A few 1.7 SDI questions. My dirty DERV peeps get in here

[Dblock]

Hi guys,

As said in my welcome post I'm looking for a 1.7 SDI. I used to have an arosa 16v sport but it was a long time ago. So I have a few questions.

1. How slow are they? I know they are slow but if its windy will they still hit 70mph? My old 1.5d 106 wouldnt I know with super high mpg comes slowness but I dont want to be overtaken by lorries or hold up traffic

2. From what I understand the 2001 onwards got the cheap tax?

3. How much oil do they take and what grade?

4. Can they be remapped?

5. Has anyone run Veg oil in them?

6. Common problems?

7. Anyone have any tips on when buying one?

Cheers guys cant wait for your responses. The arosa was my 1st car and now after all these years getting a lupo seems to excite me for some weird reason.

[Skezza]

1. You won't. That isn't where they are slow. They are great on the motorway. Where they are slow is at the low end. The 0-60 on an SDI is..... eventually lol. I think it's actually about 16 seconds, so yeah they really aren't brilliant getting up to speed. However at motorway speeds, they are great. This is where they are really in their comfort zone, so I wouldn't worry about that. Also they're a heavy car, I doubt wind will have much of an affect on a Lupo SDI.

2. 30 pound tax after 2001. I pay 220 because I foolishly bought a V-reg one I was lead to believe I got 30 but it's a 2000 model. Oh well, I still like it

3. A question that I was unable to find a real answer for on here. VW recommended 5w30 when I called, which surprised me as I've always used 5w40, seems more bullet proof. So, since it's last service a month ago, it's had 5w30 in. I'm going out today to check it, to see if it's burning off too fast. We'll see.

4. Well yes, you can, but no, not really as there is no point. I enquired with Al about this. The problem with the SDI is with no turbo, you aren't to get any great benefits with a remap. Maybe a slightly smoother throttle response but not much in regard to horsepower or MPG. In fact, he said with an SDI, you might even lose MPG.

5. Interesting question. I read about this on another forum. I've not seen anyone doing it with an SDI, but I have seen people on other forums doing it with a 3L. I imagine it's possible but I don't know the in's and out's. I remember reading an article in the paper about someone producing Bio diesel for 8p a litre and he still returned 40MPG out of his Volvo. If you do decide to look into, I think you should put something on here because I love the idea of producing bio-diesel. Cheap fuel, and a middle finger to the government (not the petrol companies, they aren't the ones ripping us off).

6. With an SDI? There aren't any that stand out from the common issues with Lupos. At least I can't think of any. Check the gearbox they have a temperamental side. Roof rust is another (a little bit on mine). Have a scout around the forums, you'll find some common issues with Lupos in general, I assume they stretch to the SDI.

7. Look around before buying. The ones on eBay are very high priced in my opinion. I got mine second hand privately for far cheaper than the ones on eBay. They're going for ridiculous money. 1795 quid with 160k miles on. I got mine for 1000 with 90k miles on and mine is the upper model. The engines are bullet proof though, will last forever if maintained properly. There are ones on YouTube that have 300,000 miles on and are still going.. Don't be put off by the agricultural feel of them. They do idle a bit heavy. I took it in to a VW specialist and said "is this normal" turned it on and he said "yep, it's an SDI". They are, however, incredibly smooth when driving so I think the little bit of heavy idling isn't that big a deal! There are SDI's in both pov spec and better spec, so if you do buy off something like Gumtree or the bay, make sure you find out which it is. My SDI is an S model, so central locking, electric windows etc and supposedly better resale value. Don't be put off an E model though, I had a pov spec 1.0 and to be honest, I didn't miss central locking or electric windows. That said, it's nice that I have them now

[Hazy]

In addition to what Skeeza has said:

1. Absolutely fine on the motorway, can cruise easily from 60-90mph, and the revs won't go much past 3000rpm. Mine has always been pretty nippy from 0-40mph (to the surprise of other cars), though it is, as above, a bit flat in the mid after building up momentum to 50-60ish. Once you get used to it, and get your changing down, it's not much of a problem.

2. As above.

3. 4-5litres, i'm using 0w30 at the moment and it's quite happy with it.

4. Yep, but as said, by not that much. To get any benefit out of it, you'd need to take the restrictors out (dirty work if anything, it's worth cleaning that intake area anyway, depending on miles), and at least upgrade the standard air filter.

5. Yeah, it'll smell like a chip shop though.

6. I can only comment on the S model, but as above the usual rust on roof, dodgy electric window switches (easy fix), and just make sure it hasn't gone too long without a cambelt change, and just give it a full air/oil/fuel filter change for peace of mind.

7. As above, just give it a decent test drive.

[Skezza]

Ahh, something Hazy mentioned that I forgot. Check both the central locking and electric windows. I made this mistake when I bought mine. The seller showed me the electric windows and central locking but I didn't really check it thoroughly and I noticed after a day that it was temperamental. I've had it fixed (only cost £30 at a VAG specialist) but if I'd properly checked it to begin with, I probably could have knocked a bit off the price I paid.

Edit: Btw Hazy, that is an interesting thread and one that tempts me to go for a remap (Again, I already enquired once lol). Thing is, I haven't removed the restrictors so I imagine the benefit would be even less for me.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Skezza

[Dblock]

Cheers guys. Some great info there. Your right about them being over priced. I do really want a S as my sport used to be pretty high spec. There is more E's out there though.

When do cambelts need changing?!

I've been doing some reading and the mpg seems very very high. Even round town it seems pretty good but motorway someone was getting 80mpg on here! No doubt that wasn't normal driving maybe some hypermiling techniques? Still very impressive.

I used to run my old 106d on veg oil. On that car there was 2 types of pump Bosch and Lucas. The Bosch pumps could run on veg oil as the pump was metal. I used to use veg oil not biodiesel. Ran fine just cold starts on cold days where hard.

The engine seems to be strong on these cars though.

[James827]

I wouldn't use Veg oil on anything that had an Electronic pump!

[Dblock]

I wouldn't use Veg oil on anything that had an Electronic pump!

Replacing the pump shouldn't be too hard. On some cars they used to get lift pumps or facet pumps I think. Either way it's something I could look into but 60mpg is good either way. Veg oil is good at cleaning the engine though. Heated filters and tank heaters is something if feasible I could have a research into. But that would come much much later on.

I need to bleeding find one first lol! They are either silly expensive or not 2001 and above.