Rapid Spaceback Project

[WolfyWesty]

Hi!

 

So after purchasing a 1.2 TSI Rapid Spaceback in February of this year, I'm undertaking a little project on it to personalise it a tad. Nothing too drastic like an engine swap/lowering it just a few odds and sods to improve the car.

 

The car is in amazing condition inside/out given it's a 14 plate. That said the alloys were refurbished by the dealership (Evans Halshaw) and the bonnet was re-sprayed as it had a large chip/dent in it on one of the crease lines on the drivers side. Very few stone chips on the front bumper too though it's just rolled over 40K miles.  

 

The car was factory standard when purchased - aside from the previous owner debadging the rear - so there's a few changes I want to make:

- Replace the Swing Bluetooth unit with a newer/smarter system

- Black the grille surround

- Black the front and rear badges (may revert back depending how it looks).

- Wind deflectors

- Mudflaps

- Deatchable towbar for a bike rack

- Front bumper lip/splitter

 

The car is also on 3 different tyres (front pair match, two odds on the rear) but they're all new so not an issue. Will either match the front pair (Davanti) or just replace all 4 before winter.

 

Will post updates as I go along!

 

Cheers,

 

 

[WolfyWesty]

Made the most of a break in the weather and fitted the towbar this weekend! Ordered it from PFJones on the Monday (10% discount too so only cost £160) and it arrived on Wednesday.

 

Took a few hours for two of us to do, but fitted perfectly and looks brilliant! Putting the car back together was certainly easier than dismantling it. Didn't need to make a massive cut in the bumper either as not fitted electrics as only being used for a bike rack. OVerall, very pleased!

 

Also just placed an order with SuperSkoda for a few bits so fingers crossed there's another dry weekend coming up!

[WolfyWesty]

Working on the car has been very straightforward so made some good progress since purchasing the car in Feb. Hardest parts were fitting the towbar and doing the radio install (it took me a few attempts to get it to sit flush and everything work. The guys at Audio Tech Direct were super helpful with the whole thing when I got stuck). Looking forward to doing future work on it now the weather is a bit warmer!

 

So bit of an update:

 

Team Heko wind deflectors fitted front and rear (£30 eBay)

Skoda Mudlfaps fitted front and rear (€30 Superskoda)

Audio Tech Direct Android Head unit fitted - Bluetooth, touchscreen, internet connectivity, Built-in Sat Nav, etc (£250 inc all leads)/replacement surround

Blacked the grille surround - £10 for the vinyl on eBay, did it in 1 hour ish a few months ago but will probably re-do over summer as it's a bit rough round the edges

Blacked the Skoda badges - Like how it looks on the bonnet but not too sure on the rear one. Seems a bit lost on the black glass. (£5 for the spray paint/laquer)

 

Also fitted some door sills to protect the paintwork.

 

Will post pictures soon!

 

Still to do:

Skoda Rapid floor mats - Got some off-brand ones in but seen some good looking ones on Superskoda

New gear knob - Current one is going a bit flaky round the edges

Front lip/splitter - Maxton Design seems best bet

New Tyres - Still on 3 odd ones but all have similar tread patterns/decent tread depth

Fit DAB aerial

New headlight bulbs - Prefer the white LED look to the current yellow bulbs.

Cold Air intake ( not entirely sure yet)

 

 

[WolfyWesty]

Progress pictures

 

Now been branded with a all WRC vinyl and a Sale Sharks vinyl on the rear window. 

[WolfyWesty]

A small update is due!

 

Performance changes:

KMS Motorsport Stage 1 Remap - Car has gone from 86 to 130 bhp/Torque now at 255NM

Pipewerx catback exhaust (downpipe and sports cat due this year).

New rear discs and pads (Brembo on sale from ECP). Fronts possibly due later this year.

4 new Avon Z7 tyres - Much quieter than the cheap brands they replace.

 

Aesthetic changes:

Maxton front splitter (from their eBay store, saving £30!) £100

Replaced all interior bulbs with LEDS - £16 from eBay for the full set

Replaced the side lights and DRLs with LEDS - £15 for the sidelights from Halfords and £17 for the DRLs from eBay

Generic rubber boot liner - £15 from eBay

Also painted the brake callipers Hammerite red which adds 25BHP, naturally.

 

I'm honestly surprised at how much of a difference the LED lights make. The interior looks a lot better with the white light and the front of the car looks more modern with the white lights, although the headlights look very yellow in comparison!

 

Next few weeks:

DAB Aerial - Ordered

Rear view camera - Ordered

Skoda  interior mats - Ordered

 

Possible:

New gear knob - Once I find a decent replacement.

Rear diffuser - Prices are around £250 on Superskoda which is quite steep for a bit of plastic.

 

No longer doing:

Cold Air intake

 

Pictures up soon!

[sheb]

I've had those Avons for 2 years (17000 miles) on my mk1 octy vrs. 

 

I can't say how good they are as I went from worn out ditch finders but they seem pretty good for the money. 

 

The rears still have 6mm and the front 4mm. 

 

Bet the remap has made it a different car!

Edited 16 January, 2020 by sheb

[WolfyWesty]

Update picture!

 

Doing some work on it this weekend, so can get better photos.

[Koreenium]

How's the android head unit? Sound quality, radio etc.

Need to change my Swift with something better and as appealing as these chinese android units look, I don't really want to sacrifice sound quality and radio. Some of them look a lot like they are OEM head units.

 

How much did you pay for the car? Really like the look of the spaceback because of the tail lights. I guess they did not want to use more square looking tail lights on the liftback because it would have looked too similar to Octavia.

[WolfyWesty]

13 hours ago, Koreenium said:

How's the android head unit? Sound quality, radio etc.

Need to change my Swift with something better and as appealing as these chinese android units look, I don't really want to sacrifice sound quality and radio. Some of them look a lot like they are OEM head units.

 

How much did you pay for the car? Really like the look of the spaceback because of the tail lights. I guess they did not want to use more square looking tail lights on the liftback because it would have looked too similar to Octavia.

 

I got mine from Audio Tech Direct and it's brilliant. Definite improvement over the standard Swing unit I had in it originally, and has improved the sound quality. The head unit come's pre-loaded with maps, Bluetooth, DAB+, ability for in-car entertainment, rear view camera etc and can connect to the internet through WiFi or mobile hotspot. It's Android 8.1 so can get any app on it that's in the Google play store. Only niggle is the Bluetooth, as when speaking to people through it they complain I sound like a robot and it goes very distorted.

 

The car was £4500 with a 10 plate Ibiza as part-ex.

[Koreenium]

12 hours ago, WolfyWesty said:

 

I got mine from Audio Tech Direct and it's brilliant. Definite improvement over the standard Swing unit I had in it originally, and has improved the sound quality. The head unit come's pre-loaded with maps, Bluetooth, DAB+, ability for in-car entertainment, rear view camera etc and can connect to the internet through WiFi or mobile hotspot. It's Android 8.1 so can get any app on it that's in the Google play store. Only niggle is the Bluetooth, as when speaking to people through it they complain I sound like a robot and it goes very distorted.

 

The car was £4500 with a 10 plate Ibiza as part-ex.

 

Still sceptical about these chinese android head units.

 

That's a pretty solid price. Here cheapest Spaceback with 60 000km is just over 8000€. I assume yours was similarly priced without trading in your Ibiza.

 

I have 2014 Liftback with 230 000 km (140 000 miles) on it and got it for 3500€ (£3000). Other cars with half the mileage go for 5500-6000€.

 

Hows the car after remap? I was thinking about remaping my 1.2 TSI 86hp but it does have 230 000km so I don't think it's a good idea despite running great.

 

 

[WolfyWesty]

12 hours ago, Koreenium said:

Still sceptical about these chinese android head units.

 

All it is is an android tablet with a few add-ons. For the price (£250) I'm not too fussed as you'd pay that for a second hand Skoda unit, but I understand some people don't like non-OEM.

 

12 hours ago, Koreenium said:

Hows the car after remap? I was thinking about remaping my 1.2 TSI 86hp but it does have 230 000km so I don't think it's a good idea despite running great.

 

It's brilliant. It's only had a generic remap, but it's transformed the car (86 to 130 is quite a jump) and didn't have to do any additional work, although I did have the car fully-serviced before I did it. It's not affected the consumption either, so it'll do 47/48MPG on the motorway with traffic. If it's a clean run, it'll do 50mpg easily.

[WolfyWesty]

Catback exhaust

[WolfyWesty]

Quick update!

 

Finally replaced the interior mats for Skoda rubber ones. So much better than the £10 generic ones from eBay. 

 

DAB aerial fitted to top of the windscreen on the passenger side. Works a charm! Guys at Audio Tech Direct were helpful as always.

 

Fitted the rear view camera too, was a fun challenge to get the wire the length of the car (pushed it down the driver's side as easier to get it through the headlining). Really pleased with the result and great picture quality, also has nightvision!

 

Also had a REVO Stage 1 remap done at ADS in Preston to replace the KMS Motorsport one (which in all honesty wasn't very good). The car makes 130bhp now but it's a much smoother acceleration and has power through the entire rev range (the KMS one was just top rev power). ADS did a full tune on the car as well so fuel efficiency has notably increased too, which is a bonus! The car has also had a new timing chain tensioner which has removed the rattle when starting. Due a service and MOT soon but should sail through both - that said, it will need new brake fluid as it's currently touching 3% so needs doing.

 

Also removed the wind deflectors after one of the rear ones broke whilst I was washing under it. 

 

Car has also had the downpipe replaced with a stainless steel 3 inch pipe and a sports cat fitted by Pipewerx. Car isn't much louder but it now has a really deep burble at idle and low revs, with faint turbo whine (I think) as the revs climb/you let off. Good noise without being too loud/chavvy. Not had a tunnel run with it yet (or a multi-story carpark).

 

Car is now at the stage where I am completely happy with it - It's a great daily driver but has a bit of extra oomph for the backroads. Not done much distance driving in it this year, only to Kendall then around the lakes for the Malcolm WIlson Rally, and it's been sat on the driver for the past 8 weeks, but still enjoyable to take 15 mins to the shops.

 

Still a bit of comestic work to do - Some stone-chips need addressing and some scratches, but that's it.

 

Edited 12 May, 2020 by WolfyWesty

[WolfyWesty]

[Koreenium]

Looks nice!

 

What camera is that?

[J.R.]

No end of them on Ebay or AliExpress for less than a tenner delivered.

[WolfyWesty]

12 hours ago, Koreenium said:

Looks nice!

 

What camera is that?

 

This is the camera: https://audiotechdirect.com/direct-fit-audi1-after-market-rear-camera-for-audi-vw-skoda/ 

[WolfyWesty]

Oh bother. 

 

Panoramic roof isn't covered under windscreen insurance, so will have to claim through general bodywork damage. No claims is protected, so won't affect policy. Still have to pay excess though. 

 

Quote from Autoglass was £1,560.59

[shyVRS245]

We had a pano roof Rapid for 3 years from 2015 how did that happen?

[WolfyWesty]

7 hours ago, shyVRS245 said:

We had a pano roof Rapid for 3 years from 2015 how did that happen?

 

I'm guessing from a stone chip, but in all honesty I have no idea. On my way to/from work I drive and wait under a number of overpass bridges, so don't know if something's come off one of those and caused it? But I'll likely never know.  The crack goes about 1/4 the length of the roof. 

 

Luckily, it's simple to replace as they'll just swap out the entire piece (including the blinds/screens) and they can do it at a local depot. Fingers crossed! 

[WolfyWesty]

On 06/10/2020 at 08:59, WolfyWesty said:

Oh bother. 

 

Panoramic roof isn't covered under windscreen insurance, so will have to claim through general bodywork damage. No claims is protected, so won't affect policy. Still have to pay excess though. 

 

Quote from Autoglass was £1,560.59

 

Roof done through insurance. Only cost £250. Took AutoGlass 6 hours to do as the glue for the roof was like concrete and they went through 3 whole rolls of cutting wire. Kept me updated the entire time so can't fault them. 

 

Roof itself cost £1500 and they said the labour cost wouldn't have been far off with 2 of them working on it. Not bad for £250 and no change to my policy. 

 

All sorted though! 

[Koreenium]

Chip and crack on panoramic roof... that costs almost as much as my cars engine rebuild.  Good thing your insurance covered it.

[Steve8O]

Really nice project, love all the mods you have made.

[DomhnallP]

On 04/11/2020 at 14:53, WolfyWesty said:

 

 

 

That front splitter looks mint. did it require drilling the factory bumper or does it mount into existing holes? Just bought a 2017 spaceback myself and looking at getting myself one of those.

[WolfyWesty]

18 hours ago, DomhnallP said:

That front splitter looks mint. did it require drilling the factory bumper or does it mount into existing holes? Just bought a 2017 spaceback myself and looking at getting myself one of those.

 

Requires drilling, but comes with bolts to secure it on.