Hi all.

I have an 06 vrs. Currently seems sluggish to say the least. A friend has asked if it has a turbo? Another has pinpointed 3rd gear to be very poor.

I have been reading a lot around the forum and found certain known weak spots.

The 4 I have changed/going to change - a pcv, n75, diverter valve and coil packs. Car seems no different. First 2 not done yet last 2 are done.

Where else should I be could I be looking?

Has not had a diagnostics, so highly likely I have been changing bits for fun.

Seriously mate find someone local with vcds and hopefully get a bit of peace if mind. Where are you located?

Good day.

Yeah possibly a wise place to start. Not willing to part with 100 quids for a link to computer I must admit - maybe lookin in the wrong places?

I'm in Herts - South East England.

There is a list of members on here somewhere that own vcds. Try the diagnostics section of the site. Don't get too down, some of the guys on here would put main dealers to shame, I'm sure someone can help

Will look there - cheers!

Modern engines sometimes make you forget to start at the basic stuff first. What about a service with new plugs. If that hasn't been done for a while, that might be the issue. Air filter clogged? We shouldn't just presume because there is no engine light there isn't something up. My previous vrs needed two maf sensors in the 8 years i had it. Both times the car felt like you describe, really sluggish no performance. Both times no fault code. Try unplugging the maf to see if the car runs better. If it does thats the problem. Another one caught me out twice for a week anyway, binding brake calipers. Go for a spin then check all the discs for excessive heat. Is the car using loads of fuel?

Modern engines sometimes make you forget to start at the basic stuff first. What about a service with new plugs. If that hasn't been done for a while, that might be the issue. Air filter clogged? We shouldn't just presume because there is no engine light there isn't something up. My previous vrs needed two maf sensors in the 8 years i had it. Both times the car felt like you describe, really sluggish no performance. Both times no fault code. Try unplugging the maf to see if the car runs better. If it does thats the problem. Another one caught me out twice for a week anyway, binding brake calipers. Go for a spin then check all the discs for excessive heat. Is the car using loads of fuel?

Absolutely , I drove my wifes VRS Octy after a long break and it felt really sluggish , checked the air filter and it was minging ! Ran it round the block without one and it was back to normal , easy fix

I think we all presume the car is going to tell us everything but they don't always. My car ran for months like the op describes it was driving me nuts. Eventually i traced it to the maf sensor just by unplugging it. Straight away the car was transformed. But no cel light ever came on.

Thanks for the pointers. Tried the maf unplug, no difference as to when it is plugged in. Done the usual and assumed the previous owner has had it serviced...a garage receipt marries up with when he said. Then again, you never really do know.

Maybe a service and see how is?

Brakes are hot but would they also smell? Fuel consumption based on the onboard gizmo is rarely over 27mpg. Driving too and from work I see between 22 and 25 but only a 5 mile run one way. Only other thing I can think to help is a smell from the engine area when been pushed a little, most like burning oil than anything else I would think.

If the brake is just starting to bind on it would slow the car down enough. My brakes weren't smelling i caught them early. Just trying to throw some ideas at you really could be anything. Can you hear your turbo spooling? It sounds like it's in limp mode but again they don't always throw a code up.

Does "limp" mode limit the car by speed/revs in any particular gear? To me it sounds just like engine noise, is the turbo spooling distinctive or drowned by engine noise? Not entirely sure what I'm listening for. As far as I'm aware all gears up to and including 3rd go to redline and it seems to shift but not feel quite right. If that makes any sense. Is it just really very subtle acceleration? :s

I'm not sure on the mk2 petrol but on the mk1 vrs you can hear the turbo whistling. Very noticeable. But now and again when it dropped into limp mode you couldn't hear the turbo. It basically ran like a 1.8 without the t!!

Thanks for the pointers. Tried the maf unplug, no difference as to when it is plugged in. Done the usual and assumed the previous owner has had it serviced...a garage receipt marries up with when he said. Then again, you never really do know.

Maybe a service and see how is?

Brakes are hot but would they also smell? Fuel consumption based on the onboard gizmo is rarely over 27mpg. Driving too and from work I see between 22 and 25 but only a 5 mile run one way. Only other thing I can think to help is a smell from the engine area when been pushed a little, most like burning oil than anything else I would think.

I used to have a diesel mondeo which was behaving like this - sluggish like it had no turbo and crap fuel economy. Spent a lot of time and money on diagnostics, several garages looked and suggested replacing stuff like turbo, injectors etc. It was full of main dealer service stamps, but obviously not a single garage thought to pop open the airbox as I did weeks after starting to troubleshoot it. The air filter was so clogged it had been misshaped into a curved mess where it had been pulled upwards. £5 on a new one and it was back to normal.

The air filter is a bit of a pig to get to on the tfsi but that's all the more reason why a garage might not bother during a service. These things can and do get missed/ignored - regularly

Edited 3 June, 201511 yr by iaind1

and fuel filter

I'm not sure on the mk2 petrol but on the mk1 vrs you can hear the turbo whistling. Very noticeable. But now and again when it dropped into limp mode you couldn't hear the turbo. It basically ran like a 1.8 without the t!!

 

Turbo is pretty much inaudible in the TFSI.

 

TFSI should pull like a train especially in 3rd.  Unless your mates are used to very powerful cars they would notice the acceleration.

 

I never had this issue with mine so hard to give advice. Starting with a scan and maybe changing filters sounds like a good start. TBH a basic service would do the car no harm. I had mine on annual servicing which I think kept the engine healthy.

 

Wouldn't bother changing the coil packs unless they go wrong. They were probably done as part of a  recall some years ago.

 

MPG sounds about right if your commute is in urban areas.

Edited 3 June, 201511 yr by Aspman

Agree. If it was mine, quick scan just to double check, then go right through from the start. Filters, oil, plugs, clean the maf, check for sticky brakes after that. I'm kind of at the same stage with mine at the moment. No air filter box ticked anywhere in the service book after 10 years!! So all service stuff bought plus gearbox oil. But it does feel like it's holding back a little bit. Checked the rear discs after work last night and both were hot so that could be the issue. The rear calipers seem to be awful on Skodas. My mk1 had two sets in 8 years.

If you get a hold of someone with VCDS, make sure that in addition to reading the errors you also do some logs while driving. E.g. in 3rd, from 2000rpm to 6000rpm and log e.g. requested vs actual boost (measuring block 115 under Engine in VCDS). Then you can nicely plot it in excel and see if the boost is there. 

Thanks for the pointers/tips.

Any reason why 3rd would appear to play up or is it more noticeable there due to being the go to gear?

Also just while I'm thinking of it, do these cars always take a couple of chugs (still one key turn tho) to start?

Saying that looks like first things first, service, check the basics and a vcds scan.

Will update as and when of any difference.

Thanks again everyone.

Thanks for the pointers/tips.

Also just while I'm thinking of it, do these cars always take a couple of chugs (still one key turn tho) to start?

 

 

Can take a little more to get started than you might consider correct especially if the battery is old or (and) if the weather is cold. If the car is on its original battery it is probably getting a tired.

Mine was an 07 and I was thinking it needed a new battery at 6yr old.

 

TFSI like super unleaded or branded 95RON (Shell etc)

 

I only ever ran mine on supermarket 99RON (no branded garage nearby), it really didn't like supermarket 95RON. Made the car feel heavy.

Edited 3 June, 201511 yr by Aspman

Looks like a to do list is created.

I use the shell nitro one think it's 98 Ron?

Tesco and bp do a 99 - but dubious of supermarkets selling fuel and don't like bp.

Some one had superglued the air filter - is this a trade secret or not very wise?

What do you mean "someone had superglued the filter"?

Well I took it out to find it had lines of I assume glue down the length of the filter, holding it rigid.

I can only assume this to be to make it easier to keep in place , but I would assume keeping the paper very tightly packed would make it restrictive?

I have a replacement on order now I know it's correct dimensions.

That sounds......odd

 

When I replaced mine, it can be a bit tricky to get it to stay in the right place while you close up the airbox so thought you meant someone had glued around the edges to keep it in place.

Working in the filter manufacturing business, a bead of glue down the centre is there to add rigidity to stop deforming when there is pressure from air being sucked through. It also helps (to a little extent) to hold the filter media at regular intervals to help aid volume of air passing through.

It's normal on some filters from the manufacturer, e.g. http://gallery.xpowerforums.com/data/515/medium/IMGP0192.JPG  the filter on the right has a bead of glue down the centre

Working in the filter manufacturing business

 

 

Apologies for the thread hijack - how do you rate Ramair versus the likes of K&N or ITG?