Julian Edgar

I tried using VCDS and the Fabia approach and couldn't achieve any change.

I drive a lot on dirt. No hitting of the bar yet - the attachment ends rise and fall with the wheels, remember. Regarding noise - over the years, I have tried reducing noise in many cars I have owned. It's never been very successful.

Story on my modified Roomster - may be of interest to some people - http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_112589/article.html

Great write-up. But what a ***** of a job....

Thank you

Thanks for that information

Watch the belt timing! I have just had mine changed by a specialist VW mechanic and it's going back because the car no longer runs exactly as it did prior to the change. Worse fuel economy, powerband moved up rev range by 1000 rpm.

thanks also from me - I wondered how you get those panels off.

I reviewed the Ignis Sport as a new car - see http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_2295/article.html As the owner of a 1.9 TDi Roomster, with about 20 per cent more than std power, there is no way in the world that the Roomster is anything like the "driver's car" of the Ignis Sport. No way at all. In everything else I can quickly think of, it is much superior. Depends on how hard you like to drive.

Spray with some lubricant?

It was my GTi!

For those interested, a story I wrote for an online magazine http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_112171/article.html

I don't know for sure but looking up under the dash (RHS on RHD car) appears to reveal a panel of relays. When I replaced the horns I wanted to ensure that the car used a relay to control the horn and the clicking came from this area.

Thanks - we'll be running lots of Roomster-based modification stories this year.

On the road the results are excellent. The brake bias is clearly more to the front, but this is noticeable only when reversing down a steep gravel driveway, where the fronts will ABS earlier than before. The ability of the brakes to pull the car down from high speed with progression and feel is superb – vastly better than with the standard brakes. On a back road (hmm, I mean the track) you can drop from 150 to 60 km/h with literally a gentle push of the centre pedal – and do it corner after corner. In an emergency stop the ABS operates as it did with the standard brakes. Downsides? There are some. When the brakes are dead cold (in my normal daily drive I arrive at a roundabout after 30 kilometres of country driving that has had literally no brake applications at all) the pedal needs a distinctively firmer push. In normal urban braking that doesn’t occur (the brakes must retain some heat) and in spirited driving the pedal effort is clearly lower than with the standard brakes. Each new disc has a mass that is 1.4kg greater than standard (interestingly, the new calipers and pads are 200 grams lighter than the old ones) and the Roomster is a car where the 1.2kg increase per side in unsprung weight can be clearly felt. When I went from 15 to 16 inch wheels, the latter fitted with larger tyres, I could feel the increase in unsprung weight, and the same has occurred with the new front brakes. The result is that over lumpy bitumen, the car does not ride as well. Overall? Very impressive.

New front brakes. 312mm slotted RDA discs, Audi TT calipers, Audi TT caliper mounts, EBC 'red' pads. (16 inch Vento wheels) Initial impressions very positive.

I upgraded the horn to two Nissaan Patrol units - very cheap and easy.

For those who may wish to know: it doesn't have a DPF.

I can now be more detailed. The Audi / VW 312mm brake caliper carriers 8N0 615 125 DO fit the 288mm front brake Roomsters but the standard Roomster calipers do not fit these carriers. That is, you need to change calipers as well. All references I have found on the web suggest that if you have 288mm front discs, the upgrade to larger 312mm discs can be achieved by just a disc and brake caliper carrier swap. However, as I just indicated, with the Roomster you also need to change calipers. I have now sourced a pair of caliper carriers (from US eBay), a pair of ex TT / S3 calipers (from seller on local Aust VW forum) and brake pad anti-rattle springs (from Volkswagen Australia). I am currently sourcing 312mm grooved discs and EBC 'Red' pads (from RDA Australia).

Have two Roomsters, one with and one without panoramic sunroof. In Australian summers, one with sunroof is clearly a MUCH hotter car. Will get it tinted soon.

...however, even without another reflash, fuel economy has improved.

Car is SLOWER with new intercooler. Looks like another reflash will need to be done. EDC15 apparently doesn't cope positively with any changes without being reflashed to provide the fuel to go with the extra air - I should have learned by going backwards with the intake and exhaust. Definitely do the reflash last!

standard intercooler... ...and new intercooler, taken from an Australian Falcon XR6 Turbo.... ...complete with foam side pieces to stop airflow escaping. The new intercooler is about twice as big as standard (and also has alloy end tanks rather than plastic that will help get rid of some of the heat). Initial results indicate a peak temp gain over ambient of about 30 degrees C (20 degree ambient) as opoosed to the standard system's 60 degrees C above ambient.

Overalll fuel economy definitely better than standard, but improvement appears to vary quite a lot depending on driving conditions - from zero to about 7 per cent. Am now fitting a better intercooler - standard intercooler's performance is pretty bad. In ambient temps of 20 degrees C, intake air temp is up to 60 degrees above ambient!

Having now done it, I can say that it is a falrly major exercise. I needed to take both front wheels off (to get access to the inner guard liner screws) and it took about half an ahour to get to the point of removing a headlight. Would be much quicker a second time around!