My red 2004 Mk1 Octavia and parts review

[Saunders82]

So this is my family car I brought in 2011

here it is after a good clean at work about a year ago 

 

 

it is a red mk1 octavia at the time 67000 miles at the time no modifications. It was very cheap at the time (£2500) but with the only issue of being a cat d due to a bonnet and wing. It didn't worry me because I knew the seller very well

 

Overall it was a very nice car and a very easy car to live with. In the first year of ownership there was no failures other than a temp sensor but just lacking abit of power and was bit to soft for my liking

 

here it is today 

 

 

it has just clicked over to 100k miles and here it is the list of jobs i have done in the past couple of years some for for general maintenance some just because I wanted to. I get quite a few perks due to the nature of my job. So good discounts access to ramps is always good. I generally have done most of the work myself or with a friend. I have on the more boring jobs just paid someone to do it.  

 

OEM parts

Cambelt, waterpump + thermostat 

3x services every January 

front discs and pads x2

rear discs and pads

osr caliber 

front arms (cheapies) 

replacement oem shocks 

oem dump valve

oem N75

temp sensor 

V Belt

aux belt tensioner 

ac compressor 

replacement AC fan 

 

 

modifications 

APR stage 1 remap 

N249 bypass

APR TIP and throttle body body hose

2.0 R8 coils

Millet cat back exhaust 

ITG small maf induction kit

Forge front intercooler

eibach lowering springs 

eibach rear roll bar 

034 dogbone mount 

front superpro bushes (to replace the 2 cheap front arms that didn't last!)

 

Overall I would say this is a much better car than what I started. As this is my daily driver I'm not really fussed what it looks like under the bonnet. This isn't no show car !

Here is what i think of the modifications 

 

APR stage one remap

Overall seems very good. obviously no fitting problems here Pre intercooler power would come in about 2.2k and pull to around 5k was quite a good step up from stock.Post intercooler power comes in around 3k but you can still hear the spooling up at the 2.2k

Economy wise on a run 35-40 mpg when being light footed as well

Overall 9/10 

 

ITG intake 

I like this a lot! Fits very nicely takes air from around the mud guard area. The turbo dump valve sound seems to have raised in volume 

9/10 

 

Forge front mounted intercooler

I brought this new and had real high hopes for this, However this was not a straight forward install. This kit was expensive but for the less hassle of fitment I went for it. Fitting was difficult and took 2 evening. The lower hose on the kit that goes to the throttle body had to be trimmed quite a bit amount and was very snug on the modified crash bar. We trimmed 150mm of this hose which i thought was quite excessive to get this to fit correctly on the throttle hose. The other modifications involved trimming the radiator air guide and trimming the drivers side bumper grill area for clearance of the lower hoses. This was straight forward and explained very well in the instructions. We had the car on a ramp and a lot of air tools so this was not a problem. The new crash bar also came with no nutserts which came to light when we were refitting the bumper. We could not reuse the old ones as there was no access.

Performance wise I knew this was a supporting mod but it did have some side effects. This intercooler is huge compared to the weedy side mount. The lag increased quite noticeably  the power now comes in at 3k but does come in harder than previous. On higher revs the boost now holds longer. it does feel stronger between 4k and 6k previously it had more diesel characteristics. 

Overall i would give it a 7.5/10 for the moment but when I do further modifications It will make sense more. Fitting was more difficult than I thought which was a disappointment. 

 

APR throttle hose and TIP 

Cant complain about either of these didn't pay a lot for them either. Both fit correctly TIP was awkward but they always are. Once the OEM part was removed you could here more intake noise

8/10 

 

R8 Coils

Made no difference, In fairness didn't know what I was expecting!

7/10 because they work !

 

Millet cat non res cat back 

Fitting wise was ok had worse aftermarket exhausts to fit. Quality is very high. I'm very happy with this product. Sound wise I like loud exhausts this isn't that loud. It is very good it doesn't drone on cruising. 

9/10 

 

034 dogbone mount 

My stock one was wore out. This part was very straight forward to fit. When i first installed this there was a lot more cabin noise and vibration. I have now put around 4k miles on it and it is really nice. It is another fit and forget job 

8/10 again it works

 

Eibach lowering springs. 

Fitting is straight forward as its just replacing springs. I like the feel of these springs and the way the car sits is very sensible. I would upgrade the shocks in the future the OEM ones are just to soft. 

8/10 but need to replace the shocks

 

Superpro front bushes

One of my favourite modifications. The cheap replacements I brought were junk i would never buy cheap arms again the bushes just did not last. I brought the same area again but replaced them with the superpro bushes.. Fitting was as straight forward as replacing bushes can be. We used a hydraulic press and being new bushes on the replacement arms they weren't to hard to get out. Performance wise is excellent. I don't know how something can respond better be harder and not transfer to much discomfort but they do ! Would recommend to everyone 

10/10 

 

Eibach rear bar 

I like it but its hard to judge! the car feels tighter and feels more solid. I would love to try a car without one now to see the real difference. Would i recommend it yes, can I explain why no!

 

9/10 Just makes the car feel better. 

 

The only other parts I would recommend is good matching tyres Im running OEM standard size hancooks and they are excellent.

 

Future plans for the car 

General repairs

I want to do a full paint correction on the car as it is covered in polish scratches,

refurb the wheels again they are not perfect

Modifications  

I will be getting the milltek sports cat next to mate with the cat back system, then upgrade to stage 2 and see how it is. Im hoping this upgrade will be complimented by the intercooler investment 

I am considering a single mass flywheel and clutch upgrade  

Maybe a better turbo 

Maybe new wheels 

 

 

The car is still my family car so I have to be abit considerate My aim is it to be a very useable car and with the modifications I have done I feel I am achieving.

Thanks for reading 

 

 

 

[RobClubley]

Awesome post

[dubDEAN]

LOOKS CLEAN 

[Saunders1982]

so a couple of updates 

I have now had the Milltek downpipes for the vehicle and had a stage 2 map put on the vehicle

it is a much better car now. The car had a lumpiness when driving pretty normal that we couldn't work out it seemed like a boost leak of some description but with all the tests we did we could not find it. It is also making the intercooler upgrade much more sense. The boost is coming in around 2300 RPM which it was like when I had the stage one map pre intercooler. I also brought some BBS CH's for the car which I am loving !

 

 

 

 

I should have some quality coilovers being sent to me in the next couple of weeks then possible clutch and LSD is on the menu 

 

[ShoooRn]

This will look so smart on the coilies. I love the mods done so far; it is nice to see another red daily vrs. I'd love to be running stage two power and to see that you've got it back to its urgency with the map that it had previously is a big win for me!

[dubDEAN]

NIIIIIIIICE 

[Saunders1982]

thanks for the replies 

 

i have been sitting on these beauties for the past 2 weeks and haven't had time to put them on 

 

They are rebound adjustable coilovers front and rear so should compliment everything else I have done recently to the car. Im really looking forward to these going on

I have had to do a do a few jobs recently on the car. I have had a annoying belt noise for a while which is there at idle but goes at 1500 rpm. I was convinced it was the alternator as it was still original.There was the usual telltale signs as well as in traffic the lights would dim. I knew I had replaced the belt tensioner ac pump and belt in the last 3 years so it was a educated guess. I changed the alternator and all was good for a week then it came back!! I decided to try a new auxiliary belt and it has shut it up and i hope it doesn't come back. I also had to replace the rear discs and pads as they had become heavily lipped. I used to be a avid manufacturer parts purchaser for all my cars but this one is really opening my eyes. They have barely lasted 20000 miles for rears! The pads were 90% worn and the discs were trash. I put some GSF ones now other than having no shim clips with them look exactly the same. Time will tell if they are as bad as the OEM ones.  I also serviced the car while I was doing all this and remembered how much of a job getting the pollen filter out was!

 

Ill put some more pictures up when it is on the coilovers

[dubDEAN]

what make are the coilovers?

[Saunders1982]

The closest you could call them are these

http://www.ast-suspension.co.uk/shop/shockabsorbers/4100?option=com_virtuemart&view=category&virtuemart_category_id=171&Itemid=786&select_item=119_170&select_item_119_170=121_171

But I have had some pieces changed

Edited 11 March, 2016 by Saunders1982

[dubDEAN]

LOOK GOOD 

[Saunders1982]

So I have been bit slack with the car recently The only job i have done is change the top breather hose again as it was getting cracked. I was thinking about just putting a silicone one on but i had already changed the other pipe in the forge kit (the one that goes to the brake vacuum I think) so for the £12 I'll just get the GSF one again. 

The beginning of the race season and general business of work has meant that the car has had to take the back seat. I am 100% getting the car in the workshop for the coilovers next week. The OEM rear have definitely seen better days and when the car was fully loaded for a weekend with the family the car was rubbing at the back inside the week arch. 

 

Anyways here is a video of the car when slightly warm. I just like the sound of the exhaust

(also it just seems to move to the left every now and then!)

[Saunders1982]

So the coilovers have not been straight forward so far

Rears are good

Fronts not so good

The ride height is the same measurement as when I had the lowering springs :(

I'm getting a different length main Spring installed next week and see where it goes from there. I'm trying to find information about removing the tender Spring and putting a normal helper spring but I know it will mess up the comfort level. So I will try a shorter main Spring first. Luckily if it wasn't the common 60mm id main Spring this would be very hard to fix

The plus side is the drive quality is very very good. I have set them up (on a scale of 1 to 12 adjustability) to 3 at the front and 1 at the rear and them are more than firm enough

[mac11irl]

That looks like its the olde "these are for a mk4 golf gti but are "compatible" with a mk1 vrs and so sold as that" syndrome..

[Saunders1982]

So I got my coilover issue fixed
There was to problems the obvious ride height but the top mounts started creaking already. They were lemforder GSF units which I thought would be fine but they weren't up to it. I brought genuine Leon cupra r units and they are night and day a much better piece.
So for the ride height I swapped out a 180mm Spring with 70nm to a 170mm 60nm spring . It's as low as it will go but I'm satisfied now. I'm determined to keep the tender springs in. Basically it has a 20nm tender Spring and a 60nm main Spring. It driver very very nice in this set up. You can still tell there coilovers but it not like I have sacrificed all the comfort.
Today I gave the car a proper machine polish and its come out really good. I only issue is when you do a job like this it highlights want paint needs repairing!
Anyways here's some new pictures






I actually haven't decided what direction to go next with it now. It's brake upgrade or gearbox upgrades or maybe fix the annoying paint issues

Edited 22 May, 2016 by Saunders1982

[mac11irl]

I think a brake upgrade will help minimise the need for paint repair, (IYKWIM ) so id do that next..