VAG 1.8T experiences wanted.

Miss Chief

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Considering a change of car and keep coming back to either an Octavia vRS or a Leon Cupra, both with the 180hp 1.8 Turbo engine. Looking for everyone's experiences both good, bad or indifferent. Would also like to hear from anyone that remapped theirs as its something I would probably do but want to be sure the rest of the car, I.e. brakes can cope. Thanks.
 
Why wouldn't the brakes cope if you remapped it? Brakes don't make it go faster :confused:
 
If the brakes cope now, they'll cope with a remap.
Alpina don't change the brakes when they change a standard 320d into a D3, and that involves a fair power/torque increase.
Their thinking is that the weight isn't changed, so standard is fine.
 
So why would they fit larger Brembo discs and pads to the Leon Cupra R if the weight hasn't changed?
 
Miss Chief said:
So why would they fit larger Brembo discs and pads to the Leon Cupra R if the weight hasn't changed?

To justify an extra charge and to give it some sales appeal, maybe?
Or to satisfy posers?
Or maybe they think it'll be used on track?

I trust Alpina's thinking, I never found the D3's brakes lacking in power.
Although they did look a little weedy behind the 19" alloys.
A few people changed to bigger brakes just so they filled the wheels better.
 
The 1.8T is a good tough engine,and one that will manage a good bit of extra power without trouble.

The brakes obviously don't make it go faster,but when it's been remapped and is travelling faster,they'll certainly help you stop.

The Brembo kit on the Cupra R is basically pitched at that market,and is a very decent off the shelf system,capable of dealing with a remapped car pretty well.
 
alexs2 said:
The brakes obviously don't make it go faster,but when it's been remapped and is travelling faster,they'll certainly help you stop.

.

I don't follow.
100mph is 100mph, regardless of whether the engine is remapped or not.
If the brakes are fine for a standard 100mph, why is a remapped 100mph any different?
A remap won't change the top speed either.
 
I don't follow.
100mph is 100mph, regardless of whether the engine is remapped or not.
If the brakes are fine for a standard 100mph, why is a remapped 100mph any different?
A remap won't change the top speed either.

What I'm trying to say(and clearly not very well!) is that when the car's performance has been increased,it's often used harder,and under those circumstances,a decent set of brakes do make a difference.

A remap can actually increase top speed by allowing the car to pull maximum revs in top gear,which many cars simply won't as top is usually geared quite high.
Obviously if the thing was already able to hit the limiter in top,then it wont(and obviously I don't mean downhill with a following wind!).

Anyway...that's what I was getting at...it's too late!
 
If a car has more power then there's a potential for the car to be travelling faster for the same throttle application. For example on a circuit the car with more power will be travelling faster at the end of a straight than a car with less power, this means the brakes will have to work harder to reduce the speed of the car so it can successfully negotiate the corner. it's not such a big deal on the road really, but on track larger discs and pads with better material or more surface area can be a big advantage.
 
As said previous, the 1.8T VAG engines have proven to be very reliable, and will take a fair bit of a hammering, if they are maintained correctly.
Turbos usually last to around 100K mark, more if it's had an easy life. Getting VAG replacement parts is a absolute doddle because they sold zillions.
As for brakes, just upgrade the brake fluid to Motul 5.1 and pads to Ferrodo DS series or something of similar quality, far cheaper than physically upgrading the whole brake system.

Last but not least. Buy cheap you pay twice..
 
I assume they've changed the rev limiter issue with the 1.8T engine, or maybe a remap changes it.
If you dared hit the rev limiter in my 1.8T Golf GTi, which was easy to do, it used to go into limp mode and it needed a dealer reset.
A real pain when other cars would reset themselves with a simple ignition off/on.
 
my TT had the 1.8t

had it remapped, and a few other mods.

I also had brembos added, however standard brake setup was fine, I just added brembos as I was offered them fitted cheap and just looked better.

The turbo sounds nice if you have a tweak with the airbox and add a forge recirc valve.

I recommend this :http://racediagnostics.com/store/

Gives you fault codes, clears them, various tempts, bhp etc.
 

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Bigger brakes will cope better with repeated high speed stops (track use being an extreme example of this).

Actual stopping distances are dictated by tyres.

I imagine a Cupra model has wider tyres (as well as bigger wheels) thus a large tyre footprint which will enable it to stop more quickly. Fitting the Brembos will allow easier access to this improved stopping ability, as well as the ability to do it repeatedly.
 
Remap does increase the top speed but I guess it depends on each type of remap. With the UpRev remap on my 350Z it actually removes the top speed 155 mph limiter to 170+. I've gone to 168 mph so far on the autobahn and it was still pulling so guess would be approx 175 mph top speed :D
 
lovegroova said:
Bigger brakes will cope better with repeated high speed stops (track use being an extreme example of this)..

Of course, that's true.
I'm just not sure why a remap would result in you making more repeated high speed stops than before....
It's like people think a remap makes you go mental. :)
Some insurance companies don't even load your policy for a remap, so they don't think your style of driving is going to change.
 
Of course, that's true.
I'm just not sure why a remap would result in you making more repeated high speed stops than before....
It's like people think a remap makes you go mental. :)
Some insurance companies don't even load your policy for a remap, so they don't think your style of driving is going to change.

Your quote has missed out the context of my post.

I was referring to the Cupra having larger brakes allowing better usage of the larger tyres' braking abilities rather than to a remapped car.

A remap can of course improve top speed, depending on gearing. Many cars are geared so that they cannot hit their theoretical maximum speed in top gear. More power from a remap would increase the speed achievable.

(My car is geared for 168mph in 6th, but will only do a maximum of 150mph)
 
Your quote has missed out the context of my post.

I was referring to the Cupra having larger brakes allowing better usage of the larger tyres' braking abilities rather than to a remapped car.

A remap can of course improve top speed, depending on gearing. Many cars are geared so that they cannot hit their theoretical maximum speed in top gear. More power from a remap would increase the speed achievable.

(My car is geared for 168mph in 6th, but will only do a maximum of 150mph)

Exactly what I was trying to get across as well....

A remap can actually increase top speed by allowing the car to pull maximum revs in top gear,which many cars simply won't as top is usually geared quite high.
Obviously if the thing was already able to hit the limiter in top,then it wont(and obviously I don't mean downhill with a following wind!).
 
you not decided yet mate :laugh: both of them are good cars though and you can not go wrong just comes down how big you need the car, i would just upgrade to better pads and replace the brake fluid as well.
 
If you are seriously looking at the Octavia then pop along to briskoda.net for plenty of information.
I'm currently on my 3rd Octy vRS, I've owned the 1.8T Mk1. I then had the 2.0T Mk2 and last March I bought the facelift with the newer 2.0T petrol engine.
I've really enjoyed owning each of these cars. My current one is remapped (through Shark performance, so I've got around 250bhp to mess about with) and it just makes an already great car even better.

Oh and as for upgrading brakes and the like, you'll find that around 5% (if that) of people over at Briskoda who have purchased remaps have bothered with this.
VAG are well knwon to over-spec most things on the vehicle. I mean, where does it stop - remap, new brakes, new clutch, new intercoolers.......the basic spec is more than enough to handle a Stage 1 software only remap.
 
The 1.8T is an excellent engine in my experience. I took a T reg passat from 120k to 215k and it was still on its original turbo. I only sold it when nearly all the suspension bushes required replacement at the same time and it was no longer economical to do the repairs.

I've had three other cars with the 1.8T in 150 and 180bhp versions and all were reliable except 1 which had a dodgy coil pack that was part of a small faulty batch. Even if a coil pack fails, the engine will still run on the remaining three cylinders.
 
Decent engine blighted by coil issues but on the plus side most are now subject to a recall so check with your relevent main dealer if your particular car is effected.
Only other thing to be wary of is blocked strainer causing oil pressure issues, easy fix if you catch it in time though.
Don't forget mk4 golf had the 180 bhp AUQ engine as an option towards the end of its production run after it first appeared in the anniversary models, so may want to consider that too. Easilly spotted by the presence of 6 spd gearbox.
 
Check the Coolant after run pump is working. Helps prolong the turbo. (may only be on twin intercooler models such as 225TT)

You can hear ur running once engine is switched off, it's a small pump that continues to run the coolant around the engine for Bout 10 mins after shut off to prevent heat spots
 
I've got a 51 plate Octy vRS and it's a cracking car, looks good, sporty yet understated enough not to get every boy racer trying to have a go.
I've had it 18 months now and the only running issue I had was needing a new MAF sensor after 3 months and a new coolant temp sensor. A good service history has probably helped that though.
Re the brakes, both the vRS and the Cupra 180 have the same 312mm setup which was also fitted to the TT180 and 225 and the S3, so if they're good enough for a 225 car from the factory, they're good enough for a 205-210 map on an AUQ equipped car.

Matt
 

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