Does anyone know if older vrs octys respond differently to remapping to newer models? ie have there been any model revisions that make them better for re-mapping?

Not that I'm aware of...

the throttle changed from cable to fly by wire but i dont think this really affects anything

the throttle changed from cable to fly by wire but i dont think this really affects anything

not sure if the RS came with the throttle cable. If it did it would give you slight less power...around 200bhp as opposed to 210+bhp.

i have a Y reg octy vRS and its fly by wire- 224bhp after remap

Yep - Kenny's right, i've also got a Y reg Octy and its fly-by-wire. As far as im aware all the Octy RSs are the same re: engine & remapping.

The Octy never came to us in a NDBW format, the MKIV Golf did and they run on an older Motronic 5 ECU that in comparison to the ME7 in the newer ones is pretty basic.

As such other than having a couple of different ECU variations they're all predominantly the same.

the older cable 150 engines have a smaller turbo, so its not too safe to go over 195 bhp.

All the Vrs 180's go to 210 bhp with Dual System