The time has come for a new road car. Not decided on anything yet however I like the idea of the Passat TDi-130.

I was keen on the Skoda Superb however it's a long wheel base Passat, and as such it won't fit in my garage!! Too long.

Now, in standard form the Passat TDi-130 has 130bhp, returning a combined MPG of about 50.

Has anybody any experience, first hand or otherwise of how these are once Re-mapped?? Pefrormance, efficiency, reliability etc.

Revo, Jabba, superchips etc...

Thanks in advance.

 

Is it the PD engine?
I've had my Fabia VRS (PD 130 engine) chipped by Jabba, this is the Generic map which is claimed to be 180 - 190bhp and 300 - 320lb/ft
The car smokes when on torque and when booting it at 100+ but the economy is the same, driveability is the same, idles the same
This is a great chip as the car can be driven normal but when you put your foot down it has a lot more response

 

Is it the PD engine - I honesty do not know.

How can I determine this??

The car would be a 2002/2003 era car if that helps??

 

Yep, its the PD 130 engine in those, which incidentally is just an evolution of the 1.9 diesel thats been in VW's for years now, we have a Sharan witha 115 PD and even that big dollop moves quite well with that unit in (petrols in those are either hopeless or very thirsty), looking under the bonnet, under the engine cowl it looks supiciously similar to the unit in my cousins ancient 1.9 Diesel Golf.

 

I've had a bog-standard PD130 sport (with the six-speed box) for nearly 3 years & 40K miles.

I'd recommend the sport spec 'cos

a) it's got more torque (230lb-ft@1900rpm rather than 210@1750 in the SE)

b) better economy from the wider choice of gears

c) better handling cos of the lower suspension (note it's "safe" handling rather than "good", it is NOT exciting to throw around) without affecting the ride

d) 6 CD in-dash autochanger and climate as standard

I've averaged 47mpg (real mpg, not on the trip computer) over the 40K miles in all types of driving. Nothing gone wrong at all and it's been caned all over the country and loaded to the gunwales for family holidays etc

I only know one bloke with a mapped Passat, he had it done by Revo and is very pleased with it. No probs in over 10K miles and he says economy is about the same as when unmapped.

I'd suggest driving it standard for a while, mine can still surprise me when I stand on it, you spend so much time just pootling around riding the torque that when you DO poke it, you find it's not too slow for a big old barge

Bizarrely, the Passat is only about 100kg heavier than the Fabia or the Seat Ibiza with the 130 motor in ...

@ Jacko -- yes, the PD motors are based on the iron-block 1.6 petrol motor introduced in the Golf in 1974, it will look pretty much identical to ANY old Golf diesel. Modern it ain't

 

You could also go for the plug in module. In out and shake it all about!

 

Custom Code

^^ Another company to look at for VAG remaps ^^

I've got their code on my Fabia vRS (same engine as yours) and it's super sweet. Much smoother than the REVO code I had on beforehand and kicked the a55es of many Jabba cars on a rolling road day earlier this year.

Just my 2p

 

Me thinks you speak with forked tongue

More like 250-300kgs between them.

 

get it done mate, i had a local guy map my golf gt tdi 130 with fantastic results and mine is quicker than my mates who had jabbasport map his, mine now puts out 197bhp on an independent rolling road and driven normally its actually better on diesel, its the best mod though and only cost me £300 all in, the guy that mapped it is a top guy and definitely knows his stuff.

 

Briskoda chaps tend to go for Jabba or Revo for remaps or Dragon Performance for digital tuning boxes.

The Passatt came with two versions of the PD130, the higher torque version with the six speed gearbox is the one to go for, the five speed gearbox is the limiting factor for the torque output so you have to be carefull when remapping.

Cheers
Lee

 

The best way to go on these is to have a proper custom map done for the car.

I have had mine chipped for 2yrs now and covered over 60k miles since the remap with no problems what so ever.

Mine was a 150bhp model (GTi Golf Version), but in essence the 2 engines are the same.

With 200bhp and 290lbft and now reving till 5k, the car is at it's usable limit imho.... any more power and you would start to get in to trouble (it wheel spins in 1st, 2nd and 3rd easily in the wet and spins in 1st and 2nd in the dry if provoked).

It's the only daily driver I have ever had, that I have never got bored of.

Regards,
Shaun.