skoda_kid

Hi all, wow, what a great forum. Just come across this and it seems as though you guys are all genuine and helpful to anyone you can. Think i will stick around here for a while!

Bit about me, or rather my car. I am 16 (17 in June) and really looking forward to driving. Ive saved up just over a thousand pounds so far, to pay for provisional, lessons, tests, and tax and insurance for a year. Hopefully i will have another £600 at least by the time i reach my birthday.

Now the really lucky thing for me is..I dont have to buy a car! My Grandma and Grandad have given me their X-reg Skoda Felicia. It only has 7400 miles on the clock!! Perfect condition, alloy wheels. But it has no power steering or central locking but apart from that its a great first car.

Now, i know its a skoda, ive heard all the jokes, and everyone ive seen has been driven by a 80+ year old, But, its my first car, and in top nick.

Im not going to rice it up, but i would like a bit more power out of it, maybe replacing the air filter and other cheap mods.

Has anyone else got a felicia??HAve u tried getting a bit more power out of it??How did you get on??

Look forward to your replies

Skoda_kid

Daft Lad

Can't give you any info on skodas but welcome to scoobynet anyway mate

Brendan Hughes

Good luck mate. What are the brakes like? Because if they're not perfect, you'd be better putting your money there before putting it into the powertrain.

skoda_kid

Well, being 16 i shouldnt have driven the car yet.....but opbviously i have. Ive been down at asda car park at 11 every night since i had it!! Brakes are great, like i said it only has just over 7K on the clock, so everything is perfect, good as knew.

RS Grant

Welcome to Scoobynet mate.

Its not a common choice of first car, however, IMO its probably better than a Nova, Fiesta etc.

Am I right in thinking that being a late Skoda Felicia it will share common parts with VW's the same as Fabia/Octavia's do??

If so then possibly uprate parts using VW parts, i.e - some Polo/Golf 16v Brakes instead of the Skoda standard parts.

Get a universal panel filter, as I doubt people make one for a Felicia mate.

Try asking around on www.briskoda.net as I'm sure they will have more knowledge about tuning/maintaining the less popular Skodas like the Felicia.


Cheers,
Grant

skoda_kid

It wasnt my first choice of car either Grant, i had my mind set on a mk4 escort, or maybe an old golf, but im happy with the skoda for now. Insurance is pretty cheap, parts are cheap and it returns 40+mpg.

If it does share parts with a VW, getting a few more ponies out of it shouldnt be too difficult. I know im not going to get more than 100bhp out of it_currently has 75bhp) by spending under £100, but maybe 10-15bhp will make it a bit more lively.

I know it isnt cool, but who cares, i didnt pay anything for it!

It would just be nice to have no probs burnin the Nova and Fiesta boys off the lights

Cheers guys, keep comments coming

Mosquito

My faith in the youth of today has been slightly restored today!

Only a relative newbie myself but welcome!!

skoda_kid

Cheers Mosquito!!

You have noticed i am not a ricer. Them guys bug me so much!! Driving around in their 1 Liter nova's, corsa's and punto's that have 3 tonnes of body kit on them

It would be nice to be sat at the lights in the humble skoda, have a ricer pull up besides me, and when the lights go green, leave him in my mirror

But is this possible???????

Silvafox

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to Scoobynet mate. Sounds like a good first car to me! Don't know anything about Skoda tuning I'm afraid, but I'd rather have that as a first car than a nova or something similar! My first car was an old W reg Mark 2 Escort! Bonus if you've been given it too!

Mosquito

Anything's possible if you throw eneough dosh at it!

Try having a look here to see if they've got anything for your particular model that's affordable!

www.starperformance.co.uk/skoda.htm

Hope this helps!

Mosquito

OK sorry - now i've checked the link (should have done first!!) it's only the 1.8T units that they tune.

Google it - i'm sure that somebody out there does something!!

But be careful with your insurance and modding cars. Even an induction kit can seriously raise your premium - especially for a younger driver. I fyou don't tell them and you have an 'incident' you will not be insured and could end up in big schtuck!

skoda_kid

Had a look at that site Mosquito, quite a bit of tuning for the fabia and octavia, i will give them a ring and see what they can do to the felicia.

I really dont want to spend more than £300-£500 quid on it though - remember we are talking about a skoda, and my first car at that!

If i traded it in in a years time for something better and more 'Youthish' (u know what a mean - not novas and escorts, but maybe Golfs or Leons) Yet it had less power than the modded skoda, i would cry!!

Thanks guys, i really appreciate the help, keep it coming!

skoda_kid

just found my first purchase;

http://www.speedsafe.co.uk/product.php?pg=brands&id=34

think this is a must have these days, what with all the cameras popping up everywhere. 3 points on my license would kill my insurance for a start.

I think this is more essential than tuning the engine and suspension.

Anyone got one of these, how do u find it?
Or have you got any other make and model that u reccomend?

RS Grant

I think a Classic Road Angel for £299 is a wee bit expensive mate, I'm sure there are better deals to be had out there.

I'm not too sure where to look, however, I'm sure there will be people on here that will help you.


Cheers,
Grant

skoda_kid

Yes mate, of course i will shop around to get a better deal, it was just the piccy i wanted to show u all really.

The reason i am pursuing this one is because Evo magazine have rated it as their best buy, and i am a subscriber.

A nice feature is it shows your cars real speed - apparently most speedos show a false speed.... ....That'll be why my skoda tells me im driving at 180mph ....in my dreams

LG John

If I was you I'd do NOTHING to the car at all. Use it as an a-b machine, buy cheap tyres for it, drive it economically and save, save, save, save. When you are 21 you'll have 4 years no-claims (hopefully ) and at 21 with 4y NCD your insurance will come down dramatically and if you've been saving then you'll have money in the bank to get something really nice (scooby, hot-hatch, etc). Treat this car for what it is, a cheap first rung on the ladder.

I often laugh at the idiots that get a 1.1 106 xn and spend £20k on engine mods to make it GTI fast and engine and ice mods. Why not spend half that 20k on an EVO5 and the other half on the insurance

skoda_kid

Ta bud, you are more or less on the same wave length as me. I would not spend more than £500 on it. If you have ever drove a Felica though you will know it is like driving a tractor. I just want a bit more power out of the engine, maybe another 15bhp. I am not going to do anything to the exterior or interior of the car, waste of time and money for what it is. It couldnt look nice if it tried!

Let me use this reply to tell you about an offer that came up when i first got the car. My best mate is 24 and owns a red R-reg BMW 1.6 Compact, old shape. He has put a nice exhaust on it and an air filter, but apart from that it is standard. He is looking at trading it in for a Porsche 944 - classic car insurance, you see. He said however that he would swap his car with mine(being my best mate) and trade in the skoda (because of its mileage and condition, he would only be losing £800 by trading the skoda in and not the Beemer). Only thing is insurance, it will be about £500 more a year for me, but the car looks, drives and goes a lot better than mine. What do you think guys?

Cheers

taffyboyo

its gotta have to be the bmw, you could use the £500 you were going to spend on skoda on your insurance, a lot better car by far, and you will be the envy of all your mates, and the girls will love you

skoda_kid

taffyboyo- my thoughts exactly my friend. If you knew how many girls we have looking at us when we go 'kroozing' in the Beemer, loads!!

The BMW is only a 1.6 aswell, but, a BMW 1.6 is more like a 1.8 in a normal car, but of course insurance companies cant charge me for a 1.8

Also, RWD!!

Makes a nice sound with the Magnex exhaust.

What more could i ask for?

Whats your choice of pimpmobile taffyboyo??

BrettC

Hi Skoda Kid.
Welcome to SN.

I have to agree with Saxo Boy about not doing anything to your skoda (IMHO much better than novas and such like for your first car) like he says treat it like an A - B machine. As tempting as it is to put some aftermarket mods on the car for a bit more performance, I really wouldn't bother as you will never make it a fast car (this isn't meant to belittle the car though mate) yet your increase in insurance premium would really indicate that it was if you know what I mean.

I don't want to sound like an old duffer mate but be really careful that you declare any mods that you do to your insurance.
As for the beemer. As nice a car as the beemer is mate it is still only a 1.6, so this won't be setting any land speed records either. So if you can justify the increase in insurance premium for what you are getting then go for it.

My first car I ended up with a Saab 99. (Try not to let your head fall off there! )
And I modded it too, (sides splitting yet? ) I ended up putting some konis on it and a K&N replacement panel filter. In hindsight it was a ridiculous thing to do for what it did to my insurance premium. But thats what 17 year olds do aint it?

Good luck.

taffyboyo

focus c max , its good family transporter though ,
just not as entertaining to drive as my old sti 5

skoda_kid

Certainly is!!

The beamer will go alot faster than the skoda, and its looks are in another league. The quality is better. I have driven it, off the road obviously!, and it is just so much better. £500 extra for the year seems like a bargain for the difference.

Its just if i prang it though, parts are alot more expensive!!

I need a lot of thinking time, but i havent got too long, he's hoping to swap by the end of the month

Cheers

skoda_kid

Ive got a good few years before i think about family!!

Bet the birds loved the scoob. My mates dad, in his early forties has a scooby turbo. He is fat and old and still gets looks from all the birds when he gives us lifts here and there!!

Maybe one day..............................

RS Grant

PMSL.... There are a lot of people on here that may disagree that early 40's is 'old' mate!!

I would consider the BMW to be honest mate, slightly quicker and as long as you are careful then you wont have to worry about replacement body panels/parts.........


Cheers,
Grant

skoda_kid

ooooops lol, i meant old when comparing him to the 15-20 year old birds he gets eyeing him up, honest

Iwan

Don't knock Skodas mate, i've just upgraded from an Impreza P1 to a new Fabia vRS and it's an excellent little car.

Felicia's were fairly successful in junior (1600cc) rallying as i recall, so maybe you could mention that if anyone takes the pi$$.

Good first car i reckon, deffo better than a Nova/Corsa/Saxo/Punto in my opinion.

Edit: BTW, get registered on http://www.briskoda.net as there will be a lot more people knowledgable about Skodas on there than on here.

skoda_kid

!! upgraded !!

i really like the look of the new fabia vRS, but to swap it for a P1!!

Dont know if i could of done that!!

Must say somethin about the Skoda though. Im sure u wouldnt have swapped the P1 for a new Compact 325ti. Might stick with the skoda after all!!

Who knows, if i do stick with it, skoda dealers might give me a huge discount on a vRS in a couple of years!!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Hi, welcome !

Just take it easy, dont be in too much of a hurry to go fast, get some experience and dont show off, most of the problems young lads have are down to showing off, nearly had a few that way myself.

When you first pass your test, a even a small engined car is too fast for the experience you have, might not seem it but there is a reason why they wont insure young lads on fast cars, sorry to sound like your dad or something but 90% of the enjoyment from cars at that age is just having one, the other 10% can wait. Its an honour to have one, not a right and its so easy to **** things up for yourself. Every day accident, points and aggro free counts towards your dream car, **** things up it takes longer. You seem like you have your head screwed on, good luck with your test and enjoy the many years of motoring you will have to look forward to.

And please dont get caught up in Scoobynet or any other Bulletin Board b*ll****, most of it is just that, use a pinch of salt every now and again and dont do anything rash on the road so you have a good story to reccount later on here.

skoda_kid

You certainly have your head screwed on aswell. As for sounding like my dad, with words like that, i wish you were my dad!!

Think your spot on about the honour of just having a car. im the envy of all my mates, they didnt care what car it was when i told them i was given one, they were just like 'wkd m8, u hav got a car'. That convinced me that just having a car was cool. I could use the £500 saved in insuring the beamer to go towards my dream car of the future, rather than using it to show off now.

Anyway, i use my footy skills to show off, dont need the car to do that for me aswell

Thanks guys, nice to hear wise words from wise people

Also, im surprised to of not had a comment about 'stupid young drivers' As most people seem to think we are.

LG John

Doesn't want a prang, 17, no driving experience and RWD..............I'm seeing a conflict of interests here Stick to fwd for now, seriously