Help Me Upgrade/mod My Octavia

[inquirer]

Hello, I have just purchased a Skoda Octavia Collection 1.9TDI (130 bhp) and I looking into upgrading/modding my shiny new car. My budget is around 3000 pound.

I have read the "Mods That Are Worth Doing" sticky and I really don't know what applies to a diesel car. My technical insight regarding cars is about as a panda. I know for sure that I would be jabbaing my car as well as changing brakes (have to fit under a 16" wheel), suspension (don't want to sacrifice comfort though), exhaust and putting some antiroll bars. What else is worth doing??

I need help in choosing the right parts as well as were to buy them as cheaply as possible in the UK.

The problem is that I am in Norway. I know that buying the parts here in Norway (if you can get them here) would be very expensive (24% VAT and no Briskoda discount ) so I would like to buy all the parts in the UK. This also means that to save postage I would need a place to store the parts before I go there (UK), any ideas anyone??

Another issue is that I would like the parts to be fitted in the UK since mechanical labour in Norway is very expensive. So this means that I would need to find a place near JabbaSport to fit all the stuff. I don

[Neo_VR]

I belive there is a TDi performance FAQ in the FAQs section

[redbaron]

jabba chip

18" wheels

kw coilovers v3

brembo big brakes on front

ds2500 pads all round

tints

decent stereo with the pennies.

[inquirer]

on the wheels issue, i can't go over 16" in the winter due to snow etc. I was told that going over 16" would reduce the grip??

After winter I am planning to go up to 17" but not higher due to loss of comfort. So the brakes would have to fit under 16" wheels

[redbaron]

brembos fit behind 17" rims but go et30 not 35

[inquirer]

my mate was ranting about brembos aswell, do they fit under 16" wheels, as i have go down to 16" every winter???

[devonutopia]

Jabba can do a remap via the post I believe - but you'll need someone local to you to install the new chip.. I think. Either way, it's deffo cheaper than driving over here from Norway.

If you do visit Jabba, I'm aware they do suspension work, and should be capable enough to do stuff to your wheels and brakes, IMO.

[inquirer]

driving to the uk would cost me about

[SkodiRS]

There are 2 routes to have your diesel remapped; generic and custom.

The generic remap is an "average" of 10 cars and is basically "plug 'n play" so potentially, if you sent Jabba then could program it and send it back.

The custom remap needs you car on the rolling road.

I would give them call to discuss.

If you do come over the Pond I can see if we can tie you up with a group buy and you would get a 10% discount on the remap. Similarly if Jabba were able to "post" the remapped ECU to you we could again try and tie this up with a group buy and again you'd qualify for the 10% discount.

If there was a group buy taking place at the time, you'd still get a 5% discount for being a Briskoda member (mind you if you were going to spend

[inquirer]

I'll be giving them a call tomorrow. Definitly want to go for a custom remap. Maybe they can store the parts for me?? Hmm, have to give them a call tomorrow.

Any ideas on the parts that I need and where to get them from?? Also anything else I should be looking into to??

[devonutopia]

Newcastle to Peterborough (where Jabba is) is only about, as a guess, 250 miles - so won't be too bad. However, I can imagine the Norway to Newcastle ferry must take a few hours?

Mention "eibach kits" and your model of Octavia - a cheap mod, however with a budget of

[TaviaRS]

Jabba are shut until 3/11/03 due to moving premises.

Where in Norway are you?

For tuning your engine, you may want to contact Olsen Borge Racing AS (Klampavikn 4 C, 5300 Kleppesto; (00 47) 56 15 65 00; e-mail= [email protected]; website = www.boracing.no).

For brakes, how about some Brembo 322x32? Or why not try a group N kit with standard sized disks and some DS2500 pads and some good fluid?

Suspension? KW Variant 3. Your distributor is Norsk Bildelsenter (Postbox 43, N-3420 Lierskogen; 0047-32854040; email = [email protected] ; website = http://www.norsbildelsenter.no ) They'll give you your nearest supplier.

One disadvantage of the 17" wheels is that you can't run chains with them, so I'd keep the 16" ones for winter with some winter tyres and just use the 17s for summer.

Hope that helps.

Jon

[inquirer]

That information is worth gold. I will contact them tomorrow. I am in Bergen actually, so the first place is really close to me (15min driving).

By the way, where did you get this information??

[devonutopia]

You'll find after a while, that Monsieur TaviaRS is a wealth of information about anything & everything, even in the lands of Scandinavia.

[inquirer]

it is really funny, I have been looking for places like these locally for a week now with no result and here he whips up this information in no time :cheers:

the suspension is set. I had been reading about the KW varient 3 for some time and reading a thread here where TaviaRS confirms the quality made me decide on them.

I'll contact bo racing tomorrow about engine tuning.

With regards to brakes what do you guys recommend?? I haven't read much on brakes to be honest so I am totally blind in this area. I just realised recently that brakes should be taken care of if i do a remap.

any other mods i should do while at it???

[devonutopia]

Brakes - Go for the Brembo / Group N stuff as Jon said in his post above.

[mellowyellow]

Originally posted by devonutopia in this post

You'll find after a while, that Monsieur TaviaRS is a wealth of information about anything & everything, even in the lands of Scandinavia.

I would echo Jason's sentiments ..............and wait for a reply from Jon ..............he's very knowledgeable and very helpful .

[inquirer]

just to make sure, does the octavia have drum or disc brake in the back??

and also in topic of the brakes, what do i have change?? The caliper, brake pads and rotor?? if so what does brembo include?? and whats with the n type stuff?? (car insight of a panda)

[TaviaRS]

IIRC, it has discs allround. The RS are vented front and rear, other models are vented fronts, solid rears. All use the same pads.

Basic improvement would be some Ferodo DS2500 pads (FCP590H front and FCP541H rear) and some decent fluid. Highly recommend Silkolene Prorace 2000. Or you could try Castrol RS Super DOT4. Whatever you choose, if possible go for a Super DOT4 rather than a normal DOT4 or even DOT5. Reasons given in the other thread. As for discs, talk to Disco@impreziv about some group N+ ones.

As to how I know about suppliers, it was easy, took about 5 minutes. Just looked at the MTM website and got the Norwegian distributor. You might also want to look at other remap companies like ABD or, god forbid that I'm actually typing this, Upsolute to see if they have any local people to you. Don't just look at the numbers, a relationship between you and your tuner is very very important, so if you like them and trust them, go with them.

Jon

[inquirer]

any link to ABD can't seem to find them anywhere. :confused:

Upsolute don't have anything in Norway

[TaviaRS]

Ooops, sorry, gave the wrong name. Try http://www.powerzone.no/ bit of a trek though if you are in Bergen :( (about 300 miles each way). Must say its hard finding VAG tuners in Norway, only MTM and APR seem to have a presence there that I can find.

I hate to be unhelpful, but maybe the nice people here may be able to point you in the right direction.

Jon

[inquirer]

Well after much back and forth I have come to the conclusion that Norway is blooming expensive. :cussing:

Nobody in Norway does a custom remap, all do generic chipping for your car model. The cheapest one I found was

[TaviaRS]

I believe so. Try talking to Michael or Elton +441733211779. You will of course qualify for the Briskoda discount. For details of that, look in the discounts section or PM Adrian (SkodiRS) about that.