Hi Guys

Looking at buying a mk1 fabia VRS, i did briefly have an octavia in the past.

I appreciate some of the questions have been asked before sorry, i have been doing a bit of reading but its a bit new to me and I'm a little confused.

If i buy one i wish to extract the most power out of the car without severely effecting reliability.

1. What is the most bhp/torque i can get out of the engine stock (stock turbo etc), without effecting reliability if i also add mods?, or keep stock? (remapping)

2. Would the 'pikey mod' airbox or cupra160 airbox help a remap? - is it worth upgrading the air intake to either of these?

3. Would a decat be beneficial, worried about the turbo when remapped and decat added?

4. If i went ahead with the performance modifications if i didn't boot the car all the time and looked after the clutch how long would the stock clutch last?

5. When modded what sort of cars, can it keep up with e.g hot hatches etc?

Thanks in advance

Edited 22 December, 201015 yr by ajs_vrs

bump

best performance for price would be 130bhp!

the stock components just aint upto anything else....

if you fancy more bhp and better reliability buy an ibiza cupra tdi (160bhp)

1. What is the most bhp/torque i can get out of the engine stock (stock turbo etc), without effecting reliability if i also add mods?, or keep stock? (remapping)

150-170, really depends on how much you personally want to push it.

2. Would the 'pikey mod' airbox or cupra160 airbox help a remap? - is it worth upgrading the air intake to either of these?

Here is the link to a 6 page discussion about this matter - http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/53097-pd160-intake-pipe-the-definitive-thread/ (its stickied at the top of this forum)

3. Would a decat be beneficial, worried about the turbo when remapped and decat added?

No idea, couldn't really answer you that. I imagine its a loss of weight, slightly different sound and possibly a couple of bhp difference.

4. If i went ahead with the performance modifications if i didn't boot the car all the time and looked after the clutch how long would the stock clutch last?

If you drove it carefully all the time, it would last forever (ish) - sit at lights with your clutch in all the time, hold the car on the clutch at every hill and boot it away from every light then its not gonna last long.

5. When modded what sort of cars, can it keep up with e.g hot hatches etc?

It could keep up with a ferrari being driven by a blind person, or a 1.2i fiesta being driven by a driving god! In reality, as its a diesel its a different drive from other petrol cars. You might not do well straight off the lights through 1st and the change into 2nd - but once you get into third and the turbo starts spooling you'll burn most things.

Welcome to the forum btw

Edited 22 December, 201015 yr by Simonbt

Thanks guys.

Cheers Simon, regarding the decat was more thinking about the turbo spooling.

Big Jase, so even a remap of 150-170 is not advisable?

Cupra160 would be nice but would still like to remap that

I honestly can't see the predilection exhibited by some people who must tinker with a car - particularly those who haven't bought one yet. Is it like people who build model railways - the fun is in making them rather than operating them? Why not buy a car with the performance you want in the first place - which will probably be cheaper overall in any case and certainly less hassle with insurance and maintenance? I bought an Atom 160 - if I'd wanted more performance I'd have bought a 245 or a 300. I suggest you look to Renault, Ford, VW or Vauxhall...

I honestly can't see the predilection exhibited by some people who must tinker with a car - particularly those who haven't bought one yet. Is it like people who build model railways - the fun is in making them rather than operating them? Why not buy a car with the performance you want in the first place - which will probably be cheaper overall in any case and certainly less hassle with insurance and maintenance? I bought an Atom 160 - if I'd wanted more performance I'd have bought a 245 or a 300. I suggest you look to Renault, Ford, VW or Vauxhall...

Nicely put! The standard vRS goes well enough. Maybe if you've had one for a while and got used to its performance then go for it and remap it, but for me if I wanted a faster car I would have bought a faster car.

Each to their own though - for some people modifying a car and putting their stamp on it is as much part of the pleasure of owning a car as driving the car.

As you say these questions HAVE all been asked before however i won't jump on the "kill the noob train"

1. What is the most bhp/torque i can get out of the engine stock (stock turbo etc), without effecting reliability if i also add mods?, or keep stock? (remapping)

As Jase says what Skoda send it out of the factory with is bound to be the optimum settings for relability.

they want cars to last and last and last not go bang at 50, 75, 100k.

However as Simon says remaps can extract larger numbers for both power and torque and still give consideration to the OEM parts.

however 300 torques is about all the standard clutch will survive and the standard turbo seems to only be good to be wound up to 180bhp as an absolute maximum.

2. Would the 'pikey mod' airbox or cupra160 airbox help a remap? - is it worth upgrading the air intake to either of these?

a remap will make use of more air to burn more fuel to give more power

Larger air intake, modfied air box, freer flowing filter can only help this however again as Simon says there is a massive thread on it it actually makes a difference or not

3. Would a decat be beneficial, worried about the turbo when remapped and decat added?

No idea - speak to one of the site sponsors such as Jabba who'll give you an answer.

I'd say have any exhaust work done before the map to make the most of any benefits though.

4. If i went ahead with the performance modifications if i didn't boot the car all the time and looked after the clutch how long would the stock clutch last?

Again Simon has wise words a clutch's lifespan is down to how it's treated.

be nice it'll live forever (there are cars on here modified and unmodified who have gone well over 100k and are still on the original clutch) but then there are some that need replacing at 60k so swings and indeed them ones that go round and round

5. When modded what sort of cars, can it keep up with e.g hot hatches etc?

yes it will keep up with hot hatches

(although it wouldn't know which way a Clio 172/182/197/when you reached a twisty section of road)

However to add something slightly more subjective and useful I spent an entire half hour trackday session following a Clio Williams around a damp Bath airfield and we were about as far apart when we finished as we were when we started. (See told you it'd be useful :S)

Julie/DRJ - i'm entirely with you taking a small Czech shopping car and throwing money at it to double it's power goes right over my head - i too would have just bought something faster in the first place - however if you need something that can commute daily at 50+mpg, is relatively cheap to insure (in standard guise at least) but can still entertain when a turn of (relative) speed when needed the Fabia VRS ticks all the boxes (although the mechanically identical Ibiza FR or Polo GT would be equally suitable)

Oh and DRJ if you fancy a passenger in the Atom pop by Brockworth when the weather warms up

the 160 cupra would be fine mapped as it has the garrett 150 turbo which wont go poop also has the 4 pot brakes to stop it and front mount intercooler already

personally if i had another fabia it would be standard

1. What is the most bhp/torque i can get out of the engine stock (stock turbo etc), without effecting reliability if i also add mods?, or keep stock? (remapping)

At thwe risk of being ridiculed again - if you want power with reliability, buy a BLT engined car (September 2005 BUILD date onwards) as they are slightly more powerful from standard (good ones put out over 150bhp but 140-150bhp is usual. A good ASZ (2003-2005) engine puts of 130-140bhp in comparison. There is some overlap, no doubt, but generally, BLT is more powerful.

If you remap, then they remap pretty much the same. The problem with remapping an older car is that things tend to go pop. If you are remapping then budget for a new clutch and turbo and you won't be disappointed when they do die.

2. Would the 'pikey mod' airbox or cupra160 airbox help a remap? - is it worth upgrading the air intake to either of these?

When the Cupra intake was £35 it was a no-brainer. Now it's £80-odd it's a no-brainer. NO! It's only really worth doing on Stage II cars and even then I have heard reports it's marginal.

3. Would a decat be beneficial, worried about the turbo when remapped and decat added?

Decats have a reputation for killing standard turbos as the back-pressure drops too much and they spin too fast. A hybrid turbo is a completely different matter and you can tune the system to that. However there are 250bhp cars still running the standard exhaust, so it's not really a limiting factor.

4. If i went ahead with the performance modifications if i didn't boot the car all the time and looked after the clutch how long would the stock clutch last?

There are plenty of remapped cars on here that have done 100,000 miles with the stock clutch. They key to that particular bragging-right is they have spent their whole life on a motorway where clutch-wear isn't a huge issue.

5. When modded what sort of cars, can it keep up with e.g hot hatches etc?

Not really, no. You might surprise a Clio 182 or a 200bhp golf, but generally, no.

And you haven't talked about handling at all. These things understeer like truffle pigs unless the chassis is uprated and before you get any power, get bigger brakes. You can go a lot harder with the standard car on good suspension and bigger brakes than an extra 50bhp will give you on the straights.