Help with tuned second-hand fabia

[jensbakker]

Hi there.

 

I just picked up my 2018 Fabia 1.0 TSI 95hk and to my surprise there was a note in the glovebox saying that it has been tuned from 95hp/160nm to 140hp/238nm.

The next thing I did when I found out was to call the tuner, and he said that it is recommended to use E5(98) fuel instead of E10(95). Also he said to change the oil every 15k and change the spark plugs every 30/40k.

 

My question is if the 1.0 TSI engines can be tuned well and if this is a risk. It has been tuned at 60K km, and it now has 120K on it so it already ran for 60K/2 years.  My first goal was to drive for at least 8 years with this car to 180K km.

How reliable is this engine when tuned to 140hk? Can the fabia even take E5(98) fuel? Please help me out since this is my first car and I'd hate to break it sooner than expected. Thanks in advance!

[jensbakker]

Extra: the tuner said he was in the buisiness for quite long and also noted that alot of cars nowadays get tuned like ****.

[Ootohere]

Sounds fine, drive normally for whatever country you are in and it should be fine. Advice sounds right.   When was it last serviced, plugs changed, air filter checked etc?

Plenty here have had them tuned similarly.

Now that you know it is modified i suppose you just have to declare that with your insurance.

[jensbakker]

1 minute ago, Rooted said:

Sounds fine, drive normally for whatever country you are in and it should be fine. Advice sounds right.   When was it last serviced, plugs changed, air filter checked etc?

Plenty here have had them tuned similarly.

Now that you know it is modified i suppose you just have to declare that with your insurance.

 

The air filters have been changed 3x in the past 120K.

Spark plugs last at 55K (so I guess I need them done)

 

How about the fuel? He said 98 was better than E10. What about E5 (looks like a middle ground between e10 and 98)?

Thanks for your help

[Ootohere]

Open the Air Box and look at the Air Filter and see if clean.

 

E5 has from 0%-5% max Ethanol.

E10 can have up to 10% Ethanol, and is 95 Octane. (Minimum)

 

Were are you?  98 (Min) E5 would be right and depending where you are it might be Winter Spec now and 100 / 100+ octane.

 

In the UK there is no 98 Super Unleaded, it is 97 or 99 Minimum E5. 

Edited 3 February by Rooted

[jensbakker]

The air filter looks clean.

 

I live in the Netherlands and everything here has been switched to E10. Since I live 30 minutes away from the ARAL station in Germany I can fuel euro 95 E5 and 98.

Is there a big difference between 98 and E5? Thanks for your help and the peace of mind

 

[Ootohere]

It is E10 95 ron,  or E5 98 ron, or 100, 102, 107 ron (Octane.)

 

The stage 1 map you have was maybe to suit the Super Unleaded.   It might make no difference to you to run the petrol with more ethanol, you bought it not knowing it was tuned anyway. 

[jensbakker]

Yeah okay.

 

So basically all E5 fuels are 98 and all E10 are 95?

 

Ill try and use 98 where I can. Otherwise E5 and if thats not possible e10. Do I have this right?

Edited 3 February by jensbakker

[Ootohere]

This was posted by @nta16 concerning the UK, he is a good source for stuff like this. 

[jensbakker]

Thanks for your help.

 

So in practice if I make sure I refuel with 5% ethanol, change the spark plugs every 30-40k and change the oil yearly then I should be fine and not have any reliability problems (I'd like this car to go to 180-200k over the span of 7-8 years)

[jensbakker]

Hey all one more thing..

 

I just read that the 95hp Fabia has a gearbox that is rated for only 200Nm. I now have shy of 240. Is this a problem?

Sorry for my spam but I want to take care well of my first car

[nta16]

49 minutes ago, jensbakker said:

The air filter looks clean.

Compared to what?  If you had a brand new filter to compare it with it is easier to tell how clean your present filter might be, if it is a paper filament filter you could try holding it up to the sun if it is shining to see how much you can see through the filter.

 

Change the spark plugs as tuner's recommendation, I would go with 30K and use god quality like NGK of the equivalent the tuner has used.

 

I would change the engine oil at 15K or yearly whichever is soonest and use a very good quality proper fully synthetic engine oil of the tuner's specified multigrade (xW-yO).

 

When the car is 10 or 12 years old, or actually sooner personally, I would change the coolant, whilst the antifreeze part might be ok when people test it the additives tend to deplete sooner (same for oils).

 

I would also change the oil in the manual gearbox, and as appropriate to the DSG Rooted would know about that, I only like manual boxes.

 

Petrol - you can research for yourself the difference in octane but also note in the UK at least the higher octane petrols also have higher additive packages, mainly cleaners and the cleaner the engine runs the better generally, another reason for good air filtering, think of the engine as a giant air pump and all the stuff that is in the air (like fumes and bits of rubber oversized wheels and tyres on all modern cars).

 

At a 40+% increase in power to fully use it - and you will at some points otherwise convert back to factory tuning - and it remain reliable and durable you want to run above factory recommendations (where VW and other car manufacturers bother to mention them) for servicing and maintenance.

 

The engine of course is not the most important item on a car, the following are more important - brakes, steering and suspension (all three require good appropriate tyres in good condition), safety electrics (lights, horn, windscreen blower, etc.) and windows and mirrors (reflective number plates) all to see and be seen. 

 

Don't let your car battery get too low otherwise it can throw up al sorts of unexpected issues, certainly don't wait for warning messages and lights, be proactive preventative by charging the battery by sufficient driving or the use of an appropriate battery charger maintainer.  The warning lights were referred to as "idiot lights" sometimes unfairly but sometimes fairly as it could be idiotic to let them appear or continue to drive with some of them on, nowadays though the cars tend to scream blue murder if a light bulb needs changing.

 

[jensbakker]

Woah, thanks for the info.

 

I will just reset it to the factory 110hk map which still is an upgrade. Thanks again for the detailed info!

 

[nta16]

1 minute ago, jensbakker said:

I will just reset it to the factory 110hk map which still is an upgrade. Thanks again for the detailed info!

You don't have to but I am concerned about whether you insured the car as factory standard and it is not as to how your insurer will take this - and 110hp is not the original 95hp for your car so is an over tune for insurance purposes stuill.

 

95hp, 110hp or 140hp (or 400hp or 700hp) doesn't matter but how it is used is a different matter.

 

I don't know exactly what is done to get from 95hp to 110hp on these engines (I could guess) but @Rooted probably knows the details.

 

The only difference if dropping to 110hp or 95hp I can think of  (others may know more) is to ask the tuner if the spark plugs were a difference specification for the tuning but if you change them away and are going back to factory spec to tune for the mapping then you will get factory spec plugs anyway (careful to get genuine NGK).

 

Otherwise 95hp or 110hp or 140hp all the servicing and maintenance I listed I personally would still do, you could save a tiny fraction by using factory specified make and model of good engine oil instead of using a very good  proper full  synthetic engine (and perhaps gearbox) oil(s).

 

24 minutes ago, jensbakker said:

I just read that the 95hp Fabia has a gearbox that is rated for only 200Nm. I now have shy of 240. Is this a problem?

Sorry for my spam but I want to take care well of my first car

No problem with asking questions.

 

How well something like the gearbox and clutch lasts (regardless of power) is a lot about how the car is driven, the driver (and I am not a great driver, or further trained)

 

What gearbox is fitted to your car?

 

[jensbakker]

Hi.

 

I just called my insurance company and they said everything under 200hp is fine, so I'm good in that regard.

 

The 110hp is just a factory update. The fabia ships with a 95hp (5 speed) or a 110hp (6 speed).

 

I will change the oils and everything in the next few weeks.

 

My driving style isn't agressive and I dont race my car or anything, the added torque and hp are just nice on the motorway I guess.

I have the 5 speed manual gearbox.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[nta16]

3 hours ago, jensbakker said:

I just called my insurance company and they said everything under 200hp is fine, so I'm good in that regard.

Well done - very different usually in the UK.

 

3 hours ago, jensbakker said:

The 110hp is just a factory update. The fabia ships with a 95hp (5 speed) or a 110hp (6 speed).

AFAIK in the UK you can get the 95hp or 110hp models from factory new but they are sold as different models and the 110hp is not offered as a factory or Skoda UK update on a 95hp but others will know better and more than me on this (and a lot else).

 

3 hours ago, jensbakker said:

My driving style isn't agressive and I dont race my car or anything, the added torque and hp are just nice on the motorway I guess.

I have the 5 speed manual gearbox.

Not much point you having the 40+% over tune then and unless you want to go at higher illegal speeds the 95hp, let alone 110hp  should give you enough unless you are fully loaded with passengers and luggage and perhaps a roof rack box and or going up a very long and steep slope, in which case appropriate use of the gears well before the engine labours and/or the car has lost too much momentum (driver experience and/or driver training helps with stuff like this).

 

Unless you want to drive at illegal speeds or do a lot of fast overtaking on a motorway normally you need extra power and torque probably a lot less than on other roads.  On a flat roads at a steady speed without a strong wind blowing in the opposite direction you may well be very surprised at how little hp is need to sustain the speed and momentum.

 

ETA: I have driven cars with (claimed) 64hp and less all across the UK, and bits of France, Belgium and Germany, and on the autobahn, with Porsche, Toyota Supra and (new) Jag XK V8 friends and we barely got to 70mph (112kph) and were actually stationary at points, so much for unlimited. 😄  

 

More hp and particularly torque is usually very nice but on the occasions you really want it and can actually use it whatever you have will seem as if you would like more.  A way round this is with whatever power you have you can reduce weight and resistance to going forward.  All modern cars are heavy (particularly lardy VWs) because of all the legal requirement and nicety aids on the car so you can do nothing about them but you can remove things like roof and bike racks when not in use, have lower resistant tyres, don't keep junk in the car or boot or unnecessary tools and parts, don't put on or keep on unnecessary electric loads on the car, think ahead before braking and braking hard losing momentum, same for the need to accelerate.  If you went out with a good track driver or track instructor you would notice more how smoothly they drive rather than the speed (you would probably think the car is going slower than it actually is).

 

When driving my wife's 2015 1.2 TSI 90hp I do notice the difference when having two extra rear passengers to when it's just my wife and I in the car even on ordinary roads but it's still easily more than sufficient for needs.

 

As you are new to the car (and possibly an inexperienced driver) read the Owner's (driver's) Manual that came with the car new, despite what men with often (self-proclaimed) large testicles might lead you to believe it's not against any law or unmanly to read it and refer to it, it will tell you a lot about driving and maintaining and even simple stuff to prevent the need of consulting garages for "repairs" (if you are a woman you will already know to ignore such men on many matters).

 

When I used to have cars new to me, after any brake, steering or suspension priorities obviously, my first thing would be to check the battery is appropriate, good condition and state of charge.  I would suggest you fully recharge the battery with an appropriate battery charger and maintainer (go for low and slow recharge as possible), if this isn't really required then it won't take long anyway, if the battery is low then good job you checked and it could take many hours to fully recharge, do it split between car use if required.  When it is full you have a good point to judge the battery from and hopefully won't be a statistic for the number one cause of breakdown call-outs (in the UK at least).  And you know the battery is fully charged for any other electrical or starting issues you might encounter (not that I think you should gave any based only on what is put here).

 

Before this I would hope you have checked the tyre pressures are correct (including spare if there is one or you carry one).  Also checked the condition of the tyres as someone who bothers with 40+% overtune probably made use of this and it may give more wear and tear to the tyres.  I personally would want at least both tyres at each axles to be the appropriate specification and exactly same make,  model and age, preferably all four (five?).

 

Whilst at the wheels you can look through at the brakes to see how they look, remove wheel(s) if a closer look is required.

 

I would check when the brake fluid was last changed (should have been changed a couple of times twice to UK schedule) and look at the level and colour of it in the brake reservoir.

 

I would change the air filter and spark plugs (if it's the same as my wife's car you have to take the PITA air filter box off to get at the plugs anyway).

 

Unless I had good evidence that it had ben done in a reasonable time and timely way I would also change the engine oil and filter - but wait for warmer weather than this time of year if doing it myself.

 

I would check all lights all work when all switched fully on and all on together, a poor earth and other issues perhaps tend to show when doing this.  Clean all lights (and both number plates and external mirrors, rear window if required).

 

Check windscreen (and rear) washers work and condition of rubber wiper blades (elements), clean them too.

 

I would recommend you drive the car for at least one year round before doing any cosmetic changes or other changes to see what you might be able to live with a is and save the money for servicing, maintenance and any repairs especially any unexpected ones, the car is about 5 years old and 75,000 miles use, it's a German based car not a Japanese built car.

 

That is more than enough for now.

 

Keep coming back and let us know how you get on, return and (if appropriate start new threads) if you more questions and/or issues.

 

Good luck. 

Edited 3 February by nta16

[jensbakker]

Wow - thanks.

 

I will wait a few weeks and then I'll try to replace the stuff with a mate of mine who knows quite a bit about cars.

 

Will surely keep you updated in a few months time!

 

Thanks all (and especially nta16)

[Ootohere]

@jensbakker  I would mistrust what you were told about the 200 hp by whoever.  I would want that in writing and that you do not need to declare on your insurance.

As it is they have no idea really what change the remapping has made and if 20% of an increase or greater. 

 

110 ps is not just a factory upgrade, and no idea why anyone would think that, it can involve different brake and wheel sizes and gearboxes, gears. 

[nta16]

@Rooted I think, but have no real idea as I wasn't there or talking with the person from the insurance, that the insurance company may have meant the insurance policy was good for vehicles or mods up to 200hp but not that the overtune or car was suitably set up for such or 140hp, or 110hp, but the tune of the whole car may include the factory differences for all we know, though like you I doubt it other than hopefully, if required, but not necessarily brakes including of course the tyres as part of the braking system.  Bear in mind also this is not UK, but again I thought Sweden was stricter about cars than the UK but have never been (anywhere near) there.

 

You and I would probably not need a note in a glovebox to imagine if a 95hp felt too lively on a test drive but would really wonder about it if we thought we were looking at buying a 95hp and it went so in excess of what we were expecting.

 

 

 

Off topic warning

My neighbour told me his new car was 270hp and when I asked if he meant perhaps torque he said hp, I drove it and confirmed he was mistaken, it turned out on website to be up to (?) 270nm (1800-3750) for the model and max. 155hp (unstated).   It has horrible electronics and programing for electronic handbrake especially when combined with start/stop, On give way slowing and quick pull off from roundabouts engine cuts out , or trying to get off very wet mud with the front wheels on 2wd (bl**dy oversized wheels and and oversized (road) tyres).  Very intermittent lane annoyance warning thing even when provoked over a long stretch of white lines.  Made the VW Fabia start/stop seem very accomplished (mechanical handbrake probably helps too).

 

BTW thanks for the compliment about the petrol list but I just copied off someone else and updated it, I no longer need to worry about such things or inform others about ethanol-free, or can put it in my neighbour's cheap Chinese mower engine so I'm well out of the loop as they say, and you gave me a load of info on this anyway (thanks).

 

Cheers.

 

Edited 4 February by nta16
typos

[jensbakker]

Heyo there.

 

I called my insurance company again and they noted me to the policy that any vehicle under 1050kg that has less than 200hp are all in the same class. They noted it in my policy aswell.

 

I just ordered a new air filter, new spark plugs from NGK and I will be mounting these in the next few weeks. Seems like an easy enough job to do on my own. These were ordered on skoda-parts.com (idk if you heard of it) but since I needed a new rear window switch I thought lets buy these parts aswell.

 

As for the engine oil, this has been changed when I purchased it (including the oil and weirdly the cabin filter). Ill be looking into changing the transmission fluid and the coolant, just to get that done. Brakes, lights, wipers etc are all as new as that's the reason why I bought this car . AC also works etc

 

Anything else I need to worry about besides not ''racing'' the car? I mean, it has already done 60K km since the tune and it still runs and steers fine.

And then again, thank you so much guys for all your help. Don't know how to thank you hehe

 

EDIT: I didn't finish the order just yet, so maybe I need something else? I'll buy the coolant and fluids somewhere locally.

Edited 4 February by jensbakker

[Ootohere]

I would have asked the person that tuned it on their recommendation for Spark Plugs.

I would have bought DENSO.

 

Members here with remaps will tell you maybe if the stayed with OEM.

 

Check you can remove the Ignition Coils or you want to get the tool to do that.

[jensbakker]

The person who tuned it doesn't know what was being used.

 

My bets bet now is to only order my air filter and then the window switches, and in a few weeks when I will be mounting the filter then buy some spark plugs and check which ones are being used now. Not having my car over the weekend isn't a big issue.

 

Do the ignition coils also need replacing?

[Ootohere]

The coils should be fine.

 

My issue is with Remapers.   I would never remap a car without first fitting the plugs i want to use, the air filter / intake  and run it on super unleaded and then when sure all is well.

 

Tuners with no opinion on the plugs might just not be that bothered about stuff like getting the most from what the customer has. 

[jensbakker]

About 7K miles before the tune the spark plugs and the air filter were replaced. The tuner has quite a high reputation it seems so I am not too bothered about that. He also said to run on 98 or even 102 when the price is nice...

 

[nta16]

47 minutes ago, jensbakker said:

into changing the transmission fluid and the coolant

They can wait until you've had the car a year or two.

 

55 minutes ago, jensbakker said:

skoda-parts.com (idk if you heard of it)

They claim to offer genuine Skoda parts and I have no reason to doubt it but I would not be tempted by the Chinese parts.

 

20 minutes ago, jensbakker said:

The person who tuned it doesn't know what was being used.

I hope he checked at the time and has just forgot.  I'm with Rooted the tuner shouldn't tune the car unless he knows all about it and its condition and what parts are best with the car and state of tune - but perhaps he did and has just forgot or standard plugs were fine.  Or downside, was too lazy to look it up for you as you would hope he would record such things on a remap.

 

Genuine NGK or Denso appropriate model of each should be good AFAIK.

 

For the coils I am not sure that you need a coil puller tool but the correct tool is usually handy for a job, I got out of doing it so don't know how awkward they are to remove by hand, obviously care must be taken.  You are supposed to use a special VAG grease on at least number 4 I think on putting them back in but I do not know if that is necessary or any other type of grease but I would use anything that make the work easier for next time.  You also need the correct thin walled deep plug spanner, it having a magnet would help with getting the plug out of the deep dark recess too.  Check for correct torque for replacement.

 

I forgot pollen cabin filter I would get the longest lasting type of filter and/or best at filtering if I required cleaner fresh air but I'm used to open top cars where you get all the fumes (and bits of rubber off modern oversized tyres) anyway.

 

1 hour ago, jensbakker said:

Anything else I need to worry about

As above, brakes, tyres, battery.

 

If your mate has a VW/Skoda appropriate scan tool you could get him to plug it in and do a report, the more VW appropriate and higher level the scan tool the more you will see, after taking the report get him to delete any error codes, drive the car and see if any come back.  This would probably be even more interesting if done before removing the mapping but don't wait on removing the mapping and reverting back to factory settings.