Advice on Newley brought vrs

[H8WOTVRS]

Brought a vrs fabia , what a beauty . The car is all stock apart from the front being lowered on some springs and the car being a custom stage 3 remap approx (been told 180 bhp) , the car overheats when I put my foot down I'm thinking this is due to the power of the car on the standard body! And the coolant needs refilling (currently trying to find the cause)

What shall I do ? Shall I perform any must have upgrades or what any advice would be appreciated thanks guys means a lot !

[eric87]

Whys it only the front that's been lowered? Is it nose diving lol

[H8WOTVRS]

Don't have a clue :/ kinda silly really ! It's slightly lowered from the front , the guy before me must have thought it was need for speed or

Something !

[Brun747]

Crazy to even consider upgrades before you bottom out the coolant loss!

[stedee]

"it overheats because of the power on a standard body"

What are you on about?

It overheats because you've got a coolant problem which may be just a leak or something more serious.

No offenses but from your description car sounds like a nail

[kiddy1]

As above, you have answered your own question.

The car is overheating because you have some kind of a coolant problem.

If if were me... This would take priority over everything. What's the point in looking at upgrades if you don't have an engine?

So basically FIX IT! Lol.

[MattyD]

Doesn't a stage 3 involve more than just a remap?

[wja96]

Stage 1 is 180bhp-ish.

Stage 2 is 180-220bhp-ish

Stage 3 is 220-ish bhp and over

[H8WOTVRS]

I'm getting the coolant sorted today booked it in with a mechanic just wanted advice if anything else needed upgrading as I'd add it too the list !

[Kyle_vrs]

I'm getting the coolant sorted today booked it in with a mechanic just wanted advice if anything else needed upgrading as I'd add it too the list !

I'd ask him to just generally check it over. Also could the front springs not be snapped so it looks lowered rather than actually having lowering springs on?

[Patrickfab]

If it was a Silver VRS with a dint on the roof from the inside where the owner tried to fit a festoon bulb i'd be very careful with that car myself a friend went to view it and it was mashed had all sorts wrong with it!

[Harry1212]

Stage 1 is 180bhp-ish.

Stage 2 is 180-220bhp-ish

Stage 3 is 220-ish bhp and over

Anything after stage 1 will need some modifications, so i don't see how OP's car can be stage 3 if everything else is stock

You sure it's not stage 1??

[faboka vrs]

Stage x can be whatever you want it to be lol.

Front being lower could mean non specific vrs lowering springs.

[Avalon]

Brought a vrs fabia , what a beauty . The car is all stock apart from the front being lowered on some springs and the car being a custom stage 3 remap approx (been told 180 bhp) , the car overheats when I put my foot down I'm thinking this is due to the power of the car on the standard body! And the coolant needs refilling (currently trying to find the cause)

What shall I do ? Shall I perform any must have upgrades or what any advice would be appreciated thanks guys means a lot !

Do you have a snowballs chance in hell of getting a refund? Before you answer consider the following:

Custom stage 3 at 180bhp? A generic S1 makes 170+ so whoever said it was a S3 is talking cr@p.

Lowered on front but not rear? That's beyond stupid, the rear is easier to do than the front so why has it been bodged? Has it had a repair done on the cheap following an accident as lowering springs are sold in sets, not singles, could it be the shocks are knackered? Standard springs are inexpensive from the likes of ECP but again why was it bodged?

Also what did your insurance company say when you declared that and the 'stage 3' and comedy springs?

Your theory about why it overheats because of the 'power of the car on the standard body'? This actually scares me. You have nothing more than (if we believe the 'about 180bhp') a stage 1, clearly you have a problem with your cooling system, not the body, you're clearly out of your depth or easily taken in so consider that could be as inexpensive to fix as a loose hose that needs tightening, a pin holed radiator, duff pump/thermostat or at the other end of the expense scale the head gasket which isn't cheap.

Now, look at the service history that came with your car (i'm guessing it'll have a decent chunk of it by now) and find out when this 'beauty' last had a timing belt and pump done and how many miles/years ago was that? It should be every 4 years or 60k officially. If the pump was done last time round then I'd not expect the pump to be the issue now. Next you need to start checking the cooling system for leaks, the corners of the radiator or the hose connections would be my first guess, look for white deposits where it's evaporated, it may only leak when hot/under load. If not you may want to have a sniffer test done to confirm HGF.

Next either get two standard front springs, or 4 lowered (they aren't normally sold individually) and sort out the suspension. It should be straight forward for any competent back street garage, if you have the space and tools (inc. spring compressors) then it's an easy and straight forward job.

Now while you're at it look at when the last serviced, oil/filter, air filter, cabin filter, plugs, coolant changed, when was the brake fluid last done? Check the PAS fluid while you're at it and spend £6 on a generic VCDS compatible lead and download the free version of VCDS lite. Check the bushes, drop links, discs, pads and have a close look for evidence of damage (or new Shiney bits that suggest repair work). If your lucky it'll be a cheap fix, if not expect to be in the high hundreds to fix it if not more and find out what map is on it, if it's actually doing anything like 180bhp on the standard clutch you'll be buying/fitting a new one sooner rather than later and need a decent map.

Lesson to learn: Don't ever buy a car without taking someone who has worked on them and has basic mechanical knowledge, it can end up being expensive.

[H8WOTVRS]

The car hasn't had any accidents not recorded anyway and seems as if it hasn't been hit from the checks I've done and got mates to do , got some paper work stating rapid remap ltd custom stage 3 power remap :/ so assumed it was ,! Apparently thermostat and water pump/ bottle been changed last week as well as having a full service , has part history and doesn't state weather a pump has been done or not . Same for the clutch feels like a sports clutch but not sure still waiting to see mechanic most likely going to hand the car over Monday thanks !

[Avalon]

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/index.php?/topic/269825-Does-my-cambelt-need-changing?

Check the top cooling hose, if it hasn't been fully filled or the air purged properly it could be empty causing your car to overheat.

[royharvey]

Check the usual suspects, oil in water (thin film on top of the coolant in expansion tank) or white crud around the oil filler or dipstick, suspect some of you re-map types are blowing head gaskets from time to time.

[Harry1212]

Is it possible that the car was a stage 3 but it has been put back to standard before selling and the owner left the stage 3 custom remap on??

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[AP Automotive]

I'd be weary of the 'remap' from said company.

It certainly wont be stage 3.

You need ti be checking cooling system, head gasket for over heating issues as priority

[DanHam]

The lowering on the front and not the rear would have rung alarm bells to me before I'd handed over the cash!

[mannyo]

Rapid Remap offer a full vRS package which consists of a number of upgrades, one of which includes a GMAX lowering kit. TBH it sounds to me like the previous owner has removed as many mods as possible from that package, but decided the front springs were to difficult to remove so left them. The Rapid Remap website very poor compared to most tuners, containing simple contact us buttons for everything plus has not been updated since last summer.

The overheating issue is most likely why the previous owner sold the car, it has nothing to do with the remap. We have plenty of members running around that power with no problem, but if the map is truly a stage 3 then it should have a lot more than 180BHP and the mods to support a stage 3 map.

Hopefully the overheat is an easy fix, but it sounds like a little more if the pump, thermostat etc have already been changed.

A car in an accident does not need to be recorded anywhere unless it was written off. There are plenty of heavily damaged unrecorded cars for sale on ebay and autotrader that will be sold on to unsuspecting buyers that show HPI clear. For example look at this corsa. http://www.extremesalvage.co.uk/Current-Stock/184-Unrecorded-Vauxhall-Corsa-SRi-3Dr-X-Pack.html or this 62 plate insignia http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-62-PLATE-VAUXHALL-INSIGNIA-SRI-CDTI-10000-MLS-1-ONR-UNRECORDED-SALVAGE-/171007001190?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27d0cfc266

[H8WOTVRS]

Rapid Remap offer a full vRS package which consists of a number of upgrades, one of which includes a GMAX lowering kit. TBH it sounds to me like the previous owner has removed as many mods as possible from that package, but decided the front springs were to difficult to remove so left them. The Rapid Remap website very poor compared to most tuners, containing simple contact us buttons for everything plus has not been updated since last summer.

The overheating issue is most likely why the previous owner sold the car, it has nothing to do with the remap. We have plenty of members running around that power with no problem, but if the map is truly a stage 3 then it should have a lot more than 180BHP and the mods to support a stage 3 map.

Hopefully the overheat is an easy fix, but it sounds like a little more if the pump, thermostat etc have already been changed.

A car in an accident does not need to be recorded anywhere unless it was written off. There are plenty of heavily damaged unrecorded cars for sale on ebay and autotrader that will be sold on to unsuspecting buyers that show HPI clear. For example look at this corsa. http://www.extremesa...3Dr-X-Pack.html or this 62 plate insignia http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27d0cfc266

yeah i know what you mean it was a rapid remap aswell, what type of upgrades did it have as part of the package?!!? , the guys who i brought it off where just dealers and got it off the guy before who seemed to look after it, seems like the problem i had was the water pump which is getting changed tomorrow . Paper work says replaced rear brake pads, water pump, water bottle, theromstart, full service "customer supplied parts" £110.00 labour , i dont believe they did as they would have got the timing belt changed as well :\ ... hmmm see what happens ...