Hello.

rdp50734

rdp50734

Torque Junkie
Points
67
Location
sandwell
Car
skoda fabia 1.4tdi
Hi, I came across this site whilst looking for information regarding tuning.

I have a skoda fabia 06 1.4 tdi 80 bhp.

It's been a great car but now that is getting on a bit 69k miles I would like to play about with tuning.

I hope to achieve better torque and fuel econemy. I currently get 46mpg combined and 55mpg on a motorway run.

I plan to put on an induction kit with cold air feed and see where that takes me and then (once I have an idea) consider a new exhaust system and maybe a remap.

I look forward to reading any advice or pointers in the right direction.

Thanks.
 
Hi and welcome to TC forums.
Really your best cost effective upgrade would be a remap. Looking at @RobBentley site an extra 18 - 25 ponies and 40ish torques can be coaxed out of that engine. An induction kit isn't really going to do anything or an exhaust. It probably will have an opposite detrimental effect actually. Hybrid turbo swap is next level costing couple grand+ with all bits you'll need.
 
Thanks for the welcome.

Do you have a link to Rob Bentley site?

Everything I read has said to get an induction kit, performance exhaust then map it with the mods in place.

Is it worth getting a 9 year old car mapped?

I am a mechanical engineer but car modding is completely new to me.
 
Click the JR Tuning advert in the Torque Cars banner at the top of the page. He'll be able to advise more or whether the exhaust and induction can be made to work more efficiently with the remap but when I looked into it on my Golf 170hp tdi it wasn't going to do much in return for the cost of the parts, the remap would be sufficient. On a 80hp engine I doubt you would see any more than a couple of extra horsepower with them fitted so in my opinion not worth the cost or effort.
 
I'd not bother with a custom remap on a bog standard diesel for just exhaust and intake. Generic maps are fine and cheap. I had my Bora 130bhp/220lb ft remapped to 170/290, and my Focus tdci 115/184 to 140/220 with cheap generic maps, both cost less than £200 quid to do. The figures they give are ballpark - it'll be to within a few bhp/lbft, sometimes over, sometimes under.

You'd only really need to custom remap if you were changing the turbo IMO.

If I had a proper performance car, petrol or diesel, then I might go custom after mods yes.

Also there's only so far you can go with a 1.4, if you want to go for big figures you're best off with a bigger base engine.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

To be honest I had never really been interested in cars yet alone modding them.

As I have got a bit older and a bit more experienced with messing with cars my interest is increasing.

I know there is only so far I can take it but for me its a trial run for bigger things to come.

When you say cheap generic maps is that still through remapping or tuning boxes etc...?
 
I quite like the look of the byte flash!

Just doing a bit more research on them and I think I will purchase one.

Do we get member discounts? Ha ha
 
Hello and a warm but belated (very sorry for my delay) welcome from me the site admin, really good to have you along.

I hope you enjoy the forums as much as we do. Please get involved in our many discussions and topics, we love to hear peoples opinions and questions.
 
Thanks again for the welcomes.

I spoke to my insurance company about how much my premium would increase to have the engine remapped.

They said a £1000 increase!!!

To say I am shocked is an understatement.

My thought is to have the tuning box and not say anything as its removable.
 
I would change insurance companies, that's a ridiculous increase. Try the specialist companies like SKY, Adrian Flux etc who don't mind minor upgrading like a remap. Search for the insurance threads on here for ideas of what insurance companies owners are using on here. I used to only pay £180 a year for my highly modified Porsche turbo so a remapped Skoda shouldn't be over a £1000!! ;)
 
JRtuning map ordered should be here tomorrow!

Going to add an air induction kit with cold air feed, new discs and pads ordered.

Looking at replacing the rear drums for discs too but I'm not sure if its going to be worth the outlay.
 
Well the new switchable tuning box has arrived and the ECU has been flashed.

I have only took the car around the block but the only thing I have noticed is that there is a bit more of a judder when pulling off.

I am going to take it on a run tomorrow and see if there is anything more noticeable at the higher revs and speeds.

Bit disappointed at the mo.....
 
Take it for a run, see if ecu 'learns' the new map a bit more and smooths it out. Definitely phone Rob and see what he thinks.
Car modding can be very infuriating sometimes when things don't work as we thought. I had a Porsche 944 turbo which took 3 years to get right and I won't even start to tell the tales of woe on my Skyline GTR. I'm sure you'll be pleased when sorted just hang in there.
 
Its a 90 mile round motorway trip so that should be enough.

If it doesn't I will give him a call.

Thanks for the words of encouragement :)
 
Took it for the run today, it does seem to be a bit smoother from 50+.

Economy is no different.

I would have thought an increase of 23% BHP would be noticeable??
 
Rob is very keen to please, some cars take a bit of tweaking to get perfect. You're not getting any error codes are you? Often when maps don't make a difference the N97 valve is leaking or there is some other car related issue. In my car we discovered that Audi has stuck in a load of torque limiters so initially I only had the top end power. This has now been sorted and I'm really pleased with mine.

Run some 0-60 times and compare the maps, you should see an improvement in the acceleration.

Maps do take a short while to bed in and settle, even reverting to the standard map will results in lumps until it gets used to the map.

Give Rob a call and talk it through with him, he's really friendly and helpful. The more info you can give him the better your map will be.

I'm not sure you'll see much more economy on the 1.4 - it should stay about the same though with even an aggressive map.
 
Hi, he has found an issue in the software, he says,

We're still a little puzzled by the complete lack of difference but I have found a reason in software (not normally present on these EDC15 ECUs) that may cause no additional boost to be generated on the tune.

Having said that - I would still expect the map to give a performance gain. Diesels run very lean so even the fuel map should give some power - that's the strange part of it.

That was a week ago and I have just dropped him another email seeing if it has been coded up yet.

So still waiting but it should be done soon.
 
Well the replacement map arrived last Friday, all is great!

Great acceleration, when the boost kicks in its fantastic!

New pads have been fitted, all new suspension bushes on order and a coiler kit should be on its way soon.

The wife even hinted at getting another car to really do some work on.

Trying to convince her that an evo is a good investment. ha ha
 
Ha ha yes its bitten quite badly, my bookmarks page is massive now!

So much do learn, to do, too interesting.

It doesn't make sense to put too much into the skoda, not when I can get something so much better!
 
LOL I wish I had deep pockets, but looking at something used around 6K.

I saw an evo 8 on facebook it was 850 bhp when it took off it was crazy! So quick!
 
Too many choices ha ha!

Yes the eve 6 is really popular at the mo and is gaining value all the time!

I will be sure to let you all know what I do go for!
 
Glad you got sorted in the end I told you Rob would come through.

Enjoy your time on here, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine and be sure to start up a project thread and keep us updated on your car project as it evolves and comes together.
 
Hey everyone, new guy following the rules of introducing myself lol

I'm from Jamaica (Montego Bay to be more specific) and I own a 2002 Mazda 323, I know most people look at it as a Family Car but I have seen where alotta people get them looking real sleak and get them even faster too, I'm on a tight income to be honest so I'm not looking to do a whole lot of changes and mods right but I would love some direction on what I can do with it.

It's automatic transmission and I was thinking of keeping it like that but I wanna know if there is any way at all I could probably get it a little faster? Maybe a different type of air filter, changes to the exhaust, anything at all would be helpful
 
Going to take a look at an FTO! Its cheap and I think its a good place to start a project, 200bhp to start, much more than my current 100!
Best of all its only 3 miles away!
Jap import and insurance is quite high considering that its unmodified, £900
Maybe some of the insures might I've a better quote.
Ive just done an admiral multi car quote and it came out £1300 for 3 cars so it may be an option.
 
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