Fabia vRS Bulb Installation

After ordering the bulbs from Autobulbs Direct earlier in the week we got round to fitting them this weekend. We had purchased Osram Night Breaker +90% 12v 55w bulbs along with 581 Silver Indicators bulbs to get rid of those horrible orange indicators and then because they look great at night LED Side lights (501 Super Bright White).

The rear bulbs were really easy to fit, simply removing the covers off the housing in the boot and the original bulbs were easy to replace. The front ones however were a bit more tricky. On the left hand side there was a real lack of space to get a grip on the wires to pull the current side light bulbs out, and the only way to rectify this was with the use of a pair of pliers and some serious pulling. Luckily the right side wasnt so hard but still difficult to get to if you have large hands! The difference though was well worth it and the car looks much better without orange indicators, and even in daylight you can see the visible difference that the new 501 LED bulbs make.

Fabia vRS Side Strips Removal, Deep Paint Cleanse & Wax

Decided today to remove the awful black rubbing strips that Skoda saw fit to put on the vRS. Armed with a bucket of hot water we set about pouring this over the strips to loosen the glue behind the rubbing strips. After some persuasion from a store account card the strips were prised away from the car coming off fairly easily. The majority of the glue came off but some residue was left behind. I found the best thing for removing this was white spirit so after some intense rubbing the majority of the sticky had come away.

Next it was time to tackle the paint work. The car blatantly hadn't been touched in any way for at least 4 years apart from with a bucket and sponge. So it was time to dig out the clay bar and get to work with a wash of the car to remove surface dirt, a post rinse of the car to remove suds and then using the detailing spray keep the paintwork moist whilst we worked in the claybar. The car needed some serious TLC as there as a lot of tar, tree sap and swirling under the surface. It took about 2 hours to do the entire car.

Next step was to use Meguiars ScratchX on the paintwork. This isnt something I would use all the time but for extreme detailing once or twice a year it is worth using this sparingly all over the car to remove more stubborn oxidants and swirls. This was followed by Serious Performance Paint Cleanser. This paint cleanser restores depth and colour, and utilises optical brighteners to further enhance the clarity and shine from your paint, prior to sealing with Serious Performance Polymer Super Sealant. After buffing this off it was time for a coat of Serious Performance Polymer Super Sealant this gives the ultimate in gloss and protection. Polymer Super Sealant uses the latest Nano Polymer technology available to create a smoother, richer shine while also giving an incredibly strong bond to the paintwork. The best thing about this product is it can be applied in several layers and for maximum effect left over night and buffed off the following morning for the ultimate wet look finish.

I am waiting on the arrival of my show wax for the season which is Finish Kare 2865 Carnauba Polymer 'Pink' Wax. So for today it was down to Halfords and a quick purchase of Meguiars NXT Paste Wax. Used in conjunction with a sealant the ESP (Engineered Synthetic Polymers) technology creates a tougher polymer bond to your paint so it can provide extreme protection. Initial thoughts on this wax are that it produces a nice gloss finish but nowhere deep enough for my liking after one application, its quick to apply though and a great one to use as a detailing bag staple for when its a quick wash n' wax. The car now feels like silk to touch, I can't wait to use the deep carnauba wax above in March to give it a proper slick finish.

Fabia vRS - s2000 aerial upgrade

First thing that needed changing on the vRS was the hideous remote control car aerial that it comes with. From previous cars (the 1.8T Beetle and the MKV Golf) I knew that the S2000 stubby aerial was a good fit with no loss of reception. The Skoda Fabia vRS aerial was tough to get off and required a good pull to remove it finally from its housing, installation of the new S2000 style aerial was simple and a vast improvement. On checking the stereo all FM/AM and MW stations were still picked up with good clarity.

vRS Number Plate Surrounds

Since buying "Greedy" I've been trying to find some Skoda Auto number plate surrounds to hold my pressed plates. An enquiry through dubmeister pointed me to their sister website platemyride. Investigation revealed that they stock the official dealer Skoda Auto number plate holders and £20 later I had purchased one for the front and one for the rear.

I shall be putting the private plate back on the car shortly and adding these new additions to "Greedy" hopefully in time for his showing at Ultimate Dubs. I think they look great and will be a big improvement over the horrible drilled plates. I shall have to remember this time to use the stronger velcro sticky pads as the usual kind never seem to stick well enough!

Fabia vRS Headlight, Sidelight and Indicator Bulb Upgrades

Managed to get round to ordering the replacement bulbs for Greedy this week. Since we got into the VW scene this is generally one of the first mods we do as its fairly easy and gets rid of those unsightly orange bulbs. We purchased the following; H7 main beam bulbs, we chose the Osram Night Breaker +90% 12v 55w bulbs along with 581 Silver Indicators bulbs to get rid of those horrible orange indicator blobbies and then because they look great at night LED Side lights (501 Super Bright White). The plan is to fit these onto the vRS the weekend and hopefully take some "how to" guides that can be posted on briskskoda.net.

Debadged Skoda Fabia vRS

Following on from the cleaning session it seemed a good opportunity to debadge the rear of Greedy so as to just leave the vRS emblem.

Tools that I used for this were my hairdryer, white spirit and an old New Look account card (I knew it would be useful some day). After heating up the chrome letters with the hairdryer they were prised off very easily from the car using the New Look account card. There was some sticky residue left behind so a bit of vigorous rubbing with the white spirit and a cleaning cloth was required to remove this.

There was some shading on the paintwork where the letters had been and a small scratch which will need a bit of attention with a touch up pen over the weekend, as someone had obviously tried to do this before and given up. Not to be deterred the paint cleanser was bought out again to tackle the marks and then buffed up with polish and sealed with the wax as used in the cleaning post. End result is a big improvement and next on the list is the side strips - roll on the weekend.

Skoda Fabia vRS Detailing Tips

With a dry day on the horizon (the only one for about 6 weeks now!), it seemed a good opportunity to use the last of the detailing products from Serious Performance and to give Greedy a good wash. First off using the traditional two bucket method with Serious Performance Ultra Gloss shampoo to remove dirt, road grime and contaminants. Next dry off the car using thick plushy microfibre towels. These are great for getting in all the nooks and crannies on the vRS and with the covered edges reduce the risk of paint scratching. When dry all windows were cleaned with Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner - I have been using this for about 4 years solid now and rate it as one of the best streak free window cleaners around.

I didn't have time to do the whole car today so focussed on two areas. The bonnet and the rear as this is where all the crud seems to collect on the hatchbacks. I use the Meguiars 3 Step Crystal System and applied a nice thin layer of Step 1 Deep Crystal Paint Cleanser to the bonnet to remove tar residue, tree sap and deeper road grime than could be removed from a hand wash. After allowing to haze dry this is buffed off with another plush microfibre towel and Step 2 - Deep Crystal Paint Polish is applied. Apply a panel at a time and remove before fully dry. This product is not a wax and doesn’t cut – it is a pure polish that conditions and nourishes the paint and is the secret to creating an awesome, deep, wet-look shine.

I finished the look off not with the final product from Meguiars but with the last bit of my Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax - as you can hopefully see from the pictures this end product is that it make the car look darker and richer and gives surface a real deep we look shine. I didn't have time to do the wheels properly today but the interior was given a good hover and polish and using some interior fabric cleaner I successfully sponged out some tiny stains on the light grey vRS sport seats. It was then time to stand back and have a nice cuppa tea!

Skoda Fabia vRS V-Maxx Coilovers Ordered

After doing a fair amount of research we've finally got round to making a decision and ordering a set this weekend. Initially we started looking at the FK suspension range but after speaking to various people the overall view of these is that although one of the fastest/largest selling coilover sets on offer the ride on them is positively jaw breaking which is not what we wanted long term for us or Greedy.

We looked into Eibachs but they have since discontinued the coilover set up that most people were recommending. Next on the list were Weitecs but on investigation these turned out to be FK coilovers in a more expensive box and there were a few people on the forums who had ended up with issues with their Weitecs on the rear of the vRS arches.

So the search moved across the pond - what are the Europeans and the Yanks running that they rate so highly. The answer was V-MAXX coilovers. V-Maxx has long been supplying ultra high performance suspensions to many European tuning firms under the tuner brand names.

Some highlights of the V-Maxx Coilover suspension kit are :

• Fully adjustable ride height.


• Full 2-year manufacturers warranty back by V-Maxx and Stratmosphere solid support.
  TUV tested and approved products.


• Kits that are balanced between sports car requirements and daily driver needs.


• Custom struts matched to springs and ready for full height ranges.


• Sway bar extension kits available for those lowering over 40mm.

With an already solid reputation in place for Audi and VW they have begun to branch out into other marques and now offer a set up for the vRS. These kits have been offered by AMD and Big Boys Toys previously and more and more online retailers are now stocking them.

A quick conversation with Midland VW confirmed that the reason for the reasonable price on these is that they produce so many sets that the cost can be kept low - the quality and ride is as good as some H&R set ups and from speaking to various people on US and UK forums who run these on MK4 Golfs, Lupo GTI's and Polo GTI's not many have a bad word to say about them.

The set up is now on order with the additional bolts to drop the car below 40mm and it will all be fitted ready for Ultimate Dubs in March.

The First Mod - New Deep Dish Wheels!

The first modification for project Greedy has been purchased and delivered! Our first show of the year is going to be Ultimate Dubs in Telford on the 9th March 2008. So with this in mind we wanted the first few modifications to really change the look of the VRS.

We were fortunate to spot a set of alloy wheels that were on offer from Rochford Tyres. We wanted to go for the deep dish look and spotted these 17" TSW Big Deep on Toyo rubber. I'll post some photo's of them once we get them on the VRS which will be closer to Ultimate Dubs.

We've also got a S2000 stubby aerial to put on the fabia I'm just waiting on some good weather so I can get out and fit it! Also if I can get a good day I'll be stripping the rubbing strips off the sides as well as removing the Fabia badge from the rear. Coilovers are the next addition before Ultimate Dubs to ensure that the wheels are carried off to maximum effect.

Meet Project Greedy - Fabia vRS

Well after searching for a couple of weeks and nagging my other half to death about various vRS's on Autotrader and Briskoda.net we stumbled across a yellow vRS at a dealership in Chesterfield. The biggest thing in our favour was we were looking to buy just 2 weeks before Christmas so we knew there was a bargain to be made if we could just haggle with the dealer. After knocking him down several hundred pounds we drove to Chesterfield one very wet and dull morning to pick him up. The dealership had given him a clean and he was sparkling ready to go - so after handing over my Switch card for the biggest payment ever made I was handed the keys and Greedy and I as he has now become known set off to home.