how to tell if an s3 is standard??

[kaos]

picked up my 1st s3 lastnight. 1999 210 apy in dark blue.
it seems ridiculously fast. ive had very fast cars before over 200bhp but naturally aspirated ones. i know the turbo adds allot of torque but she just seems too aggressive to be standard. its very hard to drive it gently and over a light dab on the throttle and you are pinned in the seats!!
turbo kicks in very hard at 2.5k but then it looses almost all boost at around 4k. the standard dv makes a fair bit of noise also. when you boot it sometimes the dv will release boost while your foot is stil down :s
only mod i can find on car is a design tek panel filter whoever they are?!
like i said just seems too aggressive and fast to be standard lol
the guy i brought it from said was standard but he clearly had no clue or was lying. told me his mate works at turbotechnics and rebuilt the turbo a few months back for him. is it possible he adjusted the wastegate arm or hybrid the turbo hence its boosting so much now??
any help appreaciated
thanks

 

[ShaunS3]

Iirc, adjusting the actuator/wastegate keeps the gate closer for a longer period of time, thus allowing the Turbo to build up more boost pressure before it releases out of the wastegate. It is possible that the ECU could have been mapped but its not visual to the eye. Best thing to do is get a boost gauge installed and you can see what its running.

 

[Metro]

Get it on the rollers!

 

[Sam_]

Logging the airflow with VCDS or a liquid gauge will tell you what sort of power it's producing. I had the same when I got my S3 and it turned it out it has a stage 1 map, presumably from APR.

 

[XFi]

Sounds like it's mapped, I was disappointed by my S3 in standard form it really didn't feel fast at all!

 

[s3dave]

As it got a boost gauge? if its boosting to around 20 psi its mapped...:icon_thumright:

 

[daz-20vt]

Sounds like it's mapped, I was disappointed by my S3 in standard form it really didn't feel fast at all!

couldnt agree more lol. if ir feels the slightest bit fast its been mapped. standard s3 is terrible as im constantly reminded!!

 

[jojo]

I thought the S3 was quick at the time of purchasing!(10yrs ago) lol

 

[daz-20vt]

I thought the S3 was quick at the time of purchasing!(10yrs ago) lol

and what do you think now? lol

 

[jojo]

and what do you think now? lol

The competition has caught up, it's still ok in standard form, but not great!

 

[kaos]

Will fitt a boost gauge and see I'm betting it's boosting very high!!

 

[kaos]

Right managed to quickly bodge in a boost gauge after work. Will do a proper job when new silicone pipe comes and I decide how/where to mount. Gauge reads upto 20psi max. on idle Gauge flips about 15 to the left in.hg guess this is vacuum. Then gentle driving swings to left was about 5psi then boot it abit and was about 15psi so I thought that's strange it sounds like boosting like mad and goes to well to be standard. Got it on motorway and planted it in 4th and 5th and gauge went straight to 20psi!! :s how can I find out if it's mapped or just had the turbo messed with ssomehow??

 

[Kevheslop]

Could be both.. Lol.. Surely is the turbo has been "played" with and the ecu wasnt mapped it would run not as great?!?

 

[kaos]

Runs pretty well just boosts extremely hard too early lol. Did couple hundred miles at weekend and driving very sensibly can't get mpg over 28, not sure what they usually do not searched yet

 

[brasiliangringo]

Interesting thread. I will hopefully be in your shoes soon but was planning on logging boost in VCDS which will tell me values, however if ECU remapped then expdct the values will be different - ie requested and actual will appear higher so i will still have no way of knowing if mapped unless i can see a stock boost chart - anyone with VCDS can chime in here..

Kaos, where did you connect the hose under the bonnet for the boost guage ?

 

[kaos]

Teed into fuel pressure reg as read on here

 

[brasiliangringo]

Well there we are then, missed that thread. Been swatting up though

 

[superkarl]

20psi... of course its mapped!!!

T-ing into the FPR isnt the best idea im afraid, put it into the dump valve vac feed instead. a leak in the fpr at 20psi isnt the best scenario

 

[brasiliangringo]

20psi... of course its mapped!!!

How can you tell standard boost as assume VCDS will simply read the 'requested values' off the remapped ECU so no way of telling here ?

 

[superkarl]

How can you tell standard boost as assume VCDS will simply read the 'requested values' off the remapped ECU so no way of telling here ?

he put a boost gauge into the fpr line, it read 20psi at full chat. definately mapped.
VCDS also shows 'actual values' right next to the requested when logged.

standard boost is about 0.8 bar. which is what my standard s3 makes.

 

[brasiliangringo]

0.8 standard ok. My old S4 at the end started to make 2 bar.. I thought the fairies had given it a remap until we discovered it was the wastegate stuck shut, but it did make for some amazing initial surgggeee before limp mode kicked in..