What mods are worthwhile alongside (or prior to) a stage 1 remap?

I'm not talking about handling or brakes, just performance, I was thinking a new air filter and PD160 intake? are there any other mods I should consider beforehand?

Which is the best air filter to buy and where from?

I think that the normal Skoda air filter is as good as anything else - just replace it every 10,000 miles rather than the 40,000 Skoda recommend. Greenstuff is also oft-recommended.

I would talk to the people doing your remap about what else they would suggest. I've seen highly variable views on whether the PD160 intake makes any difference or not, but it can't hurt. When it cost £32 it was a nobrainer, but at almost £70 these days it seems less attractive to me when £100 will get you a RARB and £140 will get you Eibach springs.

I've never had mine remapped because I never felt it was slow, but I suspect that over 5-10 miles of road with bends in it, a dropped and stiffened vRS would beat a stage 1 remapped one in the hands of a half-decent driver. Certainly, on a track, I'd take the one that handled and braked over the one with 40% more power that wallowed about and nose-ploughed into bends.

green stuff i use it and they are great better than K&N or piper

green stuff i use it and they are great better than K&N or piper

Based on?

throtle response feels better reali, dont have to clean quite as much and many people recomend:)

Another vote for replacing the OEM paper filter on a regular basis. Panel filters need oil, and oil and MAFs are not good bedfellows!

IME, the PD160 has more benefit in stopping you looking like a Centurion tank laying a smokescreen when you accelerate than anything else.

In the case of both the filter and the intake, diesels run on excess air, so it's not as though the amount of air getting into the cylinders is the limiting factor on the power you're producing like it can be on a petrol engine. OTOH, maintaining a decent ratio of excess air to fuel will reduce the amount of smoke you chuck out the back, especially when your remap's putting more fuel into the cylinders...

Not all panel filters... I've got a Pipercross that doesn't need any. Green don't either. It's only really K&N out of the "big names" that needs oil.

I think Green would beg to differ:

http://www.greenfilters.co.uk/Air_Filter_Accessories_&_Cleaning_Kits-Green_Filter_Maintenance/c634_693/index.html

... and what do you think the Pipercross 'dirt retention additive' is?

http://www.pipercross.net/fastroad/products_accessories.asp

Seriously, all panel filters rely on particles sticking to liquid media soaked into the fabric or sitting on the surface of the foam. This is how they can be effective without the fabric / foam being as dense as a paper filter, and without the large surface area that a paper filter requires. You're probably going to be OK with a dry panel filter under normal UK conditions with a normally-aspirated engine, but I wouldn't want to risk it anywhere vaguely dusty, or on an engine with a turbo...