The Icarus thread

[Icarus83]

Its about time for me to share my experiences and exploration of my B6 1.9 Tdi Quattro Sport with its own thread.

I'm Rob and I bought my Avant in July 2013. When I got her she had 197k miles on the clock but an encyclopedia of history, being the third owner. The first was a short lived ownership of 2 years from new, and the second that was a 'Miss' according to the logbook and where most of the miles came from looking at the service book. I get the impression it was used as a work vehicle eating motorway miles with no expense spared to its upkeep judging by the extensive piles of receipts, serviced on the dot. The interior is untouched bar the headlight switch has the marks of a ladies sharpened thumbnail and the same small mark on the volume dial on the stereo.

Since July I have had the turbo fail at Christmas, so that was replaced, new oil feed, intercooler and a good clean out including EGR.

The temp gauge never sat at 90 so recently a new Audi OEM temp sender, thermostat and new coolant.

I upgraded the OEM Synphony 2 with a Dension Gateway Lite, giving me bluetooth handsfree, A2DP music streaming and a USB port to plug any music loaded USB keys I fancy.

A pair of DEPO replacement headlight clusters have smartened the aged front somewhat. As has LED replacement numberplate lights.

I have a complete B6 S4 345mm front and 300mm vented rear setup with a set of HEL lines to fit, Meyle HD front arm kit (both side's lower arm ball joints are shot and MOT time is late April).

This evening I fitted a set of Anthracite A5 alloys, 18" 8.5j ET29 with some brand new matching Michelin Pilot Sport tyres in a slight stretched 225/40/18 92Y XL fitment.

Still plenty of things to keep me busy including fitting a new clutch and DMF later in the year, all the front arms etc and as I complete them I'll share plenty of pics.......

Here is a few to start (please excuse the dirt....):

A little dirty but shiny new headlights.



Audi-sport.net affiliation and the original sport alloys's profile (235/45).



The new A5 alloys.







And overall......







Enjoy,
Rob

 

[quattrojames]

Looks nice.

Now go and wash it

 

[Welshquattro]

Very nice!

 

[Mike.M]

Nice........but wash LOL

 

[Icarus83]

Thanks Guys.

Yes yes, I know......will clean her soon!

My next door neighbor is a detailing freak and he apparently "dies a little inside" whenever he sees my car. I subscribe to the rally car look with sprayed mud everywhere, but I do appreciate an uber shiny car.

We did do my car last year and machine polished the whole thing, I've got tons of photos from when we did it so will upload some later.

 

[ruffrida]

Nice Avant fella, the is a lovely product out there called soap and water, lol

 

[Icarus83]

Well I owe you some clean pics, but the best I can do is from last year when my semi-professional detailing friend next door helped me clean and machine polish her.






I have now got a pile of brake bits and a freshly rebuilt rear caliper (the only one from the four that needed some tlc) to accompany the control arm kit to fit next weekend......obviously I'll take a few pics!

 

[DieselJake]

Looking good so far, which pads and discs did you opt for with the new brake setup.

 

[Icarus83]

I'd gone for the S4 setup so 345mm fronts and 300mm vented rears, (just 'premium replacement' EBC discs and ultimax pads as I'm sure I don't I need anything more tbh!!).

 

[ruffrida]

I'd gone for the S4 setup so 345mm fronts and 300mm vented rears, (just 'premium replacement' EBC discs and ultimax pads as I'm sure I don't I need anything more tbh!!).

Is this just a caliper upgrade or is the more to than that??

Loving the shiney pic

 

[Euans2]

Did you have to get the car recoded with VCDS to enable the cd changer port on the back of the symphony to work, my dension is showing no signs of life at all at the moment.

 

[Icarus83]

Did you have to get the car recoded with VCDS to enable the cd changer port on the back of the symphony to work, my dension is showing no signs of life at all at the moment.

Nope, just fitted it and hit the CD button and it worked. I have a double DIN Symphony 2 if that makes a difference?

Is this just a caliper upgrade or is the more to than that??

Loving the shiney pic

New calipers, carriers, bigger front discs from 288mm to 345mm, rears from 245mm solid to 300mm vented, and also braided lines.

Thanks, it was very very shiny! Needs a good clean, possibly a bank-holiday activity.......

 

[ruffrida]

The full hog then,if ya don't mind asking how much has tha set you back?

 

[WOLF]

Nice avant,even nicer now its clean.Looking good mate!

 

[Euans2]

Nope, just fitted it and hit the CD button and it worked. I have a double DIN Symphony 2 if that makes a difference?.

Cheers. I found out my issue tonight, dodgy earth wire connection, all sorted now

 

[Icarus83]

The full hog then,if ya don't mind asking how much has tha set you back?

Of course.

I got the calipers from 2 different sources, front and rear seperately. Cost me just over £400 in total (which was cheap from what I can tell as normally they come up for more as quite rare apparently).

£225 for discs/pads from EBC (again, shopped about, retail for new discs and pads is normally much much more, about £350 from everywhere else), £80 for the braided lines and another £50 to get one of the rear calipers serviced as the piston gaitor had perished.

 

[Icarus83]

Nice avant,even nicer now its clean.Looking good mate!

Haha, I've tricked you then! They're old pics, its still dirty......mwah ha ha. She'll be cleaned at the weekend, don't you worry!

I'll add new pics then too.

 

[Icarus83]

Cheers. I found out my issue tonight, dodgy earth wire connection, all sorted now

Good good! I plumbed in the mic to the light cluster in the ceiling as it has a space for one to fit, and the route across to the a-pillar isn't too bad! Works well I think!

 

[Icarus83]

Well after nearly 3 days in my local friendly garage, she has now had a complete revamp.

I had bought a Meyle HD full kit with droplinks and tie-rods, and had asked them to carry out work on the remainding 6 control arms that I had no chance of doing myself (I only managed to change the drivers lower pair as they were so corroded!!!!!), and fit the new tie-rods. They were also going to fit my braided lines and S4 brake setup, both front and rear sets, all with new DOT 5.1 fluid.

They advised that on inspection one of my front shocks was leaking from the bottom end as someone in the past had used pipe-grips or something and broken the paint. Several years of corrosion eating away had taken its toll and it was leaking quite badly. I had also noticed myself that the n/s rear damper was weeping oil also so got them to replace all 4, which made sense as the front suspension was currently in pieces already. £61 for each fronts and £31 for each of the rears didn't seem too bad in my opinion after I had done some research myself.

They are MOT'ing her once all back together this afternoon, and the guy working on my car said the only reason it may fail would be emissions or dash lights. I know the dash lights are fine (has the ol' airbag light on triggered from the passenger under seat yellow connector, which I'd fixed a few months ago. Also the car is still running its DPF (that I dont intend to remove, maybe replace with new) and also juiced with DieselRhino additive so I cant imagine I'll have any issue with that. The additive had made a hell of a difference with noticeable clouds when driving becoming non-existent since I started using it (amongst other benefits).

All in all it's an expensive experience which I had hoped to avoid by doing the work myself, but apparently the iron-oxide said no.

Over the weekend I will be unbolting some of the new bolts and liberally treating them all to copper grease to save any problems in the future......especially the dreaded upper pinch bolt, which I will change and replace every year I think to avoid issues in the future, so will buy myself a stock of them!

Will get some pics on of all the new bits soon!

Oh..............and give her a good clean.

 

[Icarus83]

Well after getting my car back yesterday evening, I took it for a quick short spin.

My God!!

Yes I know I have replaced practically the whole suspension now, new control arms, tie-rods, new dampers all round, new rear top-mounts as the old ones were completely shot - the car must feel like it did when it was new and was driven off the forecourt! Very impressed indeed with the transformation!

New brakes are very spongy, but I know Whalstrom had similar issues, and the garage warned me they'd be like it.

Only issue is came to start the car today and a lovely click from the solenoid but nothing else, good 12v at the battery, dash is fine, no fault codes.......guy from the garage came to assist and we managed to bump start by towing it with my wife's car, so at least it isn't anything catastrophic. Likely to be cabling to the starter as its right next to the drive shaft fitting point which the mechanic had disconnected to get the n/s upright out (hub nut was seized so took the lot out).

Hopefully its something simple like that.......I was really looking forward to the drive to work this morning too!!!!

 

[Wahlstrom]

As said, try bleeding it's few times, or ask your garage to do it.. Have heard it can be hard to get air out on these models..
Mine are fine now after a few times bleeding it two-man style

 

[Icarus83]

Well the car is still at the garage as they didn't get a chance to look at it until late on in the day.

Apparently the lead from the starter to the positive side of the battery is corroded and decided this morning to fail.....great.

Have put together a comparison image between 288mm and 345mm brake setups. They 18" rims for sizing reference and will test fit one of my original 17" alloys when I have the car back.



And the 300mm rears:

 

[Wahlstrom]

Nice..
Getting my parts Tuesday, and will install right after..
17" should fit, but also depends on ET..
Don't know yet if I'm gonna run 17" or 18" winter tyres..

 

[Icarus83]

Nice..
Getting my parts Tuesday, and will install right after..
17" should fit, but also depends on ET..
Don't know yet if I'm gonna run 17" or 18" winter tyres..

I think now seeing the space available with the diameter of disc and caliper 17" should be fine, my original alloys are ET45 though I believe so will report back once I've had a test fit of them as they might not clear the caliper. Will add pics too!

 

[Icarus83]

Car is still with the garage as the cable they need from Audi is on back-order so will be getting an auto-electrician to make the cable up from scratch which should be cheaper than the OEM part too. Been without my car foor a week now and its like loosing a limb!

My friendly garage have lent me a Renault Kangoo again, this time the dCi 70, which in itself is a good giggle to drive actually. Reminds me of my old Renaultsport Clio. They lent me a d 65 Kangoo last week (NA 1.9 diesel) and that was soul destroying to drive as it was soooo slow, think the book 0-60 is 19 seconds, and I think that is very generous for the 12 year old and 130k mile example I had the, err, pleasure to drive......

The dCi 70 is a 1.5 TurboDiesel at least and is fairly nippy!

Hopefully will be getting my car back tonight!

 

[Icarus83]

Well I finally have my Avant back.

They say things come in 3's, well the failure of my drivers window regulator last night as I re-synced my auto windows was number 3, so hopefully once I've repaired that with the bits I ordered last night over the weekend and given it the full clean and detail she deserves, maybe she'll be kinder to me....

The new suspension is lovely though, the old dampers were obviously completely shot. New ones are firm but absorb the lumps and bumps so much better and the car feels sharper too.

Brakes are still a bit squidgy, but I've barely done 30 miles on new discs and pads and everything needs to bed in.

 

[Wahlstrom]

Very nice..
Im on the fronts as I write..
Just waiting for the shop to bring me two new brake hoses as I couldn't get it off the caliper without braking it.. The rubber is cracking too so better change it now 👍

 

[Icarus83]

Very nice..
Im on the fronts as I write..
Just waiting for the shop to bring me two new brake hoses as I couldn't get it off the caliper without braking it.. The rubber is cracking too so better change it now 👍

Nice day for it!

Thats why I got a garage to fit mine, had problems getting it undone myself and was worried about rounding things off. I've had braided lines fitted to mine. HEL ones, were about £80....bought the S4 ones rather than A4 replacements, but they are probably the same length.

I've noticed quite a increase in the brake pedal travel as I assume the larger pistons at the front have taken up more fluid capacity, which is quite common when fitting bigger brakes, especially multi-pot calipers. Either that or there is still air in the system, the garage said if its still the same after a couple of weeks, they'll bleed it again, and will get them to bleed the clutch at the same time as that should help.

 

[Wahlstrom]

Fitted!!
Firm pedal from first touch..
Very nice.. Shorter pedal travel now.. Did you fit new hoses?

 

[Wahlstrom]

 

[Wahlstrom]

My bad.. You fitted HEL ones..
Really a different feel now.. I guess yours still have air then...

 

[Icarus83]

My bad.. You fitted HEL ones..
Really a different feel now.. I guess yours still have air then...

Yes, I think so. I'll give it a bit then bleed everything again. The Garage did say I could pop it back to them and they would bleed it for me, so might take them up if its still not sharp.

 

[Wahlstrom]

Yes, I think so. I'll give it a bit then bleed everything again. The Garage did say I could pop it back to them and they would bleed it for me, so might take them up if its still not sharp.

I think You better do so..
Mine was solid from first drive.. Instead of driving fast I'm now looking for reasons to brake all the time.. Loving it..

 

[ruffrida]

SO JEALOUS OF YOU LOT WITH YA BIG *** BRAKES

 

[Springer*]

Good thread this!

Really fascinated by the replacement suspension parts thing.

I've always been curious about what replacing the front springy bits on my car would do to the feel and handling of it. Its done 129k and generally handles ok, but recently I had the front drop links replaced and it felt much tighter. It makes me think that other stuff could do with renewing to make it all really sharp, especially as front tyre wear seems to be a little uneven and more rapid these days.

I'm thinking dampers to start with, but what else would you recommend I look at changing that won't cost the earth?

Btw, the car looks great and is quite a rare colour. Loving the A5 alloys too!

J

 

[Wahlstrom]

Swaybar front and back.. Could be my next project..
It should tighten the handling really well.. From a RS4 or the Eibach kit perhaps

 

[Icarus83]

Good thread this!

Really fascinated by the replacement suspension parts thing.

I've always been curious about what replacing the front springy bits on my car would do to the feel and handling of it. Its done 129k and generally handles ok, but recently I had the front drop links replaced and it felt much tighter. It makes me think that other stuff could do with renewing to make it all really sharp, especially as front tyre wear seems to be a little uneven and more rapid these days.

I'm thinking dampers to start with, but what else would you recommend I look at changing that won't cost the earth?

Btw, the car looks great and is quite a rare colour. Loving the A5 alloys too!

J

I think the upper arms were OK on mine, but as I had the kit, I had them all done. Buying the arms separately would be a fair bit more I think.

Also the new dampers have made a massive difference in my opinion. You can feel the comparison with the new ones bump and rebound, although OEM, are noticeable. Lumps and bumps in the road that used to crash the suspension are now easily absorbed and the car is much less skittish at the rear. I had new top mounts at the back that probably help too.

My drive home from work today was the first time I had a good drive in her and even at what used to be the limit for confident driving (quiet country roads and good conditions) felt like there was acres of comfortable handling left before the limit.

My Avant used to follow undulations in the road quite badly, but now the new tie rods make the car much much sharper and it doesn't wander.

It has cost a lot but in my mind every penny spent was worth it.

New dampers cost £61 for the fronts each and £31 for each of the rears. Top mounts were £40 each....

Thanks for the compliments, I'm not sure its a rare colour though, LZ9W is its paint code which is Ebony Pearl. Really happy with the ofset of the alloys, sod spacers!

Will get some new pics over the weekend once its been cleaned!

Cheers, Rob

 

[Icarus83]

Swaybar front and back.. Could be my next project..
It should tighten the handling really well.. From a RS4 or the Eibach kit perhaps

I've been researching the RS4 rear ARB upgrade myself, and for me I don't think I need it, it changes some other characteristics that I don't want so will give it a miss. Apparently they give the rear wheels less response to contours on the road so it skips more, giving less grip.

Apparently no point upgrading the front as its the same on all the B6 and B7 models.

Guess it depends on how you want the car to behave, apparently the 034 tuning ARB is adjustable though......

 

[Wahlstrom]

Ok.. Ive read that it should be a great upgrade.. But if it makes the car less grippy then there's no point doing it.. But why does it make the rs4 better?? Heavier rear end??

 

[B5NUT]

Its designed to work with the DRC system on the RS4, its never design to work optimally with standard shocks & springs.