Tuning the 1.6 Felicia

[Skoda-Msport]

Hi all. I am looking into buying a 1999 Felicia 1.6 SLXi. I am downgrading slightly from my Saab 9000 Carlsson as I am looking to buy a house with my partner, she says the saab has to go, but its more due to her learning to drive: shes too scared to drive something as big and powerfull as the saab.

...Which brings me onto the Felicia. We will be sharing the car but I should be doing some changes to it. I have heard they handle badly due to alot of body roll and the ride height being rather high, so the felicia pickup 22mm anti roll bar would be used up front, and a lowered springs/shocks setup of which type i havent decided, as some are 35/35mm, 40/40mm and oddily enough 35/15mm. Every 1.6 ive seen has a strut brace up front so Id have a rear one fabricated also.

Onto the engine. Im not sure if there is alot of tuning that can be done with the VW AEE 1.6 lump but a chip, performance system, induction kit, enlarged throttle body (from similar VW engine) or aftermarket throttle body setup, uprated fuel pressure reg, better flowing manifold and a high lift cam should be good for 100-140bhp at a guess.

Does anyone know if there are any bigger front brake disc/caliper upgrades from other VWs that will mate up to the felicia's hub? Also, can skoda rally/kit car parts still be sourced from skoda or other?

Im looking everywhere currently for a company that makes polyurethane bushes for the felicia but havent found a thing :(

Im not interested in body kits and the like, maybe some wider arches to accommodate wider wheels but thats it.

If anyone has a tuned felicia of any type id be glad to hear from you all.

Regards,

Al

[brian1.9diesel]

I to down graded from a Volvo 850 to a Skoda Felicia diesel, i also was buying a house at the time so it made financial sence but my heart said otherwise, "i have saved alot of money on fuel since!" If you are buying the 1.6 Felicia and doing lots of mods, you wont save any money but proberly loose money. Get one but dont drive it so fast, it will never be a Saab 9000!

[TeflonTom]

i reckon it's possible to get over 150bhp from an aee lump in naturally aspirated form turbo conversions may see a rise on this but it would cost a fortune..... it's not really a question of how much power will i get, it's more a question of how money have you got??

as far as i know there is no aftermarket big brake caliper conversion kits around for the felicia any more, but this is something i'm going to be tackling in the near future, as well as a rear disc conversion.

handling wise, the 22mm roll bar is a good investment, but dont bother with a rear strut brace. i also have never seen any poly bushes for a felicia/favorit, it might be worth us all clubbing together and getting some made for a group buy

[KenONeill]

If you can establish bush sizes, PowerFlex probably already do suitable poly bushes, but no-one knows it.

[WoodieGuthrie]

with the e30 I have- powerflex bushes get a bad name as they apparently change angles mid corner. A rebush with stock buses probably does just as good.

but definately lower the car-they do wobble!

[Skoda-Msport]

...On the subject of big brakes...does anyone know if the brakes on the felicia 1.6 are VW or Skoda parts bin, because if they are VW im guessing the same upgrades as available to the polo/golf are an option?

Superflex bushes are apparently quite good, maybe if enough people got together this would be possible?

Get one but dont drive it so fast, it will never be a Saab 9000![\quote]

...I know it may not be a rocket, but its an individual's car like all the other cars Ive owned. I had a Skoda Rapid 135RiC not so long ago and I loved it, shame I couldnt get the fuelling problem sorted, so now Im going for a more modern skoda after spending over a grand in repairs on the Saab since I bought it in February, Ive had enough of big car expense.

Money wise, il spend up to

[Skoda-Msport]

oops

[TeflonTom]

...On the subject of big brakes...does anyone know if the brakes on the felicia 1.6 are VW or Skoda parts bin, because if they are VW im guessing the same upgrades as available to the polo/golf are an option?

no, they are unique to the favorit & felicia

[KenONeill]

with the e30 I have- powerflex bushes get a bad name as they apparently change angles mid corner. A rebush with stock buses probably does just as good.

I'd be interested in a source for that, and knowing what the mechanism is supposed to be. The only thing I can see causing it (first impression, since this is the first I've heard of it) would be a very non-linear response to load, in which distance moved per unit load suddenly increases at a certain value.

[WoodieGuthrie]

I'd be interested in a source for that, and knowing what the mechanism is supposed to be. The only thing I can see causing it (first impression, since this is the first I've heard of it) would be a very non-linear response to load, in which distance moved per unit load suddenly increases at a certain value.

I'll see what I can do-never fitted them to my car, but will ask those that have:thumbup:

[KenONeill]

I'll see what I can do-never fitted them to my car, but will ask those that have:thumbup:

Cheers. I agree that it's a possible safety concern, but I'd like a better source than "heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend...".

[pinkskud]

i also have never seen any poly bushes for a felicia/favorit, it might be worth us all clubbing together and getting some made for a group buy

count me in.

as for the suspention, hp sporting is your only real option, HP SPORTING (for some reason the engelish site is'nt working????) i think they should lower the car by 40mm.

as for the anti roll bar, its the one of the vw caddy you want, the part numbers are in hear some were.

anyone fancy a stiffer rear anti roll bar??? thinking of making some up when i can find out what there made of??

brakes. zerosixty do some nice disks.

(ps: can anyone tell me if the hp shocks are propper coilovers or what. i'v bent one of my struts, so was thinking of putting the hp's on.)

[TeflonTom]

anyone fancy a stiffer rear anti roll bar??? thinking of making some up when i can find out what there made of??

as it happens:rolleyes:

i may have been doing somthing in my spare time;)

[daz51]

sorry to join this discussion so late, the thread starter mentions about the body roll and yes they do body roll. The thing is, most felicias and fabias body roll so i would leave it the same. secondly you mention more power. Dont bother !!!! 1600 cc felicia, well run in, will shift more than you think. easily keep up with a GT TDi golf. my dad had five 1600 felicias and from experience...............you will be surprised

[TeflonTom]

easily keep up with a GT TDi golf.

:rofl:

[daz51]

easily !!!, its all in how you drive them

[Skoda-Msport]

Hi Pinkskud, I think you might have problems fabricating a rear anti roll bar as they are specially made for strength. i cant think of the process they use to make them but I dont think its possible to make a decent one by hand.

Thanks for info on the brakes TeflonTom, Do you know if the felicia kit car brakes are available and thier specs? I know the old trick that skoda used was to convert the front discs to be used on the rear, like they did on the 1980s 130LR.

As for keeping up with a Golf GT TDi, no chance, they have 150-170 horses, bags of torque, better acceleration and higher top speed than a Felicia 1.6 - its the engine the vRS should have had.

Felicias are just not in the quick car category, they need to be aggressivley tuned both suspension and engine if there is any hope for them to be a match for the GTi brigade.

Has anyone tried fitting the 1.8 8v VW engine (I think its found in Jettas and Golfs etc) Theres a slight power hike of 15bhp to be had, and it shouldnt weigh much more. I doubt its that different from the 1.6, so engine mounts and wiring maybe easy.

I know the 2.0 8v found in the golf mk3 gti and the Fabia Elegance would be a bugger to fit, but ive noticed awesome GTi have converted a Felicia Fun to the VAG 1.8 Turbo engine so I guess anything is possible.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Regards,

Al

[TeflonTom]

Hi Pinkskud, I think you might have problems fabricating a rear anti roll bar as they are specially made for strength. i cant think of the process they use to make them but I dont think its possible to make a decent one by hand.

pinks is a welder/fabricator

Has anyone tried fitting the 1.8 8v VW engine (I think its found in Jettas and Golfs etc) Theres a slight power hike of 15bhp to be had, and it shouldnt weigh much more. I doubt its that different from the 1.6, so engine mounts and wiring maybe easy.

the 1.8 8v is totally different to the 1.6 aee lump, physically much larger and a fair bit heavier too, they are the same size as the 2,0 engines... although it may be possible to use the felicia diesel mountings to fit this engine.... watch this space..... i may do that in the future!!!!

I know the 2.0 8v found in the golf mk3 gti and the Fabia Elegance would be a bugger to fit

the mk3 golf and fabia have totally different engines, the earlier golf uses a sidedraught cylinder head, and the later fabia uses a crossflow head like the mk4 golf gti 2.0.... both very heavy engines too i might add.

[Skoda-Msport]

...Thanks.

An engine swap will be out of the question I think; the last thing the felicia needs is a heavier front end due to the weight of a bigger engine.

Ive noticed there is a company, Advanced Autosport Technologies offering tuning for the 1.6AEE engines though. Will have to find out how cost effective they are though.

[TeflonTom]

i've bought stuff from aat in the past....

good quality stuff, dealers for sorg motorsport stuff..... expensive stuff!!

it's cheaper to cobble it togther yourself like i'm doing... should save a lot that way

[KenONeill]

An ARB is a form of spring; it's getting the right steel, bend to shape, then apply the right heat treatments.

I did a bit of metallurgy, so I know the principle of how to make springs and ARBs, and know enough to know that I couldn't do it just by buying the right wire and some benders, oil and water baths and a furnace. I'd need advice and/or training, particularly on selecting the wire, and on the heat treatment side.

[WoodieGuthrie]

Ken- Re the powerflex bushes...

Best I could get was

Question

Do powerflex bushes change geometry mid corner?

Just curious...

And please, no "my mate says..."

Looking for a reasoned, articulate answer showing what the mechanism of change is...

Responses

they stop flex, as in they don't allow much, if any at all where as a standard rubber bush will have some give.

Imo a complete waste on a road car and certain poly bushes do the ride comfort no favours. I don't like them as they sometimes seem to fail in a spectacular way! Cheap and nasty!

I believe the general idea of powerflex/poly bushes is to completely eliminate geometry change mid corner.

It's physically impossible to eliminate change mid-corner...even if you had rigidly mounted suspension (i.e. no bushes at all), there would still be flex in the suspension arms themselves, and the tyres, and the control links...you can't put a load on something without it deflecting, just not possible. Unless said object was infinitely stiff, and nothing is infinitely stiff.

So yes, polybushes do allow geometry change mid corner.

Whether or not it's actually perceivable is another Q. My spidey sense (something you gain when you're a real-life engineer ) tells me yes, it would be. If it wasn't you might as well have solid steel bushes, which of course you haven't got...

The short answer to your Q is yes it will change the geometry, it will affect castor and toe when weight is shifted about.

The short answer to your Q is yes it will change the geometry, it will affect castor and toe when weight is shifted about.

Which is why I now get under steer at high speed cornering. not using the PF front arb one's though, The rest are.

I'm gonna PM the guy who mentioned the "short answer" and see if I can draw him on any more info

[KenONeill]

Cheers mate. I see where this guy's coming from, but I'd be most surprised if you could get significant elastic deformation in a road car suspension arm with normal road tyres.

Tyre slip angles are something I'd not considered, but I'd suggest that for a given set of tyres they'll be constant at a given lateral g whether the bushes are Plasticine or solid steel!

And he's not really answering the original query, which was whether or not poly bushes had a non-failure mode in which the rate of bush deformation increases faster than the increase in load.

[pinkskud]

going back to the ARB subject.

what i am planning to do, is source a length of the appropreat sized round bar. that is pre-treated (heat treated).

i can form the bar once it is treated. a 400 ton brake press should take care of that.

what i need to know is what grade of spring steel i need. all that AQA (any question ansred) could tell me was, "type 301 or 304"

[TeflonTom]

what i need to know is what grade of spring steel i need. all that AQA (any question ansred) could tell me was, "type 301 or 304"

isn't that a grade of stainless:confused:

i will do some digging around on this subject methinks