After a smooth ferry crossing to Cherbourg we set off down through France and the VRS has munched through the miles effortlessly, the only alarm so far was the tyre pressure warning came on, I put in a few pounds and all has been well since.

 

MPG is surprisingly good on the M-Way doing 130Kph she was doing about 33 to the gallon, power wise the TSI engine is a peach, she can really shift when she wants to, but as ever I am letting the engine bed in and not ragging it.

 

I hope to add a few more pix over the next few days and keep you updated on the VRS performance.

 

 

It is great to read you're enjoying your vRS, I look forward to reading more posts, I am due to get mine soon so it's nice to read good reports.

Hopefully the TPM shouldn't bother you again.

I'm loving mine, on a recent trip earlier today over 200 miles I managed a respectable 43.2mpg!!! Best has been 46.7mpg!!

 

Peach of an engine is true and bearing in mind APR has cracked the ECU and have achieved 325bhp on a stage 1 tune,...who know's what it will be capable of! 

Hey Tel, is that APR stuff for real ?

Not diss-ing anybody but those are real big claims

Fabulous engine. The only powerplant that is deserving of the vRS moniker.

Hey Tel, is that APR stuff for real ?

Not diss-ing anybody but those are real big claims

I see where you are coming from as they are indeed big claims, however VW's boss has confirmed that this new engine is very capable and easily able to handle 350bhp + so if APR have cracked the ECU code, it could be possible. I'm not sure on exactly 325bhp though although anything around the 300bhp mark would be a lot of fun,....

APR's claims are TUV approved, so all you MK3 TSI owning peeps are very lucky.

What would of cost £2K+ on a MK2 and involve lots of hardwear changes can be done with just software on the MK3.

Fabulous engine. The only powerplant that is deserving of the vRS moniker.

In your opinion of course Harry :coffee:

I found my VRS tsi a brilliant companion on my Euro trip round France last week. Did 1700 miles down to the Dordogne and back, averaging between 39 and 40 mpg and I also found it just devoured the miles. i actually avoided a lot of the motorways as well, just for fun!

The TSI is a good tourer - just did a 350 mile motorway journey and the experience was great. Looking forward to a 1900 mile roundtrip to Sweden. Germany's western de-restricted motorways are calling! 

 

Last time i did this trip we had a diesel polo and only managed 115mph downhill with the wind behind. This time we should be looking at 140 - 150. Has anyone got near the top speed?

I did a 125 mph once and the engine still felt strong and like it had more to give. Had to back down d/t safety reasons though. This was on a closed road with no traffic/pedestrians, before anyone questions the legality.

 

That APR stage 1 looks reeeally tempting to be honest.

I did a 125 mph once and the engine still felt strong and like it had more to give. Had to back down d/t safety reasons though. This was on a closed road with no traffic/pedestrians, before anyone questions the legality.

 

That APR stage 1 looks reeeally tempting to be honest.

 

Are there any remaping options already on the market for new tsi? I could only find MTM, but it is so expansive that I would need to sell my kidney to buy it. Waiting for revo and bsr.

I see where you are coming from as they are indeed big claims, however VW's boss has confirmed that this new engine is very capable and easily able to handle 350bhp + so if APR have cracked the ECU code, it could be possible. I'm not sure on exactly 325bhp though although anything around the 300bhp mark would be a lot of fun,....

No I"m not knocking the specifics but, the overall yes I can smell BS.

105 bhp for JUST a remap cost on an unbroken by anyone else ECU platform, thats the bit I'm having trouble swallowing

I see where you are coming from as they are indeed big claims, however VW's boss has confirmed that this new engine is very capable and easily able to handle 350bhp + so if APR have cracked the ECU code, it could be possible. I'm not sure on exactly 325bhp though although anything around the 300bhp mark would be a lot of fun,....

Endurance level -200 miles? AT 20 mpg!

Endurance level -200 miles? AT 20 mpg!

Rest assured I've had some bad experiences with remaps, one lasted about 2k miles before recking my ecu on a prior car, however the VW group turbos seem more resilient and the 2 x GTI's I've had have always mapped well and lasted without any problems. I reckon you're right re the the 20 mpg, after all and as you know, when you have 300+ bhp it is really hard to resist that urge!

Rest assured I've had some bad experiences with remaps, one lasted about 2k miles before recking my ecu on a prior car, however the VW group turbos seem more resilient and the 2 x GTI's I've had have always mapped well and lasted without any problems. I reckon you're right re the the 20 mpg, after all and as you know, when you have 300+ bhp it is really hard to resist that urge!

How can a remap wreck an ecu after 2k miles. If it was going to damage an ecu it would do straight away. I used to work for a Revo dealer and also remapped various other makes. Never once did we "wreck" an ecu. You could wreck engine components possibly if it was a really bad map. I imagine economy wouldn't be that bad as you wouldn't have to use as much throttle due to the extra torque. Realistically on public roads you could only use full throttle for short blasts eg overtaking with that level of power. My mk2 is remapped and economy is same as standard (average about 36mpg over varied driving)- generally use the extra power for overtakes.

How can a remap wreck an ecu after 2k miles. If it was going to damage an ecu it would do straight away. I used to work for a Revo dealer and also remapped various other makes. Never once did we "wreck" an ecu. You could wreck engine components possibly if it was a really bad map. I imagine economy wouldn't be that bad as you wouldn't have to use as much throttle due to the extra torque. Realistically on public roads you could only use full throttle for short blasts eg overtaking with that level of power. My mk2 is remapped and economy is same as standard (average about 36mpg over varied driving)- generally use the extra power for overtakes.

Suspecr what telboy may have been eluding to is that the ECU was cut open to allow the biggy-back remap but then may not have been adequately re-sealed. Moisture ingress then over time kills the electronics. That has been known to happen. Just guessing really but the most likely cause for a dead ECU after a map. Agree a port flash (on a non encrypted/cracked ECU) is never likely to damage hardware.

As you'll well know some remapping outfits are more competent than others.

Edited 30 May, 201412 yr by pipsyp

How can a remap wreck an ecu after 2k miles. If it was going to damage an ecu it would do straight away. I used to work for a Revo dealer and also remapped various other makes. Never once did we "wreck" an ecu. You could wreck engine components possibly if it was a really bad map. I imagine economy wouldn't be that bad as you wouldn't have to use as much throttle due to the extra torque. Realistically on public roads you could only use full throttle for short blasts eg overtaking with that level of power. My mk2 is remapped and economy is same as standard (average about 36mpg over varied driving)- generally use the extra power for overtakes.

Easy tiger, let me clarify,

 

I had one of the new Clio RS EDC's with the 1.6 turbo engine, it was used as a development car for a remap and all was going well until I started getting errors to do with injectors, exhaust, timing, hill start (wtf) etc etc. Renault basically advised that the ECU had logged over 15 faults due to the remap and had declared it as faulty. Renault cleared the faults and I put the car back to stock and all was fine, as soon as I tried to load the map on, the errors came back, despite the car being in with the mapping company several times for adjustments. Renault were great to be honest as they knew I was in to remapping and even show cased the car once it had been mapped so weren't against me doing it.

 

Renault reckon that the perimeters of the map were all wrong in a couple of key areas, however the mapping company have now resolved this issue and I believe the cars are now running ok.

 

Unfortunately for me, it meant Renault would not cover my ECU under warranty due to several issues and deemed it needing to be replaced and whilst the mapping company were going to pay for a new ECU, it was a hard fight to prove who was at fault before the mapping company would cough up.

 

So in a nut shell, the map did ruin the ECU as it needed to be replaced for Renault to honour future warranty claims.

 

I'm so up for mapping cars and as already mentioned, have done many and will when the right one comes along for the VRS,...I mean, come on, who wouldn't want 325bhp and 360flbt!!

Easy tiger, let me clarify,

I had one of the new Clio RS EDC's with the 1.6 turbo engine, it was used as a development car for a remap and all was going well until I started getting errors to do with injectors, exhaust, timing, hill start (wtf) etc etc. Renault basically advised that the ECU had logged over 15 faults due to the remap and had declared it as faulty. Renault cleared the faults and I put the car back to stock and all was fine, as soon as I tried to load the map on, the errors came back, despite the car being in with the mapping company several times for adjustments. Renault were great to be honest as they knew I was in to remapping and even show cased the car once it had been mapped so weren't against me doing it.

Renault reckon that the perimeters of the map were all wrong in a couple of key areas, however the mapping company have now resolved this issue and I believe the cars are now running ok.

Unfortunately for me, it meant Renault would not cover my ECU under warranty due to several issues and deemed it needing to be replaced and whilst the mapping company were going to pay for a new ECU, it was a hard fight to prove who was at fault before the mapping company would cough up.

So in a nut shell, the map did ruin the ECU as it needed to be replaced for Renault to honour future warranty claims.

I'm so up for mapping cars and as already mentioned, have done many and will when the right one comes along for the VRS,...I mean, come on, who wouldn't want 325bhp and 360flbt!!

First time I've heard of an ecu needing replaced as a result. Sounds like the software was really bad causing all the fault codes....that doesn't wreck an ecu though. You then mention that it was put back to standard and car ran fine....proving the software was an issue and the ecu itself was fine. They then tried reloading the tubed file and car still had issues...therefore still a software issue. Then after all this Renault say it needs a new ecu. Could the original file not be put back on by the tuning company? From the way I've read this car was tuned, had issues, put back to standard and ran fine, then tuning company tried a few more attempts but no avail and at this point you needed a new ecu? By the way I'm not having a go at yourself just trying to understand why you had to pay for a new ecu. I would certainly have expected the tuning company to pay for it. Presumably they had insurance to cover any issues such as this?

First time I've heard of an ecu needing replaced as a result. Sounds like the software was really bad causing all the fault codes....that doesn't wreck an ecu though. You then mention that it was put back to standard and car ran fine....proving the software was an issue and the ecu itself was fine. They then tried reloading the tubed file and car still had issues...therefore still a software issue. Then after all this Renault say it needs a new ecu. Could the original file not be put back on by the tuning company? From the way I've read this car was tuned, had issues, put back to standard and ran fine, then tuning company tried a few more attempts but no avail and at this point you needed a new ecu? By the way I'm not having a go at yourself just trying to understand why you had to pay for a new ecu. I would certainly have expected the tuning company to pay for it. Presumably they had insurance to cover any issues such as this?

No worries mate,

 

It was the file that was causing the issues, however whilst it ran fine in stock mode, there were still the odd error codes that came back in stock mode. Renault said due to the map, they wouldn't fork out replacing it, however as mentioned, tuning company did via their insurance I believe, I'm sure it was about £1,500 from memory??

 

The experience wasn't great as at one point neither Renault nor the tuning company would budge.

 

I do like remapping though and if the price is right, will be tuning the MK3 VRS TSI,..

Ah ok. At least you got it sorted in the end. Remap for the mk3 sounds very impressive. Would definitely do it when I come to replace my mk2 vrs.

Time for a final update on the French trip, I had no internet access while in St Gouéno at the Hillclimb and its being hectic since we got back…

 

The car is a joy to drive and you can leave most others in a cloud of smoke behind if you wish, in France it was effortless cruising on the M-Way at 130Kph and very comfortable too.

 

The car attracted a lot of attention where ever we parked, I even had the boys in Blue follow me out of Cherbourg and shadow me for a few Km’s in the outside lane a few hundred mtrs back, I suppose when they saw I was not misbehaving they finally overtook us and my daughter waved to them and they waved back!

 

MPG wise it was telling me I was doing 37-38 MPG, which for a new car I think its good, I got 42 MPG today just poodling about..

 

While in France we visited UTAH Beach and at one stage we were in the middle of a convoy of American trucks with troops onboard, and every junction had MP’s on duty, it was like being back in 1944, spooky, we also stopped by Le Mont Saint Michel stunning views.

 

We also visited the car museum at LoHeac and its amazing well worth a visit, we stopped by a Tank museum and you never really realise just how big a Tank is until you are beside it, the Panzer was massive in size..

 

I was only just back when we had a 3am dash to hospital with my daughter who gave birth to our granddaughter just after 6am and the car was exceptional!!

 

Overall the VRS is an excellent machine in everyway  and I can’t fault it in anyway, and with the seats down it makes a ok B&B

 

For those who want see what we got up to in St Gouéno the pictures are here…

 

 

 

Congrats on both a good tour and safe delivery of your granddaughter,.. :clap: