Modifications; where to start!?

[ahitchkins]

Afternoon, this is my first post on this forum so apologies if it's in the wrong section etc
however i have recently bought myself a 60plate Audi S3 8P in ibis white and i have never looked back from it.
It was a huge step up from my 1.4 Vauxhall Corsa Exclusiv to say the least

So yeah i'm looking at getting on with some engine modifications first and then onto the aesthetics side.
i've been looking at the Forge Motorsport Twintake Induction System for starters (opinions please)
Forge Motorsport Twintake Induction System S3 8P > Engine > S3 8P/Mk2 > AUDI A3/S3 > VAG Specialists > PSI Tuning - VW Specialists
imo it tidies up the engine bay and will give a nice sounding/louder induction/turbo noise.
next i'd be looking at forge hoses and if anyone could link me to a hose kit it would be much appreciated.

from there i am then confused as what to do next as any major modifications require a remap eg; Milltek Turbo Back Exhaust
but i am hoping to go for a Stage 2 map which is Exhaust/Induction/Intercooler any idea of (BHP after stage 2?)
would i be better off getting a Milltek exhaust system and induction kit sorted with a Stage 1 map (BHP?)
or buying the parts and keeping them off the car until i can afford an intercooler aswell?

decisions decisions

Thanks Andy!

 

[Sandra]

Hi Andy, welcome to audi-sport.net. Any pics of the car? Read the faqs threads at the top of the page, lots of useful info in there. Hope you enjoy the forum. x

 

[ahitchkins]

Hi Sandra thanks for your help i will have to get some posted up tomorrow and i will take a look, thanks again Andy

 

[Sandra]

Hi Sandra thanks for your help i will have to get some posted up tomorrow and i will take a look, thanks again Andy

Hi again Andy, forgot to post a link for you. If your interested in meets in your area and meeting up with some of the other members, click the link below and add yourself into the sub section that is closest to you. The boys will be along shortly and will help you spend your money on mods. Enjoy. x


​Smaller (Local) Events

How to post pics link.

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-8v-chassis/158425-how-post-pictures-forum.html

 

[mjr901]

Afternoon, this is my first post on this forum so apologies if it's in the wrong section etc
however i have recently bought myself a 60plate Audi S3 8P in ibis white and i have never looked back from it.
It was a huge step up from my 1.4 Vauxhall Corsa Exclusiv to say the least

So yeah i'm looking at getting on with some engine modifications first and then onto the aesthetics side.
i've been looking at the Forge Motorsport Twintake Induction System for starters (opinions please)
Forge Motorsport Twintake Induction System S3 8P > Engine > S3 8P/Mk2 > AUDI A3/S3 > VAG Specialists > PSI Tuning - VW Specialists
imo it tidies up the engine bay and will give a nice sounding/louder induction/turbo noise.
next i'd be looking at forge hoses and if anyone could link me to a hose kit it would be much appreciated.

from there i am then confused as what to do next as any major modifications require a remap eg; Milltek Turbo Back Exhaust
but i am hoping to go for a Stage 2 map which is Exhaust/Induction/Intercooler any idea of (BHP after stage 2?)
would i be better off getting a Milltek exhaust system and induction kit sorted with a Stage 1 map (BHP?)
or buying the parts and keeping them off the car until i can afford an intercooler aswell?

decisions decisions

Thanks Andy!

The Forge intercooler for your car will not fit currently...... its for the pre-facelift, however you many recognise my Audi, its the only other Ibis white S3 in Malvern......(used to have a blue one too) and Forge recently did some development work on it to enable them to "mass produce" them for the later 8P, but its not released just yet.

So currently my car is the only car in the WORLD to be running this...... They also did some other stuff, but I'm not to tell yet....also one off though!

So In order, if you want Stage 2 level, as you bought the manual version...... its going to cost you a pretty penny in the long run.

Your clutch WILL NOT last, it will slip after a little time.

trust me, I've been there, the blue S3 had all this done to it.

So in my car, the DSG box automatically limits torque, so we're not to suffer this massive cost on mods (hence why i sold my blue one), can be mapped to up the torque, but not strictly necessary.

So..... your looking at £1000 for a new clutch (roughly), cheaper if you know the right people.

I'm not saying dont map it, but you HAVE to keep this in the budget before you do ANYTHING, when your car is off the road, you'll thank me honestly.

Upgrade to a Sachs racing clutch, and LUK DMF flywheel, when it starts to slip.

Stage 2 map, £350 onwards, end up paying for the name after that. Most will offer fine tuning if you ask which will help other than just simply uploading a generic map to your car.

In order to be eligible for stage 2 map, you need the following, Turbo back exhaust, Intake (forge twintake,ITG etc) and thats it.

Stage 2+ involves all of the above, + Autotech or similiar fuel pump internals. (add that later when your bored of 330-340bhp and want 360bhp)



Stage 1= just a map (300bhp)

Stage 2=map,intake, turbo-back exhaust (330bhp)

stage 2+(3 in some cases)= map,intake, turbo-back exhaust + fuel pump internals. (360bhp)

All rough BHP figures, all vary a little.

Check cam-follower regularly.

also, chuck warranty out of the window remember.... oh my engines blown up.....errr whats all this custom coding in the ECU sir.....errrrr ****!!!

Suspension needs doing too......its a little bit touch and go sometimes now...

 

[mjr901]

100 cell Turbo back exhaust will most likely bring up EML up. (stage 2 level maps this out automatically)

Does not affect car if it is on, just literally shows a light, so you could put new exhaust on, then save up some pennies for map...

but honestly, have a grand sat aside.

 

[ahitchkins]

Cheers for all that Mike, so in your opinion what would i be best to go for Stage 1 or Stage 2 as i don't particularly want to be forking out 1K for a new clutch. so what BHP are you getting out of yours at the moment? Tom mentioned that he'd sorted out an S3 for development recently so i was guessing that it was for you. what suspension are you running now or even on your previous S3 as that is something i'd definitely be looking to upgrade, Cheers

 

[mjr901]

If I'm honest, Stage 1 is a great improvement (40bhp over standard), but lacks any grin factor as noise is low and if you went for an aggressive map, which i originally did... (before i knew about these cars) it sends the clutch out of the window fairly sharpish.

To put things in perspective,i mapped that blue S3 at 20,000 miles ish, clutch slipped by 24,000, changed clutch, went to 28,000, heard horror stories of people with upgraded clutches suffering with slip again after 6k miles, so thought sod this, If it happens again im screwed, so chopped it for the stronger gearbox.

Every ones driving style is different, and some stay on standard clutches at Stage 2+ even for quite a while, which means to me, they dont drive it hard, or its a very toned down map.

Its a risk, and you'll keep wanting more power.

A good place to start will be, get rid of that engine cover/airbox (all one piece on these) and replace with an uprated Intake.

You will notice better throttle response and lots of air/darth vader noises from the glovebox after you do this.

You can fit this without any worries of EML etc.

I'd then go for a reputable company and ask someone like Shark Performance, for one of their 'Progressive maps'

Shark are well known for very smooth power deliveries, which is ideal if you don't want your engine components to suffer massively.

Stage 2 is good, thats where i am at the moment, Mines at 340bhp now, but should be running about 5-10bhp more once Shark Performance have a re-tinker with my software.

I havent played with the suspension at all on either of my S3's yet, 300bhp was fine for it but anymore when your pushing on brings huge understeer.

I suggest a good starting point would be to for a White line anti lift kit aka WALK + some coil overs.



If your set on more power and cant wait, I'd ask which ever tuning company you choose to use to keep the software very "Progressive" (aggressive being its opposite) ie, the power is still there, but essentially its spread across the entire rev range rather than huge boost all at once which nails your clutch.

Downside to this being, the kick in the back boost feeling is mostly lost.

but positively you'll be going just as fast, the figures still stack up, and you'll not be having to sit on a very small rev range keeping boost.(like Mitsubishi EVO's have to do) in essence less turbo lag with a progressive map.



So start at the bottom of the scale (top of my list) if i were you, gives you chance to enjoy each stage if you plan to go up the ladder.



Go stage 1 (progressive) with Induction kit.

------------------------------------------------

Literal order being:

1) Fit intake

2) Upload Stage 1 map (£350 ish)

This is where I think you should start.

then progress as and when $$$ lets you

------------------------------------------

3) Fit turbo back exhaust (second hand £600 fitted) EML light on at this stage (simply ignore it for now)

4) Upload Stage 2 map (£100 Shark) EML now off..

5) Fit Fuel pump internals (auto tech) or APR pump (£290, APR comes as hole pump and is lots of cash!)

6) upload Stage 3 (map £100) (stage 2+ some companies call it)







Further down the line, stick a Turbo back exhaust on her, re-map again to stage 2, £100 in Sharks case to upgrade the map.

Then I should think you'll be happy for a good while, BUT you need to have been keeping the "kitty" stocked up with cash for a clutch upgrade, as you cant really hide from it. The standard clutches are like butter.

You can substantially put it off though by not doing racing starts, and not riding it. (difficult at times as Malvern is based on a hill.... church street for example....)

 

[Reload]

Some good advice from mjr901 there. I'm currently at stage 1 with a progressive map which suits my driving style much better, stage 2+ is my next step so in advance I have sorted suspension, brakes and will be getting the clutch done.

On the suspension side I don't have a WALK and opted for sports springs instead of coilys as I didn't want a crashy ride (as standard I think the S3 is quite stiff but feels wallowy (sp?) when you start chucking extra power through it). I thinkl the best initial suspension upgrade you can do are upgraded Anti-Roll Bars which make a MASSIVE difference to dialling out that understeer and wallowing round corners.

Engine wise mjr901 is quite correct, start with a stage 1 remap and add a cold air intake if you want a bit more induction noise. I have a Neuspeed P-Flo which, although cheap compared to others, works nicely for me.

A word of warning: Once you start modding it quickly becomes a very slippery and expensive slope, enjoy

 

[Sevv]

id get a supresprint turbo back if you got the funds and i would get a REVO CAI it flows better then the ITG and forge twintake if u check Boydie's thread

 

[thebluefox]

Fantastic advice in this thread, it has to be said.

 

[S3Alex]

Welcome....you've had a lot of very sensible advice so far,and I'd only add a few things.....
You don't need a big intercooler until you've reached Stg2+ or above,and if you do go to that,then I would recommend either the ProAlloy or Airtec.
I would say that Stg2 or 2+ are probably the best overall value,as Stg1 will probably leave you wanting that bit more,and that takes you to about as far as most people will go,but you will need to budget for clutch and suspension upgrades,as neither are up to 330-360bhp or the torque associated with it.