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Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:32 pm
by JamesMayFTW
Hello everyone. I am new here, but I have been reading this forum for days and so far I'm loving it. I hope this post doesn't end up too long, but here it goes:

I have the MKV Polo with the 1.2 TSI engine which reports 105ps. I have actually dyno tested my car after its first big service and it showed 118,6ps. That's quite a difference may I say! Anyway, I want to make this cute little baby a bit faster. Not too much, just a bit more aggressive I guess. So I've got a few questions:

1) Would a remap from ABT/MTM/Revo be too much for this small engine? All 3 report a power of around 130-140ps just with remapping. Is that really possible? Would it stress the TSI engine a little bit too much? Haven't heard of any people that done it already, so anyone here has?

2) Let's say I go for the ABT product and let's assume it is reliable. What else would I need to change to balance the new speed? I forgot to mention that I bought my Polo with the GTI model's suspension and you can just feel it in the corners that those springs are meant for a faster car, they hold up perfectly. So far so good then, but what about brakes? Would it make sense to upgrade those as well? And what would be a good choice? Another thing I forgot to mention is that it has the 16" rims with the 215/45 tires. Those look very nice and handle great, but I think I lose some power from my engine trying to move these bigger wheels, thus wanting some boost overall.

So, any thoughts on this?
ps: I'm not the most tech savvy guy you can get so please forgive me for any mistakes or wrong assumptions I made, and please do correct me if that's the case. Thank you

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:41 am
by TriggerFish
Hi, I can't really help you at all, but if you try posting here: http://www.uk-polos.net/viewforum.php?f=56 you maybe better off. The 'MK-v' is really a facelifted mark 3. :roll: You're after the mark-8 (viii) forum (although VW will call it a mk-v!).

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:20 pm
by JamesMayFTW
Oh... I must be utterly stupid.. Haven't had my coffee that day. If any moderator would be kind enough and move this so I don't double post it would be fantastic

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:08 pm
by alexperkins
Thread moved

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:25 pm
by Lieto
I am pretty sure stock will handle extra HP perfectly fine, although if you want to change something i would go for 17 wheels (if you dont have it yet). Wheels / tyres have great impact on handling / braking etc.

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:44 pm
by George H
Lieto wrote:I am pretty sure stock will handle extra HP perfectly fine, although if you want to change something i would go for 17 wheels (if you dont have it yet). Wheels / tyres have great impact on handling / braking etc.
Why would you go for bigger wheels to try and improve handling? When do you ever see a race car on low profile tyres? You don't, the tyre wall flex is needed to aid handling (to a degree anyway). I know a few TVR owners who when they track their car change from 18" wheels to 16" with thicker tyres to aid handling. Smaller wheels also reduce unsprung weight a bit, and better acceleration :)

Tyres can make a huge difference though, but can be quite expensive if you're spending £150+ per corner and they wear out faster.

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:52 pm
by Lieto
for me going from 14 to 16 205/50 improved handling and braking quite a bit. I can go through turns on a speed that wasnt possible before.
I am no expert though.. well at least it will impact breaking power due to bigger "contact spot" with a road.

p.s. roads are so sht where i live that 17 was out of the picture.

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:21 pm
by AJ_7
Welcome to the forums :) There aren't many 6R 1.2 TSI Polo's knocking about but they're a great car! Maybe i'm slightly biased as I own one a 3dr one in CW 8)

There isn't a REVO map available at the minute although there is one in the pipeline. As far the the ABT remap goes, i'd stay well away from any remap costing £1000+ You'd loose less money trading in yours for a GTi, if performance is your sole achivement. I do tend to read other forums a lot and I've heard good things for the performance air filters you can buy for all the VAG variants of the 1.2 TSi and some people report quite reasonable gains for £50.

Are you from the UK? Did you order your Polo with the GTi suspension or was this a retrofit?

BTW, get some pictures up of her 8)

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:06 am
by gavs
FIrst off, DNA tuning have had a tune on offer for nigh on 2 years now for the 1.2tsi motor which a few aussie people are running, as well as ABT. You will be looking at a total of around 100kw total power after a tune, vs 77 from factory.

Second, the increase in handling and braking performance will be down to the tyre itself, it has nothing to do with the size. A 15" slick will always give you better dry handling and braking than a 17" all weather high performance road tyre. That is were the benefit will have come from.

Re: Little advice for tuning my beloved polo?

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:15 pm
by JamesMayFTW
Thanx for all the replies guys, been away a while so I couldn't follow this thread. Thanx for moving the thread too mod, appreciated.
AJ_7 wrote:Welcome to the forums :) There aren't many 6R 1.2 TSI Polo's knocking about but they're a great car! Maybe i'm slightly biased as I own one a 3dr one in CW 8)

There isn't a REVO map available at the minute although there is one in the pipeline. As far the the ABT remap goes, i'd stay well away from any remap costing £1000+ You'd loose less money trading in yours for a GTi, if performance is your sole achivement. I do tend to read other forums a lot and I've heard good things for the performance air filters you can buy for all the VAG variants of the 1.2 TSi and some people report quite reasonable gains for £50.

Are you from the UK? Did you order your Polo with the GTi suspension or was this a retrofit?

BTW, get some pictures up of her 8)
I'm not from the UK I live in Greece. About the suspension, neither of the two. They had the car pre-built like that in the store and i was sold the moment I saw it :P Also, performance isn't my sole interest, as I certainly do enjoy some of the things that I have on this car that would cost too much to put on a GTI. Has that guy dyno'd his car after changing the air filter? Also was he running on the stock mapping? I'd still want to remap it as I'm pretty sure those TSI motors can squeeze more power, even just a little.

About the tyre conversation going on, my original point was that bigger tyres mean more power needed to get them going. Even just a bit.. But I've driven a friend's polo same as mine only with the 15" wheels and while it wouldn't corner or break as good as mine, it felt like it had a small acceleration boost.