Hi all,

I am new to the forum - said Hi the other day in the newbies area. My new purchase (mk1 octavia VRS estate, black magic) is ready to undergo its first round of improvements. I thought I might put up a quick outline of what i am planning to do, and see if anyone has any prior experience or can see some pitfalls I dont know of. I am only really interested in doing stuff to the car that makes it go faster and handle better, and the more stealthy the better...So, I plan to get these items fitted;

- eibach front and rear ARB set, 25mm

- spring and damper kit, 30mm drop, probably the KW weitec setup - I am worried about the driveshafts clonking the ARB so does anyone know if this combination works ok?

- rebush the whole car with stiffer poly bushes - unsure of which brand though?

- remap - I dont want something mental, just a better spread of torque whilst also retaining some fuel economy, so I am unsure of who to go to, and which map (I live in the south BTW). The engine is in good order overall, I have fault coded it and there wasnt anything showing, and it seems to pull well, although there is a bit of a flat spot at the bottom of the range.

- The stock brakes seem good enough to me so they can stay

SO - what essentials have I missed, and does anyone have any pointers on the above?

Cosmetics wise, all i plan to do is get the wheels refurbed and sprayed gunmetal; debadge it, get the windows tinted, and fit a new stereo. Easy!

Jim

...sorry, also, some kind of cold air intake system too so if anyone has one for sale then get in touch; also any recommendations on what works well in this area.

cheers.

hi mate, welcome!

You are on the right lines with all your thoughts, the 25mm rear arb is a great bar, just make sure the front is not too thick.

good tyres, the dog bone mount is a must too, as it helps stop wheel hop/slip.

do kw do a spring and shock setup? haven't looked lately, that would be good, more comfy than coilovers which can be a little uncomfy (if you are the wrong side of 30!).

As for bushes superpro are great, imo less harsh than powerflex.

Don't waste your time (or money) on a CAI, just get a decent panel filter, the difference is so negligable its not worth the money.

As for map, r-tech seem to be the hotword when it comes to 20v mapping in the VAG scene, I have run one of there maps with success myself so they get a vote from me.

I have a golf r32 23mm front bar and eibach 25mm rear and seems to work well,

Superpro appear to be the choice altho am running cast arms with there offset castor bushs,

3in cold air feed from lower bumper grill run down side of battery to airbox or induction kit if you want abit more noise,

If your thinking of mapping it then budget for a new clutch a few months later preferably g60/vr6 conversion

If your thinking of mapping it then budget for a new clutch a few months later preferably g60/vr6 conversion

Not that it's compulsory to drive like an ar$ehole ALL the time...

But then I struggle when there is an open road in front of me, and no passengers.

And now that mappers like R-tech are getting more and more HP out of this engine with minimal mods 'tis probably not a bad idea.

Back to the OP, yer certainly on the right track by the sounds of it.

An aftermarket diverter valve may be a good idea too, as these are often run really hard with remaps.

Also, it won't be long before the y-shaped breather pipe out the side of the rocker cover goes t1t$ up, and probably the lower breather pipe with it, so I suggest looking towards silicon replacements if you intend to keep this motor for any length of time.

As for brakes, they are okay, but it's a tricky one if wanting to upgrade. Decent pads like Ferrodo DS2500 make a good difference, but they are expensive. There are plenty of system upgrade options, but then you're getting into spending territory that a better car would reap far bigger rewards.

Not that it's compulsory to drive like an ar$ehole ALL the time...

But then I struggle when there is an open road in front of me, and no passengers.

...

True. My car has been mapped for 100,000km now and still on original clutch.

True. My car has been mapped for 100,000km now and still on original clutch.

My standard clutch lasted a similar amount of miles on an aggressive stage 1 map. So don't feel obliged to, but G60 flywheels and VR6 clutch feel **** loads better than Dual mass ones.

A lot of the good stuff has already been said.

The essential stuff for me was:

Big Rear ARB

Stage 1 Map

Superpro Dogbone bush

Big CAI (as i like noise)

If you wanted to get for Stage 2 spec pretty much everything in my signature, plus big turbo intake pipe and big downpipe.

Depends how deep your pockets are and how much you're wanting to push on for! My goal is 250bhp and 300lbft of torque so a good wedge of cash involved. But its a bug!

Ok, its all been ordered - KW suspension, F & R ARBs, polybush kit for the whole car, plus a panel filter. i have no money left now so somebody will have to fit it all for free.... ;-)

once its all on, I will report back. My expectations are that it will be MUCH more tied down and focussed, albeit the tradeoff being more harshness. Wont know until i get it back.

it should be from what you are doing!

might be worth doing tie rod ends, balljoints and droplinks whilst you are at it.

which kws did you go for?

good luck with the free fitting thing lol

And when fitting ball joints, don't go for aftermarket, as they'll only let the rest of the car down. Stick with OEM parts from TPS, or Lemforder parts (which are the same as OEM). Don't go for any others, even those that say they're "Heavy Duty" as they're all a load of tosh, and you'll be replacing them again next year. Buy cheap, buy twice.

Providing you set it up sensibly, harsh may not come into it so much. vRS stock suspension is quite harsh from new as it is not really progressive enough, but decent KW's should be.

just to be clear, I havent purchased KW coilovers - the setup is a springs and dampers package, specifically the Weitec (i.e. not actually KW - they call it KW by Weitec I believe), plus a set of KW ARBS (25mm rear and 22mm adjustable front).

good point actually - front roll stiffness, does anyone have any pointers? I want the car to be a bit 'on the nose' and I dont mind it wagging its tail a bit.

if u drop the front end it won't wag its tail ….. i have an vrs estate and have lowered with coil overs but haven't done the poly bushes or roll bars etc yet …. i find it goes where i point it