Dwayne's 2009 Sprint Blue S3

[Dwayne S3]

Hi everyone on ASN. My name is Dwayne and I'm from South Africa. I've had my S3 for a year now so I thought I'd start a ride's thread, also to get input from like minded people who share the same passion as I do.

Prior to getting the S3, I owned a 2006 B7 A4 S-Line. It was running Unitronic Stg 2+ with all the bits and bobs that go with it. Such an awesome car, but when I discovered I could get my hands on this S3, I had to make the move to own it. I work at a Mazda Dealership as a service manager and some guy traded this S3 in on a newer pre-owned Ford Focus ST. Insane I know, but all the better for me.

The S3 was bone stock, apart from the downpipe and an unknown software brand loaded to the ecu. Irrespective, all I knew is that I had to have it.

Here are a few pics of the cars together before the B7 was traded....

As soon as I got the S3, I plastidipped the grille black as well as the rear diffuser at the bottom of the rear bumper. It really went well with the blue.

Soon after officially owning the s3, my good friend Chris Dark Artz Performance here in SA, flashed the ECU with a Unitronic 2+ 98 ron file. I was much happier knowing what brand of software I have on the car.

I mate of mine decided to change his alloys on his B7 DTM, so he kindly gave me his OEM DTM alloys...

I absolutely love how the wheels sit wider than the original S3 wheels due to the offset.

We have a racing cup here called the Michelin Cup. One of my mates persuaded me to enter with him (he drives a full track spec Subaru Impreza STI). This was the beginning of something great for 2015.

Having a small idea of what was coming my way in 2015, I came across some poly LCA bushes which I thought would be good as a small, cheap upgrade.

The 1st event in the Michelin Cup was a dyno event. This was used to put us into classes according to our cars power output on the wheels....

I came 2nd in my class with a healthy 230wkw, only to be beaten by 2 wkw by an RS2 Avant, which is fine to be beaten by a legend like that.

Thanx for reading my thread so far.... more about this years fun in my next post...

 

[Dwayne S3]

Next up was our event at Vereeniging Go Kart circuit. it was a time attack setup, basically chasing the clock..

I always thought I could drive pretty well, but I was shown reality doing this 1st event. With this being my 1st AWD car, it was a whole new ball game. I also forgot to mention that my ABS controller packed up prior to this event, so I had no assists whatsoever. After getting a few tips and pointers from fellow AWD driver's I was getting the hang of it...well sort of.

Next up was a proper track day at Zwartkops Raceway. I had a real stroke of bad luck due to my clutch master cylinder packed up as I stopped in the pit area. After much swearing and sweat, I managed to get the clutch working 70%. So i proceeded with the event...

I nursed the car home afterwards and decided to take it to my mate Frans, the owner of VAG Spec Centre to sort the issue and replace the clutch kit while its there. He offered to do the work for me as time was not on my side.

Next up was the 1km top speed run at ODI Raceway. It happened to be on the same day as Father's day, so I had little sticker made in memory of my late Dad.... who without him, I would never have been a petrolhead...

Here is me with my mate Carl with his Subaru, lining up for scrutineering...

I ended up with a top speed of 226km/h over the 1km with a headwind...

more in the next post...

thanx for reading.....

 

[Dwayne S3]

After doing a few events, I realised I needed a few mods for more grip and abit more power. I moved the battery to the back of the bar, evening out the weight distribution abit more, but also leaving me room to make a custom. I did have an intake already, but I was not happy with the flow rate or the fuel trims I was getting. So I decided to design my own MAF housing, correctly scaled for the maf sensor as well as a proper velocity stack so that I could run a 100mm BMC filter on the 76mm piping. I approached a mate who has a 3d printer and he printed out my designs in plastic....

velocity stack...

maf housing with dv relocation bung...

eventually it looked like this....

This setup has been spot on all season, having achieved 10 to 12 g/s more airflow and correct fuel trims this time around. Also, the solicone pipes hardly heat up which is a big plus on the race track...

thanx for reading... more in the next post...

 

[nil538]

Looks like a nice set up mate and some good work that's gone in to it nice job mate

 

[Dwayne S3]

thanks Null....

 

[Dwayne S3]

so we had a track day at Red Star raceway, which took its toll on the car. I realised road tyres willl just not cut it any more. Being on the loud pedal out of a corner, the road tyres were really ****. I won't even begin to talk about the body roll. Besides this, I overheated the engine oil. I was expecting this at some point as i had been racing with the same oil through out the year....

in the pits with the RS2 Avant

here is the ****** oil filter...

so I replaced the filter and oil, I only use fully synthetic Motul oil in the motor. All was well again.....

 

[hentotheree]

gorgeous car

 

[Dwayne S3]

After knowing I needed some upgrades, I met up with the importer of GT radial tyres here in SA. He hooked me up with a set of GT Radial SX2 intermediate tyres....and wow....the grip was amazing....

A mate was looking for stock items to replace his upgraded items as he wanted to sell his car. So i offered to swop my S3 parts with his parts, and do the labour myself as payment... so I managed to get my hands on the following:

Koni sport dampening adjustable shocks
H & R matched springs
CTS Turbo FMIC
Spulen discharge pipe
CTS Turbo Thottle pipe

these parts made a MASSIVE improvement on my car!! the suspension felt amazing and the throttle response was very much improved. I can say that the CTS Turbo FMIC is a great bit of kit.

Our next event was a Skidpan Gymkhana.... more on that in my next post.

thanx for reading....

 

[Dwayne S3]

as mentioned, next up was a skidpan gymkhana event. I also decided to do some "weight-reduction" on the car.

I removed about 80kg from the car by removing things that could loosened/ unclipped quickly

some pics from the gymkhana. The S3 was a different car with the new setup!!! OMG!!!!

in the queue next to my mates ford fiesta 1.6 zetec supercharged purpose built gymkhana car.

At the end of the day I won my Michelin Cup Class and placed 5th overall on the day, beating many Subaru STI's.

more in my next post about Zwartkops Tar Rally Stage, Michelin Cup Prize giving and BMW Club of SA special stage gymkhana events..

thanx for reading.....

 

[S.]

hi mate, love your car and thread.
i got one question about plastidip, how does it hold on the exhaust area? how many cans did you need for front and back diffusor?
also did you do your oem wheels with plastidip too? i guess they need a can for each corner?

 

[Dwayne S3]

Hi S. Thanks for the kind words...

The Grille I used a tin. The rear diffuser I used 1 and 1/2 tins.it holds 100% with the heat. I use a "special" process with the plastidip buy putting the tin in some hot water for a few mins after I've shaken it up. It helps create a smooth satin type finish instead of that rubber-type look. Will post a pic on the I spray quite fast and close to the object to get a nice finish.

the grille surround....

Plastidip on the wheels doesnt work well. The hot brake dust melts into the plastidip and stays there. The wheels look dirty all the time. My original S3 wheels needed a refurb, so I just use them for the track. I sprayed them with aerosol spray, used 2 tins per corner to give decent coverage and layers. Just gave them a good clean before spraying....

 

[Dwayne S3]

so more on my Michelin Cup season...

Our final event was a tar rally time attack at Zwartkops race track. It was split up in 3 stages, each being more challenging as we progressed. the stages consisted of slalom's and tyres marking where you had to do a handbrake turn around them to go back in the opposite direction. to be honest, it was the best fun I've had in a long time!!! Here are some pics....

In this lat pic I managed to do a 4-wheel drift around the tyres like the Subaru boys do. I showed themthst the Audi's can do exactly what they do!!!! Getting all 4 wheels to break traction a few times that day was VERY exciting......

Few weeks later, the BMW club of SA had their annual tar gymkhana event at Tarlton International Raceway. I was in the open class, obviously because I don't drive a BMW, along side a heavily modified Skyline GTR R35, a VW Golf 7R running a GTX2871 at 2.1 bar boost and a NEO2 pipe car (similar to an Ariel Atom). The event was a marked out course in the pit area of the venue leading onto the 400m dragstrip, where you do a top speed run through the speed traps. At the end of the day I placed 4th in my class, beaten by the above mentioned cars... I did how ever manage to beat a few cars in the Gynkhana section as well as the speed test section, including 3 Porsche GT3's, a BMW E36 with nitrous and Lamborghini Gallardo!! I was very proud of my little Audi!!!!!!

Here are some pics from the event.....

sorry if I go overboard with the pics! I just wanna show the ASN world what I get up to here in SA.

Here is a list of my mods on the S3 currently:

Unitronic 2+ 98ron ecu flash
Custom 76mm intake with 100mm BMC filter
CTS turbo heatshield
Forge actuator
R8 coilpacks
NGK iridium spark plugs
Autotech HPFP upgrade
RS4 FRV
Charcoal canister delete
CTS turbo throttle pipe
Neuspeed discharge pipe
BSH PCV revamp
CTS upgrade FMIC
Devils Own progressive water methanol kit, dual nozzle setup and street tank
Full custom exhaust system, 76mm to 63mm, mandrel bent, with larger OEM look tail piece
N2MB wotbox
Powerflex dogbone insert
Battery relocation
Sachs upgrade clutch kit and DMF

Poly LCA bushes
Koni sport dampening adjustable shock absorbers
H & R springs matched for shocks
GT Radial SX2 intermediate tyres

thanx for reading.... more on the Michelin Cup prize giving and "my worst nightmare" coming up...

 

[Dwayne S3]

So we had the Michelin Cup prize giving towards the end of the year. I managed to finish in 2nd place in my class and 8th overall for the season. I was over the moon for it being my 1st year racing and learning more and more about my car with every event....

On the way back I lost all power on the car. It still idled so it wasnt a boost pipe that came off. I nursed the car home and about 500m from home it started misfiring and cut out. So I pushed the car home and let it cool down. The next i loosen the downpipe to check the exhaust side if the turbo, as i had put a borescope down the compressor side but couldnt really seen anything mashed up. Low and behold, the exhaust wheel was gone. In theory the car should still start so I managed to get it started. It began to misfire and an erratic tapping noise could be heard from cylinder 1. I switched her off, feeling very bleek! I dont have the time to strip it here at home so I towed my car to my mate at VAG Spec Centre. the motor was pulled out there and stripped.

We found that half of a turbo blade had come back through the head and landed on the piston, causing very very shallow pitt marks on the piston. The rest of the combustion chamber had pitt marks too, which can be repaired. The block was 100% thank goodness. We removed the camshafts aswell, and discovered that all the intake valves had worn off at an angle on the tips if the valve stems. All the hydrauliv lifters were worn too.

I have managed to clean up the piston, but I really don't want to use it again unless I'm forced to...

So my plan is to fit new big end and main bearings, new intake valves, new hydraulic lifters and hopefully new pistons. The pistons are difficult to get here in SA as aftermarket parts as they have 21mm wrist pins. Wossner pistons are very expensive as well as pistons from the dealer. Also it's a rubbish time of year to try get parts as everything is closed for the festive season.

I also want to balance the entire rotating assembly once I have the pistons. I am also looking at port matching and flowing the cylinder head, but pistons are my main concern right now. My parts supplier is also filling my engine mounts with polyurethane, as part of a sponsorship type of thing.

More updates to follow in the new year. I have left my job at the Mazda Dealership as service manager and will now be working at VAG Spec Centre as the service manager, so now I can really get my car done asap for the new Michelin Cup season as the 1st event is on the 30th Jan.

thanks for reading