Hi all!

I have an 02 Scoob as my main car and have spent stacks getting it better with Pro Drive etc. Anyway, with two nippers and having to get my costs under control I test drove the VRS and am going to buy one this week - if the bank lets me

Because I cover 40,000 miles a year I was thinking that the daily slog in a diesel would be horrible but after finding the Fabia I'm not worried. Thing is, can the VRS be improved reliably? If I wanted to upgrade the ecu what's safe for long life and still give good mpg?

As the demo I drove only had a few miles on the clock the brakes were ok and expect that thy'll bed in, but, are there any affordble upgrades that will give more bite?

I am thinking that I'd probably do 10k in it before doing anything so that I will have run it in but it's nice to plan the upgrades.

Oh, is there a preferred way to run them in?

Cheers!

Mike

If you do a lot of miles the vRS is Ideal as it is a great motorway car with plenty of overtaking poke and a nice smooth ride (for a sporty hatch), the brakes are a bit hit and miss so I would wait to see what yours are like but somebody on here did a simple pad change which made all the difference.

im sellin one matey, 54 reg 18000 miles, black magic exellent car! love it to bits. only reason im sellin is i have my own house and now have the dreaded mortgage!! £9695. pm me mate id interested.

opinions vary on how to answer your questions, but here are my opinions!

1) (I do 40k a year too) , and as far as mods go, most people who run re-maps (170bhp ish) find the reliability is as good as standard, (a miltek exhause offers good gains apparently too..) only problem is some people get cluch slip, so an uprated clutch may be an idea, I have an analogue tuning box, and my car has covered 30k and the clutch is fine.... (mine is less than 170 bhp though! more like 150..) and I would do as you suggest, about 10k to run in before modding

2) my brakes are fine, and i've owned loads of fast cars, from lancia thema turbos to C2GT's ect, and in my opinion the furbys brakes are fine, HOWEVER, some pople on here reccon their brakes are crap, and a friend of mine has a furby vRS too, and he drove mine and says my brakes are much better than his, so I think it varies between car to car, a 312mm brake upgrade should help if you are unhappy with yours...

3) running in... hhmmmm, I drove mine as normal from the word go, and never had any problems at all, again though, other people reccomend 3/4 revs ect part throttle for the first 1,000 miles. note: I never had to top mine up with oil during the first 10k, and loads who "run them in properly" have... don't know if this actually matters at all, but just something I noticed with the other posts...

hope this helps!

Im selling one with all the mods you will ever need. PM me for details. It's an 05 in silver.

Plenty of ex scooby owners who've seen the light on here too mate.

312mm brakes are a massive improvment and can be bought almost brand new on here from golfturbo.

The remaps are pretty cheap and gains are good but varied between tuners and rolling roads. Expect around 180 to 190hp which if driven sensibly shouldn't kill the clutch too much.

Fuel economy is unaffected if anything it gets better.

No need to wait for 10k before mapping, 2k is more than adequate.

Many of us have a SEAT air intake pipe/green filter combo which is cheap.

Handling can seem a bit sloppy compared to what you will be used to, plenty of options there though.

Take a look at Shifty's car it is nicely modified and could be a good investment if it suits your needs.

Hi Mike,

I've got an 04 STi Scoob too and bought a 05 vRS two weeks ago. I test drive the Ibiza Cupra & Leon Cupra too, but the vRS was a better drive and package IMO.

It's a good choice to downgrade in performance, but still have some zip, 5 doors and get the miles in cheaply. I do 50 each way and even putting my foot down (occassionally) sees me over 50mpg, but normally around 53mpg (A roads).

One thing i love is the over taking ability, without changing gear. Press the loud (chug) pedal at 1500 rpms and it's off. You're always changing gears in the STi. It's also nice to get less (of the wrong) attention.

The brakes on mine seem fine, good in fact. I took the scoob out the w/end, for the first time in a while and they seemed poor compared to the vRS, but that could've been the initial bite i suppose. Audi TT 312mm brake kits can be fitted, i think i was quoted

Jabba remap from this site £375 190 bhp - 30k miles covered to date - no clutch slippage.

Green Filter/PD160 (Ibiza Cupra air intake) costs £50 - would fit at the same time to get the best results.

Golfturbo sells the 312mm brakes for £250 all in including zimmerman discs IIRC.

That's all you need for a quick car that brakes well. you may want to do springs at the same time - eibach 25mm are £125 and seat sport strut brace is £50.

Hi Mike,

I've got an 04 STi Scoob too and bought a 05 vRS two weeks ago. I test drive the Ibiza Cupra & Leon Cupra too, but the vRS was a better drive and package IMO.

It's a good choice to downgrade in performance, but still have some zip, 5 doors and get the miles in cheaply. I do 50 each way and even putting my foot down (occassionally) sees me over 50mpg, but normally around 53mpg (A roads).

One thing i love is the over taking ability, without changing gear. Press the loud (chug) pedal at 1500 rpms and it's off. You're always changing gears in the STi. It's also nice to get less (of the wrong) attention.

The brakes on mine seem fine, good in fact. I took the scoob out the w/end, for the first time in a while and they seemed poor compared to the vRS, but that could've been the initial bite i suppose. Audi TT 312mm brake kits can be fitted, i think i was quoted

allard turbo sport do a 255 bhp conversion for £6k if your interested too.

but basically what you need to achieve 240 bhp is:

new injectors £750

hybrid turbo (not checked price but on an exchange basis £750 iirc)

front mounted intercooler - £650 - forge motorsport

turbo back exhaust - milltek/blueflame - £350-£550

panel filter - £35/bmc induction (STAR performance - no idea on price)

cupra intake - £35 (if just getting panel filter)

custom remap - probably CC2 (custom code) is the best best to achieve the best results at £750.

i think allard do some manifold work too to get a few more bhp. but this is £150 on their web site IIRC.

allard turbo sport do a 255 bhp conversion for

ok, for a reliable 190 bhp and good breaking it'll cost you £650.

This is £225 for 312mm brakes, pads, callieprs and carriers from Golfturbo

£50 for green panel filter and ibiza cupra intake

and £375 for custom rolling road remap

This is my daily commute for over 30,000 miles now and i love every second. it's really very driveable in a town or on the motorway