Please treat me as Octavia novice.

Had a 310bhp Impreza then a BMW 328. Now with a wee boy whos nearly 4,the days of gas guzzling Imprezas are well and trully over (especially with todays fuel prices!!!!)

Have fallen in love with vRS. Mate had one few years back and i took it down to Edinburgh and back (aprox 250 miles) and loved it.

Im looking for an 03/04 plate either silver or black.

My main questions are thus:

Re-maps. Yes or no? Whats the gains? How much?

Exhaust Systems. Can they run with a de-cat and the re-map be programmed for this or must the cat stay in? Also, is a new system advisable with a larger bore? (if any one has any links to vids of loud exhausts please post)

In general, if any one has hints tips etc then please share with me.

Cheers in advance.

Welcome buddy.

Remap a big yes...cost me £250 an gained about 30bhp at the wheel.

Decat is do able I think you need to then get a fault code mapped out and I've no idea about the best systems to run but I'm sure more people will be along soon.

A remap is about the most cost effective thing. Ive not done anything else to my engine bar keep it well serviced. When you start adding exhausts, FMICs etc, the gains are there but the cost starts to rise. Add also a rear anti roll bar. Good tyres of course and you can uprate the brakes.

A remap is enough for me.

Cheers guys.

What pressure does the turbo run at?

Hi there, i have stage 1 remap and holding a boost of 1.3 bar. Also have added fmic, carbon air intake, full milltek exhaust system with free flowing cat and 007 recirc valve. Proven 230 bhp which is plenty to pin you in your seat. Go for coilovers and a nuespeed rarb and youve got a lovely handling car to boot!

Cheers guys.

What pressure does the turbo run at?

Standard car runs 10psi peak boost. Stage 1 remap typically runs between 17-19psi.

I'd give the same advice as LIverpool-Lad. Get the best remap you can (Shark maps are probably the best on the market right now), then keep the engine really really well maintained. Most other engine hardware mods will cost you loads of money for little gain, end up de-valuing the car in the long run and make it less reliable.

Standard torque should be 235Nm. With just a Shark remap mine is now hitting 354Nm. So yeah, they are worth it!!