Ive had my Octavia now for a few months and the only negative (apart from poor MW/LW reception) has been a lack of grip from the front tyres. I can spin the front tyres and set the ASR "banging away" without really trying. The car is an 08 plate 1.8 TSi Ambiente (160 BHP) and has covered 9K miles. The tyres currently fitted are Dunlop SP Sport 01 (205/60/15 91V) and are evenly worn with >5 mm tread remaining. My last 2 Octavia's (Mk1 vRS's) had Continental sportcontact 2's fitted (205/50/17) and seemed much grippier than these Dunlops.
I have 2 thoughts in mind:
a new set of tyres (I would appreciate any suggestions as to which brand to improve grip).
Alternatively would a larger set of wheels/tyres from another Octavia offer more grip? I'm thinking along the lines of 17's from a Mk II vRS of even 16's from an Elegance. I appreciate this will have implications for insurance etc.
I have been very impressed with the new 1.8 TSi engine. It pulls from 2K revs and really flies between 4.5K-6K revs. I've averaged 30 mpg in mostly urban use, but have seen over 40 mpg cruising on the motorway.
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Vedestin Sportrac but you'll most likely have to go to an independant tyre place. The upside of that is that they will be cheaper and usually interested in the job that they do
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Cannnot comment on the tyres as I only had a 1.9tdi Ambiente but the radio is caused by faulty radio data cable from the aerial to the unit on the dash.
My Octavia suffered the same problem and my dealer changed the cable and hey presto decent AM/LW reception.
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Many thanks for the tyre suggestion - I will look into the Vredestein option.
As far as the radio goes I will ask the dealer to take a look when the car is in for its first service in a few weeks.
Regards.
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Just ordered 4 x 195/65/ r15 V Vredestein Quatrac3 tyres from my local independant at £55 each supplied, balanced fitted etc. Pretty good price easily comparible with online tyre places.
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