My car doesnt feel as quick as it used to

[pbirkett]

And I dont think I am just "used to it either". Third gear definitely seems to lack the same urge as it used to, and I was nearly surprised last night, going down Scotswood Road last night, an Alfa 147 tried it on (from 30-80), and I just could not pull away from it but at least he couldnt gain on me either... but still I am convinced the car aint quite as good as it was.

Third doesnt seem to have the same kick, in-gear urge seems to be down slightly, and it seems more breathless than usual at the top of the rev range. I've done 18,700 miles now, and I have read some stuff about how the air filter doesnt get changed often enough in these cars, and I'm wondering if perhaps I could do with a new air filter? I get the impression this is something fairly minor and would be easy enough to put right, but what is it?

Anyway, roll on getting this thing chipped

[flatfourburble]

Paul open the air filter and have a quick look at it and see if it is dirty. The green cotton I have on mine get dirty very very quickly.

Maybe your fabia was just a bad day

[pbirkett]

Yeah... I didnt realise it was trying to 'race' at first, well maybe he wasnt.... I was in the right hand lane at the lights, so was he (behind me), so I casually got ahead of the car in the left lane and pulled over, but he was clearly trying to get past, so at about 30 I floored it in 3rd, and he couldnt get past, and once I got to about 60 or so I was expecting to start pulling ahead, but I wasnt... he gave up at 80 though because of traffic ahead.

Looking at the specs it could have been a 2.0 TS perhaps, it did look fairly sporty, and the performance of the 2.0 TS is quite close to the Fabia's. If it had been a GTA V6 I wouldnt have complained about getting beat though, those things are rapid!

[flatfourburble]

GTA V6 hasn't that got like 250bhp through its front wheels!? Madness lol.

Maybe the alfa was the sporty one and it was trying, so really your fabia is all ok. Saying that mine has days when it just doesn't want to play

[pbirkett]

And yours is remapped.... for some reason I hoped this would cure its off days, or at least make em seem less severe. To be fair to the Furby, it has literally only JUST got to the 90 mark on the temperature guage so it wasnt fully warmed up. Still though, I dont think there would have been much in it.

[VRStu]

You are nearly at the 20k service mark as well Paul. I've found that for some strange reason cars performance drops when servicing is due, maybe they like the new oil.

Good advice on the air filter and only a 5 minute job - Take a peek

[eatsoot04]

Dumb question.....wheres the filter in the engone bay????

[mcbunny]

hehe if it was a gta then you wouldnt have seen it for dust i was due to buy one when i got the fabia but my situation changed and i couldnt afford to run a car that does 7mpg when having fun

[flatfourburble]

Originally Posted by eatsoot04

Dumb question.....wheres the filter in the engone bay????

look at the engine bay it's the box to the right with the big pipe running in to it

[flatfourburble]

Originally Posted by pbirkett

And yours is remapped.... for some reason I hoped this would cure its off days, or at least make em seem less severe. To be fair to the Furby, it has literally only JUST got to the 90 mark on the temperature guage so it wasnt fully warmed up. Still though, I dont think there would have been much in it.

To be fair it doesn't happen very often now, usually when it does I think it's more do to the weather than the car it's self. Maybe the air isn't as dence or something

[VRStu]

Originally Posted by eatsoot04

Dumb question.....wheres the filter in the engone bay????

Large black box to the right of the engine bay as already stated.

Remove 2 phillips screws located on a lip to the right of the box - Don't drop them

Lift the lid from the right and as you lift it pull it to the right to disengage the two retaining lugs on the left.

Re-fitting - engage the two lugs in the left first with the lid at about 30' to the box and gently lower, replace 2 screws.

Washable Green Cotton filter can be had from Demon tweaks for about £33 with a Briskoda discount. Same as the one fitted to all Fabia's.



See the hose running to the box with the corrugated lid - thats it.

[des_pd_ tdi]

Could have been a JTD, they kick out 140bhp and as much torque as the Vrs.

Perhaps he had the jump on your through the gears, lighter fuel load, better grip or he was right on the limit, or dare I say it you trashed your car in vain to remain in front when you should have changed up at 3700rpm.

It's an easy thing to do when you want to show what a Skoda can do, too much excitement, too many revs.

If you trash around everywhere in your car then you'll yearn for more power, try taking it easy, I generally play the MPG game.

Des

[helpmedisappear]

It might sound strange but are you sure you didnt have heat soak? I drove around yesterday and it was quite warm in the sun and i had no power. I took the car out last night and it was drizzeling slightly and the car flew. Just a thought...also my car is getting its 20k service next week so we might be suffering from the same thing!

[flatfourburble]

so it's the 20K club here is it? Mines in for it's (over due ) 20K next Monday

[Fabia RS]

Mine has the same (from what you describe) lack of pull to it (29.000 Km), and remap has not helped either, but did of course make Bhp go up.

Apparently the max torque is reached 533 Nm later than it's supposed to (296 Nm@2433 Rpm before remap) which explains the feeling of a more streched pull (petrol like). Bhp was fine though (138Bhp@3879Rpm), so it's not an engine problem in that sence.

Somebody @ cupra.net suggested faulty/dirty VNT system in the turbo (the nozzles won't move freely because of exhaust residue building up.

It makes sence when you think about it and know how the VNT system works, but no way of knowing for sure without taking it apart.

I've seen pictures of a disassembled VNT15 in another forum (can't find it again, darn ) and it was pitch black inside untill cleaned out (50.000 Km), and actually prevented the actuator from moving.

Hard to convince a dealer without any solid evidence right?

[pbirkett]

Originally Posted by helpmedisappear

It might sound strange but are you sure you didnt have heat soak? I drove around yesterday and it was quite warm in the sun and i had no power. I took the car out last night and it was drizzeling slightly and the car flew. Just a thought...also my car is getting its 20k service next week so we might be suffering from the same thing!

I really dont think thats very likely since:-

a. the ambient temperature was likely no more than 10 celcius and
b. it only had about 3 gentle miles driving before that moment.

Perhaps he had the jump on your through the gears, lighter fuel load, better grip or he was right on the limit, or dare I say it you trashed your car in vain to remain in front when you should have changed up at 3700rpm.

Hmm, I have to say if I had changed at 3700 I would have lost, simple as. Peak power is developed at 4,000 and according to most plots I've seen the car maintains reasonable power until 4,500. On this occaision, I changed at about 4,300 rpm.

Mine has the same (from what you describe) lack of pull to it (29.000 Km), and remap has not helped either, but did of course make Bhp go up.

Apparently the max torque is reached 533 Nm later than it's supposed to (296 Nm@2433 Rpm before remap) which explains the feeling of a more streched pull (petrol like). Bhp was fine though (138Bhp@3879Rpm), so it's not an engine problem in that sence.

I am not convinced that peak torque really is 1900 though, I have seen quite a few plots that put it a good few hundred rpm above that... check the superchips site, this confirms what I was saying.

[VRStu]

Originally Posted by Fabia RS

Somebody @ cupra.net suggested faulty/dirty VNT system in the turbo (the nozzles won't move freely because of exhaust residue building up.

It makes sence when you think about it and know how the VNT system works, but no way of knowing for sure without taking it apart.

I've seen pictures of a disassembled VNT15 in another forum (can't find it again, darn ) and it was pitch black inside untill cleaned out (50.000 Km), and actually prevented the actuator from moving.

Lifted from a TDi forum - Not Fabia specific.

Turbo VNT mechanism sticking. This only applies to vehicles with a VNT-15 turbocharger ... most A4-chassis models including all A4-chassis models sold in North America, and all 110hp models (A3 or A4 chassis) sold elsewhere. (DON'T READ THIS if your car has a GT15 or K03 turbocharger because they operate in a COMPLETELY different manner.) Locate the diaphragm housing which operates the VNT mechanism (has a single hose going to it, extreme rear of engine compartment, buried down near the bottom right rear of the engine, hose connection faces STRAIGHT DOWN). Locate (by feel with a finger) the linkage rod which points straight up out the center of that diaphragm housing. While feeling this rod, have someone start the engine, and note whether the linkage rod moves - it should. Upon stopping the engine, the linkage rod should move back after a few seconds. If the linkage rod does not operate as described, get a vacuum tester (any auto parts store) and apply vacuum to the VNT diaphragm to see if you can get it to move. If it's seized up, there's your problem. NOTE: To prevent this from happening, DON'T BABY THE VEHICLE when you are driving it, and consider recalibrating the EGR system to reduce the amount of soot build-up in the exhaust.

[WW_VRS]

The dirt builds up if you never rev then engine higher up the range - it's good to give it a little caning once a week at least, and let the engine idle for about 10 seconds or so when you park it up apparently.

[ScoobyChris]

Originally Posted by WW_VRS

The dirt builds up if you never rev then engine higher up the range - it's good to give it a little caning once a week at least, and let the engine idle for about 10 seconds or so when you park it up apparently.

The idling is only to cool the turbo down after a prolonged run, and probably isn't really that necessary these days anyway. Can't do any harm though

Chris

[pbirkett]

I dont think I could be accused of babying my car by any stretch of the imagination