After too many months in a Citroen Derv abyss (dictated by job and an addition to the family) I have decided that the time is close to me getting back to my roots and the world of Veedub ownership, unfortunatley my commute is still the same 80+ miles a day so it will have to be something economical, but as my wife wants the Citreon boat (whoopee) I have pretty much settled on a Lupo TDI. What are the views of anyone who has owned one of these, the figures certainly seem to stack up but I am more interested in the feel of the car, which will recieve the same treatment as my beloved and sorely missed Mk2 (coilovers, good rubber, ARB upgrade and G60 brakes (I think they fit)). I guess what I am asking is are they a fun to drive, or should I look elsewhere? Also has anyone got any feedback on remapping the TDI, I have read claims of 100 BHP which will be enough to have some daily commute fun around the Bristol ringround. Cheers.
PhatVR6 had one remmaped by Upsolute. You can also fit bits to it from a 130bhp golf to make it quicker.
Yup, bought one over a year ago with 135k on the clock, got it remapped 2 weeks later! it's done 145k now and never missed a bit. it's only ever failed the MOT on a tyre, all i've done is change the oil and filters. and something broke off the clutch pedal, but that didn't cost anything to fix, just needed welding. Does silly mpg, even braying it everywhere it does 52mpg. more like 65+ on a run. apparently you can get a turbo and manifold off a 130tdi and lop off a cylinder and have it welded over and it'll fit, and so will the injectors. I haven't tried it, but it's what i was told by the guy who remapped it. and the best bit? 35 tax, for a YEAR and 130 insurance. mad cheap cars to run.
There is a known fault with Lupos that the pedal box can break at the welds. This has happened loads and there is 100's of threads on it on Club-Lupo. You can call VW and argue the toss with them and most dealers change it for free. Some have had trouble getting it done but print the Club-Lupo thread out, Take it in and they OK it
Golfmanuk has one, awesome little car, hes even retro fitted cruise control to improve his mpg, VW didn't even offer that as an option!
I'm sold on the looks, potential performance and cost to run all I need to know is what the handling and brakes are like and if it can match a Mk2 in these 2 areas given the same mods (coilovers, ARB and G60 brakes). I am hoping I can in some way emulate my old Mk2 with a modern more economical replacement, if chipped the power to weight should be about the same as my old PB Mk2 and torque much better, so that's that covered off.
I had one for over 3 years superb car silly milage from a full tank of fule about 28 a full tank. very torquey car only downside is the boot is tiny
"only downside is the boot is tiny" The Citroen pile of cack covers that, so still no negatives for me.
I had an Arosa only a 1litre, lowered 40mm on springs, it was go-kart, flat out everywhere. I have the 3 pot tdi engine in my current polo, midrange grunt is fantastic and mines standard. With the mods you have planned I think you'll have a serious little weapon.
Not had a Lupo. but had an Arosa TDI. Sadly never got the full power output on the dyno but had the full works of a Front mounted intercooler, exhaust system, decat, induction kit and a Custom Code phase 2 remap. Should have been kicking around 105-110hp easily with a lot of torque. Was easy to scare my mates old mk2 8v gti so much he bought it off me I had so much fun going past A4 2.0 TDI's in the morning on the slip road trying to overtake me Even with it lowered and tuned I drove it 450 miles a month for about 9 months. Cracking cars. Apparently you can fit a hybrid turbo, PD130 injectors and PD130 internals to strengthen it, which can see about 140hp. But more and more people are looking into 1.9TDI conversions as someone converted their lupo with a PD150 lump Don't worry about the clutch pedal/box issue. If you read up on Club-lupo its the 1.4 16v sport boxes that are weak and prone to premature failure. The 1.4 TDI engine's are solid work horses, mine ran on Bio-diesel too when re-map'd and both MOT's I had it done came back saying they couldn't get a emissions reading because it was running very efficiently. Handling is ok, nothing like a mk2 as it feels quite 'top heavy' and feels like a tall car. But miles more fun than my mk4 and miss it dearly. As for brakes G60's are an easy upgrade as 1.4 TDI's come with 256mm brakes and are identical to mk2 valver brakes (I'm very certain). Best upgrades is the fitment of a Lupo GTI ARB, doesn't cost much (think i priced it up around 120 with all fittings at the stealers) and will reduce body roll. Used to get 350-380 miles from 32 litres of diesel, which is cheap! Cruise control is easy'ish to fit. Not like an Audi A2 which already has the loom installed, but more are getting it done. Just need VAG COM to enable the cruise on the ECU then the rest is getting the stalk to fit properly and making a loom (or sourcing one) Thats my input from owning one for 2 years.
the little 3 pot PD engine just the bigger 1.9 with 1 cylinder lopped off, all the tuning ideas for the 4 pots will work, and like folk have said they will happly go past the magical 100bhp mark, (but its the torque that counts in a diesel) look for a mk2 arouser as these are cheaper than lupos if costs an issue,and the only other thing is good luck finding one as they dont come up for sale often at a good price (theres always some for silly money)
My mate just sold my old Arosa for 2,500, was very good nick too. Love this photo's to my mates: My size 10 shoe vs my engine Some old pics
Thanks for all the feedback peeps I knew I could trust CGTI to give me some good info, I've been thinking about the Arosa but I'm keen to get back into the VeeDub scene and the Seat doesn't quite do it for me. Just got to find a decent one now in the new year, hopefuly a bright blue or kernit green one. Can't wait
deffo 16v front hubs and it's an o2A cable change box too, strong as hell (although ours cruches into 3rd if you rush it) no comment on the handling, it's lowered 50mm....on the stock (original) dampers....they're shagged....
Hi G-Man, Searching your threads, I couldnt find a dedicated thread on this Arosa, so is it okay to ask a few questions here? I can't pm yet, because I'm not authorised. Id like to know what wheels those are, plus sizes /offsets, tyre sizes, and any suspension mods, etc. Can they really be tuned to 120bhp? The clutch and g/box can take that?
Sorry missed the above - the wheels are from a Seat Ibiza 'GTI' from the mid 90's when the mk3 golf was around. Got a set mint for cheap and being 15" they sat well. Wheels were 15x7 from memory and I ran 195/45/15 on them. Suspension mods were simply lowered springs, might have been 40mm, but weren't too bad for everyday use. They can be tuned to 120hp, but I had every bolt on mod going from full exhaust, decat, front mounted intercooler, custom remap but never found out the true HP. More likely to be 105-110hp. As for the clutch and gearbox in my ownership I did 40k on it and it never showed any signs of slipping or being overstrained. My mate who bought it off me use to dump the clutch and thrash it everywhere and again no problems there. A few members threads here of my old car: http://clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95065 http://clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153939
