My 2010 S3 Sportback Black Edition Progress Thread!

discostu49 said:
I really struggled to wrap the sides did you do it in 2 stages and do the sides first then the front or did u do it in a oner ? I ended up just buying the pillars gloss black
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Did them in one piece mate, takes time to get them right and a mate helped with holding the hairdryer directing heat under the vinyl where I was working but they turned out great. I've wrapped far trickier parts in the past and find the trick is to get good quality vinyl as its much easier to work with.

:)
 
That's something else I want to do my Sb, is the gloss rear pillars :)
Reading your build thread, gives me some good ideas.
Do you think the front splitter would be tricky to attempt in wrapping in vinyl? I've never attempted anything like this before.
 
I just did my pillars and I couldn't believe that they made from metal. I used the same wrap as you did Muzza but I may try spraying them as I have a feeling these will swirl like ******.
 
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manor13 said:
I just did my pillars and I couldn't believe that they made from metal. I used the same wrap as you did Muzza but I may try spraying them as I have a feeling these will swirl like ******.
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Mine swirled after a poor care local car wash mob cleaned my car last week (never again!) but pleased to report they polish up like new again, by hand, no bother.
 
So gave the car a good detail today, deep clean, clay, paint cleanse, polish & wax.

Sprint Blue looks great when the sun is out, very pleased with the results for what in reality was a quick tart up, needs machined really as there's quite a lot of swirls but they're filled for now till I get the time.


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Car's also going in tomorrow for a rolling road session at Ecotune Scotland on their new mechanically linked 4wd dyno. Want to get a proper idea how it's running, boost, fueling and of course power/torque, I plan to use this as a base line and have it re-dyno'd after adding exhaust and other bits which should give people a better idea of exactly what power increases to expect. At the moment it's running Shark stage 1, CTS Turbo intake, DV+ & a Revo PCV revamp.

I'm going to hook up my GoPro at at the Dyno and record each run so will post the vids and graphs up tomorrow evening all being well :)
 
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Looking sweet Murray.... You'll need to let me know how you get on at the rolling road... Mine has pretty much the same setup as yours (difference in CAI) although, wont be identical, will still give me a better idea if the induction kit gives anymore oomph from just the standard map... Same goes with the DV+... Wonder what way that'll effect it...

I was gonna get that dash command... Still gonna, but the hunt for the cable seems a bit of a mission and i've not really had the time yet to make that a priority search... Will be looking forward to more updates!
 
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So just out of Ecotune Scotland where the S3 was given 3 power runs on their mechanically linked Dynocom 4wd rolling road.

Best run made 303.4 bhp @ 6630 rpm & 284.3 ft-lbs @ 4550 rpm

AFR was 11.5 the whole run, perfect!

I expected a bit more given I've the CTS intake too but I could take it to another Dyno today and get a different figure, I'd rather a realistic dyno than an optimistic one.

Anyway, I have my baseline Dyno now that I wanted, cars running sweet and from here I'll get to see some real figures/gains from mods I do from here.

I'll post up vids and graphs a little later.

Thanks to the guys at Ecotune Scotland, great bunch with a real friendly attitude, no hard sell just some great advice.

One offer worth mentioning was to the "APR Challenge", switch to APR software with free stage upgrades for £300 (inc dyno time) if I wanted to! Very tempting but I'm pretty happy with my map at the moment.
 
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Can't trust a dyno figure! If the car feels great it usually is. The peak figure is only part of the story, it's how it delivers the power across the board that makes the real day to day driving difference. I wouldn't be tempted to jump ship in the hope of bigger numbers as it's much of a muchness.

Biggest difference other than the map itself for me was DP and cats. They really liberate the car.
 
Thats a smaller figure than I had in mind Murray... I thought youd be pushing 310 with the intake, did you add your intake after the car was mapped and do you think that would make a difference? Did Ecotune mention anything negatively about the dv+ with regards to boosting issues?

i've seen a lot of people swear by APR as the best maps out there, but they charge for the pleasure too, so that looks a good deal to me
 
warren_S3 said:
Can't trust a dyno figure! If the car feels great it usually is. The peak figure is only part of the story, it's how it delivers the power across the board that makes the real day to day driving difference. I wouldn't be tempted to jump ship in the hope of bigger numbers as it's much of a muchness.
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Very aware of that, I'm not really a number chaser, the car drives well, no doubt :)

My figures are nearly exactly what ARP quote for their stage 1 software which is good to know.

That said the car lacks torque compared to my previous 3 which does make it feel considerably slower on the road (they were all running over 350 ft-lbs) so I do like the idea of the ARP Stage 1+ for which all I need now is a fuel pump, they quote an impressive 338 ft-lbs of torque and 335 bhp and the guys at Ecotune have verified these gains.

The free stage upgrades are undeniably an excellent selling point and you get a lot of added functionality with APR software like switchable maps for different fuel, valet mode, anti-theft, disabling the car even with keys, all done through the cruise control stalk.

For £300 it's certainly an option worth considering :)


Here's the graph, shows just two power runs, actually they did about 5 in total these were the last 3.


Dyno_zpsb61edcf8.jpeg~original







Here's a the vids of the runs:

(1) Shark Stage 1 - 2010 2.0T FSI S3 8P - Dyno Run @ Ecotune Scotland - YouTube
(2) Shark Stage 1 - 2010 2.0T FSI S3 8P - Dyno Run @ Ecotune Scotland - YouTube
(3) Shark Stage 1 - 2010 2.0T FSI S3 8P - Dyno Run @ Ecotune Scotland - YouTube




S3_Jacko said:
Thats a smaller figure than I had in mind Murray... I thought youd be pushing 310 with the intake, did you add your intake after the car was mapped and do you think that would make a difference? Did Ecotune mention anything negatively about the dv+ with regards to boosting issues?
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I could drive the car to another 4wd dyno this afternoon and it could make 320bhp Jack

Every Dyno differs mate, really useful for taking a baseline and for, as Warren says, looking at how the power is delivered across the rev range.

I wanted it run for a baseline and to check fueling which is perfect at 11.5 AFR across the range.

:)


Point to note, bonnet closed, most people tend to run bonnet open to increase airflow to the intake, this is more like real world power as lets face it who drives around with their bonnet open lol
 
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Excellent result! and cars looking as good as ever

Now for £300 APR sounds great value for money too!
 
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grchmason said:
Excellent result! and cars looking as good as ever

Now for £300 APR sounds great value for money too!
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Cheers.

That's half the normal APR price by the way and only available if you're running another tuners software first and make the switch, they're apparently booked out with people moving from Revo lol

Like I said I may consider it in the future but for now happy with the car running healthily more than anything else.
 
Muzza80 said:
Cheers.

That's half the normal APR price by the way and only available if you're running another tuners software first and make the switch, they're apparently booked out with people moving from Revo lol

Like I said I may consider it in the future but for now happy with the car running healthily more than anything else.
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Thats it mate as long as your happy thats all that matters!

I would much rather the whole package as apposed to number chasing! I really am in two minds for mine APR or Revo as my car is standard and hear good things about both to be fair, I think its going to come down to who is closest and offering the best deal!

Keep the updates coming :cool:
 
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Just to add to this, here's a standard 2010 Cupra R (same engine/age as me) on the same rolling road at Ecotune back in December 2012, he moved from Superchips to APR:



DavidBoydAPRVSSUPERCHIPSCHALLENGE.jpg




Superschips Stage 1 - 293.5 bhp & 277.4 ft/lb
APR Stage 1 - 293.5 bhp & 291.8 ft/lb

Shark Stage 1 (me) - 303.4 bhp & 284.3 ft-lbs


All other considerations aside such as temp on the day (him in December, me in April with 16 dregrees C) then it's probably acceptable to assume that my CTS intake nets me 10bhp peak power increase over a Superchips or APR stage 1 car, which is pretty much what you would expect.

I'd really like to see a Stage 1 Revo S3 on this rolling road :)
 
Muzza80 said:
So a couple of little mods done today :)


R8 oil cap:


IMG_20140318_150230965_zpsmpjn05ay.jpg~original





I'd also mentioned previously that I'd ordered up some samples of silver/alu vinyl wrap to use on some parts to replicate the optional "Matt Aluminium Styling Pack" that's available on the RS3.

Pleased to say that one of them is a perfect match for the wing mirrors and strip on the RS3 rear diffuser.

So next little mod was the door handle covers, on the RS3 alu pack the door handles have the upper strip in alu finish and I think it looks really good, unfortunately the covers with the strip are near £100 from Audi before painting the bottom section the cars main colour.


IMG_20140319_240524549_zpsqg31xqfp.jpg~original


IMG_20140319_012858170_zpsi4jxaq9i.jpg~original



So removed them and wrapped them, pretty easy job if a little fiddly to get bang on but I think they turned out great and the total cost was about 50p worth of vinyl.

Going to order a big sheet of the same stuff and do the front grille surround then the lower front splitter part, possibly the fog light rings too.

All comments welcome :)
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Hi, really great car, maybe you need some wider rims with lower et, but its just me, wide tyre whoree! :)) ( Mine has currently 275-30-19 :))

Do you have a link for the alu wrap? Thanks a lot mate! :)
 
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That is just pure heaven on 4 wheels
 
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kemiksiz said:
Hi, really great car
Do you have a link for the alu wrap? Thanks a lot mate! :)
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Thanks mate, yes the wrap came from this seller:

Gloss 600mm x 300mm VEHICLE VINYL WRAP Full Colour Tint DIY Car Van Warpping. | eBay


Hoesty said:
Fitted the eibach fronts yet Murray?
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There's still sitting waiting to be fitted along with my Whiteline ALK and Superpro adjustable balljoints, I'll get round to it soon! :p



JoshKind said:
That is just pure heaven on 4 wheels
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Thanks man!




On another note, picked up a 5000 mile BCS downpipe with 200 cell cat today for £378 delivered which is a bargain as they're £650 posted from BCS!


$_12.JPG



Also fitted gloss black fog surrounds this evening I picked up from a member on here too.

Should have it all fitted in the next fortnight so that's springs, alk, balljoints & downpipe then in for a 4 wheel laser alignment :)
 
So while the rest of the country has been baking in beautiful weather I decided to take a trip up the west coast of Scotland from Glasgow to Kyle of Lochalsh to visit friends.

Some of the worst weather I've ever driven in on Saturday and not helped by a serious accident just past loch Lomond which caused a hour delay before re-routing which added another hour on to the journey.

I'm extremely impressed with how sure footed the S3 is though, there was huge amounts of standing water at times and I'm pretty sure Quattro saved me on one occasion whilst overtaking on a very narrow road and hitting a large puddle on the other side of the road while accelerating to get past this HGV which was blinding me with spray, quite scary to be honest and I'm pretty used to driving in bad weather too. The Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres really do impress me in the extreme wet, excellent grip and aquaplane resistance.

Anyway, Sunday was a little better, wet but drivable whilst still being fun most of the time.

Managed a quick pic coming over Glencoe on the way back, had to stop, the scenery is truely breathtaking.



IMG_20140518_195923727_HDR_zpsdtbhs6zq.jpg~original




I highly recommend this road trip to anyone that's not been, you would be hard pushed to find better driving roads in the UK, especially the A87 Invergarry to Kyle, truely epic just try and get a dry weekend!
 
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Glad the tyres were keeping you safe, average in the dry but monumental in the wet.

Car is looking fantastic chap, did bulbs arrive today?
 
warren_S3 said:
Glad the tyres were keeping you safe, average in the dry but monumental in the wet.

Car is looking fantastic chap, did bulbs arrive today?
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Cheers mate, I'm pleased with how it's looking, trying to just add subtle bits here and there.

Not as yet but the postal delivery here is usually late so I'm sure they will show up soon, thanks again :)
 
Just changed my cam follower this evening, took a hour including getting tools out and packing them all back up again.

Very very easy job and I'd recommend everyone does it, I followed a very useful guide Warren did here:


http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-sportback-8p-chassis/138827-changing-hpfp-cam-follower-s3-8p.html


My S3's only done 32k and to be honest the follower I removed looked basically as new but for peace of mind I'm glad it's done and I'm now confident that when I buy a HPFP it's a very easy job to change it over saving £50 or so for someone else to do it.

I like the easy ones! hah :)

The BCS sport CAT downpipe next and I'm looking forward to that one less lol!
 
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mechanic69 said:
Muzza seen a few people on here just fitting these front sections, but how does that improve performance with the standard back section with smaller diameter pipe?
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Essentially I'm happy with the noise and look of the standard rear section I just want to improve the flow rather than increase the noise too much and change the tailpipes for bigger ones.

The restriction in the S3 exhaust is all in the in the downpipe and the centre section, if you look at a pic of the downpipe it's crazy how restrictive it is in places, really. The rear section flows well enough as is, this would really only become a bottleneck when you start pushing in the region of 400bhp+.

Also very easy to just add a cat back at a later date if I fancy it, simply bolt it on.

:)
 
Muzza80 said:
Essentially I'm happy with the noise and look of the standard rear section I just want to improve the flow rather than increase the noise too much and change the tailpipes for bigger ones.

The restriction in the S3 exhaust is all in the in the downpipe and the centre section, if you look at a pic of the downpipe it's crazy how restrictive it is in places, really. The rear section flows well enough as is, this would really only become a bottleneck when you start pushing in the region of 400bhp+.

Also very easy to just add a cat back at a later date if I fancy it, simply bolt it on.

:)
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I think you're spot on there.

A lot of nonsense is talked about exhausts and as you say the worst bits of the stock system are the downpipe and centre.

You see people knocking about with drainpipe rear sections who've completely ignored the other parts of the exhaust and thus gain nothing except appearance.

Even for a 500bhp car,a 3" system is usually adequate when designed correctly to remove sharp bends and restrictions.
 
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mechanic69 said:
Muzza seen a few people on here just fitting these front sections, but how does that improve performance with the standard back section with smaller diameter pipe?
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I think this picture says it all:

P1010050.JPG
 
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I was informed that it was to reduce excessive cabin noise (is there a Helmholtz resonator in the top section of the OEM one?), but as to whether that is true (I'm sure there must have been more to it than that - limiting performance of S3????, trying to get car to meet emissions???). It is a car crash of design to look at, it should all have been so simple!
 
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beautiful whip! reverse rake is inevitable with spring setup. some have used the tts rear perch to slightly increase the height of the rear to even out the look. always nice to see a build thread. gotta admit my two favorite mods of all time have been the HPA DSG flash and their GEN IV Haldex performance module. just a little nugget to put in your head
 
warren_S5 said:
I was informed that it was to reduce excessive cabin noise (is there a Helmholtz resonator in the top section of the OEM one?), but as to whether that is true (I'm sure there must have been more to it than that - limiting performance of S3????, trying to get car to meet emissions???). It is a car crash of design to look at, it should all have been so simple!
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My guess would be to cut performance so it fits in the range.
 
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So been a spendy day today lol


I've bought a new set of BBS CK 19" x 8" wheels from Mark Brodie (Brodster, for an excellent price I'll add) along with new Michelin Pilot Supersport 235/35/19 XL's. I've loved these wheels since I had them on my Astra VXR Nurburgring Edition a few years back and after seeing grchmason's 3 door spring blue BE S3 with them a while back I just had to have another set.

Lovely set of RS3 rotors for sale now if anyone's interested: http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/sale-w...al-rainsport-2-4mm-all-round.html#post2198430

Also ordered up new Mintex discs all round along with Brembo HP2000 pads and Hel braided lines.

Superpro ALK and adjustable balljoints also en route and im completely undecided between B8 dampers for £430 delivered from Germany or Koni FSD for the same price hmmm, loved the ride quality and handling improvement of the FSD's on my VXR but also loved the B8's on my ST-3, just a bit harsher and I'm maybe swaying sides with the FSD's as it stands......

Car's booked in for front and rear bumper respray due to chips on the front and a less than perfect smart repair on the rear but happy with the £350 I've been quoted for that by a well respected local bodyshop that have done excellent work for me in the past.

Finally the car's booked in for 5 weeks after the bumpers are done (to give the paint time to cure properly) with Gordon @ Defined Details for a deep clean and paint cleanse, single stage machine polish to remove swirls and minor scratches then refinement and sealant which should be good for 18 months with a careful wash routine.

Oyher than that I'm fiting my own BCS downpipe this weekend then probably pop back to Brodster to have the Shark stage 2 map flashed on.



My bank account hates me lol
 
Muzza, lovely car there! perfectly looked after. look forward too more mods! :icon_thumright:
 
Hope you have better luck with your Mintex discs mate!
I've had 2 pairs on the front this year and both have started juddering. Hence fitting my Brembo's
 
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