Since selling off my 3rd R53 (Mini) and trying to be sensible, I tried to get by on a Mk 6 GTI (DSG) and failed.
Nice enough car for a daily commute car, but definitely not a weekend car & as I donât have a daily commute it makes it useless⦠(unfortunately the family mobile is also a very sensible member of the VAG family too).
What the Golf did though was made me have a good look at the VAG forums to see what else appealed & made up a shortlist, with a few helpful suggestions from friends (which mostly involved a V8 or a Porsche) and then ended up buying an S3 (8P). Looks like this â
Itâs good a decent spec â Manual, Heated Leather, SatNav, Bluetooth, flatbottomed wheel & Xenons. It was pretty tatty when I picked it up, so sent it to these guys in Edinburgh for a full detail (inside, out and all 4 wheels refurbished) â
WildHorses Mustang Specialist
Thatâs the 4th car Iâve had detailed by Alan, the work is excellent and really good value.
Anyway, after coming from a properly sorted Mini, the car needs a lot of work to get it to a level that i'll be able to start enjoy driving itâ¦.so phase one took place in early December, with the following done at Autohaus in Edinburgh, a former Revo Dealer and now one of only 2 APR dealers in Scotland (they made a really good first impression & Iâll be back) :
Phase 1
⢠Full oil and brake fluid service
⢠New NGK Iridium 8 plugs
⢠RS4 Fuel Return Valve
⢠Revision D Diverter Valve
⢠Pipercross panel filter
⢠New oem cam follower
⢠APR High Pressure Fuel Pump
⢠Full Miltek (sports cat) and resonated 3" exhaust system
⢠APR Stage 2+ Tune
⢠Loba Motorsport uprated clutch & Single mass flywheel conversion (& new Sachs master and slave cylinder)
⢠4 X new Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4Ds to get me through Baltic conditions
The above should be good for 350-360bhp, will be taking it to a dyno early new year to see how it stacks up.
More importantly though, Iâm really looking forward to the phase 2 of this build (spring time next year), unfortunately i've had to introduce phase 1.1 to keep me going through winter (will fit in the next few weeks):
Phase 1.1
* THS lower, upper engine & transmission mounts
* Vibratechnics dog bone
* Whiteline anti-lift kit
* New Pagid Discs on front/rear and new ATE Pads
Phase 2
⢠Quaife ATB Differential (front)
⢠Haldex Gen 2 Controller (with remote)
⢠Bilstein B16s
⢠H&R rear ARB
⢠Powerflex / Superpro â full front and rear polybush
⢠Nitrac treated new discs & decent performance pads
⢠Decent summer rubber â R888 style
⢠BBS CH
The car must look 100% stock though, under the hood and from the outside, donât want any hint of whatâs been done to it from the outside (noise or looks). Donât really even want oem+ look on the outside⦠it really just needs to look like a well looked after S3 8P.
The aim is to get to a reliable and usable 400bhp on this car, that handles really well (on a track) & the Quattro really helps the handling rather than hinders by being a dead weight!
Phase 3 (& possibly the final oneâ¦) will be :
⢠APR Intercooler
⢠APR Stage 3 remap
⢠Loba Motorsport Hybrid turbo
⢠Aquamist HFS4
Should have it all completed by the end of the year, at which point Iâll decide if itâs appropriate to send it to weightwatchers and turn into a track slag (but thatâs too far off to even think about for someone with such a short term view on carsâ¦. :lol
Iâd still like to get back into a Mini at some point, but not sure what one and whenâ¦
Views, opinions and abuse all very welcome. Views and opinions on fitting an LSD (even an ATB one like the Quaife), I can't see why the handling of these won't be completely transformed by fitting a half decent LSD. Has anyone got one fitted, which one and how are you finding it ?
Nice enough car for a daily commute car, but definitely not a weekend car & as I donât have a daily commute it makes it useless⦠(unfortunately the family mobile is also a very sensible member of the VAG family too).
What the Golf did though was made me have a good look at the VAG forums to see what else appealed & made up a shortlist, with a few helpful suggestions from friends (which mostly involved a V8 or a Porsche) and then ended up buying an S3 (8P). Looks like this â
Itâs good a decent spec â Manual, Heated Leather, SatNav, Bluetooth, flatbottomed wheel & Xenons. It was pretty tatty when I picked it up, so sent it to these guys in Edinburgh for a full detail (inside, out and all 4 wheels refurbished) â
WildHorses Mustang Specialist
Thatâs the 4th car Iâve had detailed by Alan, the work is excellent and really good value.
Anyway, after coming from a properly sorted Mini, the car needs a lot of work to get it to a level that i'll be able to start enjoy driving itâ¦.so phase one took place in early December, with the following done at Autohaus in Edinburgh, a former Revo Dealer and now one of only 2 APR dealers in Scotland (they made a really good first impression & Iâll be back) :
Phase 1
⢠Full oil and brake fluid service
⢠New NGK Iridium 8 plugs
⢠RS4 Fuel Return Valve
⢠Revision D Diverter Valve
⢠Pipercross panel filter
⢠New oem cam follower
⢠APR High Pressure Fuel Pump
⢠Full Miltek (sports cat) and resonated 3" exhaust system
⢠APR Stage 2+ Tune
⢠Loba Motorsport uprated clutch & Single mass flywheel conversion (& new Sachs master and slave cylinder)
⢠4 X new Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4Ds to get me through Baltic conditions
The above should be good for 350-360bhp, will be taking it to a dyno early new year to see how it stacks up.
More importantly though, Iâm really looking forward to the phase 2 of this build (spring time next year), unfortunately i've had to introduce phase 1.1 to keep me going through winter (will fit in the next few weeks):
Phase 1.1
* THS lower, upper engine & transmission mounts
* Vibratechnics dog bone
* Whiteline anti-lift kit
* New Pagid Discs on front/rear and new ATE Pads
Phase 2
⢠Quaife ATB Differential (front)
⢠Haldex Gen 2 Controller (with remote)
⢠Bilstein B16s
⢠H&R rear ARB
⢠Powerflex / Superpro â full front and rear polybush
⢠Nitrac treated new discs & decent performance pads
⢠Decent summer rubber â R888 style
⢠BBS CH
The car must look 100% stock though, under the hood and from the outside, donât want any hint of whatâs been done to it from the outside (noise or looks). Donât really even want oem+ look on the outside⦠it really just needs to look like a well looked after S3 8P.
The aim is to get to a reliable and usable 400bhp on this car, that handles really well (on a track) & the Quattro really helps the handling rather than hinders by being a dead weight!
Phase 3 (& possibly the final oneâ¦) will be :
⢠APR Intercooler
⢠APR Stage 3 remap
⢠Loba Motorsport Hybrid turbo
⢠Aquamist HFS4
Should have it all completed by the end of the year, at which point Iâll decide if itâs appropriate to send it to weightwatchers and turn into a track slag (but thatâs too far off to even think about for someone with such a short term view on carsâ¦. :lol
Iâd still like to get back into a Mini at some point, but not sure what one and whenâ¦
Views, opinions and abuse all very welcome. Views and opinions on fitting an LSD (even an ATB one like the Quaife), I can't see why the handling of these won't be completely transformed by fitting a half decent LSD. Has anyone got one fitted, which one and how are you finding it ?
