MK1 vRS - Stage 2 R-Tech Tuned

[skinnyman]

I've finally got round to fitting the catch can.

 

I got a shopping list of the things I needed from 'niceyellow vrs' which helped a lot, so that was much appreciated.👍

 

Having mulled over where to put the catch can, I settled on where the two relays sit at the rear of the engine bay.  I watched a YouTube video of a catch can install on a Mk1 Audi TT and they tucked the relays into the housing to the right of the relay unit and it seemed to work well.   Following this method, I did the same and both relays fitted nicely without too much of a struggle.

 

When faffing around mocking up different brackets to attach the can to the original bodywork & holes, I had the idea of using the original relay box.  The can fits nicely in there so I held it in place with a couple of cable ties just to see what it would look like. It turns out that if I placed the two bolts that came with the can in opposite diagonal holes, the cable ties don't slide off and the can is nice and secure.  For now, I'll leave things as they are as to remove the can all I have to do is undo the two hoses and the whole unit unclips off the original bracket along with the plastic housing. To empty the can it's simply a case of sliding the cable ties over the bolts, take the can out and empty it.  

 

I may redo this at some point but seeing as it's so secure and tucked away, it isn't too much hassle to loosen two jubilee clips to empty the can.  

 

To allow the pipe to connect to the 'hockey puck' I rotated it 90 degrees anticlockwise.  Also, it took just under 60cm of hose to complete the job so if anyone is thinking of doing anything similar it gives you an idea of how much to order.

 

Anyway, I've put some photos below for folks to look at and to give their opinions on the install.

 

 

Edited 16 June, 2020 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

I decided to get up early this morning and head off for a drive.  We're lucky that there are some amazing roads round here and that on a Sunday morning the only real traffic on the roads is the occasional sheep or pheasant. 

The route is about 74 miles and goes from Scarborough up to Whitby, over the tops and then down to Danby, Castleton, Blakey Ridge and back home to Scarborough via Pickering.  

 

I also took a few photos along the way as it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

 

The car performed brilliantly and even returned nearly 37mpg despite the occasional use of the right foot.  It's been ages since I used the car for anything other than going to work and back so I'm glad i made the effort.

Edited 5 July, 2020 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

Just a quick update.

A recent road trip from Scarborough to Edinburgh & back proved why I like the Mk1 so much.  It took us up there with zero fuss, through some terrible weather (high winds, standing water) and trundled back through the bank holiday traffic (very hot weather & stop start a lot of the time) and it didn't miss a beat.

We stayed in a nice part of town and despite being over 17 years old I reckon it held its own against some of the locals' cars & still looked good.  I even managed to get there and back on one tank with an average of 38.7mpg, which is pretty good for a Stage 2 car so all in all, I'm a happy Mk1 owner.

 

 

edit : We covered nearly 420 miles there and back with over eleven hours of driving and I didn't see one other Mk1 vRS.  I spotted a few Mk2 FL and a whole host of Mk3s, but it appears that the Mk1 is not as common as it used to be.

Edited 1 September, 2020 by skinnyman

[sheb]

Amazingly competent cars. 

We've done South Yorkshire to Devon, Cornwall, South Wales fully loaded a few times now. 

 

Every time i me I think of selling up I just end up going back to "what for?". I'm not even bored with it yet. 

[skinnyman]

Nothing much to report other than I gave the car a going over with the rotary polisher.  In reality the rear bumper and bonnet could do with a respray but overall the paint is in pretty good condition for its age.

 

The trouble is that I have yet to find a local paint shop whose work I rate enough to give my money to.  We had a decent chap round here once but he gave it up as he didn't make any money due to being a perfectionist.

Edited 20 September, 2020 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

Just a quick update.

The car already had a decent enough exhaust system on when I got it.  The trouble is, the backbox was massive and knocked against the NSR spring.  This was really annoying and my OCD couldn't handle it any longer.

 

I took the car to my local exhaust specialist who's worked on a few of my cars beforehand.  He replaced the exhaust from the cat back as it's a 200CEL cat anyway and here's the new system.

 

 

As you can see, there's a twin exit tip, a much smaller back box and there's no more knocking against the rear suspension.

 

The car sounds a lot better now and seems to spool up more freely than before.  I was thinking that there might be an issue with the rear O2 sensor as my fuel consumption has increased considerably, but then the Mrs pointed out I was probably just enjoying myself a bit too much.....

 

I could have lived with the old system in theory, but I'm glad I haven't and now I can move onto other things that need doing.

Edited 19 October, 2020 by skinnyman

[dubDEAN]

like that a lot 

[skinnyman]

On 21/10/2020 at 16:49, dubDEAN said:

like that a lot 

 

Thanks.  Since posting it's bedded in nicely now and the sound is spot on.  There's a decent burble, a few pops on the overrun, a great sound through the rev range and yet it's quiet enough for everyday use.  

Happy days!

[skinnyman]

Today was spent deleting the SAI.  

It went well for the most part but there were a few stumbling blocks.  I had to dismantle the pump to remove it as there wasn't enough room to wiggle it out in one piece.

The top bolt holding the bracket on was a pain to get to as was removing the SAI combi valve - I hadn't realised there was a second 10mm bolt holding it in place at the back along with the hard pipes.

Apart from that and losing about 2l of coolant it was reasonably straightforward.  I ran out of daylight to take some final pics but did get one of the parts I removed.

 

Edited 16 February, 2021 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

Here's a photo of the Creations Motorsport blanking plate, it wasn't as much as the Forge version but seems to be good quality.

Don't do what I did though and drop the tiny o ring when trying to fit the plate.  There was much swearing at that point but eventually I found the ring and fitted it correctly.

Also, I had to pop to VW this morning for a temp sensor o ring.  The one that came off yesterday must have been squashed out of shape over the last 18 years so didn't seal correctly.  Coolant was weeping out from around the sensor when the car was up to temperature.  A new o ring and clip seem to have sorted it out.

[Dean]

Braver than me doing that. It's not something I want to tackle, so props to you!

Let us know if you notice any difference.

[dubDEAN]

need to do mine too

[skinnyman]

1 hour ago, DeanVRS20VT said:

Braver than me doing that. It's not something I want to tackle, so props to you!

Let us know if you notice any difference.

 

To be honest, if I can manage it, you'll have no problems.  I've seen what you've done on your cars and you are way more skilled than I am.

As for benefits or difference, I'm not sure there'll be any.  It might be quieter on startup as the pump was a bit noisy and when I had a look inside it wasn't spinning freely.  

 

39 minutes ago, dubDEAN said:

need to do mine too

 

I followed Bowders guide and it was pretty straightforward.  As I mentioned there were a few minor niggles but a mixture of lateral thinking and knuckle scraping sorted things out.  Also, once I had destroyed the pump, I had to carry on as there was no going back. 

[skinnyman]

Another update.

 

I finally got round to doing the breather system simplification.  I followed Bowders’ guide after reading it many times, studying the engine itself and buying in all the relevant bits.

 

 

 

It went reasonably well but there were a few hiccups along the way.  The first was that the 90 degree pipe snapped off at the base, leaving me very little to get hold of to remove it.  I guess after 18 years it had become brittle so it was a good job I had thought ahead and bought a replacement.  I think I got all the pieces and was amazed by how much gunk there was in the pipe.  Things should flow a bit better now just for replacing the pipe for a new one.  

 

 

 

The rest of the removal was fine and I simply butchered things to get them out if they were catching on anything.  The next issue I had was removing the hard lines that ran down the coolant sensor side of the engine.  These didn’t need to come out but seeing as they are redundant it seemed to make sense to remove them.  I had already unbolted them when I did the SAI delete and replaced the coolant sensor housing a few months back.  However, they are an awkward shape and wouldn’t come out.  In the end I cut them up using a junior hacksaw and eventually they were freed by pulling them towards the bulkhead.

 

The two outlets on the inlet manifold were blanked off using some flexible tubing I took off the hardlines.  I inserted a bolt in each one, sealed it with a bit of black silicone sealant to make sure they were airtight and then clamped them in place.  Having looked at the photos I can see one of the clamps is wonky so I'll go back & sort that tomorrow.

 

 

As you can see further down, a lot of tubing & pipework came out.  Some of it was split so I’m glad it’s done.  That’s probably the last modification/simplification I’ll do to the engine as everything else has been done.  The N247, N112, SAI, breather system & catch can are all sorted. Amazingly, the engine still works and there aren’t any fault codes at the moment.

Edited 22 May, 2021 by DeanVRS20VT

[skinnyman]

 

Next is a cambelt, water pump and thermostat change along with the oil pickup pipe.  This will be done by my trusted garage and at the same time I’ll have the sills straightened and the car undersealed.  

 

Once all this is done I’m thinking of putting it on a rolling road to see how many horses have been lost since it was mapped way back in 2013.  I’m assuming that it will have lost some but the better flowing exhaust I had made should give a few back.  

 

After all that, I went to the pub for a couple of pints of Black Sheep with the Mrs.

Edited 22 May, 2021 by skinnyman

[Dean]

Nicely done, and brave haha.

[skinnyman]

20 minutes ago, DeanVRS20VT said:

Nicely done, and brave haha.

 

I've been meaning to sort it for a few months but work & family stuff kept getting in the way.

I'm not sure it's brave or daft. The car was working fine so by messing around I could easily cause an issue that'll cost time & money to sort. 

I'll see how it goes this week on the daily commute & report back in a bit so people know if it's worth doing or not.

Edited 22 May, 2021 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

Just to follow up on this after a couple of days driving round after the simplification mod.

 

The car is noticeably smoother on idle.  I had suspicions that the pipes were past their best and since the replacements the car seems happier.  I haven't noticed any drop in performance, there are currently no error codes and the idle speed sits between 830/840rpm when warm.

 

I'll give it a few more weeks and report back if there are any detrimental effects on the car & how it runs.

[skinnyman]

So, just a quick update.

I've been running with the latest modification for the past month now and am happy to say it's been issue free.

The car definitely runs a lot smoother since the breather simplification.  It's also more responsive at the lower end of the rev range and picks up much easier, needing less throttle when running around town.

It's booked in for the timing belt sorting and the pickup pipe changing next month as certain things I leave to the experts.

I've attached a photo taken in Scarborough on the morning of the 21st - sunrise was at 4:26am!

Edited 23 June, 2021 by skinnyman

[dubDEAN]

16 hours ago, skinnyman said:

So, just a quick update.

I've been running with the latest modification for the past month now and am happy to say it's been issue free.

The car definitely runs a lot smoother since the breather simplification.  It's also more responsive at the lower end of the rev range and picks up much easier, needing less throttle when running around town.

It's booked in for the timing belt sorting and the pickup pipe changing next month as certain things I leave to the experts.

I've attached a photo taken in Scarborough on the morning of the 21st - sunrise was at 4:26am!

car looks stunning , i need to do the deletes but 3 slipped discs and a herniated one limits engine bay time lately  so if anyone local to Leeds can help i will pay with money and a sandwich  plus tea or coffee 

[skinnyman]

It took me a while to do the mods as my back can only take an hour or so before it gives out on me.  I find being under the car is a lot better than leaning over into the engine bay as I tend to get stuck!

 

I found using the guides on here, choosing the right day for the weather and loading up on ibuprofen allowed me to get things done.  Don't do what I did and try to delete the SAI in February in the sleet and rain.  Not a good move on my part.

[dubDEAN]

bad back and cars is really no fun 

[skinnyman]

Right. Bit of an update on the car.

 

Since my last post it’s had the timing belt, tensioners, water pump & thermostat done.  I also had the oil pickup pipe replaced and the sump cleaned out as well as some Millers Nanodrive NT+ put in to see how it goes with a different weight of oil.  I also wanted to see if the more expensive and different spec oil would make any difference to the consumption over the next few thousand miles.

 

It had a good run over the weekend with a trip up to Knockhill for the BTCC - a round trip of around 460 miles from here in Scarborough.  The car performed really well and the combination of everything that had been done meant it cruised up and back with no issues at all.  The cruise control really came into its own and is well worth it for longer journeys.

 

I nearly made it there and back on one tank of fuel but admitted defeat as we got into Whitby.  The trip computer said we had another 30 miles in the tank but I didn’t want to risk dredging up any crud from the tank, so we filled up with V Power.  I managed to get 411 miles out of the tank which I was very pleased with.  We sat in race traffic for two hours trying to get into Knockhill so the MPG would have been better had we not sat for so long.  At one point on the way back I had a theoretical 500 miles out of the tank but again, congestion brought that down a bit as there was a lot of traffic after Newcastle heading for the North Yorkshire coast.. 

 

The indicated 48.5 mpg was what the car was showing me on the way into Whitby on the way home on the journey from Edinburgh.  The journey into Knockhill showed an indicated 29 mpg so overall that worked out as an average of 41 mpg for the whole weekend.

 

(Just in case anyone is worried about the photo being taken on the move, the Mrs took this from the passenger seat - I had both hands firmly on the wheel.)

 

I emptied the catch can when we got back as it’s done about 1200 miles since the last time I checked and it was pretty full.  The orange colour in the liquid is coming from the wire wool in the can and it was less colourful in real life, not quite as Tango as it looks here.

 

 

So nothing much to report other than we saw some amazing racing up at Knockhill and as always, it’s worth the effort of driving up there.  Also, it gave me a good excuse to give the car a really good run and to simply enjoy having a vRS to drive up there and back.

 

 

 

Edited 18 August, 2021 by skinnyman

[Dean]

Just shows you what these cars are capable of..

[skinnyman]

Yep. Yet again the car proved itself to still be relevant, useful and economical 18 years after it was first registered.