Hi all,

Had the opportunity to put my monte carlo on a weigh bridge today.

Found out that the car with me in it weighed 1240kg and 1160kg without I also found that 800 kg of the weight with me in it was on the front axle. Using some math I found it is a 65.5:34.5 F:R weight distribution.

Keep in mind this is with just over a half tank of diesel.

Overall,for a 1.6 diesel with aircon, airbags,abs and such it is decently light. Bear in mind mine doesnt have a space saver also.

The only mild problem is that this weigh bridge only goes up or down in increments of 20 so I can only be so accurate,nevertheless it gave me a good Idea of the weight distribution of the car. I thought it would be a good idea to share my results anyway,even if they're not 100% accurate.

2 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

Hi all,

Had the opportunity to put my monte carlo on a weigh bridge today.

Found out that the car with me in it weighed 1240kg and 1160kg without I also found that 800 kg of the weight with me in it was on the front axle. Using some math I found it is a 65.5:34.5 F:R weight distribution.

Keep in mind this is with just over a half tank of diesel.

Overall,for a 1.6 diesel with aircon, airbags,abs and such it is decently light. Bear in mind mine doesnt have a space saver also.

The only mild problem is that this weigh bridge only goes up or down in increments of 20 so I can only be so accurate,nevertheless it gave me a good Idea of the weight distribution of the car. I thought it would be a good idea to share my results anyway,even if they're not 100% accurate.

At Knockhill with a full tank of fuel and the spare wheel and jack tools etc still in the boot 

 

With an empty boot and no spare and between red and 1/4 tank it was 1180

12 hours ago, AMD87 said:

At Knockhill with a full tank of fuel and the spare wheel and jack tools etc still in the boot 

 

With an empty boot and no spare and between red and 1/4 tank it was 1180

Interesting.. the weighbridge I was on is one for farm machinery so it only shows increments of 20kg, it did seem to jump between 1240 and 1260 until it settled at 1240 though. 

Maybe you both want to buy the Ballast Weights from a Mk2 vRS Fabia that Skoda fitted to sandbag a Hatch to have it supposedly weigh more than a 9 3/4" longer Estate.

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.  Some say add lightness,  not VW Management....

 VW Engineering of figures to have the cars be heavier than the VW & SEAT sister cars and actually if put on the weigh bridge they were not.

 

 

Edited 28 May, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

45 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Maybe you both want to buy the Ballast Weights from a Mk2 vRS Fabia that Skoda fitted to sandbag a Hatch to have it supposedly weigh more than a 9 3/4" longer Estate.

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.  Some say add lightness,  not VW Management....

 VW Engineering of figures to have the cars be heavier than the VW & SEAT sister cars and actually if put on the weigh bridge they were not.

 

 

I’m fat they won’t offset my wait lol

1 hour ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Maybe you both want to buy the Ballast Weights from a Mk2 vRS Fabia that Skoda fitted to sandbag a Hatch to have it supposedly weigh more than a 9 3/4" longer Estate.

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.  Some say add lightness,  not VW Management....

 VW Engineering of figures to have the cars be heavier than the VW & SEAT sister cars and actually if put on the weigh bridge they were not.

 

 

Do the weights Go right along that bar or have some been taken off already?

That is where they are on a right hand drive car. 25kg. 

Enough to put them a VED band higher than an actually heavier VW Polo GTI with wider tyres and the Ibiza Cupra when they revised the engines in 2013.

Designed and manufactured and surely not cheap.

Odd that Motoring Journalists never bothered to question why a Hatch that was small should weigh more than an estate.

But then the lazy barstewards read a media pack and never drive to a public weighbridge. 

 

My vRS's with me in and a full tank, 2 x 10 litres of 102 ron, a trolley jack, tools and 2 alloys and tyres in the boot and no ballast weights was 1,444 kg.

 

Plonker.... 

He should have used his brains and simple maths and science. 

 & a pretty Small / Giant 1,390cc engine.  & as to longer and more aerodynamic, well is it really from off the line.

 

Wonder why they never used an Estate.   Or weights off the rear would have been 'Simply Clever'.

The tyre issue was not just one for him, they did fit some crap tyres OEM.

I liked Dunlop Sport Maxx in the summer and wrecked a few, but i got take offs 'free gratis' from cars where owners complained of pulling to the left and Skoda fitted Pirelli Zero Neros to to disguise the issue rather than properly aligning the front.

(Ibiza, Polo & A1 185ps got 215/40 R 17 as standard, the Fabia 205/40 R 17's)

 

 

 

Edited 28 May, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

Just wondered why on the nearside? Perhaps to offset the fuel tank?( Presume tank on offside)

For UK cambered roads.

The exhaust is at that side, the driver is at the opposite side at the front.

 

Never heard from a member overseas with a left hand drive if the weights are at the other side.

👍🙂

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/194995-not-the-best-review-of-a-vrs

 

Good read i can see where the guy is coming from (auto box) hot hatches should be manual.this might sound a bit daft I buy cars on looks over performance had a MK1 fabia rs ugly as hell but that's the beauty and could shift when needed.the MK2 is a lot lot prettier and shift when needed

9 hours ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Maybe you both want to buy the Ballast Weights from a Mk2 vRS Fabia that Skoda fitted to sandbag a Hatch to have it supposedly weigh more than a 9 3/4" longer Estate.

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.  Some say add lightness,  not VW Management....

 VW Engineering of figures to have the cars be heavier than the VW & SEAT sister cars and actually if put on the weigh bridge they were not.

 

 

While I understand the ballast is meant to help keep the car stable in corners I don't see the need to add them to my Monte Carlo. I dont have much of a problem with the back being too light. Worst case I can move the battery to the trunk.

I remember people used to put audi s3 crash bars on their mk1 fabias 'cause they bolt on and are made out of aluminium instead of steel. (I'm not 100% sure on the details because  I last looked into this about 3 years ago.)  I figure something like this would be the best way to go to remove some weight without compromising stability,instead of adding in some weight in aims of keeping the back end more planted.

Not needed on a 1.6TDI CR and not on a vRS either,  & the other Fabias could have towbars and Mk1 & Mk2 Fabias can not.

The Polo GTI, Seat Ibiza & Audi A1 can have towbars and tow,

 

Not so sure about what it was meant to do handling wise as with the Ballast removed and the suspension tweaked a bit they are not missed.

They made the front light under acceleration and IMO were bl00dy ridiculous as an engineering solution to a problem that did not exist.

 

The battery went in the rear of the Polo GTI Twincharger and no spare wheel as standard.  (You could opt for a battery cover and Spare Wheel)

If Skoda had been allowed to have the cheapest of the sister cars with better fuel consumption and better official performance figures they could have fitted the correct rear suspension & the battery under the spare wheel and not sand bagged them.

As it was the longer estate had / has different rear springs.

Edited 28 May, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

1 hour ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Not needed on a 1.6TDI CR and not on a vRS either,  & the other Fabias could have towbars and Mk1 & Mk2 Fabias can not.

The Polo GTI, Seat Ibiza & Audi A1 can have towbars and tow,

 

Not so sure about what it was meant to do handling wise as with the Ballast removed and the suspension tweaked a bit they are not missed.

They made the front light under acceleration and IMO were bl00dy ridiculous as an engineering solution to a problem that did not exist.

 

The battery went in the rear of the Polo GTI Twincharger and no spare wheel as standard.  (You could opt for a battery cover and Spare Wheel)

If Skoda had been allowed to have the cheapest of the sister cars with better fuel consumption and better official performance figures they could have fitted the correct rear suspension & the battery under the spare wheel and not sand bagged them.

As it was the longer estate had / has different rear springs.

No car can ever be 100% perfect from the factory, in our case it's our cars being built from the scraps and spares from every other vw,seat or audi. If a car was made perfect,without any need for modification it would remove all the fun of owning a car. As of now I don't see the need to do much more than the mildest of mods, in my experience with fabias they're simple and engineered well enough to take a serious amount of abuse.