95 octane program?

[hankarhu]

Hi,
1. Is there a program available for European 95 octane fuel for the MK1 Octavia 2004 1.8T 150 hp?
2. Can the program be tweaked towards slightly improved economy and lesser heat production (at the cost of maximum hp and torque) at the time of installation?
3. Is it possible to limit turbo pressure to 0.8 bar, to have a very long lifetime for the turbo?

Thanks

 

[Alex]

1. The software can be used with 95Octan fuel (european), it's no special Software needed (however 98 or higher is recomended, but no obligation).
2. Yes, the software can be adapted, but you need to check out with your local distributor.
3. The turbo is no weak part at the 1.8Turbo engines, I would recommend 1.0bar to get the best benefit of power/consumption. I personally drive with 1.4 to 1.5 bar Turbo pressure without any problems. For racing purboses we raised the turbo charge eaven higher, but the weak part are the connecting rod and the pistons, not the turbocharger is causing problems at very high pressure values.

 

[hankarhu]

Thank you Alex.

Can I still ask one more thing:

If I understand this correctly, the ignition advance will be set up according to 98 octane fuel. When 95 octane is used on a nice summer day at the Autobahn, there is premature detonation which is quickly recognized by the knockout sensor. The ECU will adapt and set the ignition advance accordingly. (I wonder if turbo pressure and fuel injection parameters are changed to more conservative values as well.)

However, when I always use the cheaper 95 octane fuel, if the knockout sensor would one day malfunction for some reason:
The ECU will slowly revert to the timings of the tuned program and the engine may be damaged. This would not happen with a program with timings for 95 octane.

Is it even possible (how unlikely is it?) that the knockout sensor would malfunction during the car's lifetime?

Is this correct? I am not an engineer and in all honesty don't know anything about engines... but I could ask for more loose timings when the ECU programming is done if I know what to ask.

In the end, shall I save any money if I drive with 95?
Mostly I drive in the town where I live, so not so much highway driving, except for holidays.

Shall I get any temperature related problems with the tuned car on a hot summer day, driving from Hannover to München in a hurry? Will the turbo even get a red color?

Ps. When I started writing I had only one question in mind Thanks ...

 

[Alex]

You are welcome,

All you said is theoretically correct. However the injection is also increased to prevent pinging. The standard software is not to agressive and the chance to get 'damaging' pinging is very minor.

Of course you can ask for a version with less advance.

I think you will save some money if you use 95, but not to much.

No, you will not get temperature problems, the standard software is well tested and far away from the limits of the engine/turbo. By the way, turbos are made for very high temperatures (it's natural since they are driven by the exhaust gas which is very hot indeed)... but the tuning will not raise the temperature of the turbocharger or the engine drastically..

Feel free to ask, that's what this board is made for

 

[hankarhu]

Thanks for your patience

I was still not able to figure out what it the best solution for me from these three options so I thought I would still ask.

Is it better to

a) take the software that has been extensively tested and pay the price difference for always using 98 (it is about 600-700 euros in 250000 km if the same amount of fuel is consumed regardless of octane number)

b) just take the upgrade, always use 95 fuel and forget concerns about pinging

c) ask to modify the parameters during ECU prgramming: can the ignition advance be safely changed by a small amount (by how much actually?) without the risk of creating a mess? Or should the injection and turbo parameters be changed at the same time? Would the version for 95 octane then come from Upsolute, not from the distributor, and would there be an extra fee?

Thanks...

 

[Alex]

I personally would go with a, call me a freak but in fact I'm using the most expensive gas I can get (99 or 100 octane)

In your case I would recomend a mixture of a and b, use 95 Octane without any bad thought, and sometimes use the 98 for holiday trips or if you plan to hit the car pretty hard.

However option c is also available, and eaven if I would not recommend it (since you will not have the full benefit), it's still an option worth thinking about...

So the decition is still yours

I would have no concerns about using 95 Octane on the standard version..

 

[hankarhu]

At Upsolute's www page, the amount of hp and torque is smaller for the chipped 150 hp 1.8T engine compared to chipped vRS 180 hp.

Are the values for 150 hp engine for the older cars without the drive-by-wire function and the smaller K03 (non-S) turbo. Or alternatively is the program for 150 hp engines just more conservative (it is a family car after all). I just did not find out from the www page.

i.e. Is the software the same for vRS and 150 hp engines.
Can I get the Upsolute Octavia vRS program if I like to have it instead?

Could I actually get the stock Octavia vRS map if I like, or is there a copyright issue?

One user at the Briskoda forum has the Upsolute vRS chip on a 150 hp engine, installed by Upsolute.