Hi .. new poster.

It has been many years since I used to rally and race minis and now looking to regain a little personal fun. I was going to buy a Kit car but to much time was involved. I am looking to find as much information as possible about the Octavia vRS and this site seems to be the best source of information that I have found so far, and as the titles says...Petrol or Diesel? with lots of other questions!

In my quest to find more about Skoda It has made my son look at the Fabia and he picks up an 02 1.4 Fabia on Monday.

I am assuming that the 1.9 is the same basic block that was used in the Galaxy and the Vento. I have owned both Vento 90BHP and Galaxy 110BHP so I am familiar with the diesel so I need to know more about the petrol 1.8

Which is the easiest way (not necessarily the cheapest) to tune, to give (everyday use) reliable usable extra power? (I assume remapping)

How does it affect the MOT emissions?

Will remapping destroy the Catalytic converter?

What suspension and brake tweaks are recommended?

Once uprated will it be easy to insure?

Planning to buy an estate as it has to be a practical extra car within the family The only way my wife will happily agree to the extra cost.

Planning to buy a 02 or 03 model or is there any particular year that is easier to tune?

I still have more questions but that will do for now

Jim

For an octavia of that age , the Elegance is the 110bhp 1.9tdi , the ambiente and classic trim levels are 90bhp - almost exactly the same engines as the two you mention.

On an 04 plate you could also get the 130bhp version in elegance trim.

A remap would take you from 110 to about 140bhp and would make insurance more difficult though it shouldn't affect the emissions or cat.

It might be worth trying to get a slightly later car with the better engine to start with.

On the 1.8T a remap should get you from 180 to 220 without causing undue stress on anything else.

You could also get the Elegance with a 1.8T engine in 150bhp form , but that would also remap up to 220 with ease.

An 02 / 03 plate Octavia vRS will be a Mk1, which only came with the well-known VAG 1.8T 20v engine. So no diesel, I'm afraid. 225bhp+ ought to be achievable (at a price), as it's the same engine as in the Audi TT and S3, which both had versions that powerful. Don't know about the finer details, but there are plenty of people on here with modded Mk1 Octy vRSes that will be able to advise.

Oh, and welcome to Briskoda :wavey:

Hello and welcome. If you love Minis and were interested in kit cars but dont quite have the time, Z Cars will build an amazing Mini for about

You'll find a whole lot of info on here about the cars you mention. Best bet would be to go and test drive a few. The power delivery is very different in a petrol compared to a diesel.

Hiya. Most of the "direct insurers" won't like modified cars because they're too complicated for their brain cell. There are plenty of specialists who'll get a similar premium for you on a sensibly modified (like the tunes already suggested) car.

No-one else has mentioned brakes; the usual recommendation was for Mintex M1144, Pagid fast road or Ferodo DS2500 pads with standard discs on an Elegance.