Is it worth it?

[dancuz]

Hi all,

Have been an S3 owner for about 9 months now and do really like the car. So far I have changed oil pickup, new thermostat, temp sensor, shocks, top mounts, 4 wheel alignment, rust on roof rails sorted - may have missed some bits but all basic stuff that needed doing. Just before I bought the car (off an ASN member) it had a B5 tip fitted and was stage 1 mapped by RSD near Daventry. Apart from that it's standard and done 85k miles with good service history.

Poor quality photo when bought:

Only things worth noting are that the gearbox whines a little and is clunky from first to second (not bad) and as far as I know has never had a new clutch or flywheel. Logs I did a few months ago are as follows:

	Group A:	'002				Group B:	'031				Group C:	'115
		RPM	Load	Inj. On Time	Mass Flow	Lambda Factor	Lambda Factor	Bin. Bits	Bin. Bits		RPM	Load	Absolute Pres.	Absolute Pres.
	TIME					TIME					TIME
Marker	STAMP	/min	%	ms	g/s	STAMP					STAMP	/min	%	mbar	mbar
	0.01	2520	12.8	0	6.42	0.3	1.991	1.047			0.6	2440	12.8	990	1000
	0.91	2440	12.8	0	6.39	1.2	1.991	1.047			1.5	2400	12.8	990	1010
	1.81	2360	12.8	0	6.08	2.1	1.991	1.047			2.4	2320	12.8	990	1010
	2.72	2320	12.8	0	6	3.02	1.991	1.047			3.32	2240	12.8	990	1020
	3.61	2200	12.8	0	5.69	3.91	1.991	1.047			4.23	2080	12.8	990	1020
	4.53	2080	12.8	0	5.33	4.82	1.991	1.047			5.12	2040	12.8	990	1010
	5.42	2000	12.8	0	5.03	5.73	1.991	1.047			6.03	1960	12.8	990	1010
	6.34	1960	12.8	0	4.89	6.63	1.991	1.047			6.93	1920	12.8	990	1010
	7.24	1880	12.8	0	4.89	7.54	1.991	1.047			7.84	1840	12.8	990	1010
	8.14	1840	13.5	1.7	4.78	8.45	1.023	0.945			8.75	1840	46.6	990	990
	9.05	1880	74.4	7.48	31.97	9.35	0.953	0.969			9.64	2080	93.2	2030	1160
	9.96	2160	100.8	9.18	45.25	10.25	0.969	0.961			10.56	2400	121.1	2370	1440
	10.86	2520	130.1	11.9	66.19	11.16	0.953	0.953			11.47	2800	155.6	2370	1840
	11.77	2960	174.4	16.32	106.83	12.07	0.953	0.938			12.37	3320	191.7	2310	2390
	12.67	3480	188.7	19.04	127.64	12.97	0.875	0.883			13.28	3880	191.7	2310	2310
	13.58	4040	191.7	19.38	153.69	13.88	0.86	0.86			14.18	4440	191.7	2370	2330
	14.48	4600	191.7	20.4	173.36	14.78	0.844	0.836			15.09	4960	191.7	2340	2290
	15.39	5160	191.7	20.06	185.61	15.69	0.813	0.813			15.99	5480	186.5	2370	2170
	16.29	5640	183.5	19.38	194.89	16.6	0.805	0.805			16.9	5920	178.2	2340	2100
	17.2	6080	172.9	18.36	199.94	17.5	0.797	0.805			17.8	6320	162.4	2280	2080
	18.11	6440	168.4	18.02	202.22	18.4	0.758	0.86			18.72	6440	11.3	990	1410

From what I gather (not being particularly clued up) all looks fairly healthy with a 202g/s reading and healthy fuelling. However, as I knew I would, I'm wanting more power so am looking at my options. To go stage 2 and see good figures I figure I need:

Wellycooler (but would want to keep fogs) ~ £220
3" downpipe ~ £260
V3 mani ???? ~ £260

But if all that is being done I should probably stick a second hand gearbox on there with clutch and flywheel at ~ £750

Question is - is it worth it!? I would have to be paying someone to do the work for me (nowhere to work and not got all necessary tools or expertise). Labour on all of that would be a lot of money I would imagine (anyone got any rough guesses)? I would then have to think about mapping to make much of a difference. Am I really going to get that much better performance? I would mainly like to increase bhp / torque earlier in the revs and I know stage 2 will help, but will it really make it that much better to drive?

All thoughts appreciated, and sorry for such a long post.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[sam4191]

Tidy looking car mate! I noticed a nice difference with the 3" Dp sport cat. As for labour costs, I would have thought you are looking at about the same amount again. Especially for the Mani. I'm not doing mine, unless I need the Head, or Turbo off, as it is an 8 hour job in the book. With the mods in my sig, I am seeing 222g/s everytime and it is day and night from standard!

 

[jojo]

Is it worth it depends on you and how long you intend to keep the car? Cars cost money, that's a fact! If you have the disposable income to do the above, and plan to keep the car for a while, then it's worth every penny as far as I'm concerned, as you get the enjoyment factor of it all. Don't forget to uprate the brakes to handle the extra power whilst you are at it!

My own S3 is at a power level I'm comfortable with, given that I hardly use it(AmD stage1 map and B5 V1.1TIP). For the past 12 months though, I've been tidying up the handling of my S3 to make use of the power I already have. I've got the handling to almost where I want it now... I'd like a bit more power now, but it's silly money for an extra 20-30bhp, so unless I get bored of the car's current power output, it's either staying as it is or I'm getting a faster car with 300bhp minimum next!

 

[The Doctor]

Agree with JoJo on this one. At the end of the day it comes down to disposable ££ and how long you want to keep the car.

Personally, mine's a daily driver and I'm content with the power from the Stage 1 map & Badger 5 TIP. I've got some Bilstein B5 shocks to fit in the spring (will also fit adjustable rear tie bars & replace the suspension bushes and possibly the ARBs at the same time) but apart from that I don't think I'll do much else to it. The price of more power becomes ever more steep per additional BHP and I'd rather just invest in a more powerful car in the first place. Having said that, I love the car and given the condition it's in I can't see myself getting rid of it for some time yet.

Key thing you haven't mentioned is the engine internals, which you'll need to upgrade if you're wanting to increase power further.

 

[dancuz]

Hi all,

Agree with all of the above and have thought about just buying a quicker car, but then all I'd really want is an 8P S3 and don't want / can't afford to chuck £10k at it and watch it depreciate!

Having had a good think I reckon all I will end up doing is fit a 3" DP (I'm assuming this can be mated to standard exhaust) and a front mount intercooler. Imay then get it mapped again to take advantage of extra flow. With regards to internals, I know it's a risk not getting rods fitted, but it's a lot of money. I'm hoping a well mapped stage 2 should help preserve things.

If I was going down altering internals I would definitely be looking at complete change to a bigger turbo....

Jojo - do you have an FMIC?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[The Doctor]

JoJo doesn't have a FMIC. But he does have a loose rear end. On his S3 I mean.

 

[dancuz]

I shan't comment!

Doctor just realised you are only about 40 mins from me, and I'm heading up to Nottingham tomorrow

 

[The Doctor]

Yeah, I noticed you're in Rutland. I work at Waltham-on-the-Wolds and am occasionally down your way either for work or for a quick blast round the reservoir on the mountain bike. Don't see many other S3 8Ls round here though for some reason.

 

[dancuz]

Ah! Think I saw your car a week or so ago as I go through Waltham fairly often (am based in Melton fairly often for work). Out of interest, have you got a good recommended garage you use?

 

[jojo]

JoJo doesn't have a FMIC. But he does have a loose rear end. On his S3 I mean.

Lol! Love it Paul!! As mentioned, no FMIC, I have one in the kitchen, just never got round to fitting it! For the amount of use my car gets, it's never bothered me not having one. As for the loose rear end, it take a talented driver to control it!

 

[The Doctor]

Ah! Think I saw your car a week or so ago as I go through Waltham fairly often (am based in Melton fairly often for work). Out of interest, have you got a good recommended garage you use?

May well have been me - usually passing through Waltham at 8ish in the morning and half 5ish in the evening. Rarely come across another S3 around here though.

I use C&R Enterprises in Nottingham for all of the servicing work - highly recommended. I try to do anything myself that needs doing in between services (e.g. sump/pick-up, catch can installation, Badger TIP, Haldex oil & filter etc), but always get C&R to give it the annual once-over, and do anything that's beyond my capability on axle stands in the driveway with the kids running about!

Got a set of Bilstein B8s to fit in the spring, together with new top mounts, so may be asking you for some advice when the time comes.

 

[dancuz]

Got a set of Bilstein B8s to fit in the spring, together with new top mounts, so may be asking you for some advice when the time comes.

I replaced shocks and top mounts myself a couple of months back over a weekend. Not the most fun job in the world but happy to help. Catch can is still on my "to do" list

 

[dancuz]

It's started....... 3" Relentless DP and sports cat are on the way from Sam B. Next up is FMIC. Will probably fit the intercooler myself, but don't fancy the hassle of the downpipe particularly!