This had been planned for about 6 weeks Rob, it was just an unlucky coincidence that the APR software went wrong a few days prior to the work starting. Going to be a lot of fun when it's done and I have a feeling it might be sooner than I think

This had been planned for about 6 weeks Rob, it was just an unlucky coincidence that the APR software went wrong a few days prior to the work starting. Going to be a lot of fun when it's done and I have a feeling it might be sooner than I think

It's certainly a better car than the bucket I ran when I was a student

Ah yeah, I didn't have a car the first time around:)

Right, we're in business!

R Tech have been busy bees and I'm off to collect the car in the morning. Shall I share the power figures now or wait til later?!

Right, we're in business!

R Tech have been busy bees and I'm off to collect the car in the morning. Shall I share the power figures now or wait til later?!

share now!

Erm......you might need to click the image to read the figs.

Looks like it's going to be fun!

 

Massive thanks obviously to Beach Buggy Turbos (who built this hybrid), AKS for the oily bits and most of all to Nick at R Tech for the amazing job on the software.

Jeez good going John - what's that then, just over 300 HP and about 380 lbft?

 

Bet you're well pleased with it - suspect the drive home was good?

lol, I suspect he is still out there 'testing it'.  Be a while before he checks back in

Yeah I had to go up to Nottingham and back this morning. It's, erm, somewhat impressive.

I want to say it's completely mental and bonkers, but it's not really. It's just very, very fast.

The power (319 bhp and 372 lb ft Si) is delivered so smoothly and linearly that you actually don't notice how quickly your speed is increasing and coupled with a now linear throttle map, it's much easier to feed the power rather than to get 1/3 of the way into the throttle pedal travel and then all hell break loose.

Peak power is also produced at a little over 1 bar of boost, the limiting factor being the stock actuator. Nick is going to get hold of an uprated actuator which ought to allow the turbo to hold the fairly modest (certainly in comparison to Revo for example) 20 PSI further up the rev range and should give a theoretical extra 20 bhp. He also says that on the dyno, the car now runs off the clock in 5th gear which must be bloody terrifying!

Apparently the vRS has longer gearing than the MK V GTI so they never seem to feel as fast until you realise the street lights and other traffic have become a blur. I'm also not a massive fan on big dump valve whoosh noises, but the combination of the stock rev G DV, the open intake, turbo, exhaust and map makes the bloody thing sound like a shotgun being loaded!!

Who'd have thought that little k03 could do so well?! Fantastic result Jonnyboy!

This must be an absolute animal, does make me wish I had a petrol rather than a dirty diesel.

It's a very tame and friendly animal until you poke it with a stick when it grabs you by the wrist and drags you up the road kicking and screaming.

Who'd have thought that little k03 could do so well?! Fantastic result Jonnyboy!

Amazing isn't it Rob? I don't honestly know what Beach Buggy do to a stock K03 to make it do that, presumably a stronger, better wheel. Apparently the stock K03 with a stronger actuator can hold enough boost to run just under 300 bhp.

Great results John, now enjoy those times when something supposedly faster pulls up beside you at the traffic lights!!! I do in mine.... Lol

Blimey!

Well done..great results.

Have you got rods fitted?

IWOOT

None of the engine internals have yet been strengthened as they are supposedly good for 360+bhp. Nick told me that's when the (I think he said) inlet islands fail and need to be strengthened.

Great results John, now enjoy those times when something supposedly faster pulls up beside you at the traffic lights!!! I do in mine.... Lol

Hopeless in first and second Mark but I'll have no issues if I can launch in third.

Just looking at the cost of the K300 hybrid, they're coming out at £650 + £75 for an uprated actuator which should run to 340bhp with the supporting mods. K04 at stage 2 will give between 340ish and 360ish and adding WMI seems to push closer to 400bhp.

A K04 will set you back about the same price as the K300 hybrid but the later will be a fully rebuilt turbo with none if the need to reroute any pipe work, relocate the DV, etc as opposed to the potential unknown quantity of a used K04 and the hassle of the pipes.

The Amundsen/RNS315 was a failed experiment for me - the units are BAP only so won't communicate with the DDP Maxidot in the pre-fl cars. The unit was otherwise fully functional but it wasn't good enough for me that I couldn't view Maxidot menus or answer calls from the wiper stalk. Apparently it's possible the Auto Polar FIS+ module can convert DDP to BAP but it's not guaranteed this will allow the RNS315 to function and there is the cost to consider. £300+ for the head unit and at least £200 for the FIS+ and you're into to used DNX521DAB territory and not far off a Columbus with DAB.

I've also finally solved the to tint, or not to ring question with a set of Vanstyle blinds. Just got to wait for them to be delivered now!!

Tints done the cheats way (ie without tinting!). Vanstyle blinds on. Not totally happy with the 2 piece rear window but a bit of fiddling and it should be ok.

Untitled by jonnyguitar, on Flickr

In other news, the car clocked 80,000 miles today - that's 22,000ish in my ownership.

What's gone wrong in 22k miles?

Err.... not a lot really, not much significant really. The a/c compressor was knackered when I bought the car but I replaced it and have since replaced the condenser as well. The sensor pick up for the ABS on one of the hubs packed in as did the LED in the driver's door. ARB bushes wore out (and were replaced in conjunction with an uprated ARB ).

Oh and the G47 sensor (front left ABS sensor) has thrown a wobbler at about 80,002 miles. Oh well!

I got this far with the FL climate panel yesterday:

Untitled by jonnyguitar, on Flickr

I ordered a new trim panel from Skoda and got a silver one with a sort of criss-cross pattern on it that didn't match the rest of the trim. At £55 coupled with having to do the pin swap and buy an AQS sensor and loom if I want that function, I can't really be bothered and am going to stick to the original unit. Yes the FL one looks heaps better but I can't really be arsed.

If it's not too cold and doesn't rain tomorrow, I guess I'll try and get my winter detail done and put my winters on.

The four stages of Octavia from stock, B14s and TDPR1.2s, black CVRs (can't remember whether the H&Rs had been done by then) and H&Rs and silver CVRs.

Untitled by jonnyguitar, on Flickr

My brother said he saw you in lady bay tonight on the way to pick me up to go out.

Officially spotted! Lol

Yeah!!

Must have looked like my hair was in fire, was in a rush to get to Hinckley!

Back in winter mode now with the TDPR1.2s and Nokian WR A3s. Hopefully it will prolong the life of the summer tyres a bit longer!

Post snow winter clean (iPhone) by jonnyguitar, on Flickr

The car was absolutely filthy and needed a bath - I'd done the winter prep a couple of weeks ago with a full decon (Auto Finesse clay, Tardis and Iron-X) followed by Jeff's Prime, AF Power Seal and a coat of Definitive Wax Synthetic Edition. By yesterday it had got to the point where the lower panels and sills were virtually black with the dirt, which seemed to be magnetised towards your hands or clothing and covered you in muck everytime you came within 6" of the car. I'm loading band kit in and out 2 or 3 times a week at the moment and it just wasn't practical (for me anyway) to be so dirty. Even snowfoaming twice didn't get rid of all of the muck!

Once clean, a new sticker is added.

Untitled by jonnyguitar, on Flickr

Also got a bit of an opportunity to have a play somewhere I would normally not be allowed to. Video quality not very good as it was taken with my iPhone mounted on the driver's side window.

Couple of recent-ish mods, one being a short shifter fitted at AKS which comprises a new short shifter (unknown make, but I think it's a Direnza one) along with the 42 Draft Designs bushes and AKS's own shifter brackets. At first the gear change felt quite stiff and notchy, but it quickly became a lot smoother and it really does make a different to the shifts. The reality of needing a short shifter to change gear more quickly on the road is not really worth considering but the big advantage is how much more precise the shifts feel.

There's something else to update when I get around to it.