Advice needed.......stock clutch?Uprated? Poly bushes?

[ci-ryder]

Ok, I am just looking for a bit of guidance as I am struggling to decide what to do.

Scenario is I bought a real dog of an S3 April last year (did not realise it was so bad at the time) and since that point I have been throwing money at it to fix various issues, currently the car needs another new clutch as I bought a 2nd hand one off the forum and it's been slipping since day 1 but in the past month it has got so bad that I struggle pretty badly to get up to speed just turning into local traffic and try hard to avoid motorway journeys.

Also it has had a replacement engine and turbo (another fun repair bill for me - yay!) but every now and again it chucks out blue smoke and is using a fair amount of oil so it has been booked in yet again to have a new clutch fitted and also pin point the oil leak and fix as appropriate. I have been warned that it may well be the turbo seals or piston rings.

I have done my sums and sadly realised that I have dropped over 5k in repairs/mods so far since I bought the car and have had to accept the fact that I am stuck with keeping the car now as it has such little resale value as it is.

Now my dilemma is that the mechanic is happy to fit as many parts as I give them for no extra labour charge (they will have the car for around a week) I wanted to buy a full poly bush kit and was originally looking to get a new stock clutch, but having gone cheap on the last clutch and now having to fork out again after having it in for less than 3/4 months I have been looking at the Single mass clutch that Awesome sell but my budget will not stretch to a full bush kit as well that clutch kit so which would be of more benefit? bear in mind I will now have to keep the car until either it or I die!

The car is a 2000 model and is running oem bushes and in the past months has had a weitec coilover kit & adjustable arms fitted, it is not slammed to the floor and won't be.

Currently it has a R-Tech stage 1 map and as I already have an XS power manifold, 3" dp and decat ready to be fitted when the clutch work gets done and I have previously had a fmic, badger5 v2 tip, silicone hoses throughout and catch can fitted and I want to go for a stage 2 once the car is finally sorted.

What option do I go for?

 

[camscockle20vT]

Sad to see no one has helped out here, and sorry to see youv had loads of problems with your s3, i know this will happen to me as i always end up spending £££,
Anyway im not much of an s3 man but i know abit from reading wellys, tufftys and liquids3's(sorry if i missed anyone out lol) build threads, they have all asked the question about clutches at some stage so id check what they have to say tbf. Poly busch kit will be a no brainer if its at the right doh and id suggest sticking to standard clutch setup imo. Hope this helps.

 

[S3featesV9]

I'm also burning oil. A bit of discussion on her and with other ppl
It has been diagnosed (fingers crossed) as the valve stem seals. Garage doing all that with head gasket and new water pump for £572 all in. Not too bad. When does te blue smoke happen? If it happens on boost it is most likely turbo. And if
It's like mine, happens whilst been idling for a few seconds then pull away it's valve stem seals. Piston rings it probably will smoke all the time due to crank case pressure. So I've been told anyway. Hope that helps

 

[Customboy]

Sorry to hear about ur misfortune buddy but get the car running right before changing any bushes as ur engine is most important and u want to see happy motoring days again I myself have also had some problem with my Audi in the past and still have a few gremlins now to sort out lol but as long as its running ok and fine with no issues bushes and stuff can wait but clutch would be my first choice, whatever u decide buddy good luck and we are all her to help so chin up !

 

[mattyboy199]

i have a powerflex front wishbone kit for sale if you need one.

 

[ci-ryder]

camscockle20vT - Currently I am leaning towards getting the clutch from Awesome and just forgetting about the bushes as I just cannot afford to have another clutch go for the duration that I have the car as the labour charges get kind of scary for me and I have wasted quite a bit getting the last clutch fitted a few months back.

S3featesV9 - It is odd as it doesn't always smoke, I can be driving around as normal and no problem then I go to pull off from stationary and voilà a massive cloud of blue smoke appears, it clears a few seconds later as I carry on driving and may not happen every time, looking at your info it may well be a costly fix on top of everything else but I don't think I have many options other than to have the garage look into it and fix as needs be.

Customboy - Yeah it is looking like that is the way to go, it's just disheartening that this car has been nothing but a massive continuing expensive, I have not enjoyed the car at all and badly regret having bought it but hope that if it is ever finally sorted and driving ok that will change. I hope that you have better luck getting the niggles on yours sorted.

mattyboy199 - Thanks for the offer, but unless my laptop sells I will have to forget about bushes for this car.

Cheers,