First of all hello to brisk skoda,

I am looking to buy a new car after a hot hatch inforced hiatus, scince I sold my clio 172 18months ago. I wanted something a bit more reliable/built better and want to be able to get good MPG as I drive around 15-20k per year.

So I test drove a Fabia VRS a few weeks back and it was a really nice drive, but part of me really wanted a bit more poke…

So my question is, if I buy a Fabia VRS for around£5k and soon after buying it, get it remapped (telling insurance and doing it properly) am I making an unreliable car?

Is there a level of remap that would be acceptable and improve MPG?

When the clutch starts to slip, I would happily uprate it, but I am nervous of the turbo taking out a bunch of stuff if it were to go.

I would be driving mainly motorway miles, 80miles at a time, but I also have a 5 mile commute to work, that I usually drive, but I aim to cycle as much as possible.

Thanks

Alex

Welcome

A remap shouldnt make the car unreliable, just have to make sure the turbos warmed up and the revs above 2000rpm before you put your foot down. And im pretty sure MPG will go up if you drive normally.

BTW im certain over half of the vRS's on here have remaps.

My fabia's now on 104k. I do at least 15k miles a year, been mapped since 55k miles never had a problem with clutch or turbo..

Kev

Edited 9 February, 201016 yr by Jabbasport

My fabia's now on 104k. I do at least 15k miles a year, been mapped since 55k miles never had a problem with clutch or turbo..

Kev

Thanks, this is the kind of info i wanted. There seems to be some people on here who are nervous about the relaibility! Also some were saying panel filters are the devils work because they have oil on them which is bad for turbos?

Edited 9 February, 201016 yr by alexbrown981

Green cotton panel filters are fine. Again, my panel filter has been installed for the same ammount of time and probably cleaned and re-oiled about 5 times..

Kev

Fabia vRS 2003/03

I bought it with 17k on the clock in August 2004. I had it mapped at around 30k running 175bhp & 295lb/ft. It ticked over 130k lastnight and is still going strong. Original clutch and turbo

Much the same here - do a good 18-20k a year, and on 87k now. Not had remap long, but did over 20k with a Dragon box before that. Mechanical sympathy is the key! As for MPG, drive normally, and the extra torque will help keep fuel usage down. Clearly, driving hard will guzzle diesel, but I don't hang about and still reckon on at least 40MPG...

Much the same here - do a good 18-20k a year, and on 87k now. Not had remap long, but did over 20k with a Dragon box before that. Mechanical sympathy is the key! As for MPG, drive normally, and the extra torque will help keep fuel usage down. Clearly, driving hard will guzzle diesel, but I don't hang about and still reckon on at least 40MPG...

40mpg, i want 55

but yeh i need to learn a bit more mechanical sympathy. could anyone explain why no foot to the floor below 2-2.5k, surely redlining cold is worse?

alex

Both as bad for different parts of the car i guess

could anyone explain why no foot to the floor below 2-2.5k, surely redlining cold is worse?

alex

It puts excessive strain on the Dual Mass Flywheel, Leading to premature failure!

Hello and welcome to the site Alex.

Am I right in saying you should not boot the throttle in high gears with a remap? Say 50-70 mph in top? What damage may it do and why (I'm guessing the extra torque).

Edited 9 February, 201016 yr by Jim H

40mpg, i want 55

but yeh i need to learn a bit more mechanical sympathy. could anyone explain why no foot to the floor below 2-2.5k, surely redlining cold is worse?

alex

In fairness if you using the car regualry day to day, Id say not to bother remapping it, from my point of veiw, remapping a car that "in theory" cant be rev'ed below 2000RPM for fear of blowing the DMF clutch to pieces is pretty pointless, especially when id consider 2Krpm on a diesel like the VRS to be high in the revs before you can use the power suitably. The standard grunt on the car isnt what id consider calling 'flat.' but its entrely your call, unless someone can enlighten me more on the remapping issues

I think there is some confusion starting here.

The reason you shouldn't floor the throttle under 2000RPM IN A HIGH GEAR on a stock clutch is that the torque delivery is so great it very quickly wears out the clutch and the DMF.

There is no reason why you can't have it in, say 2nd or 3rd gear at 1000rpm and boot it. That's fine. But drifting along in 6th at 50mph (about 1400RPM) and then booting it without changing down a gear or two places enormous strain on the transmission. In a petrol car you simply couldn't do it. The fact that a diesel will quite happily destroy the transmission because it can is no reason to drive like an idiot.

I don't know anyone who drives that way usually anyway. If you need that flexibility, buy an automatic.

PLUS! Part of the joy of a good remap is it makes it feel worthwhile revving the car all the way to the redline. In the standard car, your butt dyno says it's stopped accellerating after about 4000RPM. It hasn't, it just feels less. In a remapped car, it feels worthwhile all the way. That's what I understand when people talk about a more 'petrol-like' driving experience.

If you want a remap, go for it. It doesn't make a car any less reliable, it just exploits any weaknesses in other components.

I think there is some confusion starting here.

The reason you shouldn't floor the throttle under 2000RPM IN A HIGH GEAR on a stock clutch is that the torque delivery is so great it very quickly wears out the clutch and the DMF.

There is no reason why you can't have it in, say 2nd or 3rd gear at 1000rpm and boot it. That's fine. But drifting along in 6th at 50mph (about 1400RPM) and then booting it without changing down a gear or two places enormous strain on the transmission. In a petrol car you simply couldn't do it. The fact that a diesel will quite happily destroy the transmission because it can is no reason to drive like an idiot.

I don't know anyone who drives that way usually anyway. If you need that flexibility, buy an automatic.

PLUS! Part of the joy of a good remap is it makes it feel worthwhile revving the car all the way to the redline. In the standard car, your butt dyno says it's stopped accellerating after about 4000RPM. It hasn't, it just feels less. In a remapped car, it feels worthwhile all the way. That's what I understand when people talk about a more 'petrol-like' driving experience.

If you want a remap, go for it. It doesn't make a car any less reliable, it just exploits any weaknesses in other components.

Your right, I was getting confused as I didnt see anywhere that it was to do with high gear & low RPM issues, I presumed it was all to do with any gear from what was bein posted. In this case, it doesn change the perspectives of wether to remap or not.

I'll quite happily sit with the revs at or around 2k all day thanks! It's why the car has 6 gears! I still have 2.5k to use before the redline, but with cruising gear ratios so much higher than on a petrol 'box, it's no loss compared to a petrol redlining at 7k+. Although averaging 55mpg in a vRS in any state of tune will take no small amount of self-discipline - should maybe have considered a Greenline if that was the primary concern...

A mapped car, if driven in a normal fashion, should be better on fuel

A mapped car, if driven in a normal fashion, should be better on fuel

I don't see this argument (although I'm happy to be enlightened). You may be more efficient at accellerating, but for cruising at a steady speed it will be the same at best. I think people forget that speed is a function of gearing, not power. It doesn't matter if your car is 100bhp at 2000rpm or 130bhp at 2000rpm, because the top gear is 34mph/1000rpm you'll still be doing 68mph. As most driving is done at a steady state ie. cruising at a fixed speed, it won't help massively.

The main benefit would be when driving on cruise control as the extra torque should make the car less aggressive when increasing speed for hills etc. but ultimately I think it shopuld be more efficient when driven hard, not when driven gently.

I think there is some confusion starting here.

The reason you shouldn't floor the throttle under 2000RPM IN A HIGH GEAR on a stock clutch is that the torque delivery is so great it very quickly wears out the clutch and the DMF.

There is no reason why you can't have it in, say 2nd or 3rd gear at 1000rpm and boot it. That's fine. But drifting along in 6th at 50mph (about 1400RPM) and then booting it without changing down a gear or two places enormous strain on the transmission. In a petrol car you simply couldn't do it. The fact that a diesel will quite happily destroy the transmission because it can is no reason to drive like an idiot.

I don't know anyone who drives that way usually anyway. If you need that flexibility, buy an automatic.

PLUS! Part of the joy of a good remap is it makes it feel worthwhile revving the car all the way to the redline. In the standard car, your butt dyno says it's stopped accellerating after about 4000RPM. It hasn't, it just feels less. In a remapped car, it feels worthwhile all the way. That's what I understand when people talk about a more 'petrol-like' driving experience.

If you want a remap, go for it. It doesn't make a car any less reliable, it just exploits any weaknesses in other components.

Wheres the feckin "thanks" button when i need it!

I don't see this argument (although I'm happy to be enlightened). You may be more efficient at accellerating, but for cruising at a steady speed it will be the same at best. I think people forget that speed is a function of gearing, not power. It doesn't matter if your car is 100bhp at 2000rpm or 130bhp at 2000rpm, because the top gear is 34mph/1000rpm you'll still be doing 68mph. As most driving is done at a steady state ie. cruising at a fixed speed, it won't help massively.

The main benefit would be when driving on cruise control as the extra torque should make the car less aggressive when increasing speed for hills etc. but ultimately I think it shopuld be more efficient when driven hard, not when driven gently.

Properly mapped diesels ARE better on fuel. It's mainly to do with acceleration & torque.. Most of economy loss is when accelerating, if you can shorten this time of increased throttle etc you can increase economy...

We've recently been trialling hot swappable maps on my car at the minute and can confirm that on the same journey in the same conditions on the standard map the car will just about show 50mpg on the dash whereas on the map it'll quite happily show 55...

From feel it's like im having to use more throttle more of the time on the standard map to get up to say 60mph whereas with the map just a quick blip will get you sailing at 60...

It wouldn't be more efficient when driving hard, the map is creating more power, therefore more boost, more fuel... But when driving steady, it definitely offers an increase..

Kev

Edited 10 February, 201016 yr by Jabbasport

I think there is some confusion starting here.

The reason you shouldn't floor the throttle under 2000RPM IN A HIGH GEAR on a stock clutch is that the torque delivery is so great it very quickly wears out the clutch and the DMF.

There is no reason why you can't have it in, say 2nd or 3rd gear at 1000rpm and boot it. That's fine. But drifting along in 6th at 50mph (about 1400RPM) and then booting it without changing down a gear or two places enormous strain on the transmission. In a petrol car you simply couldn't do it. The fact that a diesel will quite happily destroy the transmission because it can is no reason to drive like an idiot.

I don't know anyone who drives that way usually anyway. If you need that flexibility, buy an automatic.

PLUS! Part of the joy of a good remap is it makes it feel worthwhile revving the car all the way to the redline. In the standard car, your butt dyno says it's stopped accellerating after about 4000RPM. It hasn't, it just feels less. In a remapped car, it feels worthwhile all the way. That's what I understand when people talk about a more 'petrol-like' driving experience.

If you want a remap, go for it. It doesn't make a car any less reliable, it just exploits any weaknesses in other components.

Very useful input there thanks!! One question though, where do i get myself one of these Butt Dynos?

Very useful input there thanks!! One question though, where do i get myself one of these Butt Dynos?

Type R's and Dyno Butts are compatible

You need torque

Type R's and Dyno Butts are compatible

You need torque

ha ha, I'll transfer the one i took out of the type R then, I now have about 285 torques I best do a butt test to make sure haha.

Excellent, I'm gonna test my mums car too.

Dyno Butt reads pretty low sometimes thats when I notice im surrounded by the the interior of a 1993 MR2 N/A! Whilst every now and again it reads pretty damn high, and find no interior around me in the Ibiza

Then if im real lucky.. I get the butt dyno experience on a mean machine... the gf's $hitron C1

Improved MPG comes from adjustment of the torque limiters in the software, so as Jabba mentions, performance can be gained without sacrificing MPG when driving normally.

Reliability is not an issue if a map is carried out correctly. A stage 1 developed map should allow for the cars standard set up. Further stages can be carried out by changing various components

Right I now have a FABIA VRS. now what remap place to get? Anyone volunteer to let me try one out to see if I like it in the Cambridgeshire area?

Alex