Spencer's 1.6TDI monte

[MontyETME]

Hi All,

 

Owned a 2011 1.6TDI Fabia Monte Carlo for just over 4 years now (completely stock). The car hasn't been used much as I had a company van only 41000 miles. Recently changed jobs so the car will now be my daily again. Deliberated selling her for a while but nothing fits the book at the moment, so decided to start some mods and build what I want. Also reached the age where I can actually insure a car with mods. Going to start with some cosmetics and audio first, then handling and stopping power and finally power. I will post updates as things happen and also ask questions I may have. Eventually going to be aiming for around 200BHP with good stopping power and handling, something I can use daily but also take on the odd track day. 

 

A couple of questions I currently have,

 

-What are the options for uprated brakes, can the rear drums be converted to discs?

-What's the best thing to do with the DPF/ what's everyone else done/ can it be retained with that kind of power?  

 

Thanks in advance.

[AMD87]

DPF question is easy to answer, No it can't be retained for 200bhp. The limit is around 175-180bhp before EGT get too much for it. This has pretty much been confirmed by places like ##!!##h, ADE Tuning etc.

 

Mine's alledgely keeps having a habit of "falling off"

 

Brakes i would say is subjective. Yes you can convert them to rear disc's by fitting an axle from the Fabia vRS or a Seat Ibiza but i think its pointless as its not gonna change the brake bias of the car. Some people also suggest 312mm from the mk1 octavia vRS but im still running the original 288mm but changed to MTec C Hook's and they have been fine. My car has done several trackdays, sprints, drag racing and i've never had an issue with the brakes expect when i boiled the fluid once.

 

If you use decent fluid and pads such as EBC Yellowstuff/ Pagid RS29's/DS2500 then you'll be fine.

Edited 28 December, 2018 by AMD87

[MontyETME]

Thanks for the info. Will probably try a good set of discs and pads and see how that goes, save a good few hundred quid in the process. I thought the DPF would have to go around the 170-180bhp mark, but just wanted to confirm. Plan on upping the power to around 145-150bhp first then see what the options are from there. Darkside are close to me so will likely get it remapped by them in the next few months and discuss the options with them. 

[AMD87]

1 hour ago, MontyETME said:

Thanks for the info. Will probably try a good set of discs and pads and see how that goes, save a good few hundred quid in the process. I thought the DPF would have to go around the 170-180bhp mark, but just wanted to confirm. Plan on upping the power to around 145-150bhp first then see what the options are from there. Darkside are close to me so will likely get it remapped by them in the next few months and discuss the options with them. 

Be careful with Darkside as they are dangerous for the bank balance They also seem to urge on the side of caution with their figures in my opinion but again every car is different.

 

All the performance parts on mine are from them the only things that aren't are the turbo and the mapping which was done by ADE Tuning in Blackburn.

 

Originally mine ran on a stage 1 ecotune map and made 150bhp and 253ft lbs. If you are going to be doing track days even on stage 1 i would highly recommend an intercooler upgrade. I always log my ecu which then gives the data you can see on the videos on my build thread if you have a look on there. One thing i log is intake temps, on stage 1 when you get it on it they get hot very quickly easily up into the 50's*C even when Ambiant was as low as 12*C. I never ran the darkside intercooler on stage 1 as it was done when the turbo was done but at Donington during VAG Tuner it was 31*C ambiant and my intake temp never went above 38*C, oil temp was an issue though that peaked at 146*C

 

A cheap hack for trackdays is get a set of spare 17's and get friendly with MX5 race teams. In their one make series they run spec tyres which are Avon ZZR's 215/40/17. I get tyres from them that have done a couple of sessions and still have plenty of tread on them and can get a full set for £120-150 (to remain competitive they basicly throw new tyres every race).

 

Again another cheap hack is the 1.4 Fabia vRS intake you can get it for less than £18 from a main dealer and its twice as wide as the 1.6 intake.

 

From personal experience alot of people will try to put you off Darkside as they are expensive but the products and knowledge they have is second to none and are more than happy to talk you through things and give you advice and suggestions. Even when i was at VW Action when i was sitting in the queue they were coming out of their way to come up to me and ask me how my run was, what i did, give me advice on how to improve it since it was my first time there. I doubt many other tuners would do that. Since it was my first time at the pod and knew it would be grippy but not to the extent it was,it caused the dog bone mount to become damaged and caused excessive engine movement so when i launched the engine would rotate back and put pressure on the downpipe and caused it to break in 7 places although didn't notice this till the following day back home in Scotland. Phone Darkside showed them the pictures and asked them how much it would be to replace that section of the downpipe (it comes in 2 parts and read the terms and condictions and their warrenty doesn't cover motorsport which effectively what i was doing when it broke and i couldnt lie as they were at the same event ). They said don't worry about the cost we will get another out to you by the end of the day and before lunch time the following day i had it in my hand. Doubt there would be many retailers would do that in my experience. During the phone convo and looking at the pictures from the Santa pod photographer where you could see the movement from the exhaust mounts and coming to the conclusion that it was excessive engine movement they advised on considering upgrading the mounts. No pressure or force selling just a suggestion but come pay day 2 weeks later i bought the solid engine mounts from them.

 

Word of advice as if you're down that way (which i know fairly well as have family in sheffield/rotherham) there are tuners who say they can map these engines with upgraded turbos but you really need someone who knows what they are doing. I've seen a big turbo 1.6 fabia similar spec as mine which was mapped by a fairly big well known tuner down that way. It lasted a month and a half.

 

For mapping i would recommend ether Darkside or ADE Tuning from personal experience as they get the best and most reliable results. The big turbo 1.6 world is surprisingly small and soon enough you'll discover everyone seems to know everyone (or maybe thats just me as i go out to find them ). Mines is on 77k still on the original standard flywheel and clutch making 366ft lbs (which is more than darksides golf) it's done 13/14k on this set up and did 12k on stage 1 and 54k standard and the only issue i've ever had is a map sensor.

 

Sorry for the essay

[MontyETME]

Again Thanks for the info always good to get advice from someone who’s done something like this before. Glad I’m not the first one trying a project like this. Can remember trying to get mine remapped a few years ago and struggled to find anyone. Now there’s basically every part I think I need available mostly off the shelf. 

 

Spotted the vrs intake in your project feed along with some other ideas. Will definitely be using Darkside for tuning would rather pay a few extra £££ to get good reliable results, especially with them having done a few of the 1.6 turbo upgrades. 

 

Will be be a slow and steady build as new job means little time at home but still need the car with me. Started to get the audio and cosmetics sorted, will order some parts while I’m away ready to bolt on and see about a remap. I’ll post a few updates and pictures when I’ve done abit of work.

 

 

[AMD87]

mines was slow and stead as well parts were bought over a period of 10 months before being fitted over a long weekend.

 

Whats the cosmetic and audio plans?

[MontyETME]

Audio will be a new head unit with android auto, going with a JVC KW-M745DBT I think and sort out a few rattling speakers. Cosmetic will update badges to the new ones, a set of wind deflectors, repaint the drums and just general tidying up. Would like the rear lights darkening slightly as I think there way too bright with everything else been black but think I’ll leave them as I hate driving behind people and not being able to see their brake lights, also don’t want pulling by the police just for having tinted lights not worth the hassle. Other than that possibly a new set of wheels, if I can make my mind up haha.

[AMD87]

1 hour ago, MontyETME said:

Audio will be a new head unit with android auto, going with a JVC KW-M745DBT I think and sort out a few rattling speakers. Cosmetic will update badges to the new ones, a set of wind deflectors, repaint the drums and just general tidying up. Would like the rear lights darkening slightly as I think there way too bright with everything else been black but think I’ll leave them as I hate driving behind people and not being able to see their brake lights, also don’t want pulling by the police just for having tinted lights not worth the hassle. Other than that possibly a new set of wheels, if I can make my mind up haha.

For Android auto its worth looking at the RCD330 from the new skoda's as its plug and play.

[EggMeister]

Hi MontyETME, just a thought I'd chime in 

 

You could try the £280 Bluespark Automotive 'Pro + Boost' tuning module. Easily removable if returning to 'stock' at a later date is required? Not as much power from something like a Darkside remap but maybe worth considering if you have the 105TDi as a starting point? If you have a lesser powered version then a remap would be a much better option. I've had a Bluespark module on since March 2017 and I've never had any issues with it. They claim around 132hp on the max settings and the car does feel like that's what I'm getting I've since installed a K&N cotton air filter and bigger intake charge pipe (though it's an Audi A1 1.4 TFSI pipe [see image] as oppose to the Fabia VRS version) and I've cut out the restrictive baffles in the intake snorkel to. A confirmed Fiesta ST-Line killer at this point LOL but I've now had a Darkside custom straight-thru cat back stainless zorst fitted in October and it defo feels like an extra 10-15hp has been unleashed. Still quite quiet with only an occasional 'drone' sound when the atmospheric conditions align. Running low 8s now on the 0-62 dash as oppose to high 8s prior (data from 'Torque' app linked to OBD2 module).

 

Anyhoo, food for thought

 

TTFN,

EggMeister

[MontyETME]

On 30/12/2018 at 00:13, AMD87 said:

For Android auto its worth looking at the RCD330 from the new skoda's as its plug and play.

Thanks for that AMD. Could be a shout, I’ll see if I can find one for sale. It’ll fit better than a aftermarket head unit as well.

 

Thanks for the info EggMeister plan on getting a exhaust built by Darkside so will probably get it remapped at same time. How’s the DPF cope with the extra power? Any problems with extra clogging? Any future plans for your mont? 

 

[EggMeister]

DPF been running fine, I regularly travel 60 miles total per week on't M62 so I guess it gets a good dose of burning up the soot I did run a DIY water/meth system for a few weeks [see images] after months of development starting at beginning of 2018. Not sure I was getting any performance increase but I felt good inside knowing that I was knocking the miles off the EGR, valves, piston crowns & turbo vanes I might reinstall it now the zorst has been done. I believe Darkside's 1.6TDi Golf 'only' achieved an extra 20hp with a 'proper' water/meth system so anything my ad-hoc system could achieve would be limited I guess. I've been looking at Nitrous but after talking to Darkside and Bluespark for advice, it seems only a remap for extra fuelling would be the most suitable option to extract the most out off NOS. A part of me hopes that a meth system could provide the extra fuelling required though. Then I could naively have my DIY water/meth system linked to a Nitrous system (both activated with the same boost switch). ONLY issue with my water/meth system is that it's a 'stealth' install that utilises the current windscreen washer bottle and so I can't run more than 50/50 water/meth ratio otherwise a fire risk is possible. For NOS, I'd probably need 100% methanol.

 

I'll ponder the options further over winter LOL

 

 

btw, I've also activated 'needle sweep' thanks to OBD2 module and app and also fitted a short-shifter to

 

Edited 1 January, 2019 by EggMeister

[AMD87]

1 hour ago, EggMeister said:

DPF been running fine, I regularly travel 60 miles total per week on't M62 so I guess it gets a good dose of burning up the soot I did run a DIY water/meth system for a few weeks [see images] after months of development starting at beginning of 2018. Not sure I was getting any performance increase but I felt good inside knowing that I was knocking the miles off the EGR, valves, piston crowns & turbo vanes I might reinstall it now the zorst has been done. I believe Darkside's 1.6TDi Golf 'only' achieved an extra 20hp with a 'proper' water/meth system so anything my ad-hoc system could achieve would be limited I guess. I've been looking at Nitrous but after talking to Darkside and Bluespark for advice, it seems only a remap for extra fuelling would be the most suitable option to extract the most out off NOS. A part of me hopes that a meth system could provide the extra fuelling required though. Then I could naively have my DIY water/meth system linked to a Nitrous system (both activated with the same boost switch). ONLY issue with my water/meth system is that it's a 'stealth' install that utilises the current windscreen washer bottle and so I can't run more than 50/50 water/meth ratio otherwise a fire risk is possible. For NOS, I'd probably need 100% methanol.

 

I'll ponder the options further over winter LOL

 

 

btw, I've also activated 'needle sweep' thanks to OBD2 module and app and also fitted a short-shifter to

 

Did you got for the creation motorsport short shifter? and bobby also had the race cams fitted as well to the golf when it did 252bhp his idea is the same as i want to do. reduce intake temps for drag racing as sitting in the queues causing heat soak on the coolers. Im considering nitrous to help with this but as a spray on the intercooler like this

 

[EggMeister]

12 hours ago, AMD87 said:

Did you got for the creation motorsport short shifter? and bobby also had the race cams fitted as well to the golf when it did 252bhp his idea is the same as i want to do. reduce intake temps for drag racing as sitting in the queues causing heat soak on the coolers. Im considering nitrous to help with this but as a spray on the intercooler like this

 

Nah, just a cheapo off ebay that I had to cut the counter-weight off. I'm also considering diverting part of the DIY water/meth system to spray onto the intercooler. Try and hit the cold air density solution from both angles LOL

[AMD87]

On 01/01/2019 at 20:19, MontyETME said:

Thanks for that AMD. Could be a shout, I’ll see if I can find one for sale. It’ll fit better than a aftermarket head unit as well.

 

Thanks for the info EggMeister plan on getting a exhaust built by Darkside so will probably get it remapped at same time. How’s the DPF cope with the extra power? Any problems with extra clogging? Any future plans for your mont? 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173311517437

 

this was the one my friend bought.