UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I’ve recently bought a 2012 1.2 polo tsi as my first car. With it being a turbo, it has decent performance but only 100bhp. Was simply wondering if there is much aftermarket support for parts on these engines as I would be looking to up the power to around 150-160bhp reliably. Thanks in advance, Sam.

To be honest mate if you want something with 150bhp you should look to get a Polo 1.4 BlueGT which has around 150bhp as standard!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think you're limited to just a chip tune, the likes of Revo, JB4 piggyback, etc. Maybe get you to 130 with a bit more driveability. That's what I plan on my 110hp 1.2tsi once the motor plan runs out, but that's it.

I'm sure you can get much more than 150/160 out of these, but you'd probably spend enough to have just bought a GTi from the get go. And the GTi won't grenade at that power.

No replacement for displacement even if it has a turbo.

Also, if this is your first car, I’m assuming you’re a young driver (apologies if I’m wrong), so you’re probably paying a fairly significant insurance premium.

I dare say that most insurers would apply a pretty sizeable loading to a young driver’s (already large) premium if they make performance modifications to their car, so if you do decide to make any performance mods, I’d suggest speaking to your insurer first to get an idea of what your premium will be, to ensure you can afford it.

Well you’re right in that I’m a young driver as I’m 17. As for insurance, I’m paying £1800 without a box which I don’t think is too bad for my age. I’ve done some looking in to it and I’d probably look at a forge motorsport BOV kit, a custom exhaust and then get it remapped but I’m going to wait a few months for that and just get used to the roads really. I’ve already lowered it because I could honestly fit a football between the wheels and fenders and the ride is awful now but at least it looks better. Thanks for your quick replies guys. Also, I’m not too arsed about declaring mods because I don’t need to drive much and so the chances of crashing and then having them find any mods is so low and it’ll save me about £1000 more in insurance.

And if it’s stolen, damaged and recovered are you happy not to get any insurance payout because your insurance is invalid?

Poloman300 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:43 pm Well you’re right in that I’m a young driver as I’m 17. As for insurance, I’m paying £1800 without a box which I don’t think is too bad for my age. I’ve done some looking in to it and I’d probably look at a forge motorsport BOV kit, a custom exhaust and then get it remapped but I’m going to wait a few months for that and just get used to the roads really. I’ve already lowered it because I could honestly fit a football between the wheels and fenders and the ride is awful now but at least it looks better. Thanks for your quick replies guys. Also, I’m not too arsed about declaring mods because I don’t need to drive much and so the chances of crashing and then having them find any mods is so low and it’ll save me about £1000 more in insurance.

I think that you need to take some "smart" pills, as driving around without insurance, which is what you are planning to do if not declaring mods, means you will lose more than your car if you end up involved with your or someone else's road incident, your rights to drive will be taken as well - and you will have really messed up anyone you have hit as your insurer will not plan in paying out quickly if at all, so that will probably bring even more grief to your door, maybe even in the form of heavies with a job to do.

I'd think that once you really have thought this out, you will cool down, get used to being a new driver, and then start saving money for when insurers lower your premium on a more desirable car.

All valid points on the issues and consequences of not declaring modifications to an insurer if involved in a road traffic incident - especially performance related modifications, which in all likelihood increase the insurance risk compared to a standard unmodified car of the same make and model.

As has been said, anyone who does fail to declare modifications gives the insurer the right to void the insurance policy, which in all probability they would do. By not disclosing all the facts to the insurer to enable them to correctly assess the insurance risk and charge the correct premium might also be considered to be insurance fraud by many - if not all - insurers, and insurance fraud is a criminal offence.

I really don’t think it’s worth the risk making performance mods to a car and not declaring them as it could be much more costly longer term than it would be to declare the mods and paying the appropriate increased premium;

- a criminal record; driving without insurance and insurance fraud.
- if the offence is within the first two years of driving; 6 points on licence, driving licence revoked, and probably a fine.
- difficulty in getting insurance in future; some insurers may be reluctant or refuse to offer cover.
- insurers who will provide cover will almost certainly charge a significantly higher premium than they would for a driver without convictions.

To the OP - drive your car as it is (i.e. unmodified) for a while to gain some driving experience, and as RUM4MO HAS SAID, then consider either getting a more desirable car in, say, 18-24 months time, or modifying your current car at that time. You’ll hopefully also have earned some no claims discount by then too, which will reduce your premium.

For my sins until recently I spent over 20 years as a senior manager for a very large UK motor Insurer looking after its claims service so I have some experience in this area.

Some of the points raised are spot on or pretty close. When you take out insurance you are effectively entering into a contract between yourself and the insurer that is under pinned by "utmost good faith" and if you fail to declare any modifications you are effectively breaking this contract which allows the insurer to refuse to pay your claim. The level to which this is enforced varies by insurer with some insurers refusing to pay if even the smallest non performance modification has contributed to the claim whilst others are a bit more lenient. No insurer would be lenient regarding the type of modifications you are planning and would not pay your claim (They would pay the other persons losses if its your fault. even if you have undeclared modifications as this is a requirement as RTA insurer under the Road Traffic Act etc)

Even the undeclared lowering of your car will be a problem if you need to make a claim as this and the other mods you plan would get pick up by anyone with even reasonable knowledge of cars let alone motor engineers. (the remap is just about the only one that might not get picked up).

I hope you don't have an accident, but 1 in 3 new young drivers have an accident within 18 months of passing their test and if this happens, and your mods are picked up, the insurer is highly likely to void your policy (having paid the other persons costs ) which then means you will almost certainly not be able to get insurance again for sometime. Going down the route of buying Polo GT would be far cheaper in premiums than modifying as insurers don't like the uncertainty of what the mods will produce and whether they have been done properly.

Clearly its your choice, but I would suggest you think carefully about your plans as the consequences if it goes wrong are serious and long lasting for your future driving career

Can anyone recommend some decent Remap companies in the UK for the 1.2 TSI?

ReVo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2020 11:29 am Can anyone recommend some decent Remap companies in the UK for the 1.2 TSI?

Ive got mine mapped stage 2 to roughly 160bhp and 190 ft/lb

Custom oversized proram filter with velocity stack and hardpipe
Custom large intercooler install
HKS SSQV
LD performance launch control
JBS stage 2 map on dyno.

The car feels totally different and pulls more like a stock bluegt.

You can get a stage 3 kit now that makes upto 200bhp with a hybrid turbo.