As I've mentioned in the past, I drive a 110 bhp Leon TDi. I know that the 130 and 150 PD engines are now available in the UK, but have been available on the continent for a lot longer. What I want to know is, was there ever a non-PD version of the 1.9 TDi engine which produced either 130 or 150 bhp, one you could have bought straight out of a European Seat dealership? If so, was this achieved simply by remapping the ECU (chipping), or were other methods used to achieve this, e.g. larger fuel injectors? Or were the 130 and 150 bhp engines only ever available with the Pumpe-Duse technology?
The reason I ask is that every so often I still think about chipping my car from 110 to 130. Having read up all the various threads on this site and elsewhere, I am concerned about excessive wear & tear, eg on the clutch. I'd feel a lot more confident about doing this if I knew that VAG had already built in the tolerances to cope with 150 bhp.
andymc
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I think the 110 was the limit for the factory non-pd 1.9Tdi. But there are seat approved chips for this engine that are available in some countries. I'm guessing that none of these include an upgrade to the clutch so the standard clutch should be fine for the upgrade.
It would be interesting the know whether there was any difference between the clutch on the 110 and the 130 Tdi engines. I wouldn't be suprised if they were the same. I've been meaning to try a chip,box or reprogram for a while but the engine seems to be getting better all the time all by itself.
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I have heard rumblings that the clutches on the Leons are problematic. No one has yet given me any more detail on this. I have mentioned it twice to the dealership I use, and they disagree that there is a problem with the clutches - I trust them they have been very straight with me - Wilsons of Rathkenny, Andy, I thoroughly recommend them.
To conclude, if there are rumblings about clutches having inherent problems hiking up the torque or BHP may only serve to further shorten its life?
Leon
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Interesting response Arfur, I wonder where I can find out whether the clutch on the 110 and the 130 is the same - might try a Seat forum if no-one here knows. Also, got any links to info on the official Seat chip upgrade you mentioned? Have to agree that the engine is excellent in standard tune - I'm just interested in having even more fun if I can! To my mind, if I was confident about chip upgrading, spending £300 or so on it would mean that the only difference between my car and the new 130 bhp SE would be that my engine oil isn't as expensive ....
Any further information about potential clutch problems unrelated to upgrading, as mentioned by Leon, would be very welcome by more than just myself, I'm sure. The CBCB does mention the possibility, but no more detail as yet. If it's just the squeak that many Seat clutches seemed to have as standard, mine was sorted under warranty, but if it's anything else then I haven't come across it yet.
Leon, Wilson's is my local Seat dealer! Good old Trevor. I've mentioned on this site before about the good level of customer service that dealership provides - they've always done a great job for me. If you use them, you can't be all that far away from me - you near Ballymena?
andymc
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