Have fun with it.   Short Cold Start trips can use oil. 

If you do short runs a few days and then boot it and there is black smoke puffing out the back that is not a problem, the engine runs rich when cold and the soot builds up in the exhaust.

Good for fulling tailgaters as you leave the town and they think the Fabia and the old guy should be behind them. A big blast of soot and off you go.

 

PS

Cabin Filter about £16.

& the Fuel Filter maybe not changed, it is a Fit for life, the good technicians learned to change them at the 2nd major service or 40,000 miles 

from experience.

Many main dealers never did, saying 'Fitted for life'.

 

 

Edited 31 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

I generally just use Cruise Control on Motorways, Dual Carriageway and better A roads, gets disengaged long before dealing with corners.

I went on the M1 earlier today and mine at 70mph is just under 2600rpm, that’s with the satnav indicating 70 and the speedo 72 and that’s with mine running 215/40 R17 tyres which ups the gearing by 1.4%.

Always go gently after a cold start for the good of the engine and the pocket at least until the coolant temp gauge needle starts moving.

I hope it hasn’t been remapped, 178bhp in a car this small should be more than enough for anyone, apparently the maximum torque output is just about at the limit of what the DSG gearbox can handle so a remap is likely to be a gearbox killer, let alone the engine.

[Ootohere]

?

Do you have Super Unleaded 97 or 99 minimum in the tank?

That rpm @ 70 mph on 215's sounds to me like you are using 95 ron. 

 

 

By the servicing and tyre size the previous owner appears to have known the twinchargers well.

 

The coolant will be showing 90*oC in maybe a mile,

If you look at the Oil Temp / Indicated Oil temp that is likely when around freezing 6 miles before it shows 50 *oC.

The oil and engine temp is not efficient until maybe over 10 miles. 5w 40 FS will have the oil temp a little lower in hot weather / hot engine than 5w 30 FS LL.

 

With tyres,

the 215/40 R 17 has the car running the correct gearing as designed.

The Polo GTI, SEAT Ibiza Cupra / Bocangegra & Audi A1 1.4 TFSI 185ps Twinchargers were on that size, just Skoda fitted 205/40 R17's. & a Spare Tyre as standard and Success Ballast / Sandbagging weights on the rear crash bar of the Hatch to have it Heavier than the Estate.  Not that it really is if you weight it.

 

Plenty of us have run a lot of miles with 200-220 +ps with standard DSG's & over 300Nm.   The re-maps are safer than the Factory Engine management, other than the REVO remap, that was crap.

 

 

 

PS

215/40 R 17 are not always physically bigger than 205/40 R 17.

The Pirreli Zero Nero 205/40 R 17 that Skoda fitted under Warranty to disguise cars with 'Pulling to the left', ha more rolling circumference than some 215/40 R 17 or even 205/45 R 17.  I have ran all sizes and 225/35 R 18's off an Audi A1 Competition line 1.4 TFSI 121bhp.

 

 

Edited 1 February, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

Yes it has 95ron in the tank atm, my usual petrol station doesn’t have Super Unleaded, I’ll have to check out some alternative stations, would not have thought the petrol would effect cruising engine revs.

Front tyres are Goodyear’s but the rears are a budget brand I’ve not heard of.

Looked at a Racechip add on tuning box which promises 20bhp more for £139 but I doubt I’ll be unhappy with the standard power output, my VRS Tdi has 50bhp less and tbh it was fast enough for me. Had seen the Auto Express video before and know the motoring pundits like the VRS a lot particularly the value for money aspect.

Like the fact it has a full size spare even if it is a 195/65 15, I bought a space saver for my Citigo as I think the bottle of sealant idea is just plain stupid, thankfully I never needed to use it, put the original equipment back for the trade in and will stick the wheel/tool kit on EBay when I get round to it.

I know fuel consumption is very weather dependent, my Citigo was about 10% thirstier in the winter months particularly on shorter journeys, I expect the VRS will get closer to 50mpg in the summer months if it’s as warm as last year.

 

[Ootohere]

The recommended petrol is 98 ron even though they run on 95 ron because they must do.

 

The 1.4TSI twinchargers were developed to be 140, 150 & 160 PS before taken to 180ps.

 

You will see your self that the Octane does affect the RPM when the Twincharger is at its efficient engine temp.

Obviously the increased BHP or Torque happens at different points on the rev range.  Producing more power efficiently can affect how you an maintain speed while using less fuel.

 

Look at the Threads with Dyno Maps.

A good one is from @Furbytom & his CTHE standard on the Dyno.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/357839-fabia-vrs-estate-rolling-road-run

There are others in other threads. There are Dynos with the Blue Spark box on a CTHE, @VrsForever had one fitted and it gave very good results. Denso Plugs with a 0.6 gap.

 

The TMC Tuning Box or the Bluespark are good.

The 3 cable TMC not the 2 cable.

 

As too weather dependent, the Twinchargers love cooler air, and light moist rain, drizzle. That is when you get the best MPG on runs long enough to make up for the first higher consumption until the oil is up to temp.

Cooler roads have less grip / traction / friction if you are not on winter tyres.  Less energy used cooling oil if the oil is already at the efficient temperature.

 

The longer roof and supposed 5 kg lighter does not make the really heavier estate quicker, but the stronger rear springs 

and the front not going light makes a difference.

(Strange the heavier Polo & Ibiza with the 215/40 R 17 tyres and same engine and gearbox were said to be more efficient and quicker and were given a lower Co2 g/km, and when the Ibiza got the CTHE in 2013 Seat dropped its VED band.

 

http://volkswagen.co.uk/need-help/owners/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

Pirelli Zero Nero next to Dunlop Sportmaxx both 205/40 R 17 and gave different reading on the speedo and on a V-Box and GPS.

& 0-62 or 0-100 mph.

 

Edited 1 February, 2019 by Skoffski