vrs pd tdi driving

[earos74]

.Ok, need some advice before I deliberately smash the car into a tree to destroy it as I loathe and hate the car which is a shame as I loved it for the first 10 months.

I drive conservatively (to save fuel) i.e. I drive at 55-60mph in 6th gear on the motorway etc - soft driving if you like. I do a lot of motorway and A road mileage so short journeys are minimal.

Lately I’ve had the exhaust emissions light coming on and off but not limp home mode - normal power. Dpf came on for the first time in over 34k of driving so I cleared it with 5th at 2-2500 revs as per manual.

To clear the exhaust light I have to keep doing 15 minute runs at regen level which is screwing my fuel figures up.

I'm contemplating doing the de-dpf pipe from custom code like wega done but my concern is the the warranty but I’m at the stage where I couldn’t give a rats ass anymore with this car.

Is this car suitable for how I drive because at the moment I’m being forced to do 60+ to clear the exhaust codes when I’m happy to cruise along at a relaxed pace.

Help me before I go nuts with this car

[PSM]

I have had the exhaust light come on once with me (and the dpf came on too). The problem was an exhaust sensor. Got it replaced on waranty and has been great ever since. Have you had the sensors checked out? Could be a simple case of changing it and all will be back right. THe car should have no problems with your driving style.

[earos74]

thanks for the reply but the dealer was a bit of a wan*er when i went in the other week to say about the fault. 've had other faults like coolent light coming on, low oil light to name a few. They had the car in twice for poor fuel economey, juddering constant regen and coudn't find anything wrong with it - no faults etc. Went in last week and one thing the service reception man said that really pi**sed me off was "where did you buy the car from" hinting that i should take it back to them in london (i live in coventry) - without going off on one when i have waranty left on the car and i want it fixed - they were more than happy to take 2 basic services off me and other labour charges in the last year. totalling over £500 - nob ends.

sorry but i'm really peed off with the car and dealership in birmingham.

I'v got a service coming up pretty quickly so the new dealer can take a look and hopefully sort the problem out.

[paul380]

My car behaved like yours and throttle response was awful......passive then active DPF regen all the time. At first I suspected the DPF was nackered but it turned out to be a faulty exhaust gas pressure sensor.

Sensor was replaced under warranty and no problems ever since. I believe that the new sensor is a revised 'improved' design.

There is also an ECU update to iron out DPF regen issues but my car had already been done.

26E6 is the code for the ECU upgrade and sensor replacement. Ask your dealer about it.

Edited 9 April, 2010 by paul380

[Dodgy]

My god, you're being forced to do more than 60mph on the motorway? Heaven forbid!

[redlemon]

just curious, but why would anyone buy a "performance car" to poodle about at 55/60mph??

my 1.9 likes to go faster than that.

[Nick P]

just curious, but why would anyone buy a "performance car" to poodle about at 55/60mph??

my 1.9 likes to go faster than that.

got a point

[StamullenRS]

got a point

I had the same problem with my car. But the PDF light was constantly coming on. Turned out to be the inlet manifold, Skoda Ireland forked out 50% for the cost of a new one & they paid for the labour as I always get my car serviced by Skoda, even if the garage I bought it from has now closed.

The sensor problem also came up. But I had to fork out for that one.

You should contact Skoda UK head office & complain. Tell them were you live & they will organise for your nearest service centre to have a look & carry out any works under warranty.

As for buying the wrong car for your type of driving, I think you made a mistake. I found the harder you drive the RS the easier it was on fuel. I do alot of motorway driving & I tried to be easy & then "drove" it into work on 2 different mornings. I was shocked that "driving" it was easier on juice.

[earos74]

My god, you're being forced to do more than 60mph on the motorway? Heaven forbid!

Taken from the highways code

261

You MUST NOT exceed 70 mph (112 km/h), or the maximum speed limit permitted for your vehicle (see Rule 124). If a lower speed limit is in force, either permanently or temporarily, at road works for example, you MUST NOT exceed the lower limit. On some motorways, mandatory motorway signals (which display the speed within a red ring) are used to vary the maximum speed limit to improve traffic flow. You MUST NOT exceed this speed limit.

Tell me where it says i have to do 70mph? I'm happy, relaxed and know i can react quicker at 60mph than a higher speed.

got a point

Ok, after driving crap ford focus estates and Peugeot estates thrust upon you for 10 years + with no choice as a company car I opted out.

I was involved in an accident and was given an Octavia as a hire car and was impressed by the boot space (bigger than the focus estate). I looked into the cost, running cost and fuel figures. The fuel figures for the vrs are better than the focus, bigger boot and I get a lot more for my money.

The reason why I drive at such low speeds is because a few years ago I racked up 9 points in 12 months and was close to losing my license – no license no job! I also find that if I don’t rush to get some where or drive like a complete arse (like I see a lot of drivers) I don’t get stressed when I get to an appointment. If I do 60 on a motorway instead of 70+ it puts a few extra minutes on my journey and at high speeds it usually involves an allocation with a nob head anyway trying to force his way past everyone.

I get 10p a mile from my company for every mile I do. If I do 400 miles I get £40 back from my company but if it cost me £60 to fill up I owe my company £20.

With rising diesel cost I’m more wary than ever than wasting fuel by driving enthusiastically shall we say.

I have a belltronics 550 radar detector and sat nav camera updates – so if I want yeah I can spank it in my VRS and yes I have when I’m not at work and i'm paying for my private mileage.

[Dodgy]

earos, i think you bought the wrong car to be brutally honest. Your post is littered with references to cost/saving money/fuel efficiency and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm surprised that someone with such a focus on MPG bought a vRS.

[billywhiz040480]

earos, i think you bought the wrong car to be brutally honest. Your post is littered with references to cost/saving money/fuel efficiency and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm surprised that someone with such a focus on MPG bought a vRS.

I agree, if its MPG your concerned about then there are much better economical diesel cars out there for your driving style with big enough boots! It seems a waste of a good car travelling at 55/60mph on a motorway and as a result is why your car is constantly having to 'regenerate' due to your laboured driving style. Most new cars need to be given some throttle in order to heat up fully and clear the build up of soot in the inlet and exhaust, so please stop driving like my deceased grandad and enjoy the car, oh and for the record it can be done by sticking to the speed limits you just get to the limit that little bit faster lol!

Edited 10 April, 2010 by billywhiz040480

[Dolla]

My car behaved like yours and throttle response was awful......passive then active DPF regen all the time. At first I suspected the DPF was nackered but it turned out to be a faulty exhaust gas pressure sensor.

Sensor was replaced under warranty and no problems ever since. I believe that the new sensor is a revised 'improved' design.

There is also an ECU update to iron out DPF regen issues but my car had already been done.

26E6 is the code for the ECU upgrade and sensor replacement. Ask your dealer about it.

Doesn't the new ECU upgrade actually reduce the bhp, for example 170bhp rs octy,after having the ecu upgrade would reduce it to 150 bhp.....

[earos74]

earos, i think you bought the wrong car to be brutally honest. Your post is littered with references to cost/saving money/fuel efficiency and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm surprised that someone with such a focus on MPG bought a vRS.

please help me then as i looked at the accord and the forums say the figures quoted are miles out, audi and vw same stable but more expensive, crappy ford - no thanks, vauxhall - dont like the insignia. options are limited here in my view so some suggestions. Previously i posted the figures quoted were better than my company focus 1.6 diesel and for the first 25k they were unreal getting 550 minimum on a tank and upto 630 miles. Just because its a performance car doesnt mean it should only be driven fast & hard, if the car is more economical than my previous car why shouldn't i have brought it? The figures added up, ticked the right boxes for work use. Didnt want a bog standard octavia or an L&k so plumped for the vrs diesel. I spend 75% of the working day in my car and wanted something better than a basic car - my company pays for the car so why not?

Why the suprised bit on a vrs - its a diesel. People buy diesel because there good on fuel, fleet managers buy diesel to save money on fuel. Skoda/vw would probably have produced the vrs in diesel form to appeal to the business fleet market for economy and BIK.

anyone with some suggestions on what i should have brought for a car then istead of the vrs thats fits my criteria.

I paid £12600 2008 registered with 4k on the clock and 2 years warranty.

[PSM]

550 is about the absolute maximum I have ever got from a tankful in mine. I am normally around the 420-440 with upto 500 if I have done some longer trips. Even though you are not hammering your VRS it should still be fine. Although the exhaust may not be as hot it should still get hot enough and on th eplus side you will be making less soot since you are not using full throttle.

Although you are not a typical VRS owner you should have what ever car makes you happy. The VRS is more of a warmish hatch anyway and especially in diesel form.

[Ali_Wright]

I agree with PSM, the car should behave fine with the driving style of the OP.

If it is not then make sure that the 26E6 campaign update has been carried out (pressure sensor and ECU software update) - if Skoda have realised that there is a problem with the cars then at least we can do our best to make sure that we have the most updated kit fitted - AND it's free!!!

If you are having little/no luck with your local dealership then find a local VW/Audi/Skoda specialist. The dealerships are the first to admit that unless the computer tells them how to fix something then they can't do it - especially under warranty. Failing that buy yourself a VCDS (Vagcom) cable that way you can tell/show them whats wrong.

I also have the VRS PD and whilst I like to know that the power is there if and when needed, I don't believe in driving like a loon - there is enough of them out there now. I also agree with Dodgy in that there probably are cars available which will return better MPG - BUT they probably won't be a Skoda and thats why we're all here, isn't it??

Driving these cars we need to accept that we are not going to return an average of 60mpg, buying a Renault Modus might get you that but would you enjoy driving it? probably not.

I would persevere with the car but it sounds like you need to be a bit more proactive getting to the bottom of the issues - kick some ass!

Good luck

[mannyo]

My old PD140 octy always got to around 550 miles per tank, and that was a mix of motorway at 70+mph and town driving.

My Superb with its bigger tank, DPF and PD140 engine only gets around 500 miles. Partly because of the DPF and also a bigger car.

As a VRS alternative, get an Octy PD140 Elegance or L&K, you get the same 6 speed box for economy and also some toys to play with that the vRS is missing. The lesser power engine may suit your driving style better, and best of all there is no DPF to worry about.

[Dodgy]

that there probably are cars available which will return better MPG - BUT they probably won't be a Skoda and thats why we're all here, isn't it??

But there are other Skodas that return better MPG! I'm on my 4th Octavia now

1. Octavia SLX 1.9 TDi (110bhp) - 56mpg average

2. Octavia Elegance 1.9 TDi (130bhp) - 55mpg average

3. Octavia vRS TDi PD (170bhp) - 42mpg average

4. Octavia vRS TDi CR (170bhp) - 44mpg average (so far)

If I was to choose another car and my number one priority was mpg, which do you think I would choose?

As it is I reckon the diesel vRS gives a great blend of performance and economy, I don't go driving like a loon either, far from it.

Lastly, I'm now down to 5000 miles per year as I work from home (have been for a year or so), I no longer do any notable motorway journeys and I've not had any DPF problems on the old vRS or this new one. You really have to drive like Miss Daisy to get that to happen.

[wardth]

Earos

You're not alone in complaining about the mpg - my 6000mile CR is appalling - average is around 40mpg at the moment and thats with a daily each way commute of 10 miles, 2 miles of which is 30mph, 8 miles on the A23 fast road - 70+. I generally nip out at lunchtimes - round trip of 6 miles on fast roads. If I do a couple of trips to say Bedforshire and Reading over the week I see maybe 45. I am a "spirited" driver but not a complete loon. The vehicle this replaced was a Punto Multijet with 150HP remap and that used to regularly see 55+ but of course that was much lighter than the VRS but even so.......

Everybody tells me the economy will improve as the miles go on and all I've got to say is I bloody hope so because at this rate, the car is going to get shot next year! IMHO there is no way a modern high tech diesel should return these figures. I might look at a remap to help - the Punto fuel economy improved by around 10% following the remap so I'm hoping a REVO or Shark will do the same.

[TEDGIE]

hi ive had same thing with lights illuminated i just called skoda assistance who came out and replaced my exhaust pressure.sensor and took my out to regen filter all under warranty runs great again..dont leave it to long as it may go in safe mode and the particular filters are around £1000 .hope this helps

[bahnstormer vrs]

Doesn't the new ECU upgrade actually reduce the bhp, for example 170bhp rs octy,after having the ecu upgrade would reduce it to 150 bhp.....

Mythology! I've had my vRS TDI PD 170 rolling road tested a couple of time, once in OE trim and once about three months after the exhaust gas sensor being replaced and having the 26E6 remap; both test produced the same power/torque (better than 170PS by the way).

paul380 has made the most sensible comment referring to the 26E6 remap etc; earos74 - what age/mileage is your car? The 26E6 remap was brought out in summer 2008, all newer cars have the upgraded ECU 'map' as standard; if your car is 'older' has it been done?

Have a read of this somewhat lengthy thread http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/108333-vrs-pd-170-engine-management-software-disk-part/page__hl__26e6 there is a lot of useful comment in it.

[VRsMatt32]

Taken from the highways code

261

You MUST NOT exceed 70 mph (112 km/h), or the maximum speed limit permitted for your vehicle (see Rule 124). If a lower speed limit is in force, either permanently or temporarily, at road works for example, you MUST NOT exceed the lower limit. On some motorways, mandatory motorway signals (which display the speed within a red ring) are used to vary the maximum speed limit to improve traffic flow. You MUST NOT exceed this speed limit.

Tell me where it says i have to do 70mph? I'm happy, relaxed and know i can react quicker at 60mph than a higher speed.

Ok, after driving crap ford focus estates and Peugeot estates thrust upon you for 10 years + with no choice as a company car I opted out.

I was involved in an accident and was given an Octavia as a hire car and was impressed by the boot space (bigger than the focus estate). I looked into the cost, running cost and fuel figures. The fuel figures for the vrs are better than the focus, bigger boot and I get a lot more for my money.

The reason why I drive at such low speeds is because a few years ago I racked up 9 points in 12 months and was close to losing my license – no license no job! I also find that if I don’t rush to get some where or drive like a complete arse (like I see a lot of drivers) I don’t get stressed when I get to an appointment. If I do 60 on a motorway instead of 70+ it puts a few extra minutes on my journey and at high speeds it usually involves an allocation with a nob head anyway trying to force his way past everyone.

I get 10p a mile from my company for every mile I do. If I do 400 miles I get £40 back from my company but if it cost me £60 to fill up I owe my company £20.

With rising diesel cost I’m more wary than ever than wasting fuel by driving enthusiastically shall we say.

I have a belltronics 550 radar detector and sat nav camera updates – so if I want yeah I can spank it in my VRS and yes I have when I’m not at work and i'm paying for my private mileage.

You know if you get 10p a mile in expenses that the Inland Rev min amount is 40p, so if you record all your claims at work you can get a form from the inland revenue and claim tax relief on the other 30p a mile you dont get paid from work :-)

You can get your toe in a bit more now hehe

[Chaosdarkknight]

Just wanted to know, I have just purchased a brand new TDI CR vRS Estate…less than a week ago, will my car have this “regen†issue? I’d assume that they would have used the new 6E6 ECU upgrade to resolve this.

And these exhaust gas pressure sensors…is it likely these have been shorted too, I mean what’s the likely hood mine will go and cause these problems?

[bahnstormer vrs]

Just wanted to know, I have just purchased a brand new TDI CR vRS Estate…less than a week ago, will my car have this “regen†issue? I’d assume that they would have used the new 6E6 ECU upgrade to resolve this.

And these exhaust gas pressure sensors…is it likely these have been shorted too, I mean what’s the likely hood mine will go and cause these problems?

You can rest easy; you'll be perfectly OK. Yes, it is true to say that, depending on your driving pattern, your car may need to 'regenerate the DPF' from time to time but you will hardly notice it. This is primarily because the CR engine and ECU mapping is much 'easier' on emissions then the PD 170 engine.

Additionally the problems really only happened on pre summer 2008 PD 170 engines prior to them having the new exhaust gas sensor and 26E6 remap; summer 2008 onward new PD 170 engines had the new setup from OEM. My car, in which I do a moderate amount of urban driving, only regenerates about once every 4 months and then I hardly know it's being done. It does help though if you give the car a 'bit of wellie' from time to time to 'clean the tubes'.

Enjoy!

[Chaosdarkknight]

You can rest easy; you'll be perfectly OK. Yes, it is true to say that, depending on your driving pattern, your car may need to 'regenerate the DPF' from time to time but you will hardly notice it. This is primarily because the CR engine and ECU mapping is much 'easier' on emissions then the PD 170 engine.

Additionally the problems really only happened on pre summer 2008 PD 170 engines prior to them having the new exhaust gas sensor and 26E6 remap; summer 2008 onward new PD 170 engines had the new setup from OEM. My car, in which I do a moderate amount of urban driving, only regenerates about once every 4 months and then I hardly know it's being done. It does help though if you give the car a 'bit of wellie' from time to time to 'clean the tubes'.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reply, piece of mind now lol.

[Raglits]

You know if you get 10p a mile in expenses that the Inland Rev min amount is 40p, so if you record all your claims at work you can get a form from the inland revenue and claim tax relief on the other 30p a mile you dont get paid from work :-)

You can get your toe in a bit more now hehe

Only for the first 10000 miles, after that it's 25p a mile...