Excision

+1

Use the thumb wheel to turn down the volume while announcements are in progress

Just updated my Amundsen to 2019/20 map. what a bloody faff. Had to babysit the file download and make sure the unzip worked. Needed the blueHarvest to strip the metadata files and allow everything to work properly. Also needed to do the SD card format. should be easier next time around.....

Currently live: “Birthday Sale: Save 100£ on our GTS and GTS Black now! Discount will be applied to your cart automatically. Offer is valid until 08-20-2019, 5 pm!” very tempted!

What the heck is the matter with everyone??!! Rallye Green is where it’s at. Jeez! E

Yep - DCC would be a ‘must’ for me too. Will be interested to hear your views on it when it arrives. E

White smoke typically caused by water. Blueish smoke more often associated with oil burning. would not expect to see any smoke at all with a warmed up car. Cars still warming up will expel water vapour but should then stop when the engine and exhaust are fully warmed through.

Another thing I just released is that not all tuning boxes use the same number of channels (i.e. sensors) to modify power & torque. Some use 1, others 2 and some use 3 channels. Presumably more is better? As a minimum surely looking at boost and fuel is sensible? E.

Just moved on from a low-spec Mk2 TDi vRS to a Mk3 Elegance - both 2l diesels hatchbacks. Some observations & thoughts: Good stuff The Mk3 feels very modern, with great features Really enjoying having auto lights & wipers, cruise control, phone connectivity, sat nav, auto aircon, folding mirrors, etc Compliant suspension and good ride comfort (a major plus point and reason for moving away from the vRS) Enjoying the DSG box - better than expected (but miss the manual in some circumstances) Newer car is much more relaxing to drive - a lot less hooliganism, a lot more refined cruising 17in alloys again - they look big enough without ruining the ride Bad stuff Wind noise - didn't expect this. There is a lot of wind noise around the base of the A-pillars/wing mirrors in the Mk3, especially at motorway speeds. My old car was way quieter The new car is quite dull to drive - which is a concern, as the driver aids and boring drive make me a less engaged driver.... The sat nav and voice controls are not great (but still better than not having them!) I miss the sports seats from the vRS, the new ones are a bit flat Next car would ideally be.... vRS TDI 4x4 DSG hatch, but must have 18's (no 19's here) and DCC (to switch between sports and softer suspension) - the perfect combo. Overall the change has largely been very positive. Anyone wish they hadn't changed their car? E.

Gizmo - thanks. Very informative. E

Which version did you go for? I see 2 options on their website, although gains don’t look too different. thanks, E.

Hate the fart noises on VAG cars. Utterly pointless.

I’d be very interested to hear about your remap experience with the 150 DSG (if you do it), as I have one of those motors now. I had a less than ideal attempt to remap my old tdi vRS with a bluefin but I am now interested in a tuning box for my new car. I like the idea of a quick plug and play upgrade, which would be easily reversible. But I do know some swear that remapping with a rolling road run is the only way to go. all interesting options, I love that there is so much choice for spicing up Octys. what ever you choose I’d say go for it. Life’s too short to drive a boring car! E.

Why?

Thanks for the responses. I Like the idea of the Racechip RS option, which gives decent gains for a sensible price. The others ones costing over £400 seem pricey and I am not looking to extract the maximum power/torque, with potential to cause engine issues. Cheers, E.

This is a post specifically about tuning boxes, not remapping/ecu re-flashing. As far as I can tell there are a few available for the diesel Octy 3s; DTUK TDI-Tuning Racechip Tuning Box DTE Systems Tuningkit All seem to offer roughly similar gains for power and torque, but I think DTUK offers the most. Has anyone got knowledge or experience of comparing these boxes, with an opinion of which is best? My interest is for one applied to the 148bhp TDi CR engine, but experiences with other engines would be useful to know too. Thanks, E.

There’s a 1.5TSI debacle? What’s that? E

I just ‘built’ my preferred Sportline spec in the configurator - £32.5k!!! Wow, didn’t realise I had such expensive tastes.... when exactly did Octys start to get so expensive? I guess it’s all about affording monthly payments than looking a true total costs, as no one ‘buys’ cars anymore.

Yep, I’ve only ever seen them there too. E

What happened to the Sportline? I haven’t seen ‘hide nor hair’ of one yet, which is a pity as I like the idea of the model option. Not seen them in showrooms or out in the wild. Maybe they have cool new camouflage paint too.... E.

Yes it is. Nice one, thanks. E

Thanks, I did wonder if I was being thick. E

Hello, Does any any one know what the paint code is for the black wheels on my Fab Redline? I need to buy a touch-up paint pen. Thanks, E.

Hi, the turbo actuator moving with only 0.5psi seems like a low pressure to make it work. Is that a normal pressure? You may need to split the turbo and remove the core to inspect it. Having the VNT actuator move may not mean the VNT mechanism/ring/vanes are moving if something internal has failed. It might need an inspection to check it is all ok. When I used to be plagued by the P0299 code it was eventually traced to a vacuum leak for the intake manifold swirl flaps mechanism. Once it was disconnected and plugged the car was cured. good luck.

Nope. No more remap for me. I have returned the Bluefin. My car just could not get on with it. The DPF regens were too frequent and the last one was weird. Car didn’t want to pull away from idle, ran rough when it did, went bang (of sorts), chucked out a cloud of black smoke and lost power/no boost. Pulled over, checked under the bonnet - all ok, started driving again, boost back and car running fine (Motor still there and turbo not blown!) but still trying to regen. Straight home and remap removed. I really do not believe the problem was with the bluefin remap, however, rather my leggy old car is not the best thing to cope with upgraded ecu software. Even so I don’t think the ‘improvements’ were sufficient to justify the cost either. So remapping didn't work work for me but I know others have had good success with theirs. I am a bit surprised that I actually prefer how my car now drives again as standard. Maybe Skoda knew what they were doing after all....