[Closed] Realistic power upgrade for 102 T5.1 - advice?

Is 102 the current bhp?

If so, I wouldn't be putting it up to 180 without some significant other upgrades to get it running well - not sure about the 2 litre TDi engines, but I know with the older 1.9 TDi PD engines there was more than just a re-map between engines outputs.

For example - my old 1.9TDi PD with 130bhp in the Ibiza could be taken up to 170-180 with no additional changes. Take it any further than that and you needed a larger intercooler & stronger clutch. People were normally putting a larger turbo in as well & depending on how far past 180 they went, new injectors.

I'd have thought 130/140 would be more sensible, if not changing anything else & would be a worthwhile improvement.

EDIT - the bloke who bought my Ibiza from me stuck a re-map on it within weeks taking it up to 180bhp or thereabouts. Apparently within a week it was slipping the clutch in 4th, 5th and 6th..... 🙄

stumpy01 thanks, that's added some real knowledge to my thoughts, its a 102bhp 2.0 engine, but I'm not keen to push it so far as 180. We'll look into a 130-ish tune later in the year.

I believe the 102bhp engine is exactly the same as the 140bhp version albeit the higher powered version is married to a 6 speed box. I personally would have thought on that basis that upto 140bhp would be safe and well within the capabilities of the engine, but much higher than that and you might be working towards the higher end of performance capability of some key components like turbo's, fuel pumps and injectors eating into the factor of safety built in for reliability.

I'm in the same dilemma but sucking and seeing how I get on with 102bhp for my first 12 months of ownership while I still have some warranty outstanding. Personally though it is a bit more sluggish getting upto speed but has no problems maintaining it.

We've had ours for 2 years at 102 and mostly its fine, but long drags mean dropping into 3rd and sitting at 50mph, but it was fine going over mountain passes in the French Alps and the Dolomites if noisy! Just thinking that a little bit more power would make the driveability a bit better.

aP - Member

.....going over mountain passes in the French Alps and the Dolomites

I don't know the layout of the T5 well enough to give you a great deal of info, but I know one of the limitations with the 130PD engine was that it had a small side mounted intercooler.
If you re-mapped it and didn't replace this with a larger front mounted intercooler, in hot weather the engine could lose power as the intercooler couldn't get heat away from the charged air quickly enough.
The Ibiza Cupra TDi) (next one up to the one I owned) had a wealth of changes (bigger injectors, turbo, brakes etc.) which included a large front mounted intercooler.
A regular upgrade path for the 130PD was re-map to 180bhp and stick the Cupra bumper on with a front mounted intercooler.

Something like this:

http://www.airtec-cooling.co.uk/product/airtec-front-mount-intercooler-conversion-fabia-vrs-ibiza-mk4-and-polo-1-9-pd130-diesel-2/

I mention this as you say the van struggles on long draggy alpine passes.....this would be exacerbated by warm weather and perhaps thinner air at altitude.
While a re-map would help, a larger front intercooler would help to get the most gains from any re-map.

I should add that you should check all this on more relevant foums to do with the specific vehicle you are looking to do this to.
I ummmmed and aaaaahed for ages about whether to do this to my old Ibiza, so I have a fair amount of knowledge for that particular situation.
It could be that the T5 has a whacking great big front mounted intercooler anyway, so replacement isn't necessary.
Thought it worth mentioning though....

Speak to Martin at Pendle Performance.... next to the Hope Factory...

I find the first and second gears in he 5 speed box are very low so not had any issues up steep hills, and thee are plenty near me that are a lot steeper than your average Alp. Where I find it lacks is accelerating to motorway speed up slip roads, especially in 3rd gear, and if you lose speed on the motorway or dual carriageway getting back up to speed. So getting out into Thhe outside lane to overtake a slow lorry on a dual carriageway can be a pain if it is busy with small gaps in the traffic that you need to accelerate to get into without causing the cars in the outside lane to brake. But I've become more patient since driving the T5, which is probably a good thing.

Oh, it's perfectly fine going up 10-20% climbs in Italy (if a bit noisy) - its 80mph 5% 5km long drags where it struggles. Which is why I'm looking into "a little more power", and hopefully slightly better economy.
I'd heard good things about Pendle - I'll drop them a line.

Had my T5.1 "pendled" by Martin a few years ago up to @ 130-140 BHP (can't remember off the top of my head!) No problems since, and the van drives great! If you want to get up the hills, just put your foot down! Thats "Pendle Performance" BTW, and is (was - in the process of moving I believe) literally on the side of Hope!

Thanks, sounds good. I'll look into it later in the year.
It's in the process of getting new front discs and pads this afternoon.....
We also want to get a side awning fitted, that can wait until end of June though.

Brakes on a T30 are the same as all the rest, only some T32 models get bigger brakes. In terms of other works I'd suggest most people don't drive any faster after a map it's just easier to maintain speed etc.

Engine wise bar software the 2.0tdi 84,102 and 140 engines are identical. 140 has 6 speed box as mentioned. Standard Pendle map (and lots of others too) is about 160bhp which works fine with the 5 speed box on any of the ones I've had done.