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The Car Thread


MadManMike

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There's a good reason why there's so many "orange glow" memes on the internet.

There's also a good reason why millions of fault code scanners are sold.

I wasn't even counting mine in that statement, mine was just f**ked from 9 years of abuse and apparently minimal servicing.

I spent a long time on those VAG groups and I definitely didn't get the impression that remapped cars were reliable.

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There's a good reason why there's so many "orange glow" memes on the internet.

There's also a good reason why millions of fault code scanners are sold.

I wasn't even counting mine in that statement, mine was just f**ked from 9 years of abuse and apparently minimal servicing.

I spent a long time on those VAG groups and I definitely didn't get the impression that remapped cars were reliable.

Think the general reliability of remapped VAG cars is down to that, a lack of proper servicing and maintenance. But also the age of the cars, they're getting tired now; things are naturally wearing out and will require replacing. Those points combined with the extra stresses a remapped car puts on it's components add up to give an appearance of poor reliability.

I'm not saying that this is the case for all the cars with issue, but there is a right and a wrong way to go about modding/tuning a car; I would hazard a guess that a large number of these cars with issues don't get the long overdue maintenance they require before someone goes out and throws a generic bit of software onto the car.

There is also the fact that there are a hell of a lot of VAG cars on the road, which are fairly cheap to modify; so there are also bound to appear to be a large number with issues.

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Craig's on the money. So many millions of the about for such little money that mongs pick them up, badly go about "tuning" them and bodging/doing it all wrong which is inevitably goingto cause problems. Much the same as any other car that's in the top highest selling list of all time and over 10 years old now I'd imagine. 20vts are always going to be even further along that line as it's a dirt cheap turbo setup that's relatively highly strung, so as soon as people start to push that without doing it properly things will go wrong.

Mine's a prime example really - someone with no idea what they're doing (the previous owner, though myself too to an extent!) picks it up, tries to squeeze more power out of it, wire more gadgets in etc and makes a complete mess of it.

Fortunately if you do it all right (or in my case, strip it all back out, tidy it up, get it back to a baseline and go from there) there's no reason that they should be any less reliable at all. In fact, those that actually know what they're doing and think a little more tend to maintain them far better than a "normal" car owner so I'd suggest in that case they can be more reliable than a lot of things.

Prawn's A3 is now on lunar mileage from memory, as are a number of other highly modified setups ;)

TL:DR; Having a remap isn't going to change the reliability by default, it's just the fact that most "tuners" out there are complete cowboys...

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All fair points.

I feel I might have missed out a :P or two, based on the serious replies I got.

Maybe, but i was trying to make a point that VAG cars when remapped aren't really that unreliable

Remapped, VAG, reliable (when done right).

Mike, queen, blowjob (no comment...).

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I'll notice if one tyre is 2-3psi out wheras my friends and family will drive cars with exhausts falling off, bald, half flat tyres with next to no oil or coolant without having a clue anything is actually wrong with it. Went to look at cars with the girlfriend, the first car we looked at she wanted to buy until I pointed out 3 tyres worn badly, mayo in the filler cap, no oil or coolant etc so it's true enthusiasts notice things more :P

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Yeah, jog on!

My S3, 187,000 miles and constantly thrashed at 290bhp. Alternator failed, big deal.

Last A3, 130,000 miles and constantly thrashed at 245bhp. Never missed a beat for the 5 years Lou and I owned it.

My A3 before that, 175,000 miles and constantly thrashed at 230bhp. Also faultlessly reliable.

Prawns A3 did 210k of faultless miles at 230bhp.

His daily he bought after was on 150k, that was 235/240bhp and never had any problems.

Buy a good one, treat it right and they're awesome.

*all of the above were mapped by Niki at R Tech.

Edited by Pashley26
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Coil packs on Audis of that period are a re-call item and can be usually replaced FOC by Audi.

Not totally true.

Only certain early AUM engines are eligible for a recall. The rest aren't.

I have only had one coil pack fail, that was on my last A3 at a little over 120k. I put a spare in, drove to the dealers and they changed all four FOC.

My S3 had TFSI coil packs, my A3 had normal cool packs as said above, and all my other 1.8t's have had bolt down coil packs with a separate ignition amplifier and have been trouble free.

Prawn had a problem where his coil pack loom had cracked and was shorting out but only when the car was hot. A bit weird.

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Not totally true.

Only certain early AUM engines are eligible for a recall. The rest aren't.

It's pretty much everything with push down coils actually mate. Almost all Leon Cupra, LCR, S3 on a BAM / AMK. All eligible for recall.

They'll only replace OE coils though, so if you have an OE one that's already blown, and you've replaced it with non gen, they won't touch it.

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There's a good reason why there's so many "orange glow" memes on the internet.

There's also a good reason why millions of fault code scanners are sold.

I wasn't even counting mine in that statement, mine was just f**ked from 9 years of abuse and apparently minimal servicing.

I spent a long time on those VAG groups and I definitely didn't get the impression that remapped cars were reliable.

guess what turned up in the post today.... :giggle:

post-36867-0-47263000-1430329810_thumb.j

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Got a weird one. I replaced the Astras wishbones+ball joints, droplinks, tie rod ends and strut bearings due to worn wishbone bushes and an annoying click noise when turning-I figured I might as well do the lot whilst I was there. This noise is still there and only happens when turning, it's not the CV joint as it can happen when turning on the spot, it is as if the strut bearing is shot but they are new and turn seemingly freely!

What else could cause this? Everything is tight under there and it's definitely happening on the NS front as the garage that did the tracking confirmed this when they had it in the air-they also could not identify the noise but deemed the car safe to use.

The car handles better now and feels far more direct as a consequence of replacing some very worn parts!

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Not totally true.

Only certain early AUM engines are eligible for a recall. The rest aren't.

I have only had one coil pack fail, that was on my last A3 at a little over 120k. I put a spare in, drove to the dealers and they changed all four FOC.

My S3 had TFSI coil packs, my A3 had normal cool packs as said above, and all my other 1.8t's have had bolt down coil packs with a separate ignition amplifier and have been trouble free.

Prawn had a problem where his coil pack loom had cracked and was shorting out but only when the car was hot. A bit weird.

coolpack_zpsakphcdei.jpg

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Time to sell my Mx5/eunos. I know someone on here had messaged me before about it but can't remember who? Anyway it needs 4 new tyres cause they're cracked otherwise it's all groovey. Had an absolute blast driving out to a spot to shoot photos, think I'm gunna miss it.

11154945_10153071756887935_1563638915898

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