Some of you may know that Autocar are currently running an Octavia Vrs Estate on long term test. I noticed this week that the tester was pretty spot on regarding his summing up of the cars bad points (of which there are few ).

He notes the lag in low revs and the not-so-smoooth power delivery plus the ability to occasionally stall the car (all of which I have experienced).

He still praises it though and has noted that 'looking around owners websites he found a mod where you can colour code the grill surround' which he might do. Wonder where he got that then

Dor.

I stalled one 4 times while out on a test drive

Yep, both me and my wife had problems stalling in the first week......I'm ok now but she still stalls at least once per journey

Is it petrol or diesel ?

Is it petrol or diesel ?

Diesel

Diesel

Oops, forgot to mention that :(

Dor.

Never stalled my mk 1 or mk2 vrs (petrols)

Could be a diseasal problem.

I also never had a problem with the petrol, although the diesel I test drove stopped a few times . I don't think its a problem, more a technique

going from an older diesel vw to my tfsi i actually stalled it quite a few times in the first week:). only now do i realise that those old girls were impossible to stall, my driving style has changed a good bit now actually:thumbup:

I found there was too much travel on the clutch pedal before the 'bite' point, that meant I had trouble getting smooth gear changes and stalled it from time to time.

Cured it with a 1" block of wood on the back of the pedal to reduce the travel; also means I don't have to stretch my left leg too far.

I now get smooth changes but still (occasionally) stall it!

They need to chip it.

The problem with the standard car is that the turbo is something of an all or nothing event.

Under 1,900/2,000 rpm there is NO torque. At 1,900/2,000 rpm you get all the torque!

Difficult to control or meter out with the throttle.

Chipped overall power and torque is up, but I find the effect of broaddening and smoothing the power/torque band the most significant.

The engine can be driven from 1,200 rpm and pulls strongly from 1,400 or 1,500 rpm, building smoothly to the peak at 2k. Then it keeps pulling, allowing the full use of the 4v per cyclinder head by extending the powerband another 500 rpm, all the way to redline (and possibly beyond, I haven't tried it for reasons of mechanical sympathy and the fact you can change up into the next gear and get the next surge or torque). But it definitely feels less laggy and more petrol like in its delivery (sorry, but it still has the clatter, I mean "roar" of a diesel!)

They need to chip it.

Autocar would never do that; Evo might!

The problem with the standard car is that the turbo is something of an all or nothing event.

Under 1,900/2,000 rpm there is NO torque. At 1,900/2,000 rpm you get all the torque!

Difficult to control or meter out with the throttle.

Chipped overall power and torque is up, but I find the effect of broadening and smoothing the power/torque band the most significant.

The engine can be driven from 1,200 rpm and pulls strongly from 1,400 or 1,500 rpm, building smoothly to the peak at 2k. Then it keeps pulling, allowing the full use of the 4v per cyclinder head by extending the powerband another 500 rpm, all the way to redline (and possibly beyond, I haven't tried it for reasons of mechanical sympathy and the fact you can change up into the next gear and get the next surge or torque). But it definitely feels less laggy and more petrol like in its delivery (sorry, but it still has the clatter, I mean "roar" of a diesel!)

IIRC remapping the vRS TDI doesn't really smooth out or broaden the power/torque curves, it just gives you more than before. Here are Superchips graphs to verify this;-

http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/vag20tdi170.pdf

Up to c. 1,800rpm there is no discernible change and after that the remapped curve follows the OE curve, just goes higher. Surely this would increase the apparent turbo-lag effect?

IMHO the tsunami of torque is not difficult to control; just use your right foot intelligently and be in the best gear for your situation on the road.

I found there was too much travel on the clutch pedal before the 'bite' point, that meant I had trouble getting smooth gear changes and stalled it from time to time.

Cured it with a 1" block of wood on the back of the pedal to reduce the travel; also means I don't have to stretch my left leg too far.

I now get smooth changes but still (occasionally) stall it!

Hmmm...I'd be very reluctant to reduce clutch pedal travel. You're in serious danger of premature clutch wear and/or gearbox damage.

Hmmm...I'd be very reluctant to reduce clutch pedal travel. You're in serious danger of premature clutch wear and/or gearbox damage.

I was very careful with this to work out where the 'bite' point of the clutch was, and to allow a margin to ensure that there is no clutch drag at any stage. The travel I have negated by using the wooden block was otherwise freeplay!

The reason we all stall our modern diesels is due to the dual mass flywheel which in effect becomes 'lighter' at low RPM increasing responses but losing inertia.

So where you might have just got away with it on an older car with a heavy flywheel keeping the engine spinning, a modern dual mass equiped car will just stall.

The reason we all stall our modern diesels is due to the dual mass flywheel which in effect becomes 'lighter' at low RPM increasing responses but losing inertia.

So where you might have just got away with it on an older car with a heavy flywheel keeping the engine spinning, a modern dual mass equipped car will just stall.

Ah Ha !! That explains it.

In a good old diesel it would never stall and you could pull away from rest in third gear! Another step forward for modern technology (not!).

Stalled the wife's old fabia vRS once.Haven't stalled a car for years

What a bang!

I was very careful with this to work out where the 'bite' point of the clutch was, and to allow a margin to ensure that there is no clutch drag at any stage. The travel I have negated by using the wooden block was otherwise freeplay!

I wouldn't want a wooden block attached to the clutch pedal being discovered if I was in a crash. :thumbdwn:

Surely the insurance company would consider that an un-notified modification and refuse payout & I doubt Skoda would be terribly interested in warranty claims for clutch related issues.

I wouldn't want a wooden block attached to the clutch pedal being discovered if I was in a crash. :thumbdwn:

Surely the insurance company would consider that an un-notified modification and refuse payout & I doubt Skoda would be terribly interested in warranty claims for clutch related issues.

I appreciate you point of view, but I guess those will be my problems to sort out, if they even happen, which I doubt!

Ah Ha !! That explains it.

In a good old diesel it would never stall and you could pull away from rest in third gear! Another step forward for modern technology (not!).

Which is exactly my point really.....Modern tech is good, but if it stalls out the car more it is bad...

Now, i'm no Toni Gardemiester, but I have done a fair bit of lower-end rallying / racing etc and still manage to stall out the VRS, so what about the rest of joe public?

Needs sorting really :(

Dor.

I appreciate you point of view, but I guess those will be my problems to sort out, if they even happen, which I doubt!

Fingers crossed.

On the general point about stalling, I just think diesels take a little getting used. I think I've stalled my vRS TDi a couple of times in the 7 months I've had it, but I do remember when my wife got her Mazda 5 diesel (our first diesel car), I stalled that quite a few times at the beginning until I got used to the power delivery.

Autocar would never do that; Evo might!

IIRC remapping the vRS TDI doesn't really smooth out or broaden the power/torque curves, it just gives you more than before. Here are Superchips graphs to verify this;-

http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/vag20tdi170.pdf

Up to c. 1,800rpm there is no discernible change and after that the remapped curve follows the OE curve, just goes higher. Surely this would increase the apparent turbo-lag effect?

.

When I said "they should chip it" - I meant if anybody wanted remove the engines short comings. Before the turbo is "on-song" the ecu wont allow excess fuel into the engine as it would violate the emissions and possibly interfere with DPF operating parameters. However, adding more fuel off-boost is simply running the engine as if it is a SDI and although inefficient (and environmentally unfriendly as more unburnt soot is produced), it does liberate more power.

Also, I am not sure you can use the chart you have found there: a) SuperChips are on their second or third PD170 map now and that chart is not my engine!

Here is mine:

The torque grows fairly linearly from the lowest rpm the chart shows (each square is 80 rpm) - from 1520 rpm.

Obviously this doesn't show you the response at lower rpm, but there is no obvious change of gradient prior to chart cut off.

As for not broadening the curve, even on the SuperChips chart you can see "useable" power or torque is acheived earlier and maintained until later.

ie comparing with standard power values, 100 bhp is achieved at about 200rpm lower, torque of 350 Nm is achieved almost 500 rpm lower.

Compared with the standard max power value, 170 bhp is maintained or exceeded for about 700rpm longer, std max torque of 350 Nm is maintained or exceeded for almost 400 rpm longer.

If that doesn't define a broadening of the power (torque) band I do not know what does?

You could always wait to have a go before you disagree with my experience of my own car.

Ah Ha !! That explains it.

In a good old diesel it would never stall and you could pull away from rest in third gear! Another step forward for modern technology (not!).

Yep, that plus drive by wire and hydraulic clutches not helping with pedal feel :(

Yep, that plus drive by wire and hydraulic clutches not helping with pedal feel :(

Actually, that is a good point - in theory would a remap also have the ability to recalibrate the drive-by-wire response?

(not sure if any "chippers" do, but could they?)

No reason why not.

Certain cars out there have these fancy 'sport' buttons that are supposed to sharpen up throttle response.

Seeing as the manufacturers do it surely the chipping boys can manipulate this in their favour.