I am currently in the process of buying the Fabia 1.4tsi and looking to possibly modify at a later date.

 

Just wanted to test the waters on what things there are to look out for (It has had a new engine fitted and clutch through Skoda warranty by the previous owner) and also what sort of mods I could do to get more power but also not to ruin the engine at the same time.

any input is appreciated👍

There is so much in the Fabia Mk2 section and the Fabia Project Section has members cars covering upgrades and remaps etc for 12 years now.

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So is it a car with a CAVE engine from 2010-2012 a CTHE from 2012-2014/15? 

 

Best thing is run it for a while using E5 Super Unleaded and see how the power is and that all is well.

Be sure that the servicing is up to date, good spark plugs fitted, clean air filter, good oil etc.

Tyres & Brakes and wipers are all good.

Handling good and suspension not needing a refresh.

Exhaust is good.

 

Then enjoy the car awhile before starting to try and improve it.

Building on what @roottoot said...

 

Make sure that you adjust to the driving dynamics of the car before chucking a wad of power at it or else it'll go wrong pretty quickly I reckon. With regards to handling, sort that out before adding power, can't have it putting out more power than it is capable of throwing into a corner.

 

Hope this helps.

^^^ Nail on head.

 

@Churchyy

That is where you need to see what is fitted now.   

What springs, dampers, are they standard and the original factory or already upgraded, is there a rear ARB fitted.

 

Are you sure there is not a remap on the ECU already. 

Get the car on a dyno maybe and see how much power it has and as it left the factory, or as is after the new engine was fitted.

Cheers Guys,

 

All i know is that there is a custom back box and that is as far as it goes with modifications.

He did say that he does have a set off lowering springs that have never been fitted that could be a possible modification. What else could be a good handling mod?

and sorry it is the CAVE  engine.

The question is, How far do you want to take it? Cave engine will run about 260-70bhp max before needing forged internals and even at that the standard clutch will not last long. If your planning to go over 300 bhp your easily talking £6-7k on mods and is almost impossible to get the power down from a standing start even with an upgraded LSD.

 

Bang for buck there's easier power to achieve out there with other cars, I've seen builds with 500 bhp but none in the UK with even close to 400 bhp can get the power down and struggle to run 13 second 1/4 miles.

 

I'm running around 250 ish, Its fine and a quick little car but my clutch fears for its life if I red line it.

 

 

Edited 24 March, 20224 yr by Mickmartin

I don't think ill be taking it as far as that, ill probably go with what @AnnoyingPentium said with the idea of making sure i can get the best possible performance out of the current engine before putting it under any more pressure than necessary.

i get the impression that these engines are pretty fragile compared to the PD counterpart

Saying that, what are the most efficient upgrades for handling and does anyone have any experience running said upgrade?

8 minutes ago, Churchyy said:

Saying that, what are the most efficient upgrades for handling and does anyone have any experience running said upgrade?

 

Rear Anti-Roll Bar - @DieselMonte has one on his... well... Diesel Monte.

 

Lowering springs.

 

General suspension refresh as well, perhaps.

35 minutes ago, Churchyy said:

I don't think ill be taking it as far as that, ill probably go with what @AnnoyingPentium said with the idea of making sure i can get the best possible performance out of the current engine before putting it under any more pressure than necessary.

i get the impression that these engines are pretty fragile compared to the PD counterpart

 

They are fine if you know how to look after them and know what to look for in terms of major issues, As i said you can squeeze 500bhp out a 1.4 block which is unbelievable if you ask me.

 

In terms of handling, I'll be completely honest with you mate......they are terrible if your used to driving a good road set up car, 40mm h&r springs and a a full anti roll bar set up will help but the body roll is still shocking and the general comfort of ride isn't great. I know a couple of boys who track them and in comparison say to a fiesta ST, round a twisty road or track it'll leave us no problem.

5 minutes ago, Mickmartin said:

I know a couple of boys who track them and in comparison say to a fiesta ST, round a twisty road or track it'll leave us no problem.

 

The Mk1 Fabia I own in comparison to the Fiesta ST-Line I learned to drive in were very much different cars in terms of handling as you say. The Fabia is definitely softer with more body roll, usually enough for me to fall out of my seat. The ST-Line on the other hand always felt a lot more poised. Then again, that won't answer the OPs question since they've got the vRS and not the ST.

 

You've got the nail on the head though, Mick.

@Churchyy

  If you just want to drive 60 mph NSL roads at maybe 70 or 80 mph and get around corners then a Stage 1 Remap will help and good tyres and springs and a rear ARB.

You can do that with a standard car anyway. 

 

There are weights on the rear crash bar unless already removed, the standard brakes are so so and maybe better tyres will be a good move, but then maybe the tyres on it are fine.

 

Try the car and see and if you just drive on public roads at NSL's the car will do just fine in the dry. 

41 minutes ago, roottoot said:

@Churchyy

  If you just want to drive 60 mph NSL roads at maybe 70 or 80 mph and get around corners then a Stage 1 Remap will help and good tyres and springs and a rear ARB.

You can do that with a standard car anyway. 

 

There are weights on the rear crash bar unless already removed, the standard brakes are so so and maybe better tyres will be a good move, but then maybe the tyres on it are fine.

 

Try the car and see and if you just drive on public roads at NSL's the car will do just fine in the dry. 

Those Rear crash bar weights what would the effect be of removing them?

Some say they should not be removed, make no difference, make the car unsafe etc.

 

But then many have no idea if they are still fixed on and if modding the car, changing springs, fitting a ARB then why not get the Ballast off.

Nobody has ever wanted to add extra weight to the rear left corner of their tuned Mk2 Fabia Monte Carlo.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/223019-removing-rear-weights-mk2-fabia-vrs-tsi-hatch-guide

 

Edited 24 March, 20224 yr by roottoot

I'm adding very little to this compared to what has already been mentioned but:

 

-Rarb absolute best bang for buck mod, cannot praise it enough. I got the whiteline rarb (BWR19Z is the code for the one for our cars) Some people get H&R. Whiteline is the one I have.

I would 100% put a Rarb on first and go from there.

 

-Suspension, ask him what springs he has, how much of a drop they are, brand etc. 

On standard, original shocks and springs my monte would often bottom out on some of the roughest parts of our roads (albeit at first only when I was going ""quick"") eventually they got to the point where the shocks were completely gone so I put coilovers on mine. 20-25mm drop, the car handles itself very well and no more bottoming out. If your cars reaching around 100k miles theres a good chance the shocks won't be performing at their best and it would be pointless putting lowering springs on worn out shocks.

 

Tyres- your car will have 205/40 R17 tyres standard, thats one size smaller than the equivalent ibiza/polo. Going up to a 215/40 to match the sister cars is a no brainer. Bit more tyre on the road and a slightly fatter sidewall to soak up the bumps better. Plus a 215/40 fits the rim so much better than the 205/40s. 

 

Bushes- If its on original bushes they might be wanting to be changed at this point. I replaced all my bushes with polyurethane but thats just me. I'd atleast do the wishbones with polyurethane bushes.

 

Brakes- Standard brakes are decent especially if you have quality pads. I changed my front brakes to 312mm ones and have no regrets in doing so. Rears do very little in comparison and your vRS has rear discs already. They can be upgraded to 256mm vented rears but again, it won't make as much of an impact as upgrading the fronts will.

I'm in the process of converting my monte from drums to discs, think I have a set of 256mm vented rear brakes sourced but if that falls through it'll just be 232mm solid discs same as a vRS.

 

While a Monte (Especially a diesel one) is different to a vRS, the basic handling upgrades will be the same.

Thankyou very much guys, been a great help and given some pretty decent scope!! 

 

Feel free to add anything extra as it is always a great help.

 

 

Thankyou again!!

@Churchyy

What is the story with the car you are getting.

What age, miles, how long has the owner had it and how many former keepers?

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Has the owner been a member on here? 

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What does the past MOT history look like?

So the car is on 80k miles

its an 11 plate, the current owner has owned it since '17 and the owner before him was the original owner from new.

Both owners have been a member of Briskoda but im not sure of the usernames.

 

MOT have passed every year with a couple advisories every so often but have been rectified since.

 

Might be worth mentioning that the current owner is one of the MK1 VRS SE owners and is in beautiful condition.

@Churchyy Sounds positive.

When was the replacement engine fitted & the clutch packs replaced? 

Is there a letter from Skoda confirming the engine replacement?

Has the water pump been replaced? 

24 minutes ago, Churchyy said:

So the car is on 80k miles

its an 11 plate,

When I mentioned earlier about my original shocks my car was at 89k when I got it and the shocks gave up the ghost around 104k miles.  My car would be a bit heavier on the nose which would give the shocks a harder time.

Fairly Low mileage for the age of it, about 7300 miles a year.

Would love to see some pictures of it.

All a location location location thing.

A Mk2 Fabia can be a rusting mess in less than 5 years / 50,000 miles and some of the first ones are still nice.

The front drivers springs are prone to snapping.

 

I have pictures of one of the buckets of crap i had.  

Looked rough, went like sh!te off a a shovel. 

 

When i changed springs it was ones that were 'Take offs' from the dealers fitting Eibach at the PDI that i used.

The tyres i used were the Dunlop Sportmaxx takeoffs that Skoda had replaced by Pirelli Zero Nero's when they could not sort the Pulling to the Left because of incompetence.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/434438-corroded-rear-silencers

Here was a 7 year old vRS. 

 

Edited 25 March, 20224 yr by roottoot

the engine was replaced @ 42k miles

the clutch packs on the mechatronics was replaced @ 28k miles

water pump hasnt been replaced but hs never had an issue as of yet

@ChurchyySmall points.  The Clutches replaced is not surprising as some had issues & 28,000 miles is as many others had issues from 2010/11.

The Mechatronic Control Unit is attached and they can have issues but the clutch packs are not part of the MCU.

 

The DSG will likely of had Service Campaign '34F7' carried out sometime after 2014 and that was a software update & the Synthetic Oil changed to mineral.

There will or should be a sticker in the spare tyre well with '34F7' on it. No worries if there or not as the car runs fine. 

 

Surprising that the original water pump is still fitted.

Check visually both rubber belts.  The Engine replaced at 42,000 miles probably had the original belts refitted to it. 

Edited 25 March, 20224 yr by roottoot

Look out for spark plugs / coil pack / wiring problems these engines are notoriously bad on oem coil/plugs , modding wise can go as far as you want but putting power down in real terms is really hard and the dq200 is made of chocolate … and for the money like mick said it’s how far you want to go where there is faster options on the market 

(m140i , a45 amg, r32) all have 4wd