[ketla2411]

Prithwi-81, congratulations. the vRS will keep you smiling ear to ear every time you twist that key and flex your right foot.

[prithwi-81]

Originally Posted by sudeep11787

prithwi-81 ! Something offtopic. I spotted you a few days back going from Delhi to gurgaon via Expressway, the day vintage rally was held (Sunday).
The silver fiat with team bhp sticker is yours right?

Nope. I don't have a silver fiat.

[prithwi-81]

Some more performance updates.

Did a few runs with two other Lauras yesterday evening. A 2010 Ambiente TSI, 2011 Elegance TDI (DSG) 140bhp model.

Standing Launches and Acceleration

VRS vs TSI
3.5-4k standing Launch to 120, VRS pulled ahead by nearly 1 car length, at the first launch. Second Launch was about 1.5 cars length. The 16x205 wheels give a definite advantage on launch and 2 gear acceleration. Also the car has a better ASR than the Ambiente, which combined with the slightly larger contact patch improves acceleration.

VRS vs TDI Elegance
3.5k(VRS) and 2k Brake Launch(TDI DSG - Auto mode) standing Launch to 120, VRS pulled ahead by nearly 2.5x car length, at the first launch . DSG caught up due to the fast gear shifts but the sheer brute force of the TSI motor ended with a 1 car length gap. DSG in Auto is BAD for lauch.
Second Launch(with DSG on TipTronic Shift) was much closer with 1.5x car length at the beginning with a 1/3rd cars length at the end. The 16x205 wheel advantage was neutralized here, and the DSG shifts with incredible mechanical speed and precision, which cannot be matched by my shifting skills. The rate at which the TDI caught upto me in its 2nd and 3rd Gear was astounding. I guess the 320 torque does come in handy.

Summary

I REALLY wish I Skoda offered a DSG box option with the VRS. Would have made an already awesome car, even more attractive. With my crazy brain I enquired about the cost of a swap, and WOW.. 3L is the estimate i got.

Off Topic Observation
Another note, having driven the DSG Twin Clutch unit from VAG, I must say its a helluva lot slower to respond than the TC-SST Twin Clutch unit from my Evo X. Don't get me wrong, the DSG is hugely faster than our slushbox autos and our human ability to shift gears, but felt slow compared to the lightning fast TC-SST unit in the Mitsu.

[samyboy]

prithwi-81, I have always wondered if we can ever get to hear on both of these gems from a single person... and my wish was granted today. Very interesting thought of adding DSG to VRS. That car would be a gift from the God. There are large discounts going on these days on VRS/TSI.. who knows some brave heart can think of diverting some money from discounts in adding DSG to VRS. I know if there was an option to get DSG into my Yeti I would have surely gone for it no matter how much more expensive it makes the entire package. Keep posting on this thread please. We want to hear more from cars from person with your background.

[prithwi-81]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Eydp...e_gdata_player

Startup Opening Ceremony

[prithwi-81]

At autocross 2012.

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Startup Opening Ceremony

The video is PRIVATE.

Please correct it, so that we can enjoy the video.

Thanks!

[prithwi-81]

Interesting fact. The RS is now officially sold out. No new models until the new body in 2015. Official response from Skoda.. wow.. this car is now a collectors car....

[prithwi-81]

Exhaust is here..




And its installed too.. Thanks to Autopsyche for getting this done.. great work!

So far its a HOOT! Sounds amazing, without any droning. Since its non resonated, its a fully free flow from CAT down.

Initial butt feeling, the car has pickedup about 10-15 hp across the powerband. Acceleration is a lot smoother, and the pickup is definitely faster.

My experience with Turbo cars is that they love this mod. An exhaust removes backpressure allowing the engine and the turbo to spool faster and maintain boost. Evos and STis that I've owned used to pickup close to 20hp from this mod.. seat of the pant feeling was a bit lesser than what it is in the VRS as they were AWD cars. With the VRS being FWD, its a hoot.. lit up my tires in first atleast twice, while accelerating normally from the red light. Normally I'd have to do atleast a 4-5k launch for it to happen.. truly amazing.

I'd have to give it another 10-15 days for the ECU to learn the free flow fully before doing a few runs with my friends.

Anyone in NCR have a good video camera to do a recording?

[prithwi-81]

Just came back from another heavily spirited long drive.

Few Notes on the exhaust -

Sound- Absolutely fascinating. You will love it.
Sound level between 0-2k - Same as stock. Lot deeper grumble though.
Sound level between 2k and 5k -LOT Louder than stock. Drive normally and its a nice throaty rumble. If your WOT(Wide Open Throttle/Pedal to the Medal) then the car gets real loud. Droning in the cabin also appears a bit, particularly as the giant boot acts a resonator, and a bit of bass feedback vibration from under the car due to the SS pipe. I expect the feedback to go away as the carbon deposits build up in the pipes.
Sound level between 5k and 7.5k - surprisingly the sound dies down significantly after 5k. Its nearly as quite as stock, mebbe a tiny bit louder. I pin this down to the volume and speed of exhaust gases at this RPM that neutralizes the drone and sound.

Droning Sound - YES. Skoda did a wonderful job of sound insulation in their cars, but still it does drone a little since its non resonated, nothing the stereo wont drown out.
The trunk of the car acts as a giant resonator and makes it louder than it is. Had this issue with all turbo cars, and the best solution is some dynamat lining in the metal part of the trunk. Works like a charm and you can say bye bye to droning.

Performance - YES its gotten faster. Turbo kicks in faster and can stay on boost longer. Midrange pickup improvement and smoothness of the car is the thing you will immediately notice, as here is where the excess airflow is really helping the engine breathe.
Bottom end improvements will slowly creep up on you as the ECU learns to exploit the timing advances due to the increased airflow.

I'd say right now, I'm making about 4-5whp/8-9lbft tq over stock in bottom end, and about 8-10whp/15-18lbft tq in the mid range. Since the 1.8TSI has a low-midrange turbo, there will be very minimal gains if any in the top end as the turbo runs out of breath at high rpms.

Giving the ECU the time to learn the new exhaust flow fully(~20-30 days) should improve these gains to about 10whp/15lbft tq in the bottom end, and 15whp/25lbft tq in the midrange.

Things that I don't like about this exhaust -The exhaust comes with Band Clamps/Slip joints.

Never liked them, never had them, never wanted them. Why? Prone to leaking as there is no gasket, prone to seeping in of external fluids (rain water), and slippage over, no matter how tight you make it. SURPRISINGLY, the OEM Exhast to downpipe mating was also a slip joint. I prefer flaged pipes with gasket seals. Easy fix if a leak, and also no slippage.

Note - These numbers are only as the exhaust is non -resonated, aka free flow. If you get a resonated one, the gains will be roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of this, except for the nice sound. Real Gains from a turbo car comes majorly from the combination of a good downpipe (non catted) and a free flow exhaust. This can range to the tune of 25whp/50lbft tq without a tune, and around 50-60whp/80-100lbft tq with a good tune. Again this depends on motor, but the Skoda being a 1.8 motor, combined with DI, this is very possible.

Off Topic Rant - North India needs a dyno tuning facility, and a good tuner BADLY!!! I've never done Off_The_Shelf re-flashes, rather always gone for a proper tune after getting the requisite parts to make the most of the tune.

[azeemhafiz]

Congratulations Prithwi on a fantastic car and a great mod. Fellow BHPian Robi has the same exhaust (me thinks) on his car and I love (absolutely adore) the wonderful sound it makes.

Off-late on late night runs, I have my stereo switched off to listen the stock exhaust on my vRS; I can just imagine how obsessed I would be with the Miltek upgrades.

Very tempted to drive to Coimbatore, pick up Robi and head straight to Petes in Cochin for this upgrade.

Awesome stuff! Eagerly awaiting the video for the sounds!

Cheers,

Azeem

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Off Topic Rant - North India needs a dyno tuning facility, and a good tuner BADLY!!! I've never done Off_The_Shelf re-flashes, rather always gone for a proper tune after getting the requisite parts to make the most of the tune.

+100 to that. Somewhere down the line I also plan to update my old VRS. As of this date the only viable option for me is to either get somebody from down south or get an off the shelf re-flash from UK. If nothing improves in our part of the country then I am more leaning towards the latter as the car sold in very good numbers in UK and there are enough knowledgeable folks out there who would have good maps for this car. But overall the situation up north is sad indeed.

[Omtoatom]

Originally Posted by prithwi-81

Interesting fact. The RS is now officially sold out. No new models until the new body in 2015. Official response from Skoda.. wow.. this car is now a collectors car....

Is that right!! Then it is an absolutely smashing piece of news. What a kickass feeling to own what has effectively becomes a special edition collectors' car! I didn't know the RS was sold out - wasn't anyway expecting it to happen so soon. With about 10-odd RSs on the forum now, as owners I think, we can safely say that we have done our bit to "boost" this awesome piece of machinery.

While on the subject Prithwi; congratulations on a sweet-looking, even sweeter-sounding mod.

Cannot wait to hear the video capturing the rumble.

Definitely tempted into getting the Miltek upgrades for my RS now. Already sensing the itch grow.

[Akshay1234]

Congrats man, that exhaust really sounds good. The other day I saw a yellow vRS with 17" rims, and an exhaust, probably other stuff too. Now only to steal it away from my father so I can get Stage 1 done on mine

[prithwi-81]

Now that Buddh has Affordable track days planned for the whole year, here are my mod path plans:

Right now car is stock with just the Cat Back. Immediate performance gains are to the tune of 5-10bhp across rev range, and sharper response. The car has learnt the exhaust fully, so full Boost comes on earlier and a bit stronger thanks to the unrestricted flow. There is wheelspin in 1st, 2nd even with TCS on.

1st Track Day at BIC - Plan to run the car as is. See the track time and get a good idea of the stock handling with the stilt suspension and stock tires.

2nd Track Day at BIC - Wider Wheels and Tires (17s with 225s) OR B14 suspension.
Will decide which to go in first after the results of the 1st track day. Reason I dont want to do both at the same time is that the handling will improve in leaps and bounds, and I wont be able to differentiate the exact benefits of each mod.

3rd Track Day at BIC - Pete's Stage 1 ReMap + Wider Wheels & tires and if possible the suspension update.
Why wheels + tires must and suspension update optional you ask? Because its a FWD car, and with the current power levels the tires are already the weak point in getting the power to the ground. With a much higher power curve with Pete's Stage 1, the benefits will be lost in smoke(quite literally) as the current set struggles to put the power to the ground.

4th Track Day at BIC - All out assault with Suspension + anti roll bars + WheelnTires + Remap + air-filter. By then hopefully this car will be within my intended final modification level for a FWD Turbo car. Any more power including a larger turbo will be a waste of $$.