Over the weekend popped along to my local garden centre and got to have a go in basingstoke Skoda's remapped to 250 horses vRS. I have to say I was very impressed, its a great car with a lot of power but coming from my standard 4x4 octy 1, I am a little disappointed in the amount of wheelspin I got even in the dry! On the otherhand the brakes were razor sharp and very reassuring, the ride and handling were great, and it felt like a very well sorted car.

Also got to drive the fabia vRS, and in torrential rain, it was horrid! I couldnt keep any sort of traction at all, and quickly took it back!

But anyway, driving the new vRS has made me realise I need more power, so down the slippery slope I go of playing with my 4x4....

I drive a remapped OctyII vRS, and I can only confirm that it makes a huge difference. You really get a "kick in the back", and off you go . It pulls really well i all gears, even 6:th on the motorway. Wheelspin does happen easily in 1:st gear, even on dry roads, and it doesn't take much to spin in 2:nd either. If you drive on a level and dry road, you can "floor it" in 2:nd without spinning though

The wheelspin is much less evident with decent tyres fitted. I have no time whatsoever for the Continental Sportcontact 2's fitted from the factory. Lateral grip is ok, but putting the power down is a big problem for them.

Dunlop SP sport "race" tyres seem to have sorted it though.

My MkII Octy vRS was factory fitted with 17" Bridgestone Potenzas RE050 225/45/R17W. Apparently these are the same type as on the Ferrari Superamerica (those are 255/35ZR19 though). The only problem seems to be that they are £140 a pop

The dealers at the garden centres are pushing the re-mapped Octy vRs and people are saying it is fast, but are Skoda UK going to back this modification when things go wrong, and is it approved by Skoda UK.

I spoke to Winchester Motor Co when they did their demo day at Hilliers in Winchester and nobody would even say who the map was by, let alone if it was covered under the warranty.

i personally think that a dealer having a remapped demo car is terrible, it gives a bad impression of the car as what they are really saying is that as standard it isn't quick enough and needs the remap to be decent. i know thats not the truth but an aweful lot of people will see it that way.

then there is the trouble of people driving the car not knowing its been remapped and buying a new one on the basis of that car and being disappointed that its slower, false advertising.

then we get into the whole warranty issue.

dealers should only have standard cars.

then we get into the whole warranty issue.

dealers should only have standard cars.

Indeed, and for this reason alone I am kind of surprised Skoda UK let the dealerships promote modified cars at all!

Warranty aside there are all kinds of potential product liability issues here too if you start to think about it :confused:

i know, thats the exact reason i haven't done anything to my octavia, fear that things will start to break

i personally think that a dealer having a remapped demo car is terrible' date=' it gives a bad impression of the car as what they are really saying is that as standard it isn't quick enough and needs the remap to be decent. i know thats not the truth but an aweful lot of people will see it that way.

then there is the trouble of people driving the car not knowing its been remapped and buying a new one on the basis of that car and being disappointed that its slower, false advertising.

then we get into the whole warranty issue.

dealers should only have standard cars.[/quote']

I pretty much agree with you, but look at Subaru as a case, they have offered the Pro Drive Power pack (PPP) with all the new age impreza's, which is in all honesty a Remap and a Prodrive exhaust system. It's a dealer fit option, when I bought mine in 2003 there was an offer on of free servicing or free PPP, fully supported by the Warranty (I took the PPP and spent a fortune on servicing .... doh!!! ).

I for one would like to see a Performance pack, WRC pack or whatever you wanted to call it where a remap and exhaust could be chosen as an option and officially warranted.

I know if it was available I would have deffinately ordered one for my new octy vrs, instead of (looks left ... looks right) looking around for a "solid" 3rd Party remap to give me that little bit extra.

There are plenty of people that Skoda UK or VAG could partner with, some of the best are Briskoda partners, not to mention people like GTI Engineering etc etc.

i know, thats the exact reason i haven't done anything to my octavia, fear that things will start to break

The engine can take the power easily, go on you know you want to!!!

Thing is with the PPP - it is more of a standard upgrade and it's possible to get normal insurance for it as it's virtually dealer fit, unlike a remap on the Skoda range.

Definitely wouldn't be impressed if I was Mr Smith purchasing a vRS unknowingly remapped and then find I was uninsured :eek:

i know what your saying about PPP but the point you make is exactly the point i'm argueing. PPP is a dealer option and a 3rd party remap isn't so one is covered under warranty and the other isn't.

The engine can take the power easily, go on you know you want to!!!

i wouldn't dream of it!!

i'm perfectly happy with my standard car and don't see the point in all this go faster stuff! same as all those boom boom boxes people put in their boots, some of us prefer to actually hear the music rather than just the beat!

Under the UK Construction and Use regulations it is an offence to use, or cause or permit to be used, on a motor road a motor vehicle if it does not comply with the emission limit values as may apply by virtue of any Community Directive applicable to that vehicle. Modifications carried out before registration will invalidate the certificate of conformity and it would be illegal to register the vehicle.

All VW dealers have been reminded of that by Volkswagen UK. I don't know if Audi, SEAT and Skoda dealers have been advised likewise - but regardless the same regulations apply to them.

so what exactly does that mean to us simpletons?

the car must be exactly as audi for example say so otherwise it isn't a legal car due to wrong information when registered?

They'd just remap it after registration. Easy.

not really as it wouldn't have a warranty

The dealer could warranty it themselves though.

What about the fact that the new Audi A3 will be using the same engine as the vRS with 260bhp. (as found in Top Gear Magazine long term tests). Does this not mean that 260bhp is reliable???

It's probably perfectly reliable - *and great fun* - but it's not a SUK approved version so warranty from SUK is automatically void. Fair point, the dealer MAY give warranty, but that tends to last as long as the service manager/policy, which could be a few months..

The car is built/tested for a certain power - with some decent safety added (*hopefully*) - and if you go beyond that stuff tends to break sooner.

If the dealer is up front about it, there is less of a problem. I've not driven the standard vRS Mk1 nor Mk2 but I could imagine (having seen a remapped Mk1 disappear at the horizon :P ) it would be a fair bit faster than the standard one

The dealers at the garden centres are pushing the re-mapped Octy vRs and people are saying it is fast' date=' but are Skoda UK going to back this modification when things go wrong, and is it approved by Skoda UK.

I spoke to Winchester Motor Co when they did their demo day at Hilliers in Winchester and nobody would even say who the map was by, let alone if it was covered under the warranty.[/quote']

In Winchester Motor Co Demo vRS remapped then??

They said it was............but would not say which map it was, nor would they confirm the warranty details if it went wrong, just blank expressions.

Think I'll just keep my bog standard Mk1 Octy vRS.

Skoda dealers running demo's from garden centres? :confused: Was this just a Hampshire thing?

Chris

Skoda dealers running demo's from garden centres? :confused: Was this just a Hampshire thing?

Chris

Seemed to be Surrey/Hampshire, we were visiting family in Winchester, and saw it going on and went to have a look, also if you went for a test drive, you got a plant...................seriously, they gave you a plant:D

Did not take up the offer of a test drive, as already driven a Mk2.

............went to have a look, also if you went for a test drive, you got a plant...................seriously, they gave you a plant:D

And a gardening book. I got two plants and two books