MK1 vRS - Stage 2 R-Tech Tuned

[skinnyman]

2 hours ago, DeanVRS20VT said:

I think we will be going up another Euro for 2030 now which will screw up our 1.8Ts… 😒

 

Another good reason for me to stay up here in North Yorkshire away from any sort of ULEZ area.  

We're about 20 years behind the rest of the world so I have a while yet to enjoy the car. 😄

[dubDEAN]

On 16/11/2021 at 12:01, skinnyman said:

Thank you.

It's a work in progress and will never be perfect but it scrubs up quite well.

I'm determined to enjoy it before cars like this are killed off through legislation etc.

I get a lot of pleasure from driving the car, from making small changes and from not confirming to join the SUV masses that fill most driveways on our street.

I feel the same way love my mk1 , i too have the milotec splitters and kept the none wide mouth look  as so subtle , fitted the milotec rear and still unsure 😛 

[skinnyman]

I've been a bit quiet of late so a small update is overdue.

 

It was time to clean out the catch can again.  I've covered roughly 1200 miles since the last time I emptied it and as you can see, there was quite a lot in there again. It's quite a satisfying job when it's done as knowing all that goo wasn't going back into the engine.

 

I also had an uncharacteristic problem yesterday.  The car took three attempts to start up in the morning.  It turned over, fired and then died.  Even when it did begin to run it was lumpy and felt like it was on three cylinders. Once it was up and running things were fine. 

 

On the way home from work it did the same so I decided to clean the throttle body.  I already had a gasket in as it's on my list of jobs to do.  I knew that it had been done once already due to an earlier post by a previous owner.  I seem to recall it was somewhere between 70 and 80k so it was well overdue.  

 

I took the hose off expecting to find things all gunked up but this is what I found.

 

 

 

 

There was a bit of build up but nothing too bad.  I did notice that the gasket wasn't visible with the throttle body in place and on removal it was a bit wet as you can see in the picture. 

 

I cleaned things up anyway, removed the old gasket and put things back together.

 

I then left the car to sit for a couple of hours and fired it up.  It started first time and ran nice and smooth.  The real test will be in the morning so I'll let you know what happens.  

 

I've also attached a photo of the two gaskets for comparison as you can clearly see they are different shapes and that the new one is visible when the throttle body is in place.  

 

I was daft enough to think I was on top of things and then noticed that the rear nearside door hadn't locked with the fob.  I locked it manually & then opened the door on the fob & it seems to work again.  I reckon I'll be getting my soldering iron out soon to repair the wiring in the door.  There's always something isn't there?🙄

Edited 19 February, 2022 by skinnyman

[niceyellow vrs]

On 19/02/2022 at 15:15, skinnyman said:

The car took three attempts to start up in the morning.

 

If the problem still remains after your throttle body clean, I had a starting issue a little while ago where it was taking a fair bit of cranking and often needing a lot of throttle on cold starts. Luckily a scan actually showed up a fault as an intermittent crank sensor signal problem so I changed the sensor and it's been fine since. Might not be your issue but a potential.

Locking problem is more likely to be the locking mechanism itself rather than the wiring, I've got a couple that are getting tempramental on mine that I really must change before they fail completly as it's a pain in the pee pee to get a deadlocked door open without destroying the door cards. 

[skinnyman]

10 minutes ago, niceyellow vrs said:

 

If the problem still remains after your throttle body clean, I had a starting issue a little while ago where it was taking a fair bit of cranking and often needing a lot of throttle on cold starts. Luckily a scan actually showed up a fault as an intermittent crank sensor signal problem so I changed the sensor and it's been fine since. Might not be your issue but a potential.

Locking problem is more likely to be the locking mechanism itself rather than the wiring, I've got a couple that are getting tempramental on mine that I really must change before they fail completly as it's a pain in the pee pee to get a deadlocked door open without destroying the door cards. 

 

Well, it's not sorted.  I've spent most of the day looking into this on the internet and it seems that there's a few possible solutions.  You're right in saying it could be the crank sensor as that's on my list.  So is the coolant sensor and a throttle body reset. I don't have access to VAG-Com so I'm hoping it isn't the throttle body.  I'll be onto my local Skoda dealer tomorrow for a couple of prices for the two sensors.  Some forums talk of a knackered MAF or fuel pump but I'll try to eliminate the less expensive stuff first.

I'm not too worried as it runs fine after the second attempt but reading a few posts on VAG forums suggests it could get worse and leave me stranded.  Luckily I have a van to use till this is sorted as I'm not keen on running cars that aren't spot on.

[skinnyman]

Update :

 

I took the car to my trusted garage this morning.  They did a scan which showed very little other than a slightly erratic reading from the coolant sensor.  It was on/off/on/off as the car was running and being scanned at the same time.

 

I popped down to my local VW parts department and luckily they had the sensor and O ring in stock.  I have fitted the sensor and the car started just fine but I'll have to wait till tomorrow to see if the problem has actually gone.  

 

Fingers crossed.....

[skinnyman]

It looks like the new sensor has cured the problem.  After leaving the car overnight it started first time today, better than it ever has done to be honest.  I reckon the sensor must have been on its way out for a while as the difference in how it started and ran today was very noticeable.  

It's amazing how such a simple component can affect the running of a car to the point where it won't start.  

Edited 24 February, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

The car has been running fine since the sensor was changed so that's a bonus. 

 

I've also noticed that the fuel economy has improved since, even on cold mornings.  My usual commute would give me just over 30mpg when the temp was around 5 degrees Celsius.  Since replacing the sensor with a genuine version, it is now around 34 to 36 mpg over the course of the working week.  

 

I did a slightly longer run today and was quite pleased to see the numbers on the trip computer were back to where I expected them to be.  I'd been dipping into the high twenties over a tank which was annoying, especially as I was trying to be careful.  Today's Fuelly fill up said the car had averaged 38.29mpg over 190 miles.  Admittedly the ambient temperature was 11 degrees but even so, that's much better.  The 190 miles had been a mixture of two long runs of 60 miles and the rest was stop-start traffic.

 

 

As you can see, there's a theoretical 545 miles from the tank according to the trip computer.  Don't worry about me driving and taking pictures either, the Mrs was the photographer.  I also turn the traction control off every time I drive the car as I find my right foot is safer than the on/off system the car uses by default.

 

 

 

Just after filling up, the computer thought I'd be able to get a whopping 580 miles out of a tank if I kept driving in the same manner as I had for the previous hour and a half.  The trip reading for the journey today was reading 47.8 just before I filled up.

 

I know nobody buys a Stage 2 vRS for the fuel economy but it's interesting to see what can be achieved if it's driven carefully.

Edited 12 March, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

I spent yesterday cleaning, polishing, machine polishing, cleaning and repeating.

 

The overall effect is a nice shiny car but I couldn't help being reminded of the Polo Harlequin.  I know the car is going to be 19 years old in a month or so and that it's had an interesting and fun filled life before I became the current custodian.  I'm also aware that compared to some cars half its age the car is in amazing condition but I'm always looking to improve things.

 

A full respray would be the obvious solution but that's not going to happen any time soon.  The roof is in need of some TLC, as is the bonnet.  If I have those resprayed then I reckon the overall effect would improve no end.  The rear bumper has a small crack from a previous owner which niggles me every time I see it so I think that this is maybe the way to go for now.  My only reservation is that red is such a bugger of a colour to match up that it might tip me over the edge if they aren't spot on.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.  

[AnnoyingPentium]

Looks absolutely marvellous!

[RMDavis]

It does look great on those wheels bud! 👍🏻

[RMDavis]

On 06/11/2021 at 11:12, skinnyman said:

It was catch can time today.

 

The car has covered about 1000 miles since the last time I emptied the can and as you can see, it was ready for doing.  I'm surprised by how much stuff is in there but it's better to remove it than having all that going back into the system.  

 

 

 

I have the same catch tank as yours bud, with all deletes, simplification etc and fill mine with a identical ammount of gloop with similar distance travelled. 

 

Mine has just ticked over 117k overall. 

[skinnyman]

On 21/04/2022 at 18:28, RMDavis said:

I have the same catch tank as yours bud, with all deletes, simplification etc and fill mine with a identical ammount of gloop with similar distance travelled. 

 

Mine has just ticked over 117k overall. 

 

That's good to know, as it always surprises me how much gunk ends up in there.  

 

We did a trek over from Scarborough to Denby Dale yesterday.  I'd filled up with V Power at home before we set off and as always on a longer run I try to take it steady as there's no point in trying to rush in holiday traffic.  Anyway, here's yet another photo (taken by the Mrs) to show the trip computer as we were getting to the journey's end.  The car also said we'd averaged 49mpg as we rolled into Denby Dale.  

 

Admittedly, I'm being a bit obsessive about this at times but it's good entertainment on a longer journey to see what MPG I can get.  There was the occasional use of the right foot to get into traffic or to relieve the boredom otherwise I might as well have taken the diesel van but on the whole the journey was calm and efficient.

 

I remember reading an article a few years back on hypermiling.  I think it was Evo mag and they'd entered a competition with a VXR8 alongside people with a Prius and other eco cars.  They fared really well in the overall rankings with somewhere in the 30s mpg as percentage wise it was a massive hike over the official Vauxhall figures.  The other cars achieved amazing figures, way above the Vauxhall, but didn't rank as well as their official figures were pretty high in the first place.  

 

I guess that's why I'm on a quest to see what can be done when on a longer run.  Rest assured though, my average mpg is way lower as I try to enjoy the car as much as possible.  The Fuelly figures below are more of a true reflection of how I use the car.

 

 

 

Edited 23 April, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

Catch can time.  Lots of gunk in there for some reason but as I have said before, at least it's not going back into the engine.

 

Also, the car tipped over the 120k mark at the weekend.  Sounds a lot but that's an average of about 6300 miles a year, which isn't a huge amount I guess.

Edited 11 May, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

It was bound to happen at some point.  The rear offside door deadlocked itself during the week with no prior warning- maybe it was the shock of passing the 120k mark the other day.

 

Whatever, I had to get it sorted as the MOT will be coming up soon and a deadlocked door is an instant fail.  I looked around on the forum for guides and set about taking the door card off from the inside.  

 

To be fair, it was fairly simple & nothing broke or snapped in the process of removing the card.  I was a bit surprised to see that the membrane behind the card was an old plastic bag.  Having said that it must have been doing a good job over the years as there haven't been any issues of water ingress.  

 

I then tried to get into the lock mechanism with a blade but in the end it needed drilling.  Once I'd wound the lock far enough the door popped open.

 

All I need to do now is order a new lock from Ebay and fit it all back together.  I'll not be putting the door card on until the new lock is fitted, just in case.

Edited 22 May, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

I might need a bit of advice on this one.

The new lock mechanism turned up during the week.  I had a bit of time today to swap the old for new as it only takes about 15 minutes at the most.  I checked the two mechanisms side by side first and all seemed well.  The replacement wasn't exactly the same, as you can see there's a spring not fitted to the replacement.  However, this doesn't seem to affect the working of the lock so I went ahead and fitted it.

 

 

I felt quite happy with things until I pressed the key fob to lock and then tried to reopen the door.  It was deadlocked.  

 

You can imagine the language that followed so I'll spare you having to be exposed to that.  

 

Anyway, no matter what I tried the door just wouldn't open.  I was just about to drill the new mechanism to wind it back manually and the car locked itself as it does when you haven't opened the driver's door after unlocking it.  I unlocked the car, tried the rear door and it opened.  

 

Now the sensible thing to do would have been to stop and think, except I shut the door and locked the car to see if it had decided to work.  Deadlocked again.  So I repeated the unlocking without opening the driver's door a few times and on the fifth attempt the rear door opened.  This time I took the lock out and refitted the original as it was working just fine despite having holes drilled in it.

 

Half an hour before this, the original was working perfectly but on refitting it and locking the car, it now decided to deadlock itself!

 

I've tried using both locks manually whilst unplugged and both are deciding to deadlock for some reason.  Both work intermittently by using the old trick of banging the door in the right place.  Both old and new mechanisms are acting in the same way when plugged in and when not plugged in.  I'd understand if one was doing this but both mechanisms are acting the same way and it's driving me a bit crazy.  The door loom looks fine and in fairness it's been working perfectly all week.  I've stopped for now as I needed a break before I lose the plot.  The car is unlocked and the rear door opens at the moment.  It's on the drive behind the van so it's not going anywhere but I'd rather have it locked overnight.

 

Does anyone have a clue as to what's happening and what I could do next?

Edited 29 May, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

I've figured it out. 

 

It took two cups of coffee, some flapjack and a bit of logical thinking.  If both mechanisms were doing the same thing, it must be me who's doing something wrong. 

In the end I realised that the pin mechanism that goes up & down has to be as far over as possible to the left when unlocked.

 

Then I figured that the tab that fits to the handle needed some fine tuning. Too far in & the door wouldn't open. Too far out and it moved the pin mechanism out of position. Get it just right and it works! 

Edited 29 May, 2022 by skinnyman

[Dean]

If you want to test the door next time, just put a screwdriver in the lock instead of shutting it. At least this way you wont be swearing at yourself!

[skinnyman]

Good point. 👍

[skinnyman]

The tyres had been rubbing on the rear arch liner, it was minimal rubbing but still, it's not something I am too keen on.  I decided to put the old Pro Race 1.2 wheels back on until I can figure out what the next move is.  

 

I can't decide if I really dislike them or if I've just got used to the 18" OZ wheels.  

 

 

Personally I think they look too small, despite them being the same size as the 17" Spiders.  I prefer a wheel that's flat or dished and these are convex .  This particular shade of silver looks quite cheap and a bit bling and compared to the OZ wheels, they look quite fussy/frumpy.  There is one bonus, they have pretty much new RS3s all round so I've got about two years of driving left in them.

 

I think I know what I need to do to stop the rubbing.  I can either run the OZ wheels without 15mm spacers but that looks wrong with them tucked into the arches.  I just need some 12mm hubcentric spacers and the 3mm difference will stop the tyre making contact with the arch liner.  That's my theory anyway as I did some basic maths based on the two sets of wheels.  The ET on the OZ wheels is 45 and on the TD wheels it's 48.  The TD wheels are on the 15mm spacers and after a spirited drive yesterday to get used to the difference in handling I couldn't see any evidence of rubbing on the RS3s.  This may be totally wrong but it's worth a try.

 

I have two sets of H&R 10mm spacers and thought about running them but they don't fit on the rear hubs.  They aren't deep enough to fit over the lip on the hub so they won't sit flush & rock from side to side.   I looked at the cost of some 12mm hubcentric spacers yesterday and was quite surprised to see that they are almost £90 now! 

 

I also need to replace the tyres on the 18" wheels and am undecided on what to go for.  They currently have Michelin PS4s which I think are an amazing tyre in the right conditions.  However, for six or seven months of the year they aren't much use and I have to tiptoe around on them, waiting for the temperature to rise or the roads to dry.  I used to like the RS3s but after the drive yesterday I realised they are nowhere near as capable as the Michelins.  I looked into some all season tyres as we have them on the van and after three years I can't fault them for year round performance.  I know that the American market can get performance all season tyres but unfortunately we can't over here which is a shame.  

 

So, I'll let you decide if the TD wheels are wrong as I'm not sure I can live with them for various reasons and I'm off to try and source some 12mm spacers.

Edited 2 June, 2022 by skinnyman

[RMDavis]

Both wheels are really nice, but I agree with you bud that maybe due to the smaller size the TD's do look a little small, even when compared the standard spiders? 🤔

 

I have been trying to decided whether my next set of wheels will be 18" or 17" after my drama with the Ronals.

 

But after much thought I've gone with the 18's and hope that the fact I've picked Speedlines they're going to be much lighter than the Ronals these should drive much better! Very similar to your Ultraleggera's.

Edited 2 June, 2022 by RMDavis

[skinnyman]

Thanks for the input.

 

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks they're too small.  I reckon they look more like the 16" wheels the original vRS estate came with, which look lost on a car like the Octavia.

 

I've ordered some 12mm spacers so hopefully they'll arrive next week.  I'll have a think about the replacement tyres as when the PS4s hook up they really do improve the handling of the car.

 

As for your Ronals, I thought they looked pretty good to be honest.  I was aware of the weight but from a styling point of view, I liked them.  The Speedlines will be a good mix of styling versus weight and as you say, they will be similar to the OZ wheels.  

 

 

[skinnyman]

I'm getting more used to the wheels as the days go by.  On the way over to Bolton today I stopped off at Birch services and as I was walking back to the car I took this photo as I thought the car looked okayish.

 

Having said that, I've ordered some PS5s so the 18" wheels will be going back on in a week or so.

Edited 8 June, 2022 by skinnyman

[skinnyman]

I had to drop the wife's ID badge off at her work and parked up in front of her car.  On the way back I took this pic as it's not often we see them both out and about together.

 

 

I then got up for the sunrise this morning seeing as it was the 21st of the month.  There weren't any druids around where I was but I did take a photo that captured a bit of the car.

 

Here's one just for the sake of it.

Edited 21 June, 2022 by skinnyman

[AnnoyingPentium]

Nice looking cars there. I do like that Ignis!