Robbie C's Ibiza Cupra

Nov 2, 2004
9,335
0
South Wales
Yeah there should be a few ibizas and 1.8t's goin, ill probably run mine whatever state its in. lol.

Check the Welsh section i think.
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
Well, yesterday I spent the day at Brands Hatch on a track day round their Indy Circuit which for the most part was a good day, though not without its issues :(

After a few sessions out on the circuit I noticed my AFR suddenly jump up to 18-19.5, regardless of whether I was sat idle, cruising or on boost. I brought it straight back in to let it cool down for a bit and contacted Bill for a few suggestions.

A scan with VAG COM didn't reveal anything, though earlier that morning when clearing an EML for EVAP I did notice this little beauty as well:

16518- Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: No Activity

As my AFR seemed fine I hadn't really thought much of it but looks like it could be a broken pre-cat sensor or damaged wiring. I'd wondered if the wiring had even got too hot from the downpipe, though the readings from my wideband were so erratic it didn't match any logical pattern, just did what it pleased. Measuring block 001 on idle showed lambda to fluctuate between -3 and 3 while AFR was showing 16-17 which didn't seem to be abnormal so then I began to question whether my wideband sensor was lying to me, though the fact I logged a code for the lambda would make me more suspicious of this. The car continued to run fine throughout the day, no spluttering etc. A good check under the bonnet also revealed that no hoses were split etc and the characteristics of the very sporadic readings swayed me more towards an intermittent electronic issue.

I rang the nearest ECP to see about getting a new pre-cat lambda sensor to give this a go but they only had one Bosch one left in stock across the country and that was in Wembley, meaning if I were to go and get it by the time I got back to Brands the day would have been over. In the end I just waited for the AFR to sort itself out and got in what little track time I could.

With a passenger keeping a close eye on the gauge while I went round we found that the readings could go from perfectly normal (~11-12 on full boost) and then jump straight up to 18-19. If we limped back to the pits and sat there it would sometimes then sort itself out, very very erratic :(

For now I've ordered a new sensor so I can perhaps fit it sometime over the weekend and see whether this helps anything. A quick scan when I got home last night showed a repeat of the above code so assuming the wiring is all OK when I get underneath to have a proper look then I'll start with this and go from there.

Aside from this the car was running really well, managing to out run two B7 Audi RS4s on the straights which I was really happy with and the car felt nice and planted through the corners. I'd really recommend the VT rear beam bushes to anyone still running OE as the back end just seemed to stay exactly where I wanted it all day. I'm not 100% happy with the brakes at the moment, which felt like they were fading after a few quick laps but it's actually just the pedal feel that goes a bit spongy while they still stop just as well. I was hoping for firmer feedback really as it didn't inspire much confidence until I was used to it but all in all I'm very pleased with it.

Unfortunately the official photographer didn't make an appearance this year which I was really counting on, but a friend managed to get a small amount of drive-by footage and I also tried using another mate's in-car camera for the last session which I'll try and retrieve the video from when I get the chance.
 
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ibizacupra

Jack-RIP my little Friend
Jul 25, 2001
31,333
19
glos.uk
spongy is usually a sign of overheatign brake fluid.. longer pedal/spongy

I would check your plug colours asap to confirm whats going on.. be an indicator
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
Good shout I'll check these too when I can, thanks for all your help yesterday Bill

Yeah I'd wondered about the fluid though I'm using Motul RBF600 and never noticed it on my standard brakes running the same fluid. Maybe they need re-bleeding?
 

ibizacupra

Jack-RIP my little Friend
Jul 25, 2001
31,333
19
glos.uk
Good shout I'll check these too when I can, thanks for all your help yesterday Bill

Yeah I'd wondered about the fluid though I'm using Motul RBF600 and never noticed it on my standard brakes running the same fluid. Maybe they need re-bleeding?

no worries.. I'm here to help if I can :thumbup:
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
Another update :)

I got hold of a new genuine pre-cat lambda which was fitted on Saturday but still my AFR gauge was reading very erratically, normally 18-19 under any condition (i.e. hot, cold, idle, part-throttle etc).

This made me suspect a dodgy AFR sensor as the calibration of the gauge had not been changed, and occasionally the readings would switch back to normal levels signifying more of an electronic fault. To be on the safe side we checked my plugs which were fine in colour, as was the lambda probe that was removed.

By chance I had arranged to go to a RR day at GotBoost nr Llandow on Sunday so this gave a good chance to get it on the rollers with some real time logging and compare it to their own AFR probe to see what was going on. All the way up to GotBoost my gauge was reading 17-19 but once on the rollers we confirmed that the fueling was fine and it was either the sensor or gauge at fault. A bit of a pain but at least I wasn't running lean :)

After 3 runs I was really pleased with my best figures of 296.9 BHP and 344 lb/ft of torque :D For the mods I am running this is pretty much exactly what I wanted from the car and shows what a nice contribution the WMI adds.

Here's the graphs from my highest BHP run:

Scan001-1.png


Scan002.png


The second and third runs were cut short after we noticed the torque drop very early and while the AFR all looked fine a subsequent scan with VAG COM revealed multiple misfire detections so perhaps I lost spark. Either way, it's running absolutely fine so I'm not too bothered by this and the power curve looks nice to me.

Strangely, my AFR gauge has also been perfect since running so I'm wondering if it cleared some crap on the sensor. I know they suffer from condensation when not mounted properly but we made sure it was placed between 10 and 2 o'clock to prevent this from happening.

On the way back home I also dropped by Badger5 to show Bill my results and get my ECU reflashed once more to map out the EVAP incorrect flow code which keep tripping an EML. 40 miles on and so far so good :)

For me these figures reflect how no K03 hybrid will ever make a true 300 BHP, especically when you consider a ~15 BHP contribution from the WMI but I am very happy with the power the car's producing, and more importantly the way it drives on the road/track. These graphs finish the car off nicely and it's great to know I got exactly what I was looking for from the mods I chose to run
 
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jamiebennett81

Guest
wow, some awesome figures their mate. Mine made 263bhp and 280lbft on AMD's rollers yesterday, so an interesting comparison to what WMI and uprated rods can do to a hybrid ;)
 
Oct 2, 2006
484
0
Some cracking rolling road results there Robbie bet your chuffed to bits, I bet its no slouch out on road or track, bet you can embarass alot of more expensive exotica:lol:
 

R1ch85

1/4mile - 13.935 @ 100.54
Nov 9, 2006
1,675
0
Bristol
Awesome results there dude, bet she flies! Are you running a 3" downpipe on it? Just wondering as I'm also running a hybrid like yourself. Could really do with exhaust mani, WMI and rods for that extra bit of oomph!
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
Thanks all :)

wow, some awesome figures their mate. Mine made 263bhp and 280lbft on AMD's rollers yesterday, so an interesting comparison to what WMI and uprated rods can do to a hybrid ;)

Yeah the WMI is such a worthwhile mod for so many reasons imo, not just the power gains but added cooling too especially when you consider the sort of EGTs these turbos produce. For ~£300 it's one of the best bang-for-buck mods

The Forge MBC is definitely a good move too, sustaining more boost than the N75 ever could and making things much smoother. The rods were more of an insurance measure for complete peace of mind though I'm glad I've had them done :)

Are you thinking of getting some rods and WMI for yours then mate?

Superb stuff!! A bit odd about the torque though... Looks like my graph when my fuel pump was on its way out.

I'm now really wanting to go hyrbid. Although it seems rods would be a very good idea!

Craig and Bill seemed happy enough with the fuel delivery, though couldn't explain why runs 2 and 3 dropped off but the VAG COM codes seem to suggest it may have temporarily lost spark. Either way it's not missing now so I'm not concerned and it's a brand new LCR pump so I'd hope it's not struggling just yet! :)

Some cracking rolling road results there Robbie bet your chuffed to bits, I bet its no slouch out on road or track, bet you can embarass alot of more expensive exotica:lol:

Cheers, yeah my best so far has been two B7 RS4s. The look on their faces was priceless :D

Awesome results there dude, bet she flies! Are you running a 3" downpipe on it? Just wondering as I'm also running a hybrid like yourself. Could really do with exhaust mani, WMI and rods for that extra bit of oomph!

Yeah it's a full Blueflame system with 3" downpipe and 200 cell race cat
 

jamiebennett81

Guest
Thanks all :)



Yeah the WMI is such a worthwhile mod for so many reasons imo, not just the power gains but added cooling too especially when you consider the sort of EGTs these turbos produce. For ~£300 it's one of the best bang-for-buck mods

The Forge MBC is definitely a good move too, sustaining more boost than the N75 ever could and making things much smoother. The rods were more of an insurance measure for complete peace of mind though I'm glad I've had them done :)

Are you thinking of getting some rods and WMI for yours then mate?

Yes WMI is amongst my list of things to do. Rods will be done at a later date

Is there any point running WMI without uprated rods though, as I cant go any higher than 1.5bar due to my current rods....although its still a cooler charge so benefits to be had I guess

If I could break into the 270's towards 280 BHP, then I will be very happy

also interesting that you are running a 3" downpipe....as my BF DP only has just over 2.6", and when speaking with BF, they advised they never did the 3" for the K03s on my Leon, and only did the 3" DP for the K04 LCR :confused:
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
You could always just use WMI for the cooling benefits as you've said, helping sustain your boost for longer, then look to advance some timing for more power as and when you get your rods sorted :)

When I say 3", I believe it tapers down to 2.5" by the time it reaches the cat in order to mate up with the rest of the system:

ABCD0007.jpg


There's been many discussions around these before and they're believed to be less restrictive than the Milltek equivalents which are narrower, though how much real world difference this makes I don't know.
 

deano_1987

Guest
just want to say this thing looks awsome on the road :) and goes very well indeed, just had a little play with you on the road leading from swindon to marlborough (I was the one in the mk1 Focus rs) and couldnt believe it when u stayed glued to my tail!! then i noticed the plate and remembered my mate (Jamie read off here) telling me about the work you was putting into the car :D so yea just thought id say great work mate.

Dean
 
Jan 8, 2007
2,958
1
Wiltshire
:) Cheers mate, appreciate it. Was just talking to Jamie about it over PM, small world eh

I was meant to be behaving but you got the better of me lol. Nice car you got there, liking the wheels.

Small update my side...turns out that runs 2 and 3 on the dyno a couple of weeks ago weren't just anomolies after all... I noticed after the journey home that I'd not used any water/meth at all meaning something had broken :think:

A VAG-COM scan after the dyno runs flagged a misfire on every cylinder so I should have paid closer attention really but thought it was just where it had been run hard and possibly lost spark. It looks as though the WMI controller may have broken though it still remains to be seen while I try and sort it out with Devil's Own but it means I've been running over 8 degrees of ignition advance without any WMI :blink:

Interestingly the car still produced 284.7 and 285.4 BHP on the second and third runs so assuming the WMI was working 100% on run 1 and not at all on 2 and 3 it seems to account for ~10 BHP

I've been trying to keep it off boost before I hook up Unisettings later and adjust the timing back to 0 but I've noticed it detonating from time to time and logged an EPC once...not good.

I'm not sure how much timing the knock sensors will pull out for me? Looking over a couple of VAG COM logs from the RR I see occasional CFs of 8 and 12, but very sporadic.

Either way, hoping to get it sorted before May when I'm off to the Nurburgring so we'll see. Guess that's cars for you, though it could be worse. I'll be happier once the timing has been reset as I'm worried how much damage it could cause if otherwise left.
 
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