Higgy 69

My 2p: Generic map: Work was done with rolling road/live data etc on a car (hopefully standard)to develop a new engine map. This map is then transferred to other cars with same engine/electronics etc. So if the original car got 30BHP increase, you can say that if you put that map on another car which is the same, you will also get 30BHP increase (although with +- BHP tolerance). The generic map was/is a custom map for the ORIGINAL base car. Custom map: (I would) Using a generic remap to start with as a basis (which was a 'custom' map to start with at some point, stay with me!)use a rolling road or live data to devleop a map specifically for that car. I.e. owner my ALWAYS run super unleaded, so increase boost further, owner may have hybrid etc. Engines/cars all all different (hopefully less now with electronics and improved machining tolerancing, although there still is engine wear!) so you may be able to tailor certain parameters of the map to get a further increase. Custom map takes more time/equipment, so you can easily accept it will cost more. Although on a 'standard' just remapped engine I wonder what the additional benefit/cost over a 'generic' map is.

I am hoping to go as Oxford is not far away from me. I see the spaces are filling up fast now. Will be in the Octavia, although might be taking the girlfriends Mini back to its birthplace! Sean.

Where did your 1600 mbar come from? Is this at higher rpm and under load? Otherwise turbo will not be producing max boost. From my logs you should be at least 3k rpm. For example from VAG-COM logs: Charge Pressure (actual Value) mbar = 1600 current atmospheric pressure = 990 (mbar) Therefore turbo is boosting 1600 - 990 / 1000 = 0.61 bar (I think standard is something like max 0.7) Here is an example (remapped): Engine Engine Charge Pressure Speed Load (actual Value) /min % mbar 1400 30.8 990 1520 78.2 1080 1680 88.7 1210 1880 97.7 1320 2120 115.8 1510 2360 139.8 1790 2680 162.4 2130 3080 181.2 2400 3360 185.7 2370 3720 179.7 2300 4040 178.2 2330 4360 166.9 2190 4680 171.4 2250 4920 163.9 2080 5200 160.2 2070 5440 157.9 1990 5680 153.4 1910 5880 149.6 1890 From these results max boost pressure is around 1.4 bar.

Just to throw this one into the pot. Are you sure it has not already been remapped and it is overboosting? Is it flat spotting at around 3k & 4.5k ish? Turbo hits 1.4 bar, temps rise etc, then the engine shuts down, then boost rises again hitting 1.4 bar +4k rpm then engine shuts down again. Is it always flat spotting, or does it mainly happen with lots of throttle?

I was surprised how much water runs inside the door. You cetrainly need an intact poly sheet to keep the water out. On my car, the previous owner had the speakers 'professionally' upgraded. They cut into the sheet to fit the bigger speakers, and with my driveway being on a slope the water ran in! I was wondering why the windows misted up so easily!

It tells you something is wrong with your rear alignment, which you can't change without a lot of fuss Better not to know if you can't actually change it to what it should be. Most production cars don't have adjustable rear suspension geometry. I know the Mk1 MR2 allows you to adjust all sorts. A lot of Pug/Citroen rear suspension is very simple (torsion beam), and if your rear alignment is out, well then, you have a knackered beam. I had to rebuild my 205 GTi one as the bearings had rusted away!

Just to say thanks to 'blackielawless' . I ordered the WB5-19 set from Wiperblades.co.uk Easy to fit and they are nice and quiet. Cheers.

Hi, Did you get this sorted? I had the same (ABS/ESP) issue. I have VAG-COM and it told me there was an issue with the front left ABS sensor. I took the wheel off and had a look. There were some metal flakes stuck on the end of the sensor, which I removed by passing a piece of cardboard between the sensor and the hub. Also I found that the rear of the plug had broken so I think the lead might have come off the 2-pins a little. I bent the pins a little to make sure the connected fitted tight. I am not sure which issue was causing the light VAG-COM scans at different times came up with 'open circuit' & 'intermittent fault'. Everything seems ok now, although I have a new sensor on order. It might take some time to check, but have a look at all the ABS sensors. Good luck.

On the MK1 Octavia there is 'ASR' - traction control & 'ESP' - Stability control + traction control. You sure you have ESP? Anyhow, unless you press the dash button, the safety system is activated as default when the engine is started. So yes, if the car is stopping wheel spin or correcting a slide, the light should come on the main dash display when the system is doing its thing. I hope that helps. Cheers.

No, ESP was an option. Not sure if it was option when they first came out but certainly later on. I also believe the white rally vRS special editions have it. (Bodge got there 1st!)

Hi all, I got my Octy vRS in the summer this year, so have not had much 'bad weather' experience driving her yet. So this morning I decided to see what it was like driving around on the snow and how ESP felt/worked. Before one of the main work carparks, there is a smaller overflow carpark. Empty. Not cleared of snow (only about 0.5-1" I would say). Excellent. I did not drive like a t**t, just was seeing what the handling/grip was like. Quite noisy with the ESP triggering all the brakes on/off. Seems to do quite a good job, the cornering seemed tighter and the rear end was brought into line quite well. I tried a couple of laps with ESP off and the car was much more unstable. ESP seems to do what it says on the tin. (Got 5mm Kumho's on front and new in August Falkens at rear)

My vRS (or RS as V5 shows) is a July 'ish 05, got a lot of extras too. Heated seats good for this weather Problem is, on a lot of insurance websites it comes up as an Elegance! - so got to resort to the old fashion method of ringing them up to get cover!

Hi guys, Well, it all went very well. Weather turned great in the end, just wish I brought the suncream with us. I am sitting here typing with a toasted face! I hope the pace of the second convoy was not too slow. And sorry if your car got a bit muddy down that back road, but we did get to the back entrance Nice to meet you all, Sean & Laura

Put me down also: 1. Chris 2. The Fish 3. Hedge 4. chrisw880 (if I'm up before 4.30am) 5. mali 6. VRS Goldie Jon (If i'm in Oxford on fri) 7 wid cg vrs (maybe) 8.TommyJ_VrS 9. Higgy (red Octy MK1 vRS) Cheers.

We visited a little cafe near one of the viewing points and got what we thought were better stickers, they just had the route outline with no writing on. I did the lap in a Vauxhall Cav 2.0, but put the sticker on my Pug 205 Mi16. I took it off after a while, as more and more chavs were putting them on and also because the lap was not done in the 205. I personnally think the time for ring stickers has passed. It is just an image thing now, and more & more people that have not even driven in Germany let alone the 'ring are putting them on their cars.

I could not wait for the non-runflats to come back into stock on Blackcircles, so I have ordered the Falken FK-452's instead.

Yeah I was a bit quick with my reply without the correct research! Looking at Kumho's website, the KH & KU are different types of tyre. You could think of that KH is 'sports touring' & KU is 'sports'. The 'new' KU on Black circles is the runflat version - Ecsta SPT KU31 XRP (that is why price is up). So I guess the ride is cr*p now as that what most people say about the extra stiff walls of a runflat. I want to know, when are 'normal' KU's coming down in price. I am about to hit the wear bars!!! So gutting that about a week ago KU's were less than £90 each fitted :-( Looks like I might have to goto the KH or Falken FK-452? Kumho tyre selector Sean.

Hi, There is the Kumho KH31. I thought this was the tyre that replaced the KU31? I need 2 new tyres, and over the last week or so Blackcircles seems to have removed the KU31, and only has the KH31. I have Kumho's on the front at the moment and they seem alright (they do not show if they are KU or KH). Certainly been handling the power/torque in the dry alright.

Hi, I looked at a MK2 vRS on ebay. The sellers did not mention the ESP light on, but I had already done the research & knew it would cost a bomb. An althernative is to send off your unit to these guys: ECU_Testing bba-reman No fluid comes out and you can still drive your car. Fault wont happen again, and a lot cheaper then going to VAG!! Good luck.

Just got my motorbike tyre changed yesterday, and the bloke said motorbike tyres have a shelf life of 5 years. He was saying that the rubber goes hard. When I had my Pug 205 Mi16 I had loads of tyres on alloys stored in my shed. I kept them pumped up. They did not look any different. Once fitted I would do some braking/weaving to wear the 'hard' layer off the top. Michelin Energy's on the rear of a front wheel drive car seem to last for ever. I have has two cars with them, where I changed the tyres not because of the tread but because cracks started to appear. They are so hard wearing.

Just got home after a long drive back. Nice to meet you Jim (felicia16v) & thanks for organising this. I just happened to be in the area as I was on a short break with my girlfriend, not sure what the chances were of being in the area at the right time! Big thanks to Jason, from more-bhp, a nice chap and he knows his stuff. Highly recommended.

I agree with everyone else here about the smooth power delivery making it not 'feel' quick. The same thing happened to be about 6 years ago, I test drove a Nissan 200SX (S14a) and that did not feel quick. No doubt they are fast, just with no other cars around to compare the acceleration against, it felt slow. Then I test drove a 206 GTi and it felt quick and fun so I bought that. Like people say, look at the speedo Then you realise Although I like the feel of a hot hatch, I think those days are behind me. I want a smooth car that can cope with the s*****ty roads we have, but also has overtaking GRUNT Octy vRS - Sean.

Hi, I had lots of problems with the ebay cable, in the end I had to disable (Control Panel - System) my internal card reader on my Netbook. Does the actual program run slow? On mine the windows appeared, then the text slowly appeared afterwards. After the card reader was disabled the program ran 'normal' speed as you would expect. Before I did all this, it 'talked' to the car, but doing an individual scan on say the Engine Module, the program would give an error on communications. This is a good link: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=224167 Get the latest fdi drivers (for blue cable) - http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM%202.04.06%20WHQL%20Certified.zip Cheers, Sean.

About 3 weeks ago now I had my cambelt, water pump and auxiliary belt change done on my Octy MK1 vRS. Skoda Oxford quoted £419, VW dealer local to me matched it. An independant in Oxford quoted about £400. I got the VW garage to do it as I could leave the car there and walk home. Sean.