IMG_0542-2 by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrCertainly had been putting these Pagid RS4-2 Blue's through their paces..
IMG_0537-1 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr
IMG_0539-1 by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrThen took my old man to get his new car, a CR170 Octavia VRS - Cool to have my Dad in the same sort of car as mine, already got him primed to pull the trigger on some H&R springs, ball joints and bushes courtesy of Alex
IMG_0557-1 by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrThen the next day I set off for Darkside at stupid-o-clock
Arriving on literally no sleep and 3 red bulls... I grab a half-arsed shot of her on the dyno.
IMG_0590-1 by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrAt Darkside we had the following:
EGR Delete
3 Inch Downpipe / DPF/Cat removal
Hard cut limiter set at 5k
It was down on power compared (normally from my experience VAG engines pull about spot on or just over their rated power) but the end figure is there or there abouts.
I spent a lot of time talking to Darkside and perusing other diesel tuning forums to get a proper idea of what sort of power these engines reach as there's not much in the way of actual dyno'd & verifiable output. Darkside said anything between 195 and 205 is bang on the money.
My Fiscon has also highlighted how quickly the intake temps can rise, even when it's 8 or 9 degrees outside the temps shoot up from about 11-12 degrees to 22 or 23 after a single pull through 3rd and 4th, so an uprated intercooler is on the cards - watch this space...
Regarding the future power, my EGR was apparently very blocked up and they were surprised it hadn't caused me any issues - because of this they recommend that I clear the inlets and remove the swirl flaps which may free up a bit of extra power.
A 2056 and tubular manifold is on the cards but having just spunked £3k on the car in the matter of 2 weeks I need to let my bank account balance settle (and sell my Golf FFS) - I think 240-250bhp and this would be a beast of a car on road and track. For now it's quick enough to put a smile on my face and handles brilliantly.
Driving wise, well the tuning has transformed it - It no longer feels breathless and does pull very well indeed. I would say it's quicker than my GTI was standard. The MPG has also improved quite a bit. Ryan was very complimentary on the handling setup saying it's one of the nicest cars they've driven and how well it handles and rides.
The next plans are pop back over to Alex for my cat-back exhaust section to be made up, giving me a full 3 inch TBE, we will see what he can do RE the swirl flaps as well which is happening on the 19th of December. Gonna tweak my short shift (change some bushes and add some washes to stiffen up the side to side movement) and look into a bit of fabrication for a heat shield or two...
And here's the results.
10376188_380320572136615_3506914564937856865_n by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrSo went from 161 to 194bhp with a huge jump in torque from 270 to 330lb ft
Am I happy with the figures? No, if I'm honest. Then again I have always been a subscriber to the "under the graph" dyno area, which has improved MASSIVELY everywhere along the rev range - But I take some comfort knowing that Darkside know what they are doing first and foremost, and secondly, have an honest, real world dyno. My old TDI left another tuner with 171bhp and went to Darkside's and pulled 155. I would rather have a solid, safe 195bhp than a dyno-happy and smokey 215-220bhp.
Am I happy with the driving experience, the smoothness, the lack of smoke and the kick up the back when I put my foot down? Yes, absolutely!
It was explained to me that these cars which claim to have up to 220bhp (which are all usually very smokey) can sometimes have sky-high EGT's which are over 1000 degrees C from 3500rpm upwards (they flatline at 1000 which is the maximum sensor reading, so are of course going to climb over that figure!)
My EGT's are limited to 850, and I noticed absolutely no smoke on the drive back. The guys said if they had raised the EGT limit they could have got into the low 200's but the extra stress on components is not worth it for the small (5-7bhp) gain, which at the wheels you wouldn't really notice anyway.
Despite the fairly disappointing end NUMBERS, the driving aspect of the car is great and yes, I would pay the money again knowing the outcome. Albeit feel that I could have gone straight for the GTB kit to begin with... anyway...
IMG_0627-1 by Fat Bear Photography, on Flickr
IMG_0629-2 by Fat Bear Photography, on FlickrBig thanks to Darkside :-) as finally I no longer feel like my car is dogsh*te slow!!!
) needed to fabricate up an adjoining link pipe. So we started with some 3 inch stainless steel piping.
!!
