Tombo's Rough VRS

[Tombo1]

So haven't had this motor long, around week and half.... Now I have always heard great things about these Skodas but couldn't get my head into the idea of owning a 'Skoda' after recent turn of events - more mileage and investing in my first home I decided I needed a diesel again and something with fair room and pleasing to the eye.

 

I had a very narrow budget so knew my options for a VRS wouldn't be top end and I would end up with a not so desirable version.

 

I saw the following add literally 4miles from home so I thought I would check it out, was priced well out of my range but just wanted to drive one.

 

 

it looked to be played about with, so I met the guy and drove it, considering it had the coilovers, banded steels, a few other assortments I decided I liked it, but not at his price. I had to take into account it had no service history but for the sake of parts I could get this sorted easily. I went home to have a good think if I wanted to spend the extra over my original budget.

 

I carried out a HPI and discovered she was a CAT D write off, I told the owner I liked the car but it was a category D write off and what I wanted to pay for it was way below anything he would consider. He was mortified to find out the car was a CAT D, I forwarded him all the reports and a deal was done.

 

That weekend I sorted out the sagging front splitter, took off the roof racks, and removed that god awful top strap? did a few other things and gave it a damn good clean.

 

 

Aesthetically, It needs new wheels.... not sure Im a fan of the banded steels, needs the arches repainted as who ever rolled the arches did a poor job and the paint has flaking, while its in I guess I will have the flairs flattened and hopefully get it looking as it should, exhaust is out of line but that's just minor adjustments.

 

After 1 and half week of ownership and 500miles, it hadn't missed a beat....... until Friday morning, on the way to my local garage for a cambelt change and service (no history so wanted it all documented from now on) she decided to die on my while cruising at 70 on the motorway, started losing power, I changed down to 5th picked up the revs and she came back to life.... 10miles later.... did it again???? then literally 2miles away from the garage all hell broke lose, shutting down coughing and spluttering, felt like it was being starved of fuel. Im hoping its something like the fuel filter as that will be solved with its service, but it has also picked up a camshaft position sensor fault so for the sake of 30quid im changing that too.

 

Lets hope she lives again.........

 

until then im having to roll around in this gutsy *****.... seriously gone from 60mpg to 18...... great!!!

 

[Tombo1]

Browsing Google searches looking for inspiration with wheels I found these old pics of my car????

 

is this car known on here? previous owner on here?

 

 

Edited 29 June, 2014 by Tombo1

[Kyle_vrs]

Can't say I've seen it on here and I've been on for nearly 2 years now. Looks nice though in the pics, I bet the wheels would look good in white! Did you get it sorted out in the end?

[Tombo1]

Didn't realise this had been replied...

 

It turned out to be a cam position sensor failure in the end, although not a plug and play fix.....Some previous owner had tampered with the wiring loom in an attempt to cover and temp fix the cam position sensor failure...... 

 

ridiculous really as the part was only £36 quid! but the loom had to be repaired to accommodate it. 

 

Other than that she has been fantastic and now covered 3k+ and for a rough one putting plenty of smiles on my face. 

 

With regards to the wheels, ive been toying between silver and white for a long time.... not a fan of them in black, although wouldn't mind swapping them for a standard set if im honest.

[Tombo1]

Finally something to change, Bands Gone!

 

[Tombo1]

Havent updated this in a while, its been almost 2 years of a neglect for this car. i purchased my first home and litterally used the car as a van which left it tired looking and marked. In all fairness considering it was one of the cheapest cars ive ever purchased its actually been the best ive had. 

 

I had been looking for months for a new car yet for some reason struggle to part with this Fabia as ive become somewhat attached to it....... i then decided if its staying im having one of these purchased and delivered last week.

 

its an Xman special GT17/52 i know some may think thats a mild hybrid to go for however this is my everyday car and chews miles so i want it sensible.

 

 

So i then got it fitted on the thursday and booked into Narco Tuning last saturday 12th, to be honest i was very excited about this...

 

 

in truth i didn't know what to expect, once the turbo was fitted i knew it needed setting up and it was very flat in comparison to previous so i made the drive up from South Wales to Coventry and arrived desperate to get it resolved.

 

Adam at Narco set about it straight away and made some adjustments, and started the mapping process. On the test run she decided to blow off the lower boost hose having never run as much boost before, once repaired i took it for a quick road test and i must say compared to standard it was a totally different car... i knew having a sidemount intercooler and standard downpipe would restrict it alot but the way it went i was shocked but happy.

 

She then went on the rollers and all hell broke loose, she was pulling 187bhp and decent torque before Adam aborted the run..... Inlet Temps reached 98degrees in seconds..... to say my sidemount is fit for the bin is an understatement couldnt even touch the pipes... for the safety of the car Adam detuned its power and advised a front mount was needed urgently.... 

 

In all fairness i was devastated but at least the car and turbo will be ok so Today ive purchase myself a seat sport front mount, darkside hardpipe kit and an xman downpipe along with a EGR delete..... once fitted i will be getting myself back up to Narco to see if i can get past the 200 mark with a nice and safe clutch friendly torque curve.

 

Cant thank Adam and Xman enough so far well recommended.  

[Hardcore]

That's really high for the inlet temps! I've heard of people having hybrids fitted on the standard side mount intercooler and getting around 200bhp so no idea what temps they're hitting!

[Tombo1]

Yea Adam said i should be around 45-55 max! my cooler is just awful he believes that its damaged internally and as a result its not doing anything. Saying that only the day before he had a Mk4 golf with GT17/49 turbo and just a decat with a standard sidemount pulling 204.... however that sidemount was obviously working. 

 

Cant wait to get my front mount on and see where i am with it. 

[Hardcore]

My old PD130 Ibiza FR was standard except from a turbo back exhaust and it used to hit 77c on the standard intercooler. They're terrible.
What FMIC will you be going for?

[Tombo1]

I purchased a darkside kit, I wanted the hardpipe kit, get that on there over the weekend and my xman downpipe and she should be good. Sidemount are a terrible design.

[stevobeavo]

With the darkside kit I doubt you'll see over 30 degrees unless it's a very hot day.

Cars looking good though. Keep you the good work.

[Tombo1]

I sure hope they will be nice and low. 

 

She only looks good from a distance.... she be very rough. 

[Tombo1]

So had a bit of an update today, got the De cat fitted, cooler and EGR delete all ready for a second attempt at mapping. 

 

what a nightmare to get the cooler on!!!

 

 

in all fairness seems to drive different already and the inlet pipes seem very cool after some spirited driving.... excellent

[Tombo1]

So today i went back to Narco Tuning after the mount was fitted to get some final tweeks..... to be fair im more than happy with Narco but my car once again let me down....

 

first thing soon as i pulled up i parked up and shut the car down after a 2 hour drive.... started back up to pull into the unit and woah!!! power steering like and no power steering, gotta be kidding me!!!!! Adam let me use his tools and i ripped the front end off to inspect and found nothing untoward so just put it back together and thought i will worry about getting home later.

 

Back on the rollers this time with the front mount

 

 

All was going well, inlet temp were normal (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!) but the next problem happened on the power run.

 

 

I thought she made great power and was more than i was expecting however the torque is very low, 290lbs ft??? this is the peak where the clutch gave in.... so i guess i am now saving for an uprated clutch, my question is can anyone give some advise on what clutches they are using on their hybrids? id like to be at least around 340lbs ft ish? maybe a little less for lastability. 

 

Some clutch advise would be a real help, as the search is overwhelming. 

Edited 28 March, 2016 by Tombo1

[stevobeavo]

I have a sachs 4 paddle clutch. It's heavy, on/off until yo get used to it but will soak up abuse. I also have a uprated sachs dmf (according to unit 18) but I can't find any info on the net about these.

[Hardcore]

Max Torque clutches on the Facebook pages seems to be gaining a good reputation quickly.
Xman Turbos does upgraded kits as well.
Can't go wrong with Helix or Sachs stuff either as long as it's the upgraded items.
 

[Tombo1]

Havent updated this in a long time and now looking for a little advise...

 

Finally had my clutch sorted out and took it for 'Final' mapping yesterday...... unfortunately it was discovered that my turbo GT17/52 hybrid has a fault and the heat shield has failed.I have a GT17/56 on its way to replace.

 

I have typed GT17/56 in the search bar trying to aquire more info but my searches keep coming up as 'no match' what i need to know is what size reducer pipe do i need for between intake and turbo?

 

thanks 

[stevobeavo]

I wouldn't have thought so. Nearly all hybrids use the same housing and have different sized compressor wheels.

[tonysandberg]

On the old picture you found it looks almost candy red... really nice! I like the look with the steelies.

[Tombo1]

So the 'saga' continued, the replacement hybrid GT17/56 failed immediately on start up, bellowing oil out its rear end, faulty oil seals. Considering this was a new hybrid and the possibility of 240BHP and 350Lbs Ft torque i was gutted to say the least and this was the final straw. 

 

I ended up settling for a PD150 unit from midland turbo and i have to be honest the quality of the turbo looked outstanding along with its 2 year warranty. Seeing as my old map would be requesting almost 2bar of boost i decided to not even attempt to squeeze the angry pedal until i had it mapped to suit. 

 

So i took a trip fourth time lucky coming here.... 

 

Back to Narco tuning, Adam has always been helpful and provided great knowledge, After re writing the map it was uploaded to the car and a few road tests and logs were taken although it was warm at the time so i was concerned the affect this would have when starting power runs. 

 

We had several different figure on the runs..... these are the ones i remember;

 

191.2bhp, 311.4Lbs Ft

199.6bhp, 304.9Lbs Ft

204.8bhp, 300.Lbs Ft. 

 

I mentioned to Adam, what i really wanted was the initial punch, and said to increase levels of torque regardless if it sacrificed BHP.

 

in the end this was the result.. albeit on a hot day and being the 8th power run the car was warm and it was getting late in the day. 

 

 

The car certainly drives well, and is very smooth and punchy with the PD150 turbo, i do feel it runs out of puff as the revs. Even though i have a big increase in torque over my results on the hybrid with her slipping clutch the car isnt as quick as it was.... I am happy though, and feel i made the best of a bad situation.

 

Might start saving for GTB and some nozzles and change it next year...... 

[stevobeavo]

If you what a pd150 hybrid, a AET hybrid will push 230/240bhp reliably. and Ali at unit 18 makes turbos to his own spec. His gtb turbo looks a serious bit of kit, unlike any gtb turbo I've seen before. Will push 260-270bhp all day.

Glad you've finally got the car all sorted

Edited 25 September, 2016 by stevobeavo

[Tombo1]

Hi Mate, I think if i do put a new turbo on it again in the future it would be a GTB in all fairness. In hindsight i wish i had just gone to known turbo builder and as all the extra costs caused with my troubles it would have been cheaper to go all out to start with. 

 

Live and learn they say, but as she is now running well with what she has, time to chew up some miles.