UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all,

I've recently got my hands (and feet) on a Polo GTI 1.8 TSI Manual and damn this thing is a machine! I came across this site whilst looking for suggestions etc and decided to join!

I'm still getting used to the car and figuring out its strengths and weaknesses. I have a few questions and ideas about how I want to tune this car later on, but thought I'd get the knowledge and expertise from all you experienced owners as I'm fairly new to this. Apologies if this isn't the right place to post this!

- I've had a look at the remap options and so far have come across AET, APR, Revo, Celtic Tuning and a host of other tuners, but these seem to be the most popular. Have any of you had any experience with these tuners and who would you suggest for a stage 1? I'm based in the Midlands too and don't mind travelling within England.
- With stock internals, will a stage 1 remap be safe?
- If I were to upgrade internals later down the line for a stage 2 remap, what would you suggest be my first priority?
- With exhausts, do you have any suggestions? I've come across Cobra, Scorpion, Miltek (not particularly keen on), Remus etc. Is it worth the hassle having a Decat to then swap it for the MOT?
- I definitely want to lower the car, any suggestions on how I should go about this?

I don't really have a budget in mind as I'm still trying to figure out how I want to go about this, based on your opinions and suggestions. This GTI is a 2017 model with just over 16k. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and hopefully offer your input! Thanks!

If you decide to decat remember that it invalidates your insurance even if you declare it as the car will not meet Construction and Use regulations.

If you have a crash and the insurers discover the decat that’s your entire investment down the drain and you may face Police charges for driving whilst uninsured. If you injure or even worse kill somebody you will incur huge debts.

I’m not trying to scare you or preach but I know somebody who fell into that trap and it cost them dearly.

Ricmondo wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:17 pm If you decide to decat remember that it invalidates your insurance even if you declare it as the car will not meet Construction and Use regulations.

If you have a crash and the insurers discover the decat that’s your entire investment down the drain and you may face Police charges for driving whilst uninsured. If you injure or even worse kill somebody you will incur huge debts.

I’m not trying to scare you or preach but I know somebody who fell into that trap and it cost them dearly.

Damn, that's basically why I wasn't too confident on the decat option. There's so many problems and issues like this that I've heard of. Thanks for your advice!

No problem, I’ve been doing things to cars and motorcycles for more years than I care to remember, made all the mistakes, got some nasty memories but luckily not too many scars.

The extra power you get from a complete de cat is not much different to what you can achieve with a full flow “competition cat”, costs you more but you can sleep at night!

with myself having a basically a 400bhp polo 1.8 tsi, it really does depend on how far you wan't to take it.

for a stage 1 i'd say APR but it all ends there as they stopped doing stage 2 a month or so ago. Revo would probably be my next choice for an off the shelf map.

you do not need to worry about internals they are pretty strong engine out of the box. This puts a lot of pressure on the clutch and can sometimes fail

i have a full milltek exhaust with a sports cat so keeps it road legal.

there's a lot of options for lowering depends if you have the sport button with which way you might go.

Dink wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:51 pm with myself having a basically a 400bhp polo 1.8 tsi, it really does depend on how far you wan't to take it.

for a stage 1 i'd say APR but it all ends there as they stopped doing stage 2 a month or so ago. Revo would probably be my next choice for an off the shelf map.

you do not need to worry about internals they are pretty strong engine out of the box. This puts a lot of pressure on the clutch and can sometimes fail

i have a full milltek exhaust with a sports cat so keeps it road legal.

there's a lot of options for lowering depends if you have the sport button with which way you might go.

Thanks for the suggestions. And JC! Your GTI must seriously send stomachs to the back seat, that's mental for a Polo!

In terms of the remap, would you suggest sticking to one tuning company? I.e. Would you advise going with Revo stage 2 if I had stage 1 through APR? Also, why did APR stop stage 2's?

Regarding the internals, I've heard a lot of the same thing in terms of strength, but rather be safe than sorry. Would a clutch upgrade be necessary for a stage 1?

With the lowering aspect, I don't have the Sports Mode with this model. Springs Vs Coilovers?

yeah she's pretty quick when needs must lol

it was more about how far you wan't to take it (stage 1 would be apr, stage 2 would probably be revo, stage 3 i chose MRC(switchable maps, golf R HPFP))

APR chose to globally stop all stage 2 software (probably some sort of enviromental pressure)

people say the clutch is weak but it's more that it's got a fair amount of torque for a 1.8 so it can fail even with stock power so it's definitely something to budget for.

ahh no sports mode is definitely coilovers then.

go through and check all the bushes (front arms and rear engine mount). the rear engine mount is usually a good one to uprate to reduce wheel tramp.

any other stuff i'll try help with as there is not a lot of the mechanical side of the car i haven't modded

Dink wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 9:14 pm yeah she's pretty quick when needs must lol

it was more about how far you wan't to take it (stage 1 would be apr, stage 2 would probably be revo, stage 3 i chose MRC(switchable maps, golf R HPFP))

APR chose to globally stop all stage 2 software (probably some sort of enviromental pressure)

people say the clutch is weak but it's more that it's got a fair amount of torque for a 1.8 so it can fail even with stock power so it's definitely something to budget for.

ahh no sports mode is definitely coilovers then.

go through and check all the bushes (front arms and rear engine mount). the rear engine mount is usually a good one to uprate to reduce wheel tramp.

any other stuff i'll try help with as there is not a lot of the mechanical side of the car i haven't modded

Fair do's. The feedback and suggestions are much appreciated!

I'll definitely look into APR for the remap amongst the others you mentioned.

Any particular clutch and coilover set to go for?

There are plenty of other places out there that remap these cars so have a search about what's close to you.

I've got a sachs organic clutch and would recommend that but it is heavy. There's RTS and helix also do clutches for it.

If i was getting coilovers I'd get KW but they are not cheap. But i would say avoid the cheap coilovers (stance, JOM etc.)

Dink wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:03 am There are plenty of other places out there that remap these cars so have a search about what's close to you.

I've got a sachs organic clutch and would recommend that but it is heavy. There's RTS and helix also do clutches for it.

If i was getting coilovers I'd get KW but they are not cheap. But i would say avoid the cheap coilovers (stance, JOM etc.)

Sweet, I'll have a look into the clutch and coilovers you mentioned. Cheers!