Mk3 1.8L hesitation and lack of power under load

[sam the chemist]

Hi everyone! This is my first question here so please go easy on the noob!!

I've recently picked up a 1.8L CL and it has an annoying niggle- it hates hills! As soon as there is any load on the engine, it seems to hesitate and has very little power. At first I thought I was just spoilt from driving a Peugeot 205GTI every day (*runs for cover*...) but a couple of other people who have driven the car noticed the same thing. Even with my foot flat to the floor, a moderate incline is a struggle in second. It seems to me that the problem is marginally worse when the car is hot. It revs freely on the flat but just bogs down if you attempt an incline with revs below about 3000 rpm.

Since I bought it, I gave it a service including fresh oil and filter, new fuel filter, new distributor cap and rotor (old one was full of carbon and the rotor tip was badly pitted), replaced the coolant temp sensor (dead gauge on the dash) and cleaned the spark plugs. The plugs were fairly new and didn't show any signs of running rich.

According to the PO, the fuel pump was replaced in May this year but no history came with the car (well, it was a cheapie...). I'm running out of ideas as to what the problem could be- my initial thoughts were fuel related but the pump relay and fuse look ok and the filter is fresh.

Does anyone have any ideas??

EDIT: It's full of 95 RON too.

[h100vw]

You seem to have done the obvious stuff, maybe thinking a bit deeper it could be a blocked cat. I have seen cases where the guts of the cat become loose and turn sideways impeding gas flow tremendously. This causes a severe lack of power. The car would be pretty slow on the flat too but would eventually wind up.

You could split the exhaust at the end of the downpipe and see if the guts are in line. I think you should see the honeycomb on the end.

Gavin