John

Re traction, we also have an Octy Diesel Estate which is stock apart from a remap to 164 bhp - 393 N/m Torque, when driven hard in the wet the traction control works hard in first, second & very occasionally third, thats my only experience of a front wheel drive Octy but as I said its stock suspension, wheels, & standard Dunlops as factory fitted.

I went down the 4x4 route as I just prefered 4WD having come from the Scoob although as you probably know its a totally different approach to 4WD. Scoobs are a permanent dare I say Agricultural 4WD wheras the Audi system used on the Octys is an Inteligent system, FWD until slippage is detected then its 4WD. IMO this works really well & Ive had no problems. I guess it also leads to better economy on runs although if youve run a Scoob anything is better !!!

Having driven a 350 BHP Seat Ibiza I would say that if you are after big Power then 4WD is the way to go. Ok the Ibiza is a lighter car & with that kind of Power was awesome but on uneven surfaces you really had to hang on to the wheel as the car was grabbing at whatever it could find, Fun but would becone tedious & I dread to think what tyre life would be.

Front wheel drive might be slightly quicker on the track once rolling as the car is lighter, suffers less transmission power loss & slicks can be used but for an everyday car 4x4 IMO is preferable.

Re Scoob Head Gaskets, mine went on the Cannonball 2 years ago & I failed to finish & its ferking Engine out to change them ! The Skud completed the Cannonball this year & apart from 2 reshaped alloys (120 mph pot hole = ovalish front & rear alloy) nothing else broke, it didnt even develop any rattles

Thanks for all the input guys.

I have the lastest STi Suretrac front diff which is a very nice bit of kit and completely gets rid of any remaining understeer - it is now neutral-power oversteer but lovely and progressive. It feels like RWD with a shed load more traction

Only trouble is, 100 miles after the headgaskets were fixed there is a massive oil leak from the feed from the head to the turbo as the banjo bolt has been fitted and removed too many times

Thankfully it can be sorted whilst I am on holiday, but any more nonsense and I'll have to keep another car again.

An Ibiza with 250 BHP and LSD could be fairly sensible and cheap then? I see they only weigh approx 1119 kg, so could be 223 BHP/ton with still some semblance of manners.

I presume a K04 and remap would do 250 BHP with everything else pretty much stock?

John, A K03 sport with a remap will get you pretty close to the 250 (people on here are getting between 228 and 242 from theirs.

Thanks to Paul, I've now IDed the turbo that was put on mine. Looks like it was a K16 off the 911 Turbo, hybrided and roller bearinged for the princely some of under

Trouble I have with fast' date=' heavy FWD cars is that the weight transfer feels wrong to me when you run lots of torque. You open the throttle and the weight transfer is rearward and you have just unloaded your front where you are hoping to get traction. There seems to be no way to tighten your line mid bend without lifting off?

Does the vRS have a limited slip diff? If not, is anyone running one?[/quote']

I know that I've said it before but if you disconnect the brake actuator arm sensor and replace it with a standalone system you can then FULLY explore left foot braking to control power through corner derived understeer with all of the diff restriction/c of G advantages. IMHO

Fair enough, sounds a good way to inspect the roadside furniture, OK on track maybe? Even then you can hardly get fantastic traction out the corner when you are only keeping it pointing the right way by left foot braking

Fair enough, sounds a good way to inspect the roadside furniture, OK on track maybe? Even then you can hardly get fantastic traction out the corner when you are only keeping it pointing the right way by left foot braking

Of course this is not road recomended but the improvement in traction just at the apex of the corner to smooth off the cars desire to follow a tangent is VERY significant and the rapid reduction in torque also helps,

Try it on wet grass , just dab the brake to prevent the ECU cutting power and you will see what I mean. Good Luck

Fair enough, sounds a good way to inspect the roadside furniture, OK on track maybe? Even then you can hardly get fantastic traction out the corner when you are only keeping it pointing the right way by left foot braking

fwd traction out of corners only really applys at low speeds.... hence if you carry enough speed through the corner then the issue is avoided... just need enough grip / downforce to carry it... works ok for me at anglesey.

fwd traction out of corners only really applys at low speeds.... hence if you carry enough speed through the corner then the issue is avoided... just need enough grip / downforce to carry it... works ok for me at anglesey.

Agreed but without smooth tarmac/ soft rubber the 'window' of power on understeer particularly on a wet road, can be large, and with this thread idea of lots of power in stealth mode perhaps with narrow tyres would make road driving ''interesting' to say the least/

Next time your on Anglesey try the back road that runs from The Gazelle upper carpark to Beaumaris (go half way down towards Beaumaris from Menai Bridge) . Remember Anglesey is a lot more than some roundy roundy artificial bits.

Spend many a night recceing and testing (and rebuilding for Motoring News and similar events great fun .Always in the top twenty with 120bhp and no funds!!

The 4x4 are 5spd or 6spd?

6spd should be stronger...

Plenty of Haldex equipped TT's, S3's running high 200's and 300lbft torque?

Jabba have an A3 1.8T Quattro with an IHI on it..

Not completed, but should prove to be an honest test bed.

bill

The 4x4 are 5spd or 6spd?

6spd should be stronger...

Plenty of Haldex equipped TT's' date=' S3's running high 200's and 300lbft torque?

Jabba have an A3 1.8T Quattro with an IHI on it..

Not completed, but should prove to be an honest test bed.

bill[/quote']

5 standard, hence the Qs about upgrading to a 6. Interesting to hear about Jabba's A3...

... and I was under the impression that Brian at Jabbasport was already driving a modified 4x4 Octavia.

Jabba Octy 4x4 only remapped at the moment but big turbo kit planned to be added along with KW suspension.

A3 Quattro as per Bill's comments.

Jabba Octy 4x4 only remapped at the moment but big turbo kit planned to be added along with KW suspension.

I'd like to try that one when its ready.

I'd like to try that one when its ready.

Don't know if Carol will let ya.