Hi all, I'm new to briskoda and to owning a skoda so bear with me for a few months lol,

I currently have a MK1 skoda octavia vrs '03, I was wondering what people would recommend to do to improve cornering performance, i.e. turn in, overall grip, etc. I have seen many people talk about fitting rear ARBs and was going to do that nevertheless, I was moreso concerned about if lowering the car on springs or coilovers would actually help accentuate the car in corners, or if it would just be beneficial only for aesthetics. If anyone has fine tuned their octy vrs' handling please do reply as I want to make my one a road legal track car but also keep it as a daily runner.

PS: my car is currently stock besides a blow off valve, remap and have a WRC spoiler on the way.

What type of blow off valve have you fitted?

In terms of cornering etc, coilovers might help a smidge but Jesus don’t buy cheap ones and be very Very careful about exactly what ones you get. The RARB, upgraded front arb and a front strut brace if not already on it are also good to stiffen the whole chassis up.

7 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

What type of blow off valve have you fitted?

In terms of cornering etc, coilovers might help a smidge but Jesus don’t buy cheap ones and be very Very careful about exactly what ones you get. The RARB, upgraded front arb and a front strut brace if not already on it are also good to stiffen the whole chassis up.

I'm not entirely sure what the model of the BOV is, all I know is that it's a forge one that makes the tttttshhh... pmsl.

Would you have any recommendations for coilovers? I don't have an all extensive budget but would like to make the car handle like a dime. This is my second car and haven't had experience in modifying yet as my first car was a '01 yaris I just wanted to shift on until my insurance had dropped, so I'm not entirely sure what modifications do what.

Wow MkI Octy. There's so much stuff about them on here about modding them. Peter Drury, Bowders, Delcac, Beryl's Chief Test Pilot, Monkhai......

20 minutes ago, willwyt said:

I'm not entirely sure what the model of the BOV is, all I know is that it's a forge one that makes the tttttshhh... pmsl.

Would you have any recommendations for coilovers? I don't have an all extensive budget but would like to make the car handle like a dime. This is my second car and haven't had experience in modifying yet as my first car was a '01 yaris I just wanted to shift on until my insurance had dropped, so I'm not entirely sure what modifications do what.

For extra clarification, I've bought the car 1.7k miles or so ago, the BOV was already fitted before I bought it

8 hours ago, willwyt said:

For extra clarification, I've bought the car 1.7k miles or so ago, the BOV was already fitted before I bought it

That would be the first thing I’d remove… Got a picture? These engines do not like blow off valves as they are not designs for them. You need a diverter valve. You can still get the ptshhh sound if you wish with a open cone filter or a cold air induction setup.

I replaced all the suspension bushes plus shocks and springs on my old MK2 and it made a huge difference. The bushes didnt look bad but the new ones stiffened everything up and made the car much more positive. Shocks werent leaking but were really poor once removed. I also went for xload tyres as I tend to carry a bit of weight which were a great improvement on the comfort style tyres that were fitted due to the stronger side walls. Not as smooth a ride but as said much more positive.

Alasdair

On 26/11/2025 at 23:52, willwyt said:

I'm not entirely sure what the model of the BOV is, all I know is that it's a forge one that makes the tttttshhh... pmsl.

Would you have any recommendations for coilovers? I don't have an all extensive budget but would like to make the car handle like a dime. This is my second car and haven't had experience in modifying yet as my first car was a '01 yaris I just wanted to shift on until my insurance had dropped, so I'm not entirely sure what modifications do what.

Hi.

If you need any help with insurance at all for modifications then please feel free to drop me a line. Regards.

Regards,

Dan.