Car feels like it's holding back (S3 2006)

[Daveyonthemove]

Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice if possible.
I bought the car (used obviously) at the weekend, and over all it's good. Totally standard (apparently) and good service history, so all seems well.
As this car and engine is new to me, I am unsure if i'm being paranoid or if things are as they should be, but the car feels like it's holding back.
When driving off normally and applying the throttle, progress is slow. When planting my foot it takes much longer than expected to start picking up speed. My last car was a Focus ST TDCI and with only 185bhp available it wasn't rapid by any means, but it certainly had more 'go' than this does when putting my foot down to get moving, however the S3 gets up to speed much quicker when things start to get going properly.

Is there any data I can log to identify any faults? I have the full version of Torque so I can try to log set parameters with that, and I have a Vagcom lead on the way to use the 'lite' version when that arrives.

If this all sounds normal then I'm sure I will get used to it, but if you think i should be blown away by it when putting my foot down in 2nd or 3rd, then please let me know what to look for.

Also, I have just reset the ECU (battery disconnection) as I know the previous owner only did approx 2 miles of town driving to work each day, so it may have learnt that slow style of driving.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ch1z64]

Might be worth getting someone to do a diagnostic on it ( check out the Vcd's map ) and see if any faults are found . Then you can elimate things if any are found plus it is worth given it a good blast at a steady 70mph for a while and see what fuel you are getting per quarter tank , i find the pick up on my S3 ( BCS + ITG ) Pcks up around 2500 and 3000

 

[Daveyonthemove]

I have done several fault scans but found none. I don't hear anything abnormal or feel power dropping off, so I may just be expecting more than I should.
On the day of collection I took it steady (70mph) on the motorway and returned 36mpg over 50 miles, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Looking at how much the fuel gauge moved and the estimated miles left in the tank (450) it seemed to be close.
I've got it booked into an Audi specialist on Saturday for a cambelt and water pump change, so I'll ask them for their opinion when they test drive it afterwards. Maybe they can put my mind at rest, or give me a possible cause.

 

[ch1z64]

But have you used the correct diagnostic equipment as others will give you different faults and sometimes no faults
Wishful thinking geting 450miles out a full tank you might get about 35miles to the gallon and normally its a 50litre tank so my reckoning around 350 and thats iff all is fine and standard

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Yeah, no doubt I would see nowhere near that range, but cruising along steadily it was sipping fuel well.
I did a scan using the Torque app, but will do more scans when my OBD cable arrives.

 

[SootySport]

Could be the turbo not spooling up fast enough. Sticky turbo vanes? or maybe you're changing up the gears too early.
How does it feel when changing up at 5000revs?

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Sticky vanes could be the problem, I'm not changing up too early as I'm wanting to feel the power across the rev range.
I'll drive it more and a bit harder after the cambelt is done. I daren't risk it too much until it's been changed, for obvious reasons.

 

[prt57]

Your Focus was a Diesel and so there is lots of low down torque whereas the S3 needs maybe 2.5K revs before the turbo starts to spool up.
I would be putting a new set of NGK BKR7EIX plugs and using Shell V Power so it can take advantage of the 99 RON. Air filter may be clogged too.
Have the garage check the diverter valve as the diaphragm might be slightly split. The G revision is the preferred option but the diaphragm is the weak spot. That said I put a G in our TT 40K miles ago and it is still fine.
Depending on the mileage it could be that the inlet valves are clogged up with carbon. So a walnut blasting and injector service at somewhere like RTech will replace lost power. A simple stage 1 RTech remap at the same time will see you at approx 320 BHP and the car will be transformed.
Have the garage check the fuel pump cam follower for wear. Not a service item but if it wears through it can prove very costly.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Thanks for the reply.
Car currently has a mix of Tesco 99 and Vpower Nitro in the tank, so the fuel should be ok.
Major service was carried out in November, with invoice for plugs/filters/Fuel additive/Premium oil etc. I'd like to think it's ok, but I can check the Airfilter to double check.
I have ordered the cam follower, just waiting for that to arrive and will DIY change it next week.
I hadn't thought of the carbon build up, I will look into that.
Bluefin arrived yesterday, so I will install that at a later date once I'm confident that the engine is healthy.

To be honest, you could be on to something reference the TDI Torque and power delivery. I have only driven diesels in the past, so I may just need to adapt to the petrol turbo engine.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

One thing I have no record of is a fuel filter change, so I may as well get that done to be sure it's as good as it can be.

 

[paddy]

I would check the DV, it could be leaking boost but i suspect its just being an S3. As has been pointed out its not got the grunt of a diesel at low revs, i remember when i first bought mine how disappointed it was and it was brand new....It wasnt as quick as my old 3.2 A3 but at 800 miles i got a revo stg1 on it and never looked back, totally transformed the car.

 

[prt57]

Thanks for the reply.
Car currently has a mix of Tesco 99 and Vpower Nitro in the tank, so the fuel should be ok.
Major service was carried out in November, with invoice for plugs/filters/Fuel additive/Premium oil etc. I'd like to think it's ok, but I can check the Airfilter to double check.
I have ordered the cam follower, just waiting for that to arrive and will DIY change it next week.
I hadn't thought of the carbon build up, I will look into that.
Bluefin arrived yesterday, so I will install that at a later date once I'm confident that the engine is healthy.

To be honest, you could be on to something reference the TDI Torque and power delivery. I have only driven diesels in the past, so I may just need to adapt to the petrol turbo engine.

I had a Bluefin on my S3 to begin with as my first dabble into tuning.
I wish I hadn’t as it did not make too much difference compared to stock. They couldn’t even tell me if it was a tune for 99 or 95 RON and is very conservative.
So I would send that back for a refund and if you want a generic tune, APR is far better. A custom tune like RTech will extract the best from your car based on your hardware.
The fuel filter is well worth doing as the latest ones have high flow rates and you would not believe how black the paper element gets even with the best fuel in the tank.
Depending on your mechanical ability, there is a modification that can be done to the brass inlet of your fuel pump involving drilling out the
1 mm hole to 5 mm. The aftermarket high flow fuel pumps have this done at the factory and again more horses are released if you have a custom stage 1 tune.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/529405700525327?view=permalink&id=1158131550986069&_rdr

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Thanks for the extra advice, it's very much appreciated.
I have had many remaps over the years (best being Custom Code on a Leon FR TDI back in 2006) and I agree that they are great value for money.
the main reason I chose Superchips this time around is the support they have offered others on this forum in the past, and I do not know the history of my clutch. If it turns out that my Clutch won't handle the Bluefin then it can be reverted to stock and I can get a new clutch sorted in my own time.
At that point I'll go for a stronger set up, and then I can start looking at more power to get the most from it.

For now, a mild stage 1 map will do me fine. Who knows, if I drill out the FP to 5mm it may be a different animal anyway.

 

[prt57]

That’s fine, please just check Superchips sends you the correct file for your car being manual. Most of the Bluefin issues I have read about have been where the customer has received the wrong file for their car.
As you say, you can flash it back if needed. I used to do this before sending my S3 into Audi for a service.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

I've just taken it for a spirited drive logging some info using the Torque App.
The car does come alive at 2500rpm and above, so I'm happier that it's running ok, however...
Boost pressure maxed at .80 Bar, which I believe is where it should be. I didn't feel or hear any signs of a drop in boost.
MAF reading maxed out at 178.4 which I think equates to 223bhp. I may be wrong, but I thought the MAF was meant to read higher on a standard car?

The car pulled without issue up to the red line, so I don't think it's as bad as I first imagined, but the MAF reading makes me think it could be better.

 

[ch1z64]

Now this is something to keep in mind firstly how good has the engine been maintained in it's 10yrs plus do you know if it has ever been walnut cleaned
The reason for this is i just got mine done on Thursday picked up today and it fly's

 

[Daveyonthemove]

I have a good service history for it, but no mention of the walnut clean. As they cost the same as the MAF, I'm not sure what to go for.
I suppose if the MAF was failing I would feel it and there might be a fault code logged, so it's probably healthy?

 

[Daveyonthemove]

It's getting Carbon Cleaned on Monday Morning. Not as thorough as a Walnut Clean, but it has very good reviews and should make an improvement so I'll give it a go.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

The car went in for the Cambelt change today and I had the fuel filter replaced at the same time.
it definitely feels less restricted and seems to respond better to throttle input. I will log the MAF readings tomorrow and see how it compares.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

A little update.
Had a run in 3rd again up to the red line (this time with a passenger) and MAF maxed at 182.4, so that's an increase from 178.4 and a BHP increase of 5bhp.
A tiny increase that won't make much difference to over all experience, BUT the car is responding better so for that alone it was worth changing the fuel filter.
I'll make sure future Haldex filter services include a fuel filter so they both get done at 40K to keep things healthy.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

The plot thickens with my car.
Today I had the carbon clean done, and it has made a noticeable difference, so I'm happy with that.
Whilst it was being done I called Superchips to ask if my remap was on it's way or not, and was advised that my file was currently being looked at as it was a previously remaped file. Obviously It doesn't feel remapped to me, so that's not a good sign. Superchips have offered to refund me or provide an original Audi file for the car and the remap, which I accepted. Currently awaiting those files.
On top of that, the guy doing the Carbon Clean was reading live data on my car and was able to pinpoint a misfire, which I hadn't noticed.
It may explain the lack in power, or it could be a poor remap currently on the car. Either way, I've ordered some Coil packs for collection tomorrow and I'm about to go and collect some Spark plugs after lunch.
Hopefully, these little changes will add up to the car running at it's best.

MAF reading after the Carbon Clean was a max of 183.9 which is 230 bhp.
Will try it again after the plugs and coil packs are changed, and then run the car on stock map and finally on the remap.
I'll then put the results into an easier format to read.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Today with the help of my girlfriends son I upgraded all the spark plugs, replaced all the coil packs and replaced the Cam follower.
We also discovered the bottom of the airbox had a hole in it, so we that patched up with Fibreglass in order to prevent unwanted air leaks.
The engine has improved again, feeling much torquier and more responsive.
In the near future I will get the oil and filter changed even though it was done at Audi in November.
At the start of this thread I reported that the car felt held back. Now it feels like nothing could hold it back, complete transformation.

 

[DrSasso]

Glad to hear things are improving