I am doing my licence now, hopefully will buy mk1 Octy on summer, 1.8 (non-turbo, to keep insurance companies happy) or 1.6L. And I was wondering what can you do to improve performance? I heard Induction Kit should give some HP's, but reading topics on here, it is waste of money, but i like how it looks tho.

cheers

Edited 10 January, 201214 yr by hunker7

induction kits, exhaust systems add bhp's not much but do add up best upgrade is a remap thats where you would see a big diffrence

On non turbo engines the only things you can do really are intake and exhaust mods such as a CAI and a free flowing exhaust system (possibly decat). With these mods you'd only get a small improvement in power, not really worth the money they cost though. If you wanted to spend 4 figure sums you could probably get cams or throttle bodies for the 1.6 or 1.8 but at that stage you might as well sell the 1.6/1.8 and buy a 1.8T so you get easy tuning with a £300 remap.

Well, it would be my first car, so yes, i will earn NCB on some cheaper car, and then get a proper one It's not worth the money, but for first car, want to make it special, if you know what i mean. I would probably do some cosmetic, and as you said, induction kit, exhaust etc.

Remap would be great, but insurance will be saying "no,no it's too much", i think for stock octy 1.6 or 1.8 insurance isn't going to be 'cheap'. So other car i'm considering is Skoda Fabia II

Why not go the diesel route? More tuneable than normally aspirated petrol and more mpg. Also insurance won't destroy your bank balance as much allowing you to build up some valuable NCD.

Why not go the diesel route? More tuneable than normally aspirated petrol and more mpg. Also insurance won't destroy your bank balance as much allowing you to build up some valuable NCD.

I have actually thought about diesel, but it is so hard to get hold on good one these days, as most of them are used us 'working horses'. If i'm not mistaken, for Octy it is just 1.9 right? Is insurance cheaper on diesels? How exactly they are 'more tuneable' ?

As they have a turbo on em - prime then for a remap

As they have a turbo on em - prime then for a remap

i feel like an idiot now

Looked at Diesel Skodas, 1.9 SDi ,which I assume hasn't got Turbo, is 5E insurance group, and when we go to 1.9 TDi then it goes up to 11 :(

EDIT : Although just saw 1.9 TDi with insurance group 6

Edited 11 January, 201214 yr by hunker7

The TDIs vary in insurance as they go from a 90bhp engine to a 130bhp one.

My sister has the 90bhp engine in her Mk1 Leon and it does feel fairly quick because of the torque. Was about £400 for her to insure when she bought it (age 25).

I think you can remap the 90s to about 110-120bhp and they are more reliable as they have the older design turbo which doesn't suffer from sticky vanes.

The 110 and 130bhp diesels are a better basis for tuning, remap on the 130 can get you about 170bhp or hybrid turbo will see 200bhp+ but they would be dearer to insure.

The 110 and 130bhp diesels are a better basis for tuning, remap on the 130 can get you about 170bhp or hybrid turbo will see 200bhp+ but they would be dearer to insure.

Plus the 130s are not that easy to find. The 110 is much more common place.

The TDIs vary in insurance as they go from a 90bhp engine to a 130bhp one.

My sister has the 90bhp engine in her Mk1 Leon and it does feel fairly quick because of the torque. Was about £400 for her to insure when she bought it (age 25).

I think you can remap the 90s to about 110-120bhp and they are more reliable as they have the older design turbo which doesn't suffer from sticky vanes.

The 110 and 130bhp diesels are a better basis for tuning, remap on the 130 can get you about 170bhp or hybrid turbo will see 200bhp+ but they would be dearer to insure.

I'm just 18. I actually like thought about TDi, the one with 90 bhp. I will probably avoid remap as in my head, 90 bhp is enought. I rather do some cosmetic mods Is intercooler worth the money, i'm new at tuning stuff

When you are doing remap you gget bhp and torque, but is it possible to get JUST torque?

Edited 11 January, 201214 yr by hunker7

Is intercooler worth the money, i'm new at tuning stuff

When you are doing remap you gget bhp and torque, but is it possible to get JUST torque?

The turbo'd cars (diesel and petrol) all come with a little side mounted intercooler and that's easily good enough for the engine as standard. With a turbodiesel you already have loads of torque so the diesel remaps tend to concentrate on spreading the torque better over the rev range giving you more peak power. You don't want too much more torque on top of the already torquey standard diesel as it will wreck the clutch in no time at all.

The turbo'd cars (diesel and petrol) all come with a little side mounted intercooler and that's easily good enough for the engine as standard. With a turbodiesel you already have loads of torque so the diesel remaps tend to concentrate on spreading the torque better over the rev range giving you more peak power. You don't want too much more torque on top of the already torquey standard diesel as it will wreck the clutch in no time at all.

So you usually install front mounted intercooler when you do remaps? to get more air into turbo? :wonder:

Might be worth checking with your insurance company 1st before doing any mods.

Might be worth checking with your insurance company 1st before doing any mods.

For them even alloys will increase premium

So you usually install front mounted intercooler when you do remaps? to get more air into turbo? :wonder:

The intercooler cools the air after it's been pressurised by the turbo. pressurising it warms it, so to get the best combustion in the engine it needs to be as cool as possible.

After a remap the turbo is usually pressurising the air even more and this will make it even hotter so a better intercooler than the standard one is needed.

The intercooler cools the air after it's been pressurised by the turbo. pressurising it warms it, so to get the best combustion in the engine it needs to be as cool as possible.

After a remap the turbo is usually pressurising the air even more and this will make it even hotter so a better intercooler than the standard one is needed.

If I change intercooler without doing remap, will it give me extra performance. Maybe there is some websites where i can get info on tuning etc. or otherwise i'm just asking and asking :S

Just do a search on here and have a look through the threads that have been started in the past about intercoolers and other mods.

On its own its not going to give you much of a performance gain (if any) and like the others said above the insurance will increase if you start to modify a car, especially at 18 years old. You're probably better off just buying car and keeping it standard and out of harms way for a few years then insurance will be a lot easier.

Further on some of the existing points:-

IIRC the SDi was only offered with a poverty spec "Classic" trim (keep-fit front windows, plain radio-cassette, plain heater). The TDis came in Ambiante (usually 90bhp, but some late 130s, front electric windows, heater and air-con, remote central locking), Elegance (mostly 110bhp [i've seen literally 1 Elegance 130], all round leccy windows, radio-cassette + 6 CD changer, sunroof, climate control, traction control [good on TD, not so much on 1.8T petrols], front fogs, 16" alloys) or Lauren and Klement (As Elegance, but with all leather interior, different style alloys, 130bhp more common).

Tuning the 1.6 petrol will be a pain in the wallet for not much power. Similarly the SDi. Upgrading the intercooler won't do much unless you've got a hybrid turbo on and are doing track work.