MarkyG82

@Esseesse200 did some digging today and found a little info on the springs on my car. You may not be able to answer my questions. The wire diameter of the eibach pro front is smaller than the stock (12.2mm Vs 12.8mm) if I count the coils on my stock spring and compare to the prokit one can I draw a conclusion over the stiffness? Same for the rear but the wire diameter is actually the same between the stock and prokit (13.5mm). I know the specified length of each spring so I can work out how many coils for a given distance and predict the stiffness. Am I barking up the wrong tree? Basically I'm trying to understand the effects on the feel of lowering as I believe the stock springs I have fitted are quite hard given the added weight of electric drive bits across the car. Most of the sites I look at suggest the same springs sets as for the 2.0 models.

@Penpusher winter tyres are not just for snow. They are for cold and wet too. Anything below 7c (most of UK winter commuting hours) is best with winter rubber. Your profile says Brecon. Can I at least suggest you look into tyre usage? All seasons would be a good all year compromise.

It's quite easy to code out the stop/start using vcds or OBDeleven on a 2014 model. There's a section on this forum for vcds owners who will do work for little payment (biscuits, beer). I had the original battery still in my 2014 Octavia when I got rid in 2020 after having the feature turned off for the 4 years I owned it. No issues with it when I re-enabled it to sell.

Did you try without springs (ie stock height) on either car? I need to get top mounts etc done (speed bumps grrr) and wondering if I get springs chucked in at the same time. The handling is still on the sloppy side even with a rear roll bar. I just don't want to ruin it. I did enjoy my lowered Octavia on on B6 so lowered with SAs may be a softer version.

I imagine mib2.5 software wouldn't even load onto an mib3 unit.

The coding might be different (Passat Vs superb) so take this with a pinch of salt. I have my charging time set to finish after the departure time for preheat function. Otherwise it won't take power from the mains for preheat. Also with the low charge rate they struggle to heat and charge at the same time. This is more prevalent when using the granny cable over a wall box.

Did the dealer (not who I would use for alignment) do all 4 wheels and what system did they use. I would only trust old school string or a laser 4 wheel setup.l like hunter. It could also be a worn bush. Sits straight when aligning but put load on like drive or a person and it could push it out.

@anthoney any update on this?

I fitted the bar after the SA's so not sure how it would feel on stock. As for on the new shocks? The bar makes a bigger difference in the feel of the car. It's much more pointy in corners and tracks a straight line easier when cruising. I felt I was fighting the weight of the rear of the car with the stock bar. It has made the car more jiggly but that is a trade off I am willing to take for the added control. The gain some of the benefits but reduce the jigglyness, a golf R or clubsport bar (depending on AWD or fwd) might be better. Aftermarket ones like my whiteline are normally a bit stiffer than any of the stock fitted bars. Edit: if you were happy with the bump control I'd fit a bar only. But sounds like you need the bump control too.

I think it would be a straight swap as I did something similar (bought a box that had been used on a golf). It worked fine. Be worth a confirmation from dtuk though.

To answer your specific question, no I haven't driven over cobbles. They font tend to be unsettled on heavily pot holed areas and I'd day probably a bit more controlled. Motorways/cruising is where they really shine. So much more control and comfort. When you see those bumps on the road that look like they've been scuffed a few times the car just sucks it up. It's hard to describe how they are in "twisties". I have a stiffer rear roll bar and cross climate tyres. A bit of an oddball combo but works for me at the moment. I'm on the lookout for a set of wheels to try for summer tyres. Either 18 or 19. If that happens then I'll let you know more on the handling front.

I would agree with this. As for the comments on jigglyness, suspension control is not the same as car comfort. The B6 would control the wheel better in my opinion based on my own experience. I went for the konis based on the reports of the comfort. I've been disappointed with them but they are still an improvement over stock. They are certainly not sport shocks like the B6s. But the average stiffness is increased over stock so they are a bit more sporty. If I could cover the labour cost of fitting new shocks by selling the konis (and fitting B6s) I might. Probably should do that sooner than later to preserve the wear of the shocks though.

How long do you drive it for? Sounds like a restriction or it's going into limp mode. If you aren't driving long enough for it to regen correctly then all you are doing is clogging it up again. You need to get it properly looked at. DPF differential pressure. Turbo function. Any other faults. Make sure the fuel system is running right. Maybe even take the turbo inlet off and look at the innards. Should spin but not wobble.

From your 2 replies above I would suggest taking to a place that can check the pressure differential of the DPF and also maybe the wastegate. Maybe an exhaust specialist can help? I am sticking to my original diagnosis that the DPF is end of life and needs replacing. But, it is entirely possible that a part like the wastegate is bad. It really does sound like the DPF though. Turbo maybe sometimes able to spool briefly? That could easily be the pressure building behind it before the DPF. Then it gets "clogged" as no further gasses can flow. Then you back off the go pedal and try again and the same thing happens once pressure in front of the DPF has dropped enough to allow the turbo to spool up again. Does that sound like what you are experiencing?

You won't get any more performance than the stock setup as a diesel is controlled on fuel instead of intake like a petrol car*. Noise may increase. With the setup you have there you may in fact be reducing performance due to the warm air. You are asking about a cold feed but you really need it to be enclosed and isolated from the engine bay to make it work at least to stock levels. * That is unless you have other tuning and mods to match. Think bigger injectors, bigger turbo, higher pressure/flow fuel system. Big exhaust (turbo back).

Wonder if it's blocked in a way that changes with heat (obvious given your explanation above). A bit like a thermal switch. Give some when it's not quite hot enough and it closes up. Did you miss my question above? Do you know how it was cleaned? Was it unit out and blasted or just a chemical job. When I looked into it in past, the chemical jobs didn't hold much confidence. A unit off job seemed to be the only way to get it done correctly and even then only saved a certain percentage of the units for any particularly useful length of time. Have you looked into how much a replacement would be? Talking DPFs by the way. I'm still confident that is the main issue, unless it's the coding of the DPF as suggested above.

Ok. That's fair enough but it still doesn't get round the fact that it won't be getting hot for long enough unless you are going the long way round every time. The units also have a finite life and it's not unknown for them to fail at the same mileage as yours.

If I recall right the 381 is for AWD models and the 380 is FWD.

The dsg boxes are generally reliable but do need oil changes. Usually around 40k miles but this can vary. The box on the 1.5 (dq200) is specific to lower torque cars (1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.8 TSI's and 1.6 TDI). It has a dry clutch setup and the manufacturers say is sealed for life. Although some on here have had it serviced successfully. The box on a lot of the 2.0 cars (dq250)(diesel or petrol) is a wet clutch setup and is known for its reliability and strength. Newer boxes are similar in robustness to the 250 but with improved shifting and sometimes more gears. They also can handle more load and often used in higher power applications. Basically if looking at one make sure it has been serviced to the correct regime and you should be good.

My suggestion is that you don't have the right driving profile for a TDI with dpf. All your short trips will just keep blocking the filter ('f' in dpf). As suggested above. Cleaning the unit will not necessarily unblock it. A new one is needed. Easiest way to find out if it borked is to remove it (to get it properly cleaned or better, replaced) start the car and see if it's spinning up the turbo. I would then change the car for something more suitable as you will only end up in the same boat down the line. At this stage it is unfortunately going to cost something to either repair it or replace it. Also, how did they clean it? Remove and blast or just bung some stuff through?

Are you aiming your comment at me and j caff? We have phevs so I don't think this process works in the same way. I could be wrong hence my question on the method above.

JR may have found the nuance. My Passat being a phev has much different drive modes compared to ice cars so it would make more sense to revert back to E mode each time. My individual setting does stay put in the way JR describes but you don't notice the sport bit dropping (I have sport steering in individual). 2 questions/requests from me: 1, Those with the mode defaulting to normal can you pay attention to what mode the car thinks it in on screen and if it looks like it is in fact reverting or just dropping S gearbox like JR suggests. 2, Those who like eco mode, can you see if a simple pull back twice on the stick enables the coasting ability of the gearbox. I think this would clear up the confusion and what is actually happening.

Can you share what method you used? Not been brave enough to try it on my GTE.

My 18 Passat can stay in the mode you want. So not completely year dependent.

Pedal box has nothing to do with the gearbox. It more closely relates to a mode selector that changes to the response of the accelerator on a manual car. I'd be phoning about for a company that knows what it is.