Engine Oil change

Oil and original oil filter were changed. The service was done in official SEAT garage.

Valvoline SynPower 5W-40, VW 502 00

Oil filter

I change engine oil at least each 10,000 km. At this time, the gap between the changes was 7,800 km.

Odometer: 21,500 km.

Audi TTS engine cover

After the Volkswagen Racing cold air intake has been fitted, the original engine cover became unsuitable, since it has integrated factory intake system and therefore interfere with the new air intake.

Cupra R factory engine cover

I don't like to view the exposed engine each time without a special need. Furthermore, without an engine cover it's a chance to get coils and other small electric parts wet when raining.
So I decided to fill this gap and bought engine cover from Audi TTS. This car utilize the same engine, that my Cupra R, but it has another air intake system straight from the factory, that comes separately from the engine cover.
And last but not least: it's suitable to use with the Volkswagen Racing air intake by it's dimensions.

Audi TTS under hood

And the result is:

Cupra R with Audi TTS engine cover fitted

Now, the car's under hood has a nice and clean look.

Odometer: 19,500 km.

APR Stage I+ ECU update

After all preparations, that were made before, all that's left to do - is to update the engine ECU with the new program. That's was done at the local APR dealer store: PIT STOP Israel.

ECU programming in progress

After ~15min: ECU programming is done

OK. So what we have here?
ECU was updated to the new APR v3.4 program, that was released a month before.
Now, the new ECU program "understands", that we have the upgraded fuel pump and it will adjust it's parameters in order to extract more power, especially in middle-high RPM's range. Personally, I feel that there also is growth in torque in low range RPM's.
The engine now is more flexible and produce more torque, than before - thanks to VWR cold air-intake and HPFP upgrade, the upgrades that have been made earlier.

You may see the (power/torque)/RPM graph below:

APR Stage I+FP+Intake VS Stock

The bottom line:  335 HP and 450 NM of torque at the engine crank and more important thing: very smooth power delivery through the all engine RPM's range.
It's a +70 HP and +100 NM gain from the stock Cupra R/Audi S3 engine. I think, it's a great result for relatively low amount of money: less than 2500$ is spent on the tuning parts.

Now, driving a car is become a real pleasure:
The linear throttle response in low-middle RPM's ends with the burst of the power in the high RPM's range. Now, I want to drive this car all the time. :-)

More info on APR 2.0 TFSI ECU upgrade:
APR VAG 2.0T FSI 230-272HP - APR ECU Upgrade

Odometer: 19,000 km.

HPFP upgrade

High pressure fuel pump (HPFP) is a one of a components in 2.0 TFSI engine, that strongly affects it's performance.

The 2.0 TFSI specific Hitachi fuel pump is driven by the engine camshaft, through the cam follower and produce the pressure, that enough for the stock engine power, but it not able to achieve the pressure level, that needed to bypass the 300 HP mark. Furthermore - it's max fuel pressure in the middle range RPM's is not enough to produce the amount of power and torque, that's supported by the engine in this range.

OK. That's the problem of 2.0 TFSI engine. What's is the solution?
The solution is comes in face of the Autotech HPFP upgrade kit.

Autotech High Volume Fuel Pump Upgrade Kit 2.0T FSI

The guys from Autotech say's, that: "Our HPFP Kit can achieve flow rates 50% higher than the original pump, essentially removing pump limitations from the equation, even on high-end turbo upgrades."

Also, the cam follower has been expected and found in the good condition.

2.0 TFSI cam follower

However, it has been changed to the new one. According to it's wear condition, it may reside without any problems for 30K km.
Cam follower and the camshaft in the 2.0 TFSI engines has at least two revisions. It's strongly recommended to use the latest revision of the cam follower, that made from more hardened material.
Cam follower part#:  06D 109 309 C. The previous revision was: 06D 109 309 B. Don't use it anymore. The malfunction due to wear or break of cam follower will lead to serious engine damage!
Fuel pump O-Ring also was changed to the new one. The ring part#: 06E 127 248.

Autotech provide the detailed DIY instruction about how to upgrade the fuel pump. But my suggestion is to perform installation in the authorized garage, that have the knowledge and the tools to deal with the engine components.

OK. That's it!
The HPFP fuel pressure limitation has been removed. Now, the engine ECU is ready to be upgraded with the new program, that will take this fact into account.
The result? There will be more power! Very soon.

Odometer: 18,950

Volkswagen Racing air-intake

The important thing for high-output turbo engine - is a proper cold air intake system.
I chose the Volkswagen Racing cold air intake (VWR) system, that (by the way) recommended by APR.

VWR intake

This system is selected not by accident. According to dyno tests, it's allow the engine to produce the maximum power and very good air-flow starting from low RPM's and this is especially important in high RPM range. It's delivers gains as much as 9% greater at peak power, than the stock air-intake. Also, it has an excellent build quality.

The system comes with certificate of authenticity with a hologram sign and serial number.

VWR Certificate of Authenticity

VWR system was mounted by TIG Motorsport Engineering
As your may see, this system has a very solid and professional build and looks great.

VWR air-intake installed

I like how it performs. Now, I'm started to hear the engine "breath" in the middle-high RPM's :-)

Odometer: 18,900 km.

Fuel Filter change

Because I'm a second owner of this vehicle and has no idea where it was previously filled with the gas, I decided to change the fuel filter.
I always use spare parts with the same or better quality than the stock parts: it's very important if you want to enjoy your car for a long time without any problems.

MANN WK 69

The filter, that was fitted is MANN WK 69, original part #: 1K0 201 051 K.
It's fully compatible with my vehicle according to the MANN's online catalog. It is important, that it has integrated 6.6 bar pressure regulator as it should be.

Odometer: 18,800 km.

Fuel consumption

My car's average fuel consumption since purchase until now: 9.84 l./100 km. It's traveled 2,570 km on 253 liters of fuel. The maximum fuel economy that I was able to reach in the strait highway is 7.04 l./100 km in average.
You may see the car's dashboard shoot, that I captured two weeks before, how many kilometers in average the car is passes on 1 liter of the 98 octane petrol (100 km./14.2 km./l. = 7.04 l./100km.).

Average fuel consumption in km./l.

What is clear for me: in order to get low fuel consumption, you must work very hard. It's not easy to gently press the accelerator - the car is "requesting" more and more and the feedback is felt immediately: in acceleration and in fuel consumption. :-)

Odometer: 16,247 km.

Honda Civic Hatchback Mk9

This post is about another car.

Let me introduce you my friend Alexey Bass.
Previously he owned a Skoda Fabia, but 3 months before has upgraded his car to the new Honda Civic.

Honda Civic hatchback Mk9

In his car's blog he sharing his experience with Civic hatchback, publishing car service related details, making  car gadgets and accessories reviews and sometimes he makes a comparison with his previous Skoda Fabia car. Also, his blog is well-organized - it's easy to navigate within it.

For me, Honda Civic it's a nice family car, but it has a lack of "internal spirit": many things it does good, but it's hard to distinguish it from many others in its price group.

Headlights protection

In order to protect car's headlights from the gravel, that flying from the travelling ahead car wheels and from the sunlight I covered them with the clear protection film.

Headlight with clear protection film on it

The film prevents headlights from scratches and burn-up under the sun. It almost invisible for your eyes.
For those, who are interested in such protection: search for "Clear Headlight Protection Film" on ebay, and voila! You'll get it for the nice price. :-)
Don't forget to select the seller with the great positive feedback.

Odometer: 14,600 km.

APR Stage I - The Beginning

APR Stage I badge

So what does this mean for a mere mortals? :-)
APR it's a global company, that tightly working with the Volkswagen group in order to provide high quality aftermarket performance products for Audi, VW, SEAT, Skoda and Porsche vehicles.
It provides hardware and software components that perfectly work together.
My previous car (SEAT Ibiza Cupra 1.4TSI twin-charger) was with APR Stage I engine management software and I was more than happy with it.
So for this car I decided to stay with APR  - simply because I trust them. My Ibiza Cupra passed more than 55K km. on their software without any problems.

OK. "Stage I" - what is this exactly?
It's an ECU remap procedure, that allow to extract more power and flexibility from the engine hardware, than was done by the manufacturer. APR do that without any compromises in the reliability or quality - that's proven by many tests and track races for maximum endurance.

So what is outcome from this stage?
"Stage I" means: simply upgrading the existing ECU management software without doing anything else. Not touching, removing or adding physically anything into the car.
The result: up to 306 horsepower and 397 Nm of the torque. Nice achievement only by software upgrade! The real power of 2.0TFSI engine is come from 2500 rpm and it runs... to the cut-off without any problems. :-)
Now, I'm studying to control this power and starting thinking of the next Stage. :-)

Source: VAG 2.0TFSI - APR ECU Upgrade

Odometer: 14,330 km.

Quick detailing

My car is one year old and it's look like a new.
I like to maintain the car's clean & fresh look - no matter how old it is.
Exactly for this purpose I bought some bottles with light polish and glaze. Before the polish, I used the light clay bar from Optimum, it's very easy to work with. Polish was made by hands with Chemical Guys Hex logic white hand-pad.

My car detailing set

It took around 3 hours of work, including the wash. The effect was clear - as you can see on the photos.
The paint coating has become very smooth and saturated under the sunlight.

Odometer: 14,050 km.

15K service

When I received the car, the odometer was at 13,670 km.
I decided to perform 15K maintenance service as soon as possible. Made it in the local dealer garage.
Generally, this car is covered by 2-year (or 100K km.) warranty from the dealer, so until it ends I prefer to be served in the dealers garage, although it's not required by his clause.
I always inspect and check all spares and the work, that done with my vehicle.

So what is done for 15K?
1. Changed the oil (Valvoline 5W-40, VW 502 00) and the oil filter (original VAG for 2.0 TFSI).
2. Made a tire swap (along one side).
3. Overall car inspection (brakes, brake pads, leakages). All OK.

This service costs was 513 NIS: 323 NIS to garage for work (and for small spares) and 190 NIS for my oil. It took around an hour of work.

Service receipt

Odometer: 13,700 km.

Car Purchase

After long time search for the new family car candidate, finally it was found at the country-wide trade-in company, called "Autodeal" (or אוטודיל in Hebrew), that tightly works with the local VW, SEAT, Skoda and Audi dealer "Champion Motors".

"Autodeal" (אוטודיל) residence in Bnei Brak, Israel.

It was not easy to part with my previous car (SEAT Ibiza Cupra, 2011 year), but we must to move. I wanted five-door sport hatchback, and this SEAT Leon exactly falls into this definition. Now it's my daily car.

My plan for this blog is to tell you all about car's life. I mean: service, maintenance, possibly failures and tuning process.
If you interested in cars or in car-tuning - stay tuned. This car will be going through a changes, to get a little more power than in stock, but without any compromises in reliability and safety.
I hope, that my blog will be interesting for your - my reader.