2001 Octavia Tdi (90) hatch- The Miserly Missile

[WoodieGuthrie]

Hi, thought I'd start a project thread for my newly acquired Octavia Hatch.

I've driven a fair few of these over the years, and always been inpressed with them, so when I was looking for a diesel commuter they seemed like the obvious choice..

This one came up fairly locally for a nice price.

Its a 90bhp Ambiente with 2 owners from new.

185k miles on the clock, and MOT til Dec 15.

Bodily it is in good condition, but the interior needs some work.

The ultimate goal is to build a comfy, releatively quick mile muncher that is frugal on the old veg oil..

To that end I'll be doing a fair bit of reading and question asking, so I'd be grateful for any help:)

[WoodieGuthrie]

Is there any reason why I can't add pics of the interior to this post?

Its the cars best feature;)

[DanHarper]

Is there any reason why I can't add pics of the interior to this post?

Its the cars best feature;)

 

You won't be able to edit the original post past a few minutes without Freedom. I made the same error before

[WoodieGuthrie]

You won't be able to edit the original post past a few minutes without Freedom. I made the same error before

I meant when I went to put up a 2nd post..

Thanks for the reply!

[WoodieGuthrie]

This evening a mini valeting took place..

I've already been admonished on twitter due to a lack of "bucket shot";)

What do we think?

Poor garage vacuum got hammered for 30 mins or so, and then the old wipes came out for super speedy swipery..

The pile of wipes is what came off the drivers door/dash steering wheel/ centre console.

The engine bay can wait for another day!

|http://thumbsnap.com/kZhBXcwo

|http://thumbsnap.com/3HSmFq2Q

|http://thumbsnap.com/ffGU81fo

|http://thumbsnap.com/2y32QNwE

|http://thumbsnap.com/vOWruVOj

[WoodieGuthrie]

Now that it is almost fit to sit in, I'll run it up to the unit for a stripdown and look..

Key elements for checking:

Condition of brakes (known fault present)

Condition of Dampers

Condition of other suspension componants

Condition of tyres

Condition of bodywork

Condition of underside

brake lines

fuel lines

Condition of fuel filter

engine oil condition

coolant conditon

fuelpump seals

air filter

pollen filter

Cambelt inspection.

Based on the outcome of that little perusal I'll see if she's worth the spending on.

If work is to go ahead, it'll likely be brakes first, followed by a full service.

Is the cambelt relatively simple on these?

[WoodieGuthrie]

Took 5 mins to solve the riddle of the braking issue..

And got some bonus e30 action in too:)

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/starting-****efest-shenanigans-and-skoda-sleuthing/

[WoodieGuthrie]

Got a wheen of parts due soon for this so it should be on the road by the weekend.

Also used the 335i as a veg hauler to get 100L home ready for the octy to drink

[WoodieGuthrie]

First run from cold to the station. 10 mins in town traffic at 8am..

Even if it is 10%optimistic, its still nigh on 42mpg from cold with 100l of veg and 50kg of tools in the boot

[Auric Goldfinger]

Seeing as you car runs on Veg Oil will you be getting it " Chipped "  

[WoodieGuthrie]

Seeing as you car runs on Veg Oil will you be getting it " Chipped "

Boom boom!very good!

Even on derv its a right 'supper' of fuel

[WoodieGuthrie]

Run back from station was a bit better:

But it was to and from brutha_320tourings gaff that it got into its stride (30 mile round trip)

Thats no too bad at all!

[WoodieGuthrie]

Been doing some tinkering on this tub today..

Got the interior cleaned, and the brakes sorted. Marevellous! (not to mention the MPG on the way hame)

Full account here

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/back-to-normality-or-as-close-as-it-gets/

[WoodieGuthrie]

Fu'Gutty Cars eastern correspondant give you a rare rundown of the fun of Octavia ownership..

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/flying-fleet-update-for-june-big-changes-at-the-ranch/

[WoodieGuthrie]

They say misery begets misery,

So my brother bought its taller but younger brother today..

[WoodieGuthrie]

Happy day today- got time to service this and sort the brakes out properly!

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/tinkerin-at-the-toa/


A fair bit done for once- but not without its issues:)

[WoodieGuthrie]

So finally made it to fuel light on in this for the first time..

672.1 miles, on 45.66L of fuel!that is 66.9MPG (imperial) or 55.7MPG US

1081.6km travelled before refuelling- nice to get a kilo tank on the first run.

I refilled it with 15L of WVO (at 50p/Litre) and 30.66L of Derv (at 116.7p/L) Total refuel cost was £43.28, giving a cost per mile of 6.4p

Total Runtime to use the tank up


Average Speed


Matching Miles


Range Remaining


The trip computer seems to be 7.7% out


15L of WVO later


Fully Derved up


[footnote]Edited by 320touring on Saturday 4th July 17:47[/footnote]

[WoodieGuthrie]

In a change from all the "economy" shenanigans, I took this Drag Racing today up in sunny Fife..

awesome:)

It never missed a beat!will write a full report on the old blog later, but have a teaser pic..

[WoodieGuthrie]

A Cheeky little vid of it in action against a Saab 9-3

[WoodieGuthrie]

Fu'Gutty Cars went Drag racing today, in Diesel Octavias..

See how we got on!

 

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/drag-racing-the-dervs-rupaul-would-approve/

[WoodieGuthrie]

Just been up drag racing in this again yesterday- after doing a retune to it.

bhp up from 90 a fair bit, and torque up from 166ftlb to 225ftlb.

end result is running 16.8s on track rather than 18s:)

the mapping was done via the obd2 port and was simple enough to manage when I'd learned the basics.

you can alter the values in a variety of ways.

software is available online that allows you to alter the values that map the following criteria:

Driver's Wish (this controls the max fueling at given throttle pedal input %)

Boost Target (Maps the requested boost level from the turbo for a given RPM/Fuel volume)

Smoke Limiter (Controls volume of fuel based on air volume and RPM)

Torque Limiter (Sets fuel volume limits based on RPM)

In essence then, I have the ability to raise /lower fueling levels and boost levels on a fairly granular basis.

The output is available via the "View performance" function:

Edited 3 August, 2015 by WoodieGuthrie

[WoodieGuthrie]

A trip upto Crail to test out the remapped Octavia- with a good measure of Retro Drag racing and show cars thrown in!

Enjoy!
https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/derv-tuning-for-dummies-incorporating-retro-drag-racing/

[WoodieGuthrie]

Time for another fuelling today-

602.3 miles on 47L (using a 44L WVO, 3L Derv mix). This tank included 17x 14 mile runs at Crail, after I'd remapped it.

Very pleased with that 58.3mpg (48.55mpg US), and a total fuel cost of £22.33 ($34.61)- giving me a cost of 3.7pmile ($0.057mile)





On the run home I took it very easy- and had this as the shown average (based on the computer being 10% optimistic, I reckon a genuine 80mpg (66.61mpg US) over 17 miles.)

[WoodieGuthrie]

I've been focusing in the wrong area on this car for a wee while- time to get back to basics!

I bought this car primarily for its economy- so time to look at maximising the MPG. Currently the car is remapped for HP/torque, but done in such a way that low loads mean that it performs almost like stock.

For this tank I intend to see how well I can do on the current map whilst commuting to work. The route is 24 miles each way, of which 3 miles are town driving, 4 are A road and 17 are Motorway (the m80 near Glasgow).

I commute at peak times, and have encountered some tailbacks on every journey.

Here's a look at what I've achieved so far- looking at my initial and latest runs.

Monday Morning- 62.28mpg (51.86 US) actual (allowing for 10%over read on obc)

Monday evening-58.14mpg (48.41US)

AVERAGE= 60.21mpg (50.14US)

Wednesday Morning- 64.17mpg (53.43US)

Wednesday Evening- 63.27mpg (52.68US)

AVERAGE= 63.72mpg (53.06US)

Heading in the right direction at least:)

[WoodieGuthrie]

Took the Octavia to head to my mother's birthday shindig yesterday.

Approaching a queue of traffic on the m74, the brakes felt odd.

300 yards later on the sliproad and I had no footbrake to speak of.

mildly troublesome.

I ditched it with a few profanities and went about my business.

Today I managed to get a look- and it looks like a rear wheel cylinder has failed comprehensively.

luckily a local parts emporium had replacements in stock- so I purchased 2 and some brake fluid.

I'll replace both I think as it was not a pleasant experience