1.8 TSI Performance & Remap Options

SecretWeapon

Active Member
Jun 29, 2009
54
11
Hi all,

I recently took delivery of a brand new Leon FR 1.8 TSI. I managed to get it on 0% finance and pay no more than I already was for my previous Leon FR 1.4 TSI. I also got to spec it out with some nice extras such as heated seats (coming into their own just now!), 18" alloys and Seat Sound.

I'm generally pleased, I obviously knew what I was buying into and being able to specify all of the extras I wanted has been great!

However… if there's one problem, it's the performance. Frankly, it seems more sluggish than the 1.4 TSI I've come from. This seems a bit odd to me as I notice the gear ratios are identical, the torque is identical and the power is more. The car weights a bit more also, but the 0-60 time on paper is 0.8 seconds quicker. It definitley doesn't seem as eager, there's more lag, it's just less spritely. I know this for sure because I had the two cars at the same time for a short time period and could directly hop from one to the other to compare.

First of all, I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? I'm not saying the 1.8 is way slower or anything, it's just not as eager and seems a bit more laggy. I wouldn't mind as much if the engine didn't also take my real world MPG from 50+MPG to about 37MPG.

Secondly, has anyone had one of these remapped? Most places claim about 220PS and 340Nm torque (which is a decent 40PS and 90Nm gain). I'm guess this may remedy the situation… my only concern being that it's brand new and I wanted to keep it serviced by Seat, but I've read that VW have online diagnostics tools now that detect remaps and flag them as warranty void!

Any info/thoughts on any of the above would be appreciated!
 

JACUPRA280

Active Member
Jun 18, 2015
932
55
Somewhere
Hi all,

I recently took delivery of a brand new Leon FR 1.8 TSI. I managed to get it on 0% finance and pay no more than I already was for my previous Leon FR 1.4 TSI. I also got to spec it out with some nice extras such as heated seats (coming into their own just now!), 18" alloys and Seat Sound.

I'm generally pleased, I obviously knew what I was buying into and being able to specify all of the extras I wanted has been great!

However… if there's one problem, it's the performance. Frankly, it seems more sluggish than the 1.4 TSI I've come from. This seems a bit odd to me as I notice the gear ratios are identical, the torque is identical and the power is more. The car weights a bit more also, but the 0-60 time on paper is 0.8 seconds quicker. It definitley doesn't seem as eager, there's more lag, it's just less spritely. I know this for sure because I had the two cars at the same time for a short time period and could directly hop from one to the other to compare.

First of all, I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? I'm not saying the 1.8 is way slower or anything, it's just not as eager and seems a bit more laggy. I wouldn't mind as much if the engine didn't also take my real world MPG from 50+MPG to about 37MPG.

Secondly, has anyone had one of these remapped? Most places claim about 220PS and 340Nm torque (which is a decent 40PS and 90Nm gain). I'm guess this may remedy the situation… my only concern being that it's brand new and I wanted to keep it serviced by Seat, but I've read that VW have online diagnostics tools now that detect remaps and flag them as warranty void!

Any info/thoughts on any of the above would be appreciated!

The engine will be tight for a thousand miles or so, it'll feel more responsive when it's been broken in a bit.

With regard to remaps, they are not always detectable at the dealership level. However if a dealer suspects a car may be or have been remapped, then they can send the ECU off for analysis. This will find the footprints of a remap, guaranteed. Even a tuning box once removed can be detected by somebody looking hard enough. It goes without saying that if you take your remapped car into a dealership, it'll be immediately obvious it's been remapped on a test drive. This will be a problem if you are having engine or transmission issues.
 
Last edited:

Lentäjä

Full Member
Jan 19, 2006
503
2
Helsinki, Finland
I' m interested to hear about remaps also.
I'm going towards APR stage1 or 2 on my 1.8TSI, since they claim 250+hp and 400+nm of torque.
Revo, Celtic tuning, Blufin superchips and ABT claims much lower numbers.

I miss how eager my 1P FR 2.0TFSI APR stage2 was compared to this 5F FR180
 
Last edited:

MyLeon

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
349
2
Give Steve a ring at TDI Tuning. Great company, really helpful and very knowledgeable.
I know they do a box for the 180 which should be a quick fit/remove for service time etc.
I have one on my 184 and it's wonderful!


2015 Leon ST FR 184 DSG
 

Celtic Tuning

Active Member
Nov 2, 2015
5
0
Thank you for your message. Unfortunately, we cannot comment as we have not seen APR's software. The 220bhp that we offer will be a very noticeable difference.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Celtic Tuning Team.
 

MyLeon

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
349
2
It's not all about high bhp numbers, it's about drivability, smoothness and reliability that'll put the long term smile on your face!
I'm not sure a remap would be warranty friendly, that's why so many people go down the tuning box route.


2015 Leon ST FR 184 DSG
 

G.P

Active Member
Sep 3, 2011
1,241
38
Worcestershire
It's not all about high bhp numbers, it's about drivability, smoothness and reliability that'll put the long term smile on your face!
I'm not sure a remap would be warranty friendly, that's why so many people go down the tuning box route.


2015 Leon ST FR 184 DSG

^ This, unfortunately many company's offering remaps offer better BHP and torque figures than other to get the business, without any regard for driveability and reliability..
 

Kas

Jan 6, 2020
4
0
I' m interested to hear about remaps also.
I'm going towards APR stage1 or 2 on my 1.8TSI, since they claim 250+hp and 400+nm of torque.
Revo, Celtic tuning, Blufin superchips and ABT claims much lower numbers.

I miss how eager my 1P FR 2.0TFSI APR stage2 was compared to this 5F FR180
Did u get it remapped what gearbox do you have and did u have any issues with clutch slipping?
 

mcspook

Active Member
Feb 11, 2020
79
28
Just went to the dyno and have some confusing results. I have a revo stage 2 performance 2 tune with 76dp and 200cel cat. i have put a valve prior to the factory cat back and wanted to see differences between open exhaust and factory cat back.
The first pull is with the valve open, second and third with to valve closed. The guy told me that in the third pull the turbo was hotter and if we had the valve open it would had stayed cooler (less back pressure) with more stable results.
20200309-212004.jpg

20200309-212013.jpg

20200309-212033.jpg

The thing is that the whp ( blue) seems low to me comparing it with the hp to the crank (red) that seems high. Does anyone have revo stage 2 dynoed?

edit: just saw that 205,8whp are at 6310rpm but at 5000rpm it seems to be at almost 220whp.
 
Last edited:

BigJase88

Jase
Apr 20, 2008
3,767
1,069
They are measuring at the wheels so that figure is correct, they are estimating crank bhp so in that regard i would say they are overestimating the crank figure. I would estimate at that whp figure you are around 240-250bhp at the crank
 
Nimbus hosting - Based solely in the UK.