Hi All,

 

I'm looking for some modification inspiration! I have a 2020 vRS 245 hatch, currently bone stock.

 

I'm limited with what I can do with regards to remapping, etc, as my insurance (early 20s) is already steep. I like the idea of intake/res delete, but it has been highlighted to me on FB groups that they won't make much difference. 

 

I'm also looking for some styling inspiration! My car is a race blue hatch, with the black pack, and 18" grey/diamond cut Geminis.

 

Thanks!

Are you just looking for fashionable cosmetic improvements or for the (whole) car to go better?

 

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Are you just looking for fashionable cosmetic improvements or for the (whole) car to go better?

 

 

To be honest, both. I'm limited with what I can do power wise due to insurance, but can very easily do handling, etc. One of the best things I did with my Leon FR was put some EBC pads and discs on it, however the stock setup on the vRS is more than enough. I'm keen to also be reasonable with pricing - e.g. I'm not spending £200 for some paddle shift extensions, or £500 for an intake that will do zero without anything else!

 

Visually, I'm looking for some inspiration. I've found some nice black lettering here  which is a good first step, but I'm wanting to do a little more. That said, I bought a vRS over a GTI, S3, etc because I wanted something different and more lowkey, so I don't want to plaster a sunstrip, splitter and tinted lights on it 🤣 

Hi. 

If you ever need any help with insurance for modifications then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

Cosmetics are beyond me other than keeping the car clean inside and out (including many years back under the wheels arches, all of the boot, doors and bonnet shuts and the engine bay as much as reasonable).  Now I only regularly clean the lights, windows (mirrors) and reflective number plates - see and be seen.  I'd have the smallest wheels I could get over the brakes with high profile narrower tyres for comfort and because I like to drive the car rather than the computers driving me.  I'm old so used to the least of electrics let alone electronics, safety was seatbelts which I always chose to wear even though it wasn't mandatory for a good few years.

 

For braking improvement (and steering) and improved suspension, grip, handling (ride comfort and noise) better quality tyres are the thing to get when reasonable, As you put I'd expect a VRS to be fitted with good quality pads and discs already, all the fashionable fades with holes and grooves and harder pads does very little in the real world of road driving.  Despite EBC being a Northampton family business from the 1960s IIRC I've never used their products as I had a mate that worked for Pagid Performance Braking before the German bosses of the time took the business away from North Yorkshire.

 

As with a lot of things in life tyres and wheels aren't that much about the size, tyres are a very complex and underrated car component by most people (not race and track though) how good the tyre is is about the design, build, composition and compounds - again tread pattern are more a fashion and market/sales thing.

 

Note, I'm old, I don't like the Merc/VWAldi black badges and letters as it just makes me think the chrome finish has come off. 🙃 

 

Best tuning you can do on the car is to have the whole car fully and timely serviced, maintained and repaired (and that not the Dealer/garage/mechanic type of servicing), without that solid basis you can't fully successfully progress.  A properly serviced, maintained and repaired whole car can give surprising gains over those that are just serviced and maintained to the Dealership service schedules.

 

Something that is even better tuning and it can be transferred to other cars is further driver training, I don't mean track training stuff but real world driving on our roads (such as they are, you'll learn to drive smoother which will also be, quicker if you want and safer.  You want to build up your NCD so you can get it protected and keep your insurance costs down.  Not - never get cheap insurance as if you need to claim it can turn out to be very expensive, always get good insurance that fully covers your needs.

 

With the above you can have the start of a bit of a Q-car (well except for the VRS badges and 18" wheels). 🙂

 

You don't want to worry too much about PS/HP figures ("Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." as apparently Enzo Ferrari used to say) or numbers on a dash dial it's how a car feels to you, a small very low powered car can be much fun to drive than a very powerful very fast car on the roads, it's all about how it feels to you, whatever you get others have lots more and often less is more.  Some mods and "improvements" can turn out to be detrimental and worse than the standard vehicle, that has been proven often.

 

From the little I've seen of FB (I thought that was now for old folk) there are quick questions and quick answers many incorrect as the subject isn't explored or expanded enough, on a forum there's lots more time and space, as my post proves.

 

Others will be along or you can look and/or also ask in the relevant model and year forum on her for your car or the Projects section of that.

 

Good luck.

 

On 02/08/2024 at 18:51, BluevRS245 said:

 

To be honest, both. I'm limited with what I can do power wise due to insurance, but can very easily do handling, etc. One of the best things I did with my Leon FR was put some EBC pads and discs on it, however the stock setup on the vRS is more than enough. I'm keen to also be reasonable with pricing - e.g. I'm not spending £200 for some paddle shift extensions, or £500 for an intake that will do zero without anything else!

 

Visually, I'm looking for some inspiration. I've found some nice black lettering here  which is a good first step, but I'm wanting to do a little more. That said, I bought a vRS over a GTI, S3, etc because I wanted something different and more lowkey, so I don't want to plaster a sunstrip, splitter and tinted lights on it 🤣 

Buy the best tyres you can afford, is my advice on budget mods if you don't fancy a remap.

Keep it spotlessly clean and wax/polish it well if you want it to look good.

Think about maybe getting it Lanoguarded or whatever underseal protection you prefer.

But generally, I don't think you really have a problem to solve. I suspect you've got an itch you think modding your car will scratch.

The only thing I would suggest on top of the above is a rear roll bar.  This will likely satisfy your need to mod without impacting other areas too much.  A stiffer rear bar on a front drive car helps keep it flat in corners and allows the front wheels to stay in better contact.  It also helps with a sharper turn in and more predictable return when straightening up after a corner.  That last part was the biggest benefit for me.  Coming out of a corner and having a car that didn't snap upright from too much roll has made the car feel safer and more relaxing to drive.

Real world and not a parallel universe any Octavia goes into and around a 60 mph corner & out of it facing forward still if it can be cornered at 60 mph or slower if a slower corner.

A vRS will do that pretty damn standard as long as the tyres grip & you are in control...

As a caveat to my statement above after oots comment is I havne't actually driven an octavia with independent rear suspension.  Superb, Passat, Golf, A3 but only rear beamed octavias.