Hi guys,

I'm tempted by an octy 4x4 1.8T elegance. Anything I should be aware of? Is the fuel economy anywhere close to the printed 31.5mpg? Can better be acheieved? I had a Superb with the same engine and was able to return the 34mpg that was advertised frequently. The 4x4 seems to be a hidden gem, with that engine plus 4 wheel drive! Remap and VRS power...is there something I'm missing?

Chris

To get them to handle you need to fit better suspension and arb's, as the stock stuff is very soft and soggy

oem brakes are pants too

Once these are sorted, they are very competent

31mpg can be bettered, but not by much

Get a 4x4 fit an S3 lump or 225 TT one and then remap!

31mpg can be bettered, but not by much

OH Yes it can :D

mine after remap and with some other mods is regularly returning 30 (have seen as high as 46 indicated but I ignore that ) but as LPG is half the price of 99ron then I get 60 :D

Get a 4x4 fit an S3 lump or 225 TT one and then remap!

you dont need the BAM engine as with a remap and some sensible mods? you can be running 220 relatively cheaply.

of course if you have pots of money then there is a lot you can do

a BAM isn't such a bad option

iirc BAM can be tweaked to rouglhy 280bhp @ stage 2 (sounds a bit oppotmistic tbh), that does get the car to the 200bhp/tonne mark (that's the same as a BMW M5)

I'm not overly worried about getting lots and lots of power from it. My S60 is mapped to 220bhp and that is plenty. I drove a MK2 Octy VRS with 200bhp and that was fine too. I'd probably just map the existing engine and maybe a couple of other bits.

I'm looking at then because they are relatively cheap to buy, the insurance is the same as my Volvo but I need to better my 26-27mpg I get from my Volvo.

I'd imagine a complete set of R32 suspension and ARBs' would be the cheapest way of sorting the handling ( I think some folks on here have fitted ?)

A set of vRS/GTi 312mm discs, caliper carriers and decent pads would drastically improve the braking, without costing big $

The 4x4 are 'Elegance' spec as standard; with that you get 2x front airbags, 2x side airbags, aircon, headlight washers, central armrest

The 'elegance' seats aren't anything to get excited about. Not uncomfortable as such, just not very supportive. Decent replacements can be bought from forums/ebay (seen Golf GT seats from £80ish)

The hatch has a pretty big boot, the estate has loads of space.

The haldex system works very well on the road, and is very safe on snow, ice, wet and muddy roads (decent tyres need to be used though)

I've seen a white one with xenon's for 2,500 with 79k on it. I liked the white aspect And the sunroof.

I'd imagine a complete set of R32 suspension and ARBs' would be the cheapest way of sorting the handling ( I think some folks on here have fitted ?)

A set of vRS/GTi 312mm discs, caliper carriers and decent pads would drastically improve the braking, without costing big $

The 4x4 are 'Elegance' spec as standard; with that you get 2x front airbags, 2x side airbags, aircon, headlight washers, central armrest

The 'elegance' seats aren't anything to get excited about. Not uncomfortable as such, just not very supportive. Decent replacements can be bought from forums/ebay (seen Golf GT seats from £80ish)

The hatch has a pretty big boot, the estate has loads of space.

The haldex system works very well on the road, and is very safe on snow, ice, wet and muddy roads (decent tyres need to be used though)

I have them just need to get the damn things fitted now (not the ARB's though as want some stiffer ones)

I have the discs but dont get red stuff pads - better to save up and get the DS2500's

the golf GT seats from a 2001+ are the best I paid £100 for the set

the hatch is surprisingly cavernous. add the fact that the spare is in there as well due to the LPG

after driving the 4x4 for 3 years I could not go back (its also surprisingly good in the snow on performance summer tyres but winter tyres put it in a different league)

To be honest if i was going to go down the route of upgrading the brakes again from 288mm to 312mm, i wouldnt bother!!

Id go straight to Porsche calipers!

Its a little more dosh but the results far out weigh that!