shark performance gone - who now ?

[Gissin]

so shark performance has gone and been taken over by racing line, who according to their website don't seem to support diesels or mk2's

 

so now finally able to look into a remap- who do I take it to?  don't mind a drive within reason (50m each way)

[shyVRS245]

I travelled from Leicestershire to AmD in Essex twice last year for stage 1 and stage 2 remaps on my car I rate them that highly. About 130miles each way (near J30-M25) but these guys really know what they are doing. Took my standard 2.0Tdi MK3 Octavia from 147bhp on their rolling road to 186bhp and completely transformed it (max increased from 135-150mph) without affecting its ability to crack 70mpg on the way home. Last October when I was last there a guy with a 2005 1.9Tdi Leon Cupra ended up with around 205bhp after their magic with his ECU. They were about 158bhp standard I think. Well worth the drive and either Shaun (the Boss) or Ben do the remaps.

[Gissin]

cheers for the suggestion, they seem decent i'll keep them in the running for now but as its 320 miles and 6+ hours from me  long way to take it back if something goes wrong

[Ootohere]

 

http://sharkperformance.co.uk

http://[email protected]  Asked them who they recommend if they can not do the job...

Have you contacted Racing Line and spoken to someone yet?

& who else do you have near?

I take it the car has not had the Emission Fix.

Edited 26 February, 2019 by Skoffski

[penguin17]

A little further afield but you could try Big Fish Tuning in North Yorks.  Very highly regarded on a number of owners forums and not just for VW group:

 

http://bigfishtuning.co.uk/

 

 

[Gissin]

48 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

A little further afield but you could try Big Fish Tuning in North Yorks.  Very highly regarded on a number of owners forums and not just for VW group:

 

http://bigfishtuning.co.uk/

 

 

im up in north Yorkshire next month so a possibility - cheers

[Gissin]

1 hour ago, Skoffski said:

 

http://sharkperformance.co.uk

http://[email protected]  Asked them who they recommend if they can not do the job...

Have you contacted Racing Line and spoken to someone yet?

& who else do you have near?

I take it the car has not had the Emission Fix.

no emissions fix

a few near me

derby remapping

junction 28 remaps

JBS autos

never heard of them

 

RL- no I need to drop them a line really

[pete275]

JBS in Chesterfield used to look after my MK 1 Octy VRS, and still look after the missus Fabia. Highly recommended

[Jonny_VRS89]

JBS built my old S3 8L 420 bhp project. They did the entire turbo conversion and rebuilt and forged the engine. I used another tuner at the time for mapping (I’ve used him before) and I had issues with fuelling so I had JBS map it and had zero issues. They spent hours and hours data logging and tweaking my map far beyond anyone else I’ve experienced. Obviously that car was highly modified but my point is I’d only go to them for anything VAG related performance wise and highly recommend them. 

 

Don't use Derby remapping (DRS), they don’t have a dyno, don’t do data logging, they just upload generic maps with very optimistic numbers.

Edited 26 February, 2019 by Jonny_VRS89

[skinnyman]

19 hours ago, Gissin said:

don't mind a drive within reason (50m each way)

 

I've always used RS Tuning in Leeds.  I've run their custom maps on different cars since 2008 and have never had an issue.  My Mk2 is happily running a stage 1 at the moment and has been for almost three years. 

Google maps says it's just over 70 miles each way so not much over your target distance.

[Gissin]

got some info back from racing line:

they are still doing mk2's and diesels but haven't sorted the website out to show that yet.

Mansfield office is closed down and nearest to me is GRN in Birmingham, called them who told me to call someone else ... which I did, he wasn't very helpful asked him about the work he said 399 and we do the map and do a diagnostic to make sure its ok after. no dyno so asked about proving figures before and after he advised they don't do that.

 

safe to say I wont be going there

[shyVRS245]

35 minutes ago, Gissin said:

got some info back from racing line:

they are still doing mk2's and diesels but haven't sorted the website out to show that yet.

Mansfield office is closed down and nearest to me is GRN in Birmingham, called them who told me to call someone else ... which I did, he wasn't very helpful asked him about the work he said 399 and we do the map and do a diagnostic to make sure its ok after. no dyno so asked about proving figures before and after he advised they don't do that.

 

safe to say I wont be going there

You really should use a reputable company who will have a rolling road otherwise your just being fed a load of cr*p.

[Gissin]

what do people think to Revo ?

[shyVRS245]

1 minute ago, Gissin said:

what do people think to Revo ?

They claim big power increases but mapping could be spiky and not very smooth assuming the mapper has a rolling road to actually back up those claims of course.

[Gissin]

https://www.midlandvw.co.uk/

 

seem to get a good rep from online forums elsewhere.  ive dropped them a line - see what they come back with

[Jonny_VRS89]

Revo are very unpredictable in the sense that it’s a franchise, so some just throw a generic map on, no rolling road and others are able to fine tune maps, rolling road etc, it depends on the place you’re actually using rather than the actual software. For example one of my old cars had a hideous map on it, no fuelling changes, 5 psi above what would be safe for that turbo, they’d tried to lock out who had mapped it but it turned out to be a revo map when it had been unlocked. My point is, use only a reputable company who use revo maps.

 

midlandvw have a good reputation, as do RS tuning in Leeds, no experience of them myself.

 

It’s also important to remember that even with a rolling road, company’s can artificially enhance the figures by how they calibrate the dyno. We call it ego stroker dynos.

 

Personally in the East Midlands I would only use JBS or R-tech. Niki is a genie.

Edited 27 February, 2019 by Jonny_VRS89

[skinnyman]

19 hours ago, shyVRS245 said:

They claim big power increases but mapping could be spiky and not very smooth assuming the mapper has a rolling road to actually back up those claims of course.

 

I fell foul of that years ago and it ended up being very costly (damaged turbo). I always go for a custom map now that's done properly on a dyno.

 

14 hours ago, Jonny_VRS89 said:

midlandvw have a good reputation, as do RS tuning in Leeds, no experience of them myself.

 

It’s also important to remember that even with a rolling road, company’s can artificially enhance the figures by how they calibrate the dyno. We call it ego stroker dynos.

 

Can't fault them at all.  In terms of enhanced figures, I've always been happy with the RS Tuning figures as they tend to be lower than some of the 'off the shelf' map statistics.  In reality, the headline figure means nothing if the car is undriveable due to a poor quality map.  

I am looking at putting my cars on another dyno over the summer, purely to see how the figures compare.

Edited 28 February, 2019 by skinnyman

[Gissin]

bit of an update on this:

 

so after telling racing line I was not going to be using that garage as they couldn't sound more enthused is I started throwing money at them  and do they have an alternative which actually has a dyno and not just put a stock  map on whether is suits the car or not. they didn't fill me with confidence as ben did when I called shark a year or so ago.

 

Ben emailed me last night and offered to do the map using a proper dyno runs, but i'll have to come down to racing line HQ in milto Keynes and might take a while , as that's only 1.5hrs from me and with the reputation he has on here think i'll be going down there soon. happy days indeed.

 

whilst on the subject of performance upgrades:

need to change my discs pads and fluid what are the actual sizes 312mm and ?? find anything from 250-286 quoted -  and any recommendations? I was thinking something a bit more fancy than stock like

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Octavia-vRS-2-0-TFSi-11-05-Front-Rear-Brake-Discs-Pads/290624297874?hash=item43aa8edb92%3Ag%3AO8kAAMXQ9rVQ4dBv&fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia+II|Cars+Type%3A2.0+TDI+RS|Plat_Gen%3A1Z3|Cars+Year%3A2013|BodyStyle%3AHatchback|Variant%3A1Z3+[2004-2013]+Hatchback|Engine%3A1968ccm+170HP+125KW+(Diesel)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Octavia-vRS-2-0-Tdi-09-06-Front-Rear-Brake-Discs-Pads-Dimpled-Grooved/172752775530?hash=item2838de296a%3Ag%3AQwcAAOSwZ1lWcSt3&fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia+II|Cars+Type%3A2.0+TDI+RS|Plat_Gen%3A1Z3|Cars+Year%3A2013|BodyStyle%3AHatchback|Variant%3A1Z3+[2004-2013]+Hatchback|Engine%3A1968ccm+170HP+125KW+(Diesel)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-and-Rear-Grooved-Brake-Discs-and-Pads-to-fit-Skoda-Octavia-2-0-RS-TDI-170/303039004856?epid=833181977&hash=item468e8840b8:g:EzIAAOSwCjpcT0~K:rk:1:pf:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FatblokeVRS]

On 27/02/2019 at 14:52, Gissin said:

what do people think to Revo ?

 

Got Revo on our MK2 fl. Had to get a new DMF and clutch then there was an issue with the actuator then had to get the turbo and DPF refurbished and EGR cleaned out.

 

All that just as soon as the remap was done. Cost an absolute klondyde. Never had a single issue before it was done. All running not too bad now but not as smooth as it could be. 205 bhp and 426 nm torque (I think). Pulls like a train but think I would get a custom map next time. Best MPG so far 55.65 measured brim to brim.

 

Edited 28 February, 2019 by FatblokeVRS

[Gissin]

What mileage were you on when you got the map applied.

11 hours ago, FatblokeVRS said:

 

Got Revo on our MK2 fl. Had to get a new DMF and clutch then there was an issue with the actuator then had to get the turbo and DPF refurbished and EGR cleaned out.

 

All that just as soon as the remap was done. Cost an absolute klondyde. Never had a single issue before it was done. All running not too bad now but not as smooth as it could be. 205 bhp and 426 nm torque (I think). Pulls like a train but think I would get a custom map next time. Best MPG so far 55.65 measured brim to brim.

 

 

[FatblokeVRS]

48 minutes ago, Gissin said:

What mileage were you on when you got the map applied.

 

 

Around 65k - 70k if I remember correctly. Just coming up for 90k now. Been fine since got work done apart from new radiator and aircon pump last autumn.

[Jonny_VRS89]

23 hours ago, Gissin said:

bit of an update on this:

 

so after telling racing line I was not going to be using that garage as they couldn't sound more enthused is I started throwing money at them  and do they have an alternative which actually has a dyno and not just put a stock  map on whether is suits the car or not. they didn't fill me with confidence as ben did when I called shark a year or so ago.

 

Ben emailed me last night and offered to do the map using a proper dyno runs, but i'll have to come down to racing line HQ in milto Keynes and might take a while , as that's only 1.5hrs from me and with the reputation he has on here think i'll be going down there soon. happy days indeed.

 

whilst on the subject of performance upgrades:

need to change my discs pads and fluid what are the actual sizes 312mm and ?? find anything from 250-286 quoted -  and any recommendations? I was thinking something a bit more fancy than stock like

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Octavia-vRS-2-0-TFSi-11-05-Front-Rear-Brake-Discs-Pads/290624297874?hash=item43aa8edb92%3Ag%3AO8kAAMXQ9rVQ4dBv&fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia+II|Cars+Type%3A2.0+TDI+RS|Plat_Gen%3A1Z3|Cars+Year%3A2013|BodyStyle%3AHatchback|Variant%3A1Z3+[2004-2013]+Hatchback|Engine%3A1968ccm+170HP+125KW+(Diesel)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Octavia-vRS-2-0-Tdi-09-06-Front-Rear-Brake-Discs-Pads-Dimpled-Grooved/172752775530?hash=item2838de296a%3Ag%3AQwcAAOSwZ1lWcSt3&fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia+II|Cars+Type%3A2.0+TDI+RS|Plat_Gen%3A1Z3|Cars+Year%3A2013|BodyStyle%3AHatchback|Variant%3A1Z3+[2004-2013]+Hatchback|Engine%3A1968ccm+170HP+125KW+(Diesel)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-and-Rear-Grooved-Brake-Discs-and-Pads-to-fit-Skoda-Octavia-2-0-RS-TDI-170/303039004856?epid=833181977&hash=item468e8840b8:g:EzIAAOSwCjpcT0~K:rk:1:pf:0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure why you’d want to travel 1.5 hours when there’s some very good alternatives much much closer by, but if you prefer going that way then fair enough.

 

Now most people have an opinion on brakes, a lot of it is marketing lead that you need 15 piston 500mm discs with every shaped hole you can think of but in reality you don’t. Now I’m talking road cars here and not track cars.

 

All a brake has to do is stop the wheel turning, the tyre is what will actually stop you. So if your brakes can stop the wheel turning in the required distance from the required speed they’re up to the job.  Unless you change the weight of a car (increase it) or change the terminal speed when you brake (going 90 into a corner than 60) then they’ll be fine.

 

brake fluid, dot 4 is perfect for road use. You don’t need anything more for road use unless you’re escaping from the police, you shouldn’t be boiling your brake fluid on the road unless you can’t drive properly or are driving like a completely lunatic. Different story on track.

 

Brake discs, plain discs are completely fine for road use. Drilled is pointless on a road car, it’s  just to look good, the tiny unsprung weight saving is totally negligible and just makes the disc more prone to cracks. Grooves do help clear crap off the disc but you don’t NEED them. 

 

Calipers, if it stops the wheel then they’re fine.

 

Brake pads do make a difference, track specific pads are dumb on a road car as they need more heat to work properly, you’ll have poor braking in the winter. Personally I find the brakes pretty decent on the octy for a road car, refreshed brake fluid (so often neglected by people) good quality pads and you’ll be fine. Rear “big brake kits” are pointless, the weight transfers to the front when braking, you only need to stop the rear wheel turning.

 

I expect some people will disagree with what I say, but unfortunately marketing has had an effect on what we think is actually good for performance, same for rock hard suspension and massive wheels with rubber band profile tyres. Refresh your brake fluid and fit good quality pads and see what you think.

[penguin17]

On 27/02/2019 at 14:52, Gissin said:

what do people think to Revo ?

FWIW as it seems you've made up your mind.  I've had two remaps on VW TDI's; very good service from the agent and the remaps were very good indeed.  Nice smooth, progressive delivery and removed the flat spots and need to rev the nuts off the 184PS engine in order to get the best out of it. 

 

No sensor/fault/limp mode issues in years and tens of thousands of miles of usage.  Not even any DTC's on a diagnostic scan.  

[Gissin]

27 minutes ago, Jonny_VRS89 said:

 

Not sure why you’d want to travel 1.5 hours when there’s some very good alternatives much much closer by, but if you prefer going that way then fair enough.

 

Now most people have an opinion on brakes, a lot of it is marketing lead that you need 15 piston 500mm discs with every shaped hole you can think of but in reality you don’t. Now I’m talking road cars here and not track cars.

 

All a brake has to do is stop the wheel turning, the tyre is what will actually stop you. So if your brakes can stop the wheel turning in the required distance from the required speed they’re up to the job.  Unless you change the weight of a car (increase it) or change the terminal speed when you brake (going 90 into a corner than 60) then they’ll be fine.

 

brake fluid, dot 4 is perfect for road use. You don’t need anything more for road use unless you’re escaping from the police, you shouldn’t be boiling your brake fluid on the road unless you can’t drive properly or are driving like a completely lunatic. Different story on track.

 

Brake discs, plain discs are completely fine for road use. Drilled is pointless on a road car, it’s  just to look good, the tiny unsprung weight saving is totally negligible and just makes the disc more prone to cracks. Grooves do help clear crap off the disc but you don’t NEED them. 

 

Calipers, if it stops the wheel then they’re fine.

 

Brake pads do make a difference, track specific pads are dumb on a road car as they need more heat to work properly, you’ll have poor braking in the winter. Personally I find the brakes pretty decent on the octy for a road car, refreshed brake fluid (so often neglected by people) good quality pads and you’ll be fine. Rear “big brake kits” are pointless, the weight transfers to the front when braking, you only need to stop the rear wheel turning.

 

I expect some people will disagree with what I say, but unfortunately marketing has had an effect on what we think is actually good for performance, same for rock hard suspension and massive wheels with rubber band profile tyres. Refresh your brake fluid and fit good quality pads and see what you think.

agree,

 

dot 4 - anything ok or any specific bands to look for / avoid?

 

happy with my tyres running pilot sport 2's all round, pads ill be going for just standard mintex as hey seem to get good reviews.

 

disc wise it was purely atheistic I was thinking about dimpled / grooved as I agree standard discs stop the car fine. but looking at standard discs and mintex pads was setting me back about the same or more as some grooved ones so was just looking for opinions and a bit of guidance. ECP come back at £320 for pagid discs and mintex pads

 

anyone know what the sizes are because im not sure what to get, same with pads only matching certain carriers / callipers

Edited 1 March, 2019 by Gissin

[Gissin]

10 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

FWIW as it seems you've made up your mind.  I've had two remaps on VW TDI's; very good service from the agent and the remaps were very good indeed.  Nice smooth, progressive delivery and removed the flat spots and need to rev the nuts off the 184PS engine in order to get the best out of it. 

 

No sensor/fault/limp mode issues in years and tens of thousands of miles of usage.  Not even any DTC's on a diagnostic scan.  

good to know cheers .