Dragon tuning box, good or bad?

[silvergun1]

I have an Octavia 1.9 tdi 90 and I have seen ads for these upgrade boxes. Thing is, the car is 6 years old, has 80000 miles on it, new timing belt etc. Drives like new. But I want it to stay that way as long as possible. I want another 5 years or 100000 miles out of it without doing major repairs. I do look after it and drive it well. Will this tuning box quickly degrade any components eg clutch, engine, timing belt?

[Kenny R]

The search button is a wonderful tool.

[silvergun1]

I know, but this is a straight question and I require a straight answer. The topic has been covered many times, but my question has not been answered. I will help on this forum in any way I can, I understand the ethos. We are all in this together (with great cars, I might add)

[ScoobyChris]

Any tuning to the car will potentially cause extra wear to the engine, clutch, etc however, in my experience of tuning boxes, I've never had any issues at all. It sounds like your car is well maintained and the car is not abused so I suspect you'll be fine....

Would recommend sourcing a Dragon one off ebay though as the new ones are a tad expensive!

Chris

[Graham PoLoskie]

If my experiences are anything to go by you'll be luck to get another 100000m or 5 years without major expenditure . My car for the last year has had components break through fatigue of materials used and several worn out components.

Good luck though

Sorry in a strop cause speedo fault started Thursday just as I was thinking of selling the car

[Octygone]

It will place extra strain on all the drive train components.....the clutch may be the one thing to go or start slipping but I am not sure how over engineered the pd 110 clutches are .....you should be fine with about 140 bhp though

[silvergun1]

Thank you all for your help. Can I asked the guy in a 'strop(!)' what kind of major components go and when. I have heard very good stories about the lifespan of vw components.

[Graham PoLoskie]

Worn shocks and 2x broken springs at 100000m. Clutch pedal broke around 90000m(box weld on back fractured), Connector at end of gear selector cable onto gearbox fractured approx 115000m, wheel bearings 50 to 60k, Speedo last week(seems to be dry joint problem as on forum), Door release cable snapped around 128000. Sump now leaking at plug. ABS sensor and MAF at approx 60k. Heater control panel (no blower) at around 100k. Drivers door lock approx 80k

It's not that major components are failing just small niggly things that cost time, inconvience and money to fix. I'm maybe one of those people that stupidly expects things to run and run if maintained well like my car has.

The engine is still very strong, steering brakes and gears also good. This is a standard 110 tdi and the performance still impresses me and at 55mpg better still. Exhaust and clutch still original and sound.

BUT

Compared to my last car a mk3 golf 1.8 cl petrol bought at auction at 7yr(£3k) old with 50000m kept for 5yrs sold at 12yr old for £600 with 180000m this has cost me a lot more to keep.

However I'm still thinking of replacing it with another Octavia or maybe an Avensis. The skoda dealers seem to have a totally disinterested attitude though.

Or is this main dealers in general.

Don't be put off by my rant maintain your car well and hopefully it'll repay you.

Cheers

Graham