Cupra at TSR

[ibizaracebrake]

spoke to TSR today, they hope to run the newly rebuilt engine for the first time in 4 1/2 months tomorrow. if I said I was looking forward to getting it back, that would be the understatement of the year! currently I'm driving a Suzuki Baleno 1.8 GLX estate in dark green metallic, a £700 Ebay purchase as the Ibiza doesnt 'do' snow. fingers crossed the old Cupra works with the new piston/rod/map setup.

 

[dav]

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[jc_boc]

Best of luck mate! A damn long time to be sat without the yellow monster. Hopefully she will be the better for all the work.

 

[ibizaracebrake]

Latest news from TSR is the car is running OK but its 'Still Smokin' which is great if you are Trouble Funk, not so good if its a rebuilt engine. Chief suspect is the turbo, so it's being taken out for inspection/new seals, as it only smokes after being left to idle.

 

[jc_boc]

WOW!!!! You must be missing that car mate. Hopefully nothing too serious and they sort it quickly. My boc is going on Saturday :-(

 

[vRSy]

whats the replacement jason?

 

[jc_boc]

LOL, watch this space mate.... don't wanna hijack the thread so will post up on the week-end.......

 

[ibizaracebrake]

there are

Latest news from TSR is the rebuilt turbo is back and will be refitted friday, then if it drives OK there are a couple of details to sort and it will be ready! (hopefully)

 

[ibizaracebrake]

Well, its been 6 months at TSR, most of that was while the pistons were made. News today is the rebuilt turbo was leaking more oil than before it was removed so off it comes again to be sent back for a re-rebuild, can't blame TSR for that. I couldn't have picked it up anyway as I did my back in on Sunday so spent 12 hours in agony, then 12 hours throwing up after reacting to a pain killer - what fun. Can now walk around, just, but a few more days until full recovery. Good news, got a new in-car camera off Amazon, a Kodak Playfull which for a brief time was under £60. Looks good so far, clear picture but must wait for car to test properly. Sad (?) news about REDLINE mag, last issue now gone and no more, but small pic of my car on page 67. Any words of sympathy, encouragement gratefully received - signed, long suffering Cupra owner.

 

[jc_boc]

Awww mate, come here lemme give you a cuddle hehehehehehhee. Hope you recover soon and that the cupra gets sorted once and for all. I still don't know how the hell you have managed that l;ong without it???!!!!

 

[vRSy]

Well, its been 6 months at TSR, most of that was while the pistons were made. News today is the rebuilt turbo was leaking more oil than before it was removed so off it comes again to be sent back for a re-rebuild, can't blame TSR for that. I couldn't have picked it up anyway as I did my back in on Sunday so spent 12 hours in agony, then 12 hours throwing up after reacting to a pain killer - what fun. Can now walk around, just, but a few more days until full recovery. Good news, got a new in-car camera off Amazon, a Kodak Playfull which for a brief time was under £60. Looks good so far, clear picture but must wait for car to test properly. Sad (?) news about REDLINE mag, last issue now gone and no more, but small pic of my car on page 67. Any words of sympathy, encouragement gratefully received - signed, long suffering Cupra owner.

Who has rebuilt the turbo? I'm looking at someone to hybridize mine, but whilst in the process, change all the seals for peace of mind.

I think i know why these turbos have been known to blow. On track days (of which i know you like them as much as me) the oil temperatures get upto 130 degreesC - (The Fabia has an Oil temp gauge, does the Cupra?). Thats horrendously hot considering it should be around 90-105 under hard use. That heat could quite easily melt seals or cause premature failure of the turbo, especially if its a frequent occurrence.

Im looking a fitting an oil cooler to mine to remedy this

 

[xJmagik]

ibizaracebrake- I no how it feels... my engine originally went bang over 18 months ago!. had a full engine rebuild and got my car back 9 months later, was running her in then 800 miles down the line it goes bang again. all due to the bottom pully not being tourqued up properlly (Idiots!!) have only just got my car back 2 weeks agos so atleast yours will be back in your hands sooner than mine did. currently just done over 500 miles so my first oil change is now due.

 

[ibizaracebrake]

Turbo is at Owen Developements in Oxford, who should know what they are doing, but something must have gone wrong, maybe it was the first of these they had rebuilt. It should be possible to build an engine that lasts longer than some of the ones we have, thanks a lot SEAT. Shame, because while it worked I had a blast.

 

[Hurdy]

I've been watching this thread with interest for a while now. I can understand why people are nervous about tuning the 1.4TSI after the historical failures and I have a lot of sympathy with those who have suffered.

I personally believe that most of these issues are now resolved and hope that the GTI I have should be reliable, even at stage 2 and beyond.

Perhaps as modifiers we ought to be looking as much at engine cooling upgrades as performance upgrades with this engine?

 

[vRSy]

Perhaps as modifiers we ought to be looking as much at engine cooling upgrades as performance upgrades with this engine?

^^^^^

This

Less heat = more power

and these engines run very very hot

 

[Stevoz03]

^^ So are we talking uprated oil coolers, radiators, intercoolers ect? and perhaps cold air induction kits? what else can be done?

 

[vRSy]

^^ So are we talking uprated oil coolers, radiators, intercoolers ect? and perhaps cold air induction kits? what else can be done?

I have an intercooler and uprated radiator being fitted. Will also be getting a Mocul oil cooler and will be heat wrapping the manifold and downpipe.

Then in the future it will be water meth injection and maybe an intercooler spray kit

 

[Stevoz03]

I have an intercooler and uprated radiator being fitted. Will also be getting a Mocul oil cooler and will be heat wrapping the manifold and downpipe.

Then in the future it will be water meth injection and maybe an intercooler spray kit

That sounds good, so is overheating directly causing or contributing to these dreaded missfires? There is alot of things going around this forum as to why the missfires are occuring.. software, piston-rings, spark plugs/injectors and cooling. When are VW/SEAT going to actually tackle this problem head on I wonder.

 

[Hurdy]

^^^^^^
Electrical systems invariably reduce in efficiency the higher the temps go and sparkplugs are no different. The higher the charge temps are before ignitition, the less efficient the spark will be and the higher the chance of a missfire.

 

[vRSy]

The larger the gap, the more voltage and power you require to force the spark across the gap.

This is an extract from the NGK instruction manual

Since the gap size has a direct affect on the spark plug's tip temperature and on the voltage necessary to ionize (light) the air/fuel mixture, careful attention is required. While it is a popular misconception that plugs are pre-gapped from the factory, the fact remains that the gap must be adjusted for the vehicle that the spark plug is intended for. Those with modified engines must remember that a modified engine with higher compression or forced induction will typically require a smaller gap settings (to ensure ignitability in these denser air/fuel mixtures). As a rule, the more power you are making, the smaller the gap you will need.

A spark plug's voltage requirement is directly proportionate to the gap size. The larger the gap, the more voltage is needed to bridge the gap. Most experienced tuners know that opening gaps up to present a larger spark to the air/fuel mixture maximizes burn efficiency. It is for this reason that most racers add high power ignition systems. The added power allows them to open the gap yet still provide a strong spark.

With this mind, many think the larger the gap the better. In fact, some aftermarket ignition systems boast that their systems can tolerate gaps that are extreme. Be wary of such claims. In most cases, the largest gap you can run may still be smaller than you think.