hi all, new on here, been lurking in the background for a little while picking up some top tips.

I pick my vrs up this friday, its mint in every way (pics to come) but I think I would like to do one or two things to it. First on the list is a remap, a couple of questions:

1) Which remap - Ive read about a few different ones on here

2) Is it possible to tell if its already been remapped? (buying from a dealer)

3) How far to go with it

Also, my only gripe with the car (seriously) is that the gear knob's a little worn, any suggestions on good places to source a replacement (apart from the bay of course). Come to think of it, I wasnt particularly impressed with the audio system, but have the inbiult sat nav (double din) unit so guess replacing that is out of the question? Any advice on this

As far as i'm aware, its completely std. Are there any obvious 'must haves'

Sure I'll have plenty more questions, am also sure (given my previous reading) the regs on here will do there best to help

thanks in advance - phil

Edited 6 November, 201114 yr by liverpoolphil

Essential mods to get them acceptable in my book are:

Remove DPF, preferably by swapping the downpipe for a Milltek one and get a Shark remap to match.

Short shifter so the gear shift isn't like a van - I've got the Neuspeed one. Don't underestimate what a great upgrade this is.

Combination of coil-overs, spacers and / or new wheels so it handles better and is more pleasant to look at.

With the above sorted, you'll have a really nice all round car and you'll probably only have spent < £1,500 (assuming you just bought spacers for the OEM wheels).

After those essentials, you've got brake upgrades, colour coded grille, rear wiper removal, audio upgrades, etc.

Cheers for the input nicky, this has given me some more detail to search on here, already seen loads about the DPF but not read too much about it.

Re: the shortshifter, one observation when I test drove the car was that the gear change was indeed very 'close', so I have to assume its already had this u/grade, any way i can tell for sure?

I know one of the first u/grades I want is a remap, so I guess it makes sense to deal with this and the DPF removal together??

Thanks again

phil

I guess it makes sense to deal with this and the DPF removal together??

Definitely. I believe Shark can supply and fit you the Milltek downpipe now too.

Forge Short Shifter + 42 Draft Design Metal Shifter Bushes

...rear wiper removal...

One I've never really understood.

This time of year mine gets used at least twice a day getting off the drive and out of the parking space at work.

This mod reminds me of all those Corsa’s and 306’s that have had the boot badges removed and the indentation filled and painted in primer, but the ones where the owner never got round or couldn’t afford to paint it.

Or the same guy who fits an aftermarket rear bumper without the aperture for the number plate for the 'cleaner' look and then has to botch it back on using a couple of rusty brackets and a Halfords number plate light!

The reasons behind removing the rear wiper and plugging the hole with a rubber bung to improve the 'sleekness' escapes me, especially since it is already hidden by a dirty great big spoiler

so I guess it makes sense to deal with this and the DPF removal together??

Thanks again

phil

I wouldn't have it removed - i would have the internals stripped and welded back up as from next year i believe it is an MOT requirement to have a DPF if your car came with a DPF as OEM.

+1, I'm guessing it'll only be a visual check during the MOT, if the tester can see the DPF is present and the car passes the emissions / soot test then happy days!

It will be a visual check as tester aren't allowed to interfere with the car...

...Unless there is a more stringent smoke test and inclusion of emmisions or particulate test...

It will be a visual check as tester aren't allowed to interfere with the car...

...Unless there is a more stringent smoke test and inclusion of emmisions or particulate test...

Smoke limit has been decreased for July 2008 + Cars

Smoke limit has been decreased for July 2008 + Cars

ie all cars post 2008 should have a dpf?

to be honest, I need to do A LOT more research into it before I make my mind up. Theres a lot of stuff written about DPF's, all new to me :(

Next performance mods on mine are possibly South Bend clutch and flywheel and a Peloquin LSD.

quite close to making my decision on the remap. I am torn between:

Option 1) Stage 1 remap for £200 (More.bhp in crewe)

Option 2) Stage 2 remap and DPF removal £500 (more.bhp in crewe)

Very interested in hearing anyone's views of any of the above remaps and / or experiences of working with more.bhp

thanks in advance, phil

quite close to making my decision on the remap. I am torn between:

Option 1) Stage 1 remap for £200 (More.bhp in crewe)

Option 2) Stage 2 remap and DPF removal £500 (more.bhp in crewe)

Very interested in hearing anyone's views of any of the above remaps and / or experiences of working with more.bhp

thanks in advance, phil

Watching with interest as i'm torn between DPF removal or not during remap.

quite close to making my decision on the remap. I am torn between:

Option 1) Stage 1 remap for £200 (More.bhp in crewe)

Option 2) Stage 2 remap and DPF removal £500 (more.bhp in crewe)

Very interested in hearing anyone's views of any of the above remaps and / or experiences of working with more.bhp

thanks in advance, phil

£200 is cheap for a remap, you pay your money and take your chances!

You don't say if your car is a PD or a CR but if it's a CR then you don't need to remove the DPF for a successful remap experience. I think on the PD it's very worthwhile from what I've read.

I recently had my DPF removed at Shark in Mansfield and I had rolling road runs before and after. I was genuinely horrified when my CR engined car made no more power and just a smidgen more torque.

But on the road I'm getting at least an extra 6mpg. That's a massive improvement. And the car drives much better with the Shark map on it. It's very smooth. If you want to FEEL the difference I'm quite often in the North West although I'm not about at the moment.

"You don't say if your car is a PD or a CR", if I'm completely honest, thats because I dont know. I am almost sure its a PD but couldnt g/tee, how do I find out? Ive only owned this car for a week

"£200 is cheap for a remap, you pay your money and take your chances!" Interesting response

Edited 22 November, 201114 yr by liverpoolphil

You don't say if your car is a PD or a CR but if it's a CR then you don't need to remove the DPF for a successful remap experience. I think on the PD it's very worthwhile from what I've read.

I recently had my DPF removed at Shark in Mansfield and I had rolling road runs before and after. I was genuinely horrified when my CR engined car made no more power and just a smidgen more torque.

But on the road I'm getting at least an extra 6mpg. That's a massive improvement. And the car drives much better with the Shark map on it. It's very smooth. If you want to FEEL the difference I'm quite often in the North West although I'm not about at the moment.

did you just have DPF Removal and DPR Removal software? or did you have a map on top of that

I have a map as well, but i had rolling road runs at the start, after the DPF delete alone and then with the remaps on but it's not going to break any 2.0TDi power records, let's put it like that!

Ben worked on my car for maybe 9 hours over 2 saturdays mapping it because he wasn't happy with the power it was making. I think at one point we saw 210bhp and 486Nm torque, but Ben reckons the Bapro possibly slightly over-reads torque. Ben was very conscious I was doing mega-miles so it's not a balls-out map, it's an economy map. Power is probably up less than 10% over standard, but torque is increased enormously. On my TT the torque peak exactly corresponds to 74mph or 120kph so it's brilliant for leaving it in 6th on cruise early in the morning.

Really, you'd need to contact Ben.

Did you remove the cat as well? I have a decatted mondeo st diesel running a stage 2 map. On stage 1 it made a heathy 183 bhp up from 155 with the decat it made 190(stage 1+) but the power gains were spread massively across the whole rev range. At stage 2 with uprated intercooler and it makes 200bhp & 387ib ft of the twisty stuff.

thanks for the input so far, to bring this back to the topic of the thread I am interested in hearing from VRS Tdi owners who have had either stage 1 or 2 with or without DPF removal's and there experiences of living with the cars since.

Have had some contrasting views on this and still not fully decided

(PS completely stupid question I have searched outside of this forum to no avail but how do you identify your car as either a PD or CR?)

Cr doesn't sound like a tractor, red lines at 4.5k and the engine cover is slightly different but can't remember what the difference is.

Also it should say on the logbook.