[Santoshbhat]

Got the car a 3M 'powershine' treatment along with CF wraps for the B pillar. I also got Smart Wax detailing done at the Pete's detailing shop, Head Over Wheels about a month back when the car was there for the performance upgrades.

The blackened B pillar looks quite good on the silver car IMO.

Attaching a few pics clicked just after the wash and wax at 3M.

[Santoshbhat]

40,000 Kms up. Third service update

The car came back from its third service this week. Last service was done around the 29,000 km mark. Though the service interval is 15,000 kms, from now on I have decided to get it serviced every 10,000 kms given the car is running on a remap. Also what prompted me to go for an early service was the fact that the jerky acceleration between 2k and 3k rpm was increasing. I had first experienced this close to the end of my last highway drive . The jerks were becoming more prominent. I was a little apprehensive as this had cropped up after just about 1,000 kms post the remap. Considering the complex nature of the engine I was quite concerned.

The service was again done at Vinayak Skoda, Okalipuram centre. I just had this one issue to report. I did some searches on Briskoda and the possible culprits were dirty/faulty - MAF sensor, spark plugs, or a choked fuel filter. Such symptoms can also mean the starting signs of the fuel pump going bust. I asked the service advisor to check these areas. He later called me and said that the spark plugs were dirty and were causing the engine to misfire which resulted in the jerks. He gave me the option to either clean them or go for new spark plugs. According to him we could clean the spark plugs and stretch them for another 5,000 kms or so. I decided to change them since I travel out of town very often and could not risk getting an engine check light in the middle of nowhere.

The foll. were replaced during service
1) Set of four spark plugs = Rs. 3,000
2) Oil filter = Rs. 480
3) Fuel filter = Rs. 1,200
4) AC filter = Rs. 522
5) 4.6 Litres of Castrol Magnatec Professional synthetic oil. = Rs. 4,323

Total bill came to about Rs. 14,000, which included Rs. 3,000 for labour, VAS scanning, brakes cleaning, battery testing etc....

On an average each service has costed me about Rs. 12,000. A bit on the expensive side when compared to Japanese cars like Toyota and Honda.

Contrary to Skoda's reputation, the service experience so far has been exemplary for me. I have got appointments easily each time and have never had to wait all. The service advisors have been very friendly and have taken good care of me and my car. Of course the car has not had any major issues till date. The jerking issue that I reported this time was the first time I have had something to report and its been attended to satisfactorily.

Post service the jerks have completely gone and the car accelerates just as smoothly as before and the grin on my face is back. .

40,000 kms in just a little over two years is quite a lot of running for a petrol car. But not once have I felt any sense of regret choosing the TSI over the TDI. The car combines practicality and fun like no other.

[Santoshbhat]

43,000kms update (4,000 kms post remap) + New rims and tyres!

Its been two months and nearly 4,000 kms since I did the Stage 1 upgrades on my car. The Bilstein B6s and the remap have truly transformed the car's capabilities. With the B6's it feels like the car has literally shed weight. Its great fun to chuck the car around corners. The car feels light and agile and ever ready to change direction. The already good high speed stability is further improved and you really feel the differene which changing lanes etc... on open roads. Between the remap and the B6' if I had to pick just one, it would be the B6's for sure.

The remap also is great and after 4,000kms I am happy its reliable too. Just after the remap I had some jerking issues between 2k and 3k RPM under hard acceleration. During service they said that the spark plugs were dirty and could be causing the jerks. After replacing the spark plugs the jerks have almost completely gone. I say almost coz there still is a slight hint of a jerk sometimes (not always) when I floor the pedal in that rpm zone. I put it down to the 91 octane petrol. I tried Speed 97 during one of my highway drives and there was absolutely no jerks with 97. I did not feel any major power difference though with 97 compared to the regular 91 octane petrol. Even the FE remained the same. If anything the engine feels just a wee bit smoother with 97. Not reason enough to pay huge difference in price IMO.

Post the remap I can say that in city driveability and mid range improvement is significant. Not so much the top end. The top end is slightly better and post 5,500 rpm you can tell that its running out of steam. Highway cruisability though, is vastly improved. The quiet nature of the engine and rock solid B6's mean that its quite easy to velocitize after driving on the highway. You need to look at the speedo to believe that you are doing 80 or 90 kph, which literally feels like 40 or 50 kph.

New Michelin PS3s + Borbet Lv5 Alloys
I did the upgrades at 39k kms, when my tyres looked in good condition and I expected them to last till 45k kms at least. Shibin of Head Over Wheels, Bangalore an associate of Pete's Cochin was very keen that I also go for 17" wheels during the tyre change. But I was worried I'd lose the practicality and go anywhere ability of the car and would end up worrying about the rims and tyres while going over every pothole. The ride was already stiffer with the B6's and 45 profile tyres over 17s would make it even harder. But I had started looking at alloy wheel designs by Borbet and really liked the grey matt finished design called LV5.

I started working on the tyre and rim upgrade project. Tyres and wheels are important safety aspects of any car, more so on fast cars. I wanted to be thorough with specs and numbers.

Now the stock specs on my car were as below
Rim : 16" x 6.5J (16" OD and 6 1/2" wide)
Offset : 50mm
PCD : 112
5 bolt.

I was keen on going for 225/50/16 Michelin PS3 as the size was perfect in terms of maintaining the outer diameter of the wheel and also the PS3's were good performance tyres as well. But I was not happy with putting such wide tyres on 6.5 inch wide rims. THe rubber would stick out too much and I don't know what impact it would have on the handling. This was one of the reasons for going for the Borbets apart from the fact that I really liked the design.

112 pcd is common with all VAG cars and Mercs so it was not much of an issue. The 16 inch LV5s came in 7 inch width, which was ideally suited for 225 tyres (though 7.5 would have been even better) There were a variety of options with the offset. We can choose from ET 50 to ET 35. The wheel offset determines how far in or out the wheel will seat in relation to the hub. With ET 50 the wheel will sit inside, whereas with ET 35 the same wheel will sit about 15mm outside when compared to ET 50. YOu get the same effect that a 15mm spacer will give, by changing a 50 offset rim to a 35 offset. I decided to go for 45 offset as it would space out the wheel a little and also give the inner tyre a bit of clearance with the suspension components. Going too far out puts extra load on the suspension and wheel bearings and the looks also can for a toss.

So here are the specs that I gave to the Pete's guys to order for me.
Borbet LV5
16" x 7J
112 PCD 5 bolt
ET 45

The rims had to be ordered and I was told it will take a full 45 days to get the same after placing order and making full payment. During this period I was given regular updates regarding the status of my order and sure enough after about 45 days I got the call that the rims had arrived.

My 16" Primacy LCs were going strong and even at 43 kms they looked like they could easliy take another 5k kms of running. Really good tyres these. No tyres have last more than 35k kms in any of my cars and these look good at 43k on the fastest car I've owned. The 225 PS3's were not easy to source and I managed to get what were the last 4 tyres in the whole of Bangalore. These are 2011 manufactured. I would have preferred 2013 or atleast 2012, but I figured with my kind of running I'll use up the tyres in the next three years.

Then came the issue of hub diameter. Skoda wheel hub dia is 57.2mm and the borbet alloy hub bore is 72.5mm. THe OE alloys had a bore of 57.2mm and obviously a perfict fit. Aftermarket rims' hub bore is generally kept as high as possible so that it fits as many cars as possible. With a bigger hub the Borbet alloys would fit on my car no doubt but the rim would then have be centered by the lug nuts. It would be lug centric and not hub centric. If the tyre fitment guys are a little careless its easy for the wheel to sit a little off centre and this can cause vibration issues. That's where hub centric rings come to the rescue. Pete's keep in stock the perfect rings that have an outer dia of 72.5mm (borbet size) and inner dia of 57.2 (skoda size). Put the rings into the borbet hub and voila the wheel fits as perfectly as the Skoda OE alloy.

This is what I like about the Pete's guys. My point of contact throughout has been Shibin of Head Over Wheels. They are very thorough, dedicated and not one to cut corners. Though I had done meticulous research on the alloys, the hub rings had skipped my attention and it was Shibin who gave me all this gyan. Any other alloy wheel dealer would have sold you the alloys and thats it. Not with Pete's. Shibin specifically asked me if the hub centric rings came in the package. When I told him they weren't there, he got it couriered from Cochin and delivered it to me the next day.

Phew that was a long post. Time for some pictures.

The new alloy hub



The hub centric ring. Made of hard plastic.



Tap it into the alloy hub with a small hammer. The hub bore is now same as Skoda OE alloy.



OE Alloys and tyres will now be stored in the garage.




Tread depth of worst looking Primacy LC after 43k kms of running



Pictures of the car with the new rims and tyres.

[deetjohn]

Amazing additions Santosh. The new Borbets look awesome.

And I like the fact that you keep an eye out for the minute details while doing the modifications. Astonishing to see Primacy LC at 43k with that much tread left. Aren't these tyres notorious for the low mileage? Points to the good upkeep that your Laura enjoys.

I just put in a set of Michelins on the Swift. Availability is a problem here. Had to wait 2 months to get 2013 tyres.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Amazing additions Santosh. The new Borbets look awesome.

And I like the fact that you keep an eye out for the minute details while doing the modifications. Astonishing to see Primacy LC at 43k with that much tread left. Aren't these tyres notorious for the low mileage? Points to the good upkeep that your Laura enjoys.

I just put in a set of Michelins on the Swift. Availability is a problem here. Had to wait 2 months to get 2013 tyres.

Thanks Deepak.

The best part about the Primacy LCs was the fact that there was no change in the behaviour of the tyres as they aged. The was hardly any deterioration in the 'silent ride' and grip properties of the tyre. I put the long life of the tyres down to my usage pattern : 80% highway and 20% city. Out of the highway part, most of it was on four lane GQ. Not to mention balancing, alignment and rotation every 7,500 kms.

I would not have changed so early and would have waited for another 4 ~ 5,000 kms atleast before discarding them. But the Borbets had arrived and I could not resist. Besides, those 16 inch Borbets are gigantic and not easy to store at home and I started getting abuses from family members.

[Visran]

That's one sweet ride you got their santosh, Those alloy's has transformed your car to a different level,could please share the cost of those Alloy's if you don't mind

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Visran

That's one sweet ride you got their santosh, Those alloy's has transformed your car to a different level,could please share the cost of those Alloy's if you don't mind

Thanks Visran. Those alloys cost me about Rs. 15k a piece, about the same as the price of an OE Skoda alloy.

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

43,000kms update (4,000 kms post remap) + New rims and tyres!

The alloys are nice. Congratulations.

If it weren't for the ridiculous roads of Bangalore and around you should have lowered the car. Lowering the car by 30 mm on H&R springs would really take the looks of your car with the LV5s to a whole new level

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

The alloys are nice. Congratulations.

If it weren't for the ridiculous roads of Bangalore and around you should have lowered the car. Lowering the car by 30 mm on H&R springs would really take the looks of your car with the LV5s to a whole new level

Roads have deteriorated pretty bad, haven't they? Lowering the car is out of question for me, Azeem. The car will be simply unusable considering my usage pattern.

Next up I am thinking of going for stage 2 with SS downpipe and resonated exhaust, vitamin M permitting. I also wanted to add the VRS bumper and spoiler, but it looks like that'll have to wait. How I wish the VRS was available when I bought my car. I can't believe the amount of money I've ended up spending on these upgrades. I try not to add up all these sums as that figure can be very disturbing.

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Next up I am thinking of going for stage 2 with SS downpipe and resonated exhaust

Now that's a fantastic choice I'm running that setup and the performance is simply mind blowing. At idle the exhaust is quieter than stock, but manage to get a supercarish sound when you go pedal to metal.

Lowering the car is out of bounds for me too unfortunately. I just can't do it, but I'm thinking of getting B6s soon.

Cosmetically some of the changes included in the vRS is great, like the bumpers, steering wheel, black interiors, adaptive xenons, seats. But retro fitting it is ridiculously expensive.

[TheTeacher]

I missed that exhilarating ride you guys had last Sunday, Azeem! I came to 3M a tad too late :(

Siddhu showed me a picture, though...

[adi_petrolhead]

Santosh ji, have you got the Spark Plug changed in the Laura yet? If so, what is the interval 30K Kms or 40K Kms?

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

Santosh ji, have you got the Spark Plug changed in the Laura yet? If so, what is the interval 30K Kms or 40K Kms?

I got the spark plugs changed during 40k service. I was getting some mild jerks just before service and I had specifically asked them to check the spark plugs. The service centre guys told me that the spark plugs were dirty. They gave me the option of cleaning and fitting the same plugs back. They said that it would run another 5 ~ 7k kms after that without any trouble. I opted to change them. Costed me about 3k (set of 4 spark plugs) + labour Rs. 400/- . I don't know what is the prescribed interval for changing them though.

[adi_petrolhead]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

I got the spark plugs changed during 40k service. I was getting some mild jerks just before service and I had specifically asked them to check the spark plugs. The service centre guys told me that the spark plugs were dirty. They gave me the option of cleaning and fitting the same plugs back. They said that it would run another 5 ~ 7k kms after that without any trouble. I opted to change them. Costed me about 3k (set of 4 spark plugs) + labour Rs. 400/- . I don't know what is the prescribed interval for changing them though.

Thanks for the information. I am going for the Octavia 1.8 TSI, hence the question. On Skoda's website, they have a service cost calculator, i checked the same for an Ambition Laura 1.8 TSI AT and Superb 1.8 TSI AT. Both of them returned almost identical results, as they share the engine, so I figured this would be my average maintenance cost which is pretty cheap compared to the diesel counterparts. These service calculators had an interval of 30000 kms for a spark plug change, and I would get a K&N filter too so that would further reduce the cost of spares in a regular service.

[streetracer_919]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

Thanks for the information. I am going for the Octavia 1.8 TSI, hence the question. On Skoda's website, they have a service cost calculator, i checked the same for an Ambition Laura 1.8 TSI AT and Superb 1.8 TSI AT. Both of them returned almost identical results, as they share the engine, so I figured this would be my average maintenance cost which is pretty cheap compared to the diesel counterparts. These service calculators had an interval of 30000 kms for a spark plug change, and I would get a K&N filter too so that would further reduce the cost of spares in a regular service.

Getting a K&N filter won't reduce your service cost much. Because a new stock filter will cost 1000 Rs ( I assume) . If you are using a K&N , it's true that you won't need to change. But you will have to clean the filter every 10000kms. So a cleaning solution Wil cost around 850- 1000 Rs. Which can be used many times. But still I believe spare parts of Laura will be expensive that octavia.