Project 'Cheapie' Trackday.

[Paul McCleary]

A few weeks ago I purchased Billybravos old A4 1.8 t Sport. My intention is to use the car for trackdays until I finish my 90 S2 build.
I drove the car back from the midlands to my workshop and pulled a few parts off as I like to leave my mark on a car before using it.
The idea of this project is to do as much of it as I can on the cheap as I want to have a little fun, but not spend all of my S2's budget.

First thing to go was the standard turbo. Now being replaced with a little T3.

Next up is a cheap XS Power manifold.

The car is sporting a few plumbing and wiring horrors and the seat mounts just have to go.

Nitrous controller and purge valve birds nest.

Nitrous supply line rubbing on steering columb!!!

Seat mounts aren't great and may upset a few scrutineers.

Some of the underbonnet cables and pipes (especially the nitrous setup) are insecure and chaffing so a tidy up is needed.

The nitrous nozzle was found to be loose, so leaking boost and aimed at the wrong angle.

The purge valve pipes need securing.

Saving the best for last.......The front brake hoses are more than overdue for replacement!!

I've got a set of 440cc injectors to fit. (pics to follow) and a Gizzmo boost controler so I can run a softer spring in the external wastegate for wet weather low boost.
I'm fitting A8 front discs with the old Compbrake 4 pot calipers from my S2 as the brakes are standard at the moment.

I'll add to the thread as and when I do some mods.

Paul.:icon_thumright:

 

[sam80quattro]

looing good but save yourself loads of hassle and bin that manifold, they really are a nightmare. you can get cast 1s for the same price i you look about on ebay,

 

[aragorn]

Christ that does look a little bodged!

I hope that isnt an ebay special T3 from china, as if it is, it probably wont last 12 minutes...

What software are you planning on running?

 

[Foxmeister]

Good start so far, definately needed going over before doing any more mods. What sort of power is it running, and what are you aiming for?

 

[jcb]

i bought one of those manifolds by mistake, went straight back. very shiny,
who says you can't polish a ****!?

 

[Paul McCleary]

I know what you mean about the cheap turbo's and manifolds. The price I got them for makes them a disposable item. If they only last 10 minutes, I will have had my moneys worth. In all fairness, the turbo came from a supplier I have used many times before and has several of these T3's from the same batch running on Golf with no issues, so it should be sound. Even so, I stripped the turbo and inspected it and I'll be making a support bracket and damper for the turbo to help slow down the enevitable cracked manifold.

The car is currently running an AMD map with a dyno plot suggesting 212bhp on the original K03. I'm not really sure what to do about a remap. I didn't want to go to the expense of a stand alone ECU, but I'm not sure how much headroom the factory ECU has?? Any suggestions would be welcome.

I picked up a Walbro 255 lph fuel pump today as the car has 170 thou on the clock and I'm guessing its still on the original pump, so better safe than sorry.

I'm not to fussed on BHP figures, as long as it drives well and had good torque, then I will be happy. The engine is still on standard rods and pistons, so staying under the Magic 300 would be a good idea I'd imagine?

Paul.

 

[aragorn]

The factory ecu has plenty of headroom, but you cant remap them very easily, due to the chip used.

You cant up the boost on the current MAP, as the ECU will just go into fuel cut.

TBH if anything the T3 is going to end up giving you less torque, as it wont spool till much higher in the rev range.

If you want big power you need to take a look at the thread by byzan_a4 about fitting a hybrid turbo, hes covered a lot of the tuning issues, but to summarise you will need to change the ECU for one from a golf, and fit a later wiring harness.

 

[Paul McCleary]

One of the reasons for chosing the T3 was to shunt the torque to higher RPMs as it is only Front wheel drive and lots of low end torque = wheelspin.
I did a bit of phoning round and it seems most of the common chip tuners are reluctant to set up the car as it is a bit to modified to suit their usual tweakable maps.
If I can't get it remapped easily, then I will have no choice but to fit a different ECU.
I stumbled across a dyno plot of the car from when it was at Awesome GTI. Check out the fuel cuts on the graph. It has to be one of the worst dyno graphs of any car I have worked on, or owned!

Just noticed the Audi V8 landy in your sig. This should be right up your street: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjGsJXugz-0&playnext_from=TL&videos=JALsOa0SQQM&playnext=1
We built the car earlier this year. It made an easy 520bhp on the engine dyno before it was slotted in. It has KAM locking diffs with the LSD option. 350mm AP 6 Pots and a 7 speed tiptronic box to name but a few of the mods.(Edited to say, I just realised you are a regular of LR4x4 and find superchargers unpleasant,lol):icon_thumright: If your going to the indoor 4x4 show next week, call at our stand and say hello as we are offically starting the Total Off Road Magazine project Range Rover at the show.

Paul.

 

[Drizz]

That disco sounds awesome! Wheres the indoor show? Im a regular on LR4x4 too

 

[Paul McCleary]

That disco sounds awesome! Wheres the indoor show? Im a regular on LR4x4 too

It's such a small world isn't it! :icon_thumright:

http://www.britishindoor4x4show.com/

If you do go, make sure you say hello. I'll be the big guy (read as fat, lol) ripping lumps off a knackered green Range Rover. The disco will be there on our stand as well as Andy B's litte Suzuki SJ.

Paul.

 

[Drizz]

Is there a thread on disco on on lr4x4?

 

[Paul McCleary]

Is there a thread on disco on on lr4x4?

Sorry no. We played the build quite close to our chest as it was to be a cover car for TOR magazine and we didn't want to spoil it for them. It was Januarys edition I think?? It's in having more mods as we speak.

 

[Drizz]

Ill have to look for a copy!

 

[aragorn]

Yeh i'm on lr4x4, and yeh, i dont like the whine, give me a pair of Garretts any day

Disco does seem tasty though with that much power, is there a build thread, or even a thread with plenty of photos?

Mine will only have 300hp, and i'm planning on keeping the manual box too (dont like autos either ) I'm going to start off with some 110 spec brakes, and see how it goes. If i need to go bigger, then it seriously limits wheel choice, as i doubt you'll be getting 350mm disks under the stock 16" rims, but i'd probably look at having some brackets made to move the stock calipers out a bit to clear the larger disks, and would likely try to find a car disk that can be machined out to fit the defender hub.

Whats your username on LR4x4?

 

[Paul McCleary]

Yeh i'm on lr4x4, and yeh, i dont like the whine, give me a pair of Garretts any day

Disco does seem tasty though with that much power, is there a build thread, or even a thread with plenty of photos?

Mine will only have 300hp, and i'm planning on keeping the manual box too (dont like autos either ) I'm going to start off with some 110 spec brakes, and see how it goes. If i need to go bigger, then it seriously limits wheel choice, as i doubt you'll be getting 350mm disks under the stock 16" rims, but i'd probably look at having some brackets made to move the stock calipers out a bit to clear the larger disks, and would likely try to find a car disk that can be machined out to fit the defender hub.

Whats your username on LR4x4?

My username is the same an on here. I mainly post on Difflock, but Difflock has really gone downhill lately.
The auto works really well to be fair. Pete the owner needs an auto as he has a Prosthetic leg. The auto was set up for minimal torque converter slip to help lengthen its life, so it shifts like a manual with a paddle clutch.
The AP brake are a fair size and needed 18 inch rims to clear them. Fortunately 18" is a well covered size in off road tyres due to the US market using lots of them.

Paul.

 

[OldRedEyes]

difflock, now that is a blast from the past