mattbvRS

High mileage don't always = smoke. I find with diesels you need to drive them hard a few times a week to blow the crap out. Otherwise over time they just get so clogged up! It's probably why rep mobiles that spend their lives up and down the motorways not really seeing any sort of revs are usually very badly clogged and smoke a lot. Mine never used to smoke either and that made good power, but it was half the mileage lol. Mileage don't matter on these, most consider 'high mileage' to be like 180-200k plus also lol. Think there's a taxi round near me with 300k on the clock with a PD130 in it and it's still going! Don't sound too healthy mind but it works and pulls ok.

Get it on a dyno and check what it's putting out and how the power curve from the map is. A mapped vRS should be able to pull on a Swift Sport, but that being said the gap will probably be closer than many would like to admit due to power/weight ratios. Even with a passenger I'd imagine the swift to be a bit lighter than the vRS, they are quite lardy! Petrol hot hatches, especially N/A, have short gearing so they don't need loads of power to make quick progress. It's why cars like the EP3 Type R are so fast despite them not really being that powerful. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs but you have learnt how to drive a diesel to get the best from it? It's not like a petrol where you rev it round the clock to get the power, the bulk of the power is from when the turbo comes in at around 1800-2000rpm to around 4000rpm when it starts to die off. Reving much past 4000rpm, even on a mapped car, is pretty pointless. Your better to change a cog and drop back into the torque band and use that.

I'd personally pay a bit more for a new turbo if I was doing it, you never know what your getting with a re-manufactured one. If you do go for a re-manufactured turbo to keep the costs down, which I fully understand there is quite a difference, make sure it's from a reputable company and stay away from eBay specials.

If you want to hit the 200bhp mark and keep it reliable I'd echo what others have said. It's better to run a turbo within it's limits then push the standard one far beyond. A hybrid PD150 should do ~200bhp or the other alternative would be the GTB1756vk for a bit more head room (up to ~220bhp according to darkside). That being said a FMIC is a must when changing the turbo, the standard one suffers badly with heat soak after a few WOT runs on a hot day even as standard. The exhaust I wouldn't bother messing with unless you want the sound. To be fair just a remap on an otherwise standard car does wonders, it feels like a completely different animal to drive. So it's worth doing for what it costs to see if you think you'll then want the extra power. You can add things like a FMIC to the standard set up and then change the turbo further down the line. My money would be going on improving the handling a bit too, RARB and bushes should help firm things up nicely and reduce body roll while keeping it comfortable for a daily commuter.

The starter solenoid wire and/or alternator load signal wire (I think it is) are prone to failure on these, mine went on the starter. Was a bit of a ball ache to get to, wouldn't like to do it in the rain, but doable. I just took the battery out and battery tray to get better access to the starter, the wire is under that much tension I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. I added a new clip to the end of mine and extended the wire a bit. It was fine for a year until I sold it and still going strong as far as I'm aware.

Just came across it while having a tidy out today, thought I might as well post up and see if the owner is about on here. You never know who has a key to your car if it only came with one. I remember, going back a few years when I had my second car, a bloke came up to me on a McDonalds car park and said nice car. Then he went over to it, opened the door and started my car with a key he had! Turns out he was the previous owner and had seen me driving about, so popped the key in his glove box in case he bumped into me lol. Very random! Could easily have been a 'someone drove off with my car' story depending on the sort of person it was! Well worth dropping them a message on FB hutchysrs50, end of the day they can't be that creeped out surely. I'm trying to trace the owner of my new car about some service history, the garage it was done at keeps failing to return my calls and giving me the run about. I've already had a look for the owner for mine on FB but no joy, think I might write an old fashioned letter to the address on the V5 requesting some details.

Sold my old vRS SE just under 2 months ago and realized I still have one of the central locking remote keys! Car was part exchanged at Norths Motors in Blackburn, Lancashire. I think it's gone as the car is no longer on their website, didn't think it would take long to sell! Registration is YB07 *** and it was number 915 if I remember correctly. If the new owner is about on here feel free to drop me a PM and I'd be happy to post the key. I'd like some sort of proof of purchase though, don't want to just be posting a key to someones car out without.

Yeah, I just didn't fancy messing about with the vRS too much. I've done all that in the past with modifying cars and I know it can get very expensive to get it the way you want it and there is always something else you can buy lol.

Apologies, on 2 hours of sleep and a come down of copious amounts of caffeine haha. My bad.

Don't take much

Think you need to go to specsavers because I didn't write 1.2 anywhere, or where you being sarcastic Knew it wouldn't be to everyone's taste. I assure you the handling on the Clio Sport is far superior to my old vRS, which is exactly what I was looking for in a car. Really is not contest in that regard. I'm not a brand whore, I did buy a Skoda after all! It was a good car the vRS and I couldn't fault it in my two years of ownership but it was just a bit boring for me, even mapped - I miss my revs and noise! Hence the change lol.

Well I've ended up chopping in the vRS this weekend! Test drove quite a few different cars over the past two weeks but settled on a nice tidy Clio 197. It was the handling and steering feel that sold it for me. It's actually a bit nipper than I thought it would be too which is a bonus, though it did take a bit of adjustment coming from a derv. Not stalled it yet though haha.

Wouldn't bother with the PD160 intake, not really worth it on the standard turbo. Just go for the remap! - You won't be disappointed, they come alive with a remap. I'm still impressed with the pace mine has for what it.

I'd imagine there would be quite a lot of customization needed to get it to fit? Anything is possible but if your paying someone else to do it rather than doing it yourself I can't see it being that cheap!

I find RainX anti-fog works quite well. It won't solve the source of the problem if you do have a leak into the cabin obviously but it does make a good difference during winter.

Currently I've got a Fabia vRS SE but I'm itching for something that's a bit more fun. The way I see it I've two options. Either put a bit of money into tuning the Fabia to get it to where I want or sell it while they are still commanding decent money and get something else, maybe with change, such as a Clio 182 or Civic Type R (I've had one of these in the past and I'm leaning towards one again). I'm not sure if I want to be spending loads of money on modifying the Fabia, it's already had a remap so it's got quite a bit of poke but I just find it a bit dull to drive. It's nice, refined and brilliant to drive in it's own right it just doesn't set the world on fire for me. I don't get that feeling I used to get with the Type R or some of my previous cars where I see it outside and I just want to drive it for the sake of driving it if that makes any sense. I love the cost savings from it though, really does cost peanuts to run compared to petrol hot hatches. Which was the reason I got it in the first place but my commute is now very little during the week so I could afford to run something that is a bit thirstier. What would you do? My mind is saying keep the Fabia but my heart is saying go for a petrol hot hatch again lol.

Other than keep it well serviced and maintained there isn't much you can do. Do you do the services yourself DIY or pay someone to do them? I run some of the Forte diesel treatment through a tank every year just to help keep things clean, I don't do many miles during the week so I like to think it helps. Have you changed the gearbox oil? - some like to do this, you don't have to but it can help with notchy changes. You can also adjust the linkages, there is a guide on here somewhere. When was the fuel filter last change? - I think it's recommended to be changed every 3 years or 30-40k from the top of my head. Brake caliper service? - basically the same process as changing the pads but get a few cans of cleaner, plenty of cloths and a flat head screwdriver, clean them up as best you can and re-grease the sliding pins to prevent them seizing up, check the condition of the rubber seal on the piston also. Maybe you could have the coolant tested to see if it's still good before winter sets in (sometimes when they change the cam-belt they re-use the old coolant!). Depending on how fussy you want to be you could get a few cans of WD 40, jack the car up and clean the suspension components. This will also give you an opportunity to check things like bushes, ball joints etc for play. Could look at upgrading the console bushes and little things like that.

I know how good they are, just not sure I can justify it on the vRS, the whole reason I bought the car was to get away from petrol hot hatches and stop me spending a fortune on modifying cars lol. I ran a Corsa VXR Nurburgring for about a year and that came with a factory fitted Drexler diff. Even though it was only ~200bhp it was fantastic on twisty b-roads.

Would make sense to upgrade them seeing as you've done everything else. Most don't bother but if it was me I would. I remember changing some on an old Fiesta Zetec-S years ago, that also had a rear beam setup, and it made a difference! Once it's done get it on a proper 4 wheel alignment machine to see what everything is set and and if there are any issues.

They are good, a must on these when pushing past the 200bhp mark. The difference really is like chalk and cheese lol

Can't see your DMF and clutch holding up to that sort of abuse for long lol.

In fairness a metal impeller while it won't brake off can be another problem in itself. For example if it was to seize/jam it would likely take the cam-belt and your engine with it! That's why they are made from plastic in most cars. It's better the plastic snaps then something much stronger jamming and taking everything else out with it! You can get cambelt/waterpump kits on e-bay or as said above go to a Skoda dealer and price one up. Most specialists will also sell them such as darkside.

Full boost on the standard turbo is around 1900-2000rpm. You can feel it start to come in from around 1500rpm. For quick getaways I find your best to change from first to second at around 3krpm and don't always floor it, use a bit of throttle control based on the conditions. You'll drop back into second gear pretty much on song then, able to ride the torque curve through that gear and into third. Second and Third gear are quite impressive on these I find espeically with a remap they are quite lively once they get going. Have a play about and experiment, sometimes you can change gear lower down the revs and use the torque of the turbo to make swift progress rather than relying on revving it round to 4k. Completely different to driving a petrol car fast, took me some getting used to coming from a Civic Type R which rev'd to 9krpm! - I do miss the revviness of that car sometimes but the low down umph of a TDi is also quite nice and effortless.

I believe Gates supply most manufactures anyway and they just re-brand them as their own. They are also used on most British Army engines so they can't be bad!

I agree and that's exactly the reason I've not tuned mine! It's just not that good of a base to start from. To get good power out of them and to be able to put that power down effectively, not just sit there spinning the wheels, can soon add up to thousands once you factor in all the other bits needed. Don't get me wrong they are cracking cars for what they are and if my standard turbo ever goes pop I'll probably upgrade, but once you start chasing figures they can become serious money pits. So it's something to bear in mind and ask yourself if you'll be happy with 200-220bhp in the long term. I think the 200bhp mark is a sensible goal on the vRS. Any more and you'll really need a clutch/flywheel upgrade and an LSD to take full advantage of the extra power, which adds to the cost significantly. Not to mention the mandatory suspension and brakes upgrades!