vRS Fabia mk2

[dkneo]

Hello everyone!

 

It's been two weeks since I bought a lovely vRS Fabia mk2, quite of a jump from a 2005 1.4 Corolla... 

The car is beautiful inside and outside and I'd love to hang on to it for another year or two, but... Some people say because it's a relatively small, twin charged engine, it's being put under high ammount of pressure and the it isn't going to last for too long. How much truth is in this?

 

The car has 130,000 kms and I do my best to behave while driving and stay away from sports mode, but ocassionaly go for it and enjoy the boost.

 

The main question Is:

How durable are these cars and what can I do to increase the longevity of this engine? Luckily its the CAVE engine code and are there are modifications I should do and stay away from?

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[UrbanPanzer]

there are good and bad in all cars, if we all read the bad things about cars, we would never buy anything !!

 

I'm not sure why you say "lucky" it's a CAVE engine, they are the early engines which did suffer with oil consumption and bore wear problems, the later CTHE is ideally the one to have, but some of those have had issues as well.

 

You siggsy says its a 2011 car, so should be a CAVE engine as you say, but it "may" have had warranty work, or even a new engine at some point, ideally contact a dealer and see what, and if it has any history of that type of work, there are many CAVE engined cars which have never had issues, its a bit of a lottery.

 

longevity in any car = engine oil, good quality engine oil changed at regular intervals.........its your cars blood and it needs to be good.

With the twin charger, also renew spark plugs at intervals LESS than Skoda say to keep reliablity.

 

Don't forget, the internet is full of people moaning when things go wrong, you don't find all the good things posted as well.

 

For me, I think the vRS is a super little car, BUT it can have its issues as with any, personally I think 180PS from a 1.4 is a lot and I think those that tune them for more power do run the risk of shortening the life, others will argue for it, but thats what makes the world go round.

If im honest, regardless of how much I would want a mk2 vRS I would NEVER buy a modded / tuned car, would always look for a factory standard late car with history but I understand all budgets are different, especially at the moment.

 

In standard form, the car is a fun drive, and limitless power on tap, can it be improved, yes offcourse, but at what cost.

 

 

 

Edited 6 July, 2022 by UrbanPanzer

[dkneo]

You are right! It was CAVE engine which had the oil consumption problem and not CTHE, I keep an eye on the oil levels at least once a week and it looks pretty alright, let's hope it stays that way 

 

What would your suggestion be on the:

1.Service intervals for oil, oil + air filter, spark plugs?

2.Instalation of coilovers and cold air intake + cone filter on the car?

3.Removal of the medium section of the exhaust system hoping for a "raspier" sound?

4.'Tip from somewhere on the internet', Removal of the plastic cover located on the charger (this will apparently cool down the air around the charger, resulting in better performance, fuel economy and sound... in my opinion this sounds too good to be true)

5.Should the car be remapped if any or all of the above happen? + are there any maps for fuel economy?

 

Also, is there anything else improving fuel economy that can be done? I have noticed that motorways and back roads are grand, but acceleration and anything slower than 50km/h is a bit high.

 

Appologies if any of the questions are silly, I want to take extra care of my vRS and avoid stupid mistakes, mechanical aspect of cars is like black magic to me... All answers are greatly appreciated, Thank you.

[thomasaspin]

6 hours ago, dkneo said:

You are right! It was CAVE engine which had the oil consumption problem and not CTHE, I keep an eye on the oil levels at least once a week and it looks pretty alright, let's hope it stays that way 

 

What would your suggestion be on the:

1.Service intervals for oil, oil + air filter, spark plugs?

2.Instalation of coilovers and cold air intake + cone filter on the car?

3.Removal of the medium section of the exhaust system hoping for a "raspier" sound?

4.'Tip from somewhere on the internet', Removal of the plastic cover located on the charger (this will apparently cool down the air around the charger, resulting in better performance, fuel economy and sound... in my opinion this sounds too good to be true)

5.Should the car be remapped if any or all of the above happen? + are there any maps for fuel economy?

 

Also, is there anything else improving fuel economy that can be done? I have noticed that motorways and back roads are grand, but acceleration and anything slower than 50km/h is a bit high.

 

Appologies if any of the questions are silly, I want to take extra care of my vRS and avoid stupid mistakes, mechanical aspect of cars is like black magic to me... All answers are greatly appreciated, Thank you.

Hi mate I wouldn’t worry it’s done 130,000 KM’s I would drive it hard and have fun ,  good quality oil every 10.000 miles and uprating the coil packs and spark plugs keeps these engines alive, it’s the gearboxes that are weak 

[Ootohere]

@thomasaspinthat is remembering that your Twincharger cars engine was replaced was it not or was it just the CAVE updates that were done before you started modding it.

So the Engine Breather mod was done, and was the OIl Spray Jets done. 

 

@dkneoEnjoy the car and there is no need to stay away from putting the DSG into S as that is it just holding the gears to a higher RPM before changing up.

When you read of someone booting the car in S and maybe getting a misfire or the car going into limp mode that is just because there was maybe a bad sparkplug and the tip maybe burned up.  

So be sure there are 4 good spark plugs fitted.

?

Are you able to run the car on Super Unleaded or are you just running it on Unleaded 95?

?

Do you know for sure the car has not already had a Remap? 

 

You can check with Skoda or a Dealership what the history of you car is in the early years or if any Service Campaign work was done or even if the car has the original engine.  There are over 20% CAVE cars in the UK that do not have the engine in that they left the factory with.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/350973-warranty-on-replacement-engine

 

Your CAVE might have had a Software Update already years ago along with a Breather Update that was done from 2012 on.

Also your DSG might have had the Service Campaign on the DSG which started in 2014 on ones 2010-2012.

That was a Oil change from Synthetic to mineral & a software update of dsg.  '34F7'.   There would be a sticker in the Spare Tyre Well or should be.

No matter if all is well now though.

Pinned threads at the top of this section. 

Edited 7 July, 2022 by roottoot

[Madvlad65]

Sorry to hijack this thread a little bit. Roottoot  

Is there a way to verify if the software update/breather mod has been done ie sticker from dealer  /can you see it in the engine bay / ask a dealer 

[Mickmartin]

I'll kick off the positive vibes.....

 

I've had mine over 4 and a half years and apart from wear and tear parts I've had to replace:

 

Water pump

Radiator

Pcv(n75 valve)

 

Literally less than £200 in parts in 4 years it owes me, Cant grumble at all. Now i'll not be naïve and pretend they don't have issues or have a reputation of having issues because they do deserve that however if you know what to look for and find a good one.......Learn how they work and look after it they are more than reliable.

 

80k(130km) miles isn't a lot as I've seen proof of these doing double that mileage but I'd be looking at replacing the chain on TSI at 80k if it hasn't been done already. Personally I service mine yearly no matter the mileage, changed the DSG oil at 50k for piece of mind albeit there's the argument it never needs done but each to their own.

 

Running a stage 2 engine map for almost 3 years now the car has been flawless even on the standard clutch, @thomasaspin Will vouch for the modifying side of things as he's put more power through is than mine.

Edited 7 July, 2022 by Mickmartin

[Ootohere]

@Madvlad65 It hardly matters if done years ago if your car is not using oil.

It was done when people complained enough about high oil use and should show on the Service & Warranty History as Skoda / VW Paid for it.

If you know what the difference of OEM and then the Update Breather & even the 2nd Update as in Australia got you can look.

 

Really it makes no difference as it never worked anyway and then the next cunning stunt was the Oil Spray Jet Upgrade which again never worked for many and they got a replacement engine.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/318553-fabia-vrs-mk2-breather-fix-yes-or-no-for-high-oil-consumption

 

Edited 7 July, 2022 by roottoot

[murcGuru]

What exactly is the breather mod?

[Ootohere]

Revised breather pipe / valve and a software update carried out on CAVE cars from 2010-2012 on cars where the owners were complaining of high oil consumption and probably after an oil consumption test.  There was a 2nd mod tried out in Australia.   If it was not done then no loss.    Many that had it still got a new engines anyway.   After that comes the Oil spray jet upgrade. (Squirters). Pinned thread at top of section.   Maybe do not google squirters if at work.    EDIT.  Doh, on a phone I never spotted my post above your question. 

Edited 16 September, 2022 by roottoot

[Ootohere]

@murcGuru

You will see the picture on here with the update.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/472431-fabia-vrs-mk2-cave-issues-and-tsbs