Tom5190's Dolphin S3 8P

[S3Alex]

Yea I'm from Redcar, you?



Cheers for the heads up I may well end up giving you a shout I'm not sure what sort of pads to look at either.

I can also vouch for the AP kit as being a very good one.

I had a VWRacing kit previously which was an improvement over stock,but not remarkable,and swapped to an AP kit recently after the other one became unrepairable.

I've used Ferodo DS2500 pads previously and they are not a great trackday choice,swapped to Mintex 1155s which are much better,and now have AP pads(which may be Mintex derived...not sure) on the front,and EBC Yellows on the rear,as those came with the Forge rear brake kit.

 

[s3_trev]

Yeah the TTRS brakes arnt even up to tracking to needless to say the standard S3 ones would be even worse. The AP racing discs along with the brembo 4pots (the TTRS calipers) seem to be the tried and tested upgrade of choice.

 

[S3Alex]

Yeah the TTRS brakes arnt even up to tracking to needless to say the standard S3 ones would be even worse. The AP racing discs along with the brembo 4pots (the TTRS calipers) seem to be the tried and tested upgrade of choice.

I think that's a good cost effective option.

I had a set of AP rotors with the old VWR kit for a while,and found it better than it had been.
A full AP kit is quite expensive,and the Alcon kit is even more costly.

 

[s3_trev]

Yeah spending that much money on brakes you really would need to be tracking the car quite a lot.

 

[S3Alex]

Yeah spending that much money on brakes you really would need to be tracking the car quite a lot.

I must admit I don't,but would like to.

I just didn't like the feeling of the brakes being just about good enough.

 

[s3_trev]

Well I suppose there are worse ways to spend money as you are making your car safer at the end of the day.

 

[24JSeymour]

car looks great mate! Very clean, im only down the road in great ayton but not seen you around, have a few mates in redcar that all have clio 182's and 200's you will of seen them about no doubt, should meet up for some photos when my new wheels arive!

 

[Tom5190]

Awesome thanks for the replies, I'm going to go with the Brembos & the AP discs. Just need to find some wheels!

Seymour are you talking about the brothers? One with a raider? My mate used to have a 200 for quite a while so I've seen a few around the place. I don't get out much in the car much anymore to be honest I do need some new snaps a couple of us were going to have a drive out to the lakes in a week or so (weather permitting) if you fancy it?

 

[24JSeymour]

Awesome thanks for the replies, I'm going to go with the Brembos & the AP discs. Just need to find some wheels!

Seymour are you talking about the brothers? One with a raider? My mate used to have a 200 for quite a while so I've seen a few around the place. I don't get out much in the car much anymore to be honest I do need some new snaps a couple of us were going to have a drive out to the lakes in a week or so (weather permitting) if you fancy it?

Same brake setup im running, you wont be disappointed.
Yeah thats them glen and jack, ahh id love to but im affraid ill have to miss out this time, got the Nurburgring ring booked for 18th October so im saving up for that and got a few bits and pieces to sort on the car before hand

 

[Tom5190]

Following on from the last update the car has changed a little, I've not driven it for a few months now but a ferry is booked for 8th April & I seem to have taken delivery of another ring card

The car is sort of ready, I've got no wheels though. Team Dynamics lead time of 4 weeks has somehow now turned into 7 weeks & I still have nothing! So for now I'll leave this here & do a full write up with pictures once she is on the road again. (Soon!!)

DSC07047 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

 

[smurfworth]

Looks great as always Tom, brakes look awesome, I always think it's a shame to hide kw coilovers as the stainless struts always look great.

Bet you can't wait to get it on some wheels

 

[Tom5190]

I know, that INOX coating looks awesome its a shame its hidden! They weren't planned to be honest but the OEM rear springs & shocks were toast so I've gone for them. I've done a fair bit of general maintenance on it too but I'll get a proper write up done as soon as these wheels turn up!

Yea I'm sick of driving around in the daily now its 60hp.... horrible! If they don't arrive this week I'll be cancelling the order and going for something else I think, its getting beyond a joke now.

 

[Tom5190]

Ok so the wheels arrived.... but they aren't what I ordered, more on that later. The cars on the road again though that's the main thing.

So I guess I should resume were I left off at the previous Nurburgring trip. As I mentioned the brakes were the serious weak point (as we all already know!) So I decided I wanted to upgrade to something substantial, I pestered a few forum members for advice (sorry!) & decided on a setup. I also made the decision to take the car off the road completely in December until it was complete (which was yesterday). The idea being I could do the brakes, service the car & do a few other things without having to worry about time & getting it back on the road etc, this got a little bit more in-depth than I first planned but I had no choice really.

To make sure I don't miss anything this is a list of what has been changed on the car since its been off the road:

Standard parts:
Air filter
Pollen filter
Oil filter
Oil
Sump plug
Spark plugs
All inlet/throttle gaskets
Air filter mounting rubbers
Turbo inlet pipe seal
4x Injector seal kits
2x Front top mounts
2x Front drop-links
Standard Acrylic GB badged number plates
Brake reservoir cap
O/S front Brake pipe
N/S front brake pipe

Upgrades:
TTRS Brembo 4-pots
Genuine Brembo inner & outer seal kit
Genuine bleed nipples & covers
AP Racing/Vagbremtechnic 362mm Bell & Rotors
HEL front Braided Lines
Mintex M1155 Front Pads
TTRS Brake cooling plates
KW V1 Inox coilovers
Motul RBF600 Brake Fluid
Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 18x8" ET45
Nankang NS2R 180 Hard compound

Right with that out the way, this is were it started.... £100 of my hard earned cash, a few parts & an MOT saw the total cost of buying this little beauty & making it road worthy at £250... Jackpot! So that meant the S3 was off the road and work could begin.

DSC06847 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

So firstly I bought & changed all of the service parts, next I came across the Brembos for sale on here. They were a little paint damaged & no info on mileage etc. So I thought I'd just buy them with the view of changing all seals bleed nipples then painting them. So they went abit like this:

DSC06848 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC06861 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

While I gathered some funds I pulled the original brakes off the car & sold them, this was the start of the problems. The car was always due MOT in March so I went over all of the mot items to find quite a few problems, mainly that I had 2 snapped rear springs, 2 leaking rear shocks, 1 worn front top mount & 1 leaking front shock. I guess that's to be expected at 180,000 miles. It stayed like this for some time while I decided what to do.

DSC06928 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

While I was waiting I decided to have a look at the inlet valves, the engine is around the 60k mark now, with it off the road it was ideal timing. I decided to pull the injectors out too so I could have the seals changed & the injectors cleaned. Heres a few images of that whole fiasco:

Before:
DSC06965 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC06967 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC06970 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

Afters:
DSC06979 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07038 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC06995 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

So before that all went back together I decided to remove any vac pipes, air pipes, plastics etc from the engine bay & clean them all. I wont lie I didn't really clean any of them my mate did all the cleaning bits for me!

DSC07041 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

So as you can see in the time that that happened I received the discs & coilovers, so I got around to fitting them ASAP, along with most of the other standard parts like top mounts etc:

DSC07021 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07019 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

My mate also took all the inner arch liners out & cleaned them for me too!!

DSC07016 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC06987 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07025 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

So that left me with a running car again, all brakes & suspension fit. I was waiting on wheels from Team Dynamics....

It sat like this for 7 weeks:
DSC07047 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

SEE NEXT POST!

 

[Tom5190]

I wont rabble on about it to much but basically I rang TD, asked for some Pro Race 1.2 with the letters removed. Got quoted 3-4 weeks delivery time. 7 weeks later a set of normal 1.2's turn up with the writing in them wtf!? With the delivery times like that & the Nurburgring trip so close I cant risk sending the wheels back so I took a refund on some of the cost & just kept these wheels with the text. So that brings me to tonight, the car is booked in for Geometry & MOT on Saturday, a quick run out to Hartside to check that everything is good under anger & shes ready for Germany. Its late & the cars dirty so i'll get some proper photos over the weekend but for now this is how it looks:

DSC07054 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07057 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07059 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
DSC07058 by T.walker5190, on Flickr


A few first impressions are that I think I've made an error buying the KW's without some aftermarket ARBs. They are too soft really & the roll on the car is still quite bad. The Nankang's are awesome, leaps above the PS3's in grip but they are noisy. The brakes are spot on but I'll reserve judgement on them until track use. I'll give some proper feedback on everything after the ring trip then I can make a good comparison.

 

[24JSeymour]

Had a nightmare with them wheels havnt you! Same as me, mine were about 7 weeks after being quoted 3weeks, good to hear you got something back for them being the wrong ones mind!
Look awesome in that colour too, risky choice but it pulls it off nicely
Car looks to be sat nice on the coilovers but I know what you mean about them being soft, the H+R ARB's made a big difference to how mine drove probably more so than the coilovers did although mine are the budget AP's... Deffinatly worth putting a set on.
Think i will be making a return a ring again this year at some point also.
Enjoy it

 

[Tom5190]

Had a nightmare with them wheels havnt you! Same as me, mine were about 7 weeks after being quoted 3weeks, good to hear you got something back for them being the wrong ones mind!
Look awesome in that colour too, risky choice but it pulls it off nicely
Car looks to be sat nice on the coilovers but I know what you mean about them being soft, the H+R ARB's made a big difference to how mine drove probably more so than the coilovers did although mine are the budget AP's... Deffinatly worth putting a set on.
Think i will be making a return a ring again this year at some point also.
Enjoy it

Yea its a pain if they had said 7 weeks when I rang originally I'd of ordered earlier! Not sure how the text thing happened but its not the end of the world. Yea I wish I'd had the money for the ARBs at the same time but looks like that's going to be the end of the year most likely.

Awesome well if you do get a date planned give me a shout there's a few of us that go we should be doing 2/3 trips this year so if its around either July or September we will likely be heading over too.

 

[s5joe]

Did you have to use a wire brush doin g the valve cleaning.

 

[Tom5190]

I didn't use a wire brush mainly because I didn't have one. I filled each port with carb cleaner, let it soak scraped the thick off with lolly sticks & repeated that until all the thick of it was off. Had to empty it & refill 3/4 times per port, I blasted it out with brake cleaner each time before re-filling it. Then filled with carb cleaner again, cut down a small brush so the bristles were stiff and used that to get the inlets to that stage. Again this was about 5/6 times of filling with carb cleaner and just blasting it out with brake cleaner every time the carb cleaner was too dirty.

 

[S3Alex]

I can't speak for the kW v1's but the v3's and Clubsports need a lot of adjusting to get right.

My own feeling was that the factory settings are pretty soft,and need to be tightend up considerably,but you absolutely need the uprated ARBs to go with them.

 

[S.]

i love the looks with new wheels. that color is risky but it worked out nicely on your car, definitely something different, but very good.

 

[Tom5190]

I can't speak for the kW v1's but the v3's and Clubsports need a lot of adjusting to get right.

My own feeling was that the factory settings are pretty soft,and need to be tightend up considerably,but you absolutely need the uprated ARBs to go with them.

I imagine the V1's are worse than the V3's! Don't get me wrong the car feels a little more responsive & does feel more planted but the handling hasn't exactly come on leaps & bounds. Not that I was expecting it to but I did think the V1's would be a little stiffer than they are. ARB's & bushes next I think, & fast!

i love the looks with new wheels. that color is risky but it worked out nicely on your car, definitely something different, but very good.

Cheers bud I saw a similar combination on a 3-series a while back & liked it so thought id give it a go.

 

[leshkin]

Tom, I think that you'll love the change that ARBs add to the equation. I'd do the anti-lift kit at the same time - the change in handling after these are on will be profound to say the least

Awesome thread and an even awesomererererer car BTW!!!

You say Nankan have better grip than PS3s - is that wet and dry?

 

[Tom5190]

Tom, I think that you'll love the change that ARBs add to the equation. I'd do the anti-lift kit at the same time - the change in handling after these are on will be profound to say the least

Awesome thread and an even awesomererererer car BTW!!!

You say Nankan have better grip than PS3s - is that wet and dry?

I wish I had the budget for them now but I don't definitely the next things to go on though WALK & ARBs.

The Nankangs are a huge difference in the dry on the road BUT I've also got the suspension on there and lighter wheels & brakes so its not a properly fair test I guess. It's not rained yet since I've had them on but I think I'm due for some here at the weekend so I'll report back.

 

[leshkin]

I wish I had the budget for them now but I don't definitely the next things to go on though WALK & ARBs.

The Nankangs are a huge difference in the dry on the road BUT I've also got the suspension on there and lighter wheels & brakes so its not a properly fair test I guess. It's not rained yet since I've had them on but I think I'm due for some here at the weekend so I'll report back.

I understand about the money, have been in the same boat on occasion Good things come to those who wait, eh?

Nice, I'm contemplating getting the same wheels too, but would be good to see if Nankangs are a good all-round alternative.

 

[DangerS3]

I guess that's to be expected at 180,000 miles.

the engine is around the 60k mark now

I've missed something here lol. Great thread by the way.

 

[Tom5190]

I bought the car at 132,000 miles but it had an engine & turbo change at Liverpool Audi previous to my ownership.

The shell is on 180,000 miles
Engine is on around 60,000miles

 

[24JSeymour]

Some amout of money in fuel over them 180,000 miles jesus, £60 gets me about 300miles haha

 

[Tom5190]

I know tell me about it, the first owner did over 90K in 3 years so must of seen a lot of motorway miles. I got that mileage wrong aswell just been out for lunch its actually at 193,000!! So engine mileage is more like 70k. That means I've done around over 60k in 28 months.

 

[smurfworth]

Looks in great condition for that mileage, would have thought it'd had done 40k by looking at it

 

[HHS3]

£60 gets me about 300miles haha

You get 300 miles out of £60 in an S3!? The best I've ever got out of a full tank driving relatively reserved (by my standards) with the majority being on the motorway was 280 miles! I normally get between 230 - 260 max haha and that's using Shell V Power Nitro+. Just had a stage 1 Revo remap done, so it would be interesting to see what I could get out of my S3 driving it like a granny but that will be very hard/near impossible to do indeed, especially with the Revo Race CAI

 

[Tom5190]

You get 300 miles out of £60 in an S3!? The best I've ever got out of a full tank driving relatively reserved (by my standards) with the majority being on the motorway was 280 miles! I normally get between 230 - 260 max haha and that's using Shell V Power Nitro+. Just had a stage 1 Revo remap done, so it would be interesting to see what I could get out of my S3 driving it like a granny but that will be very hard/near impossible to do indeed, especially with the Revo Race CAI

That sounds bad. I get 320-330 on a weekly basis to & from work. Then 400+ on longer motorway trips! Saying that I can see around 200 if I've been driving it hard.

 

[HHS3]

That sounds bad. I get 320-330 on a weekly basis to & from work. Then 400+ on longer motorway trips! Saying that I can see around 200 if I've been driving it hard.

As you say a lot of it comes down to driving style, to and from work (7 miles each way) I'm ok and don't tend to go above 3000rpm unless I need to overtake someone, it's only the night time and weekends I'll give it some (even then I don't do many miles). So if I've been driving harder then usual I see low 200's but to know people are getting between 300 & 400 surprises me a lot, even if I drove like an absolute saint I imagine I'd only see 300 at best and that's at a push!

Might get my wheel alignment checked now as haven't had that done since getting the car in May last year, had this done in my old Corsa and gained an extra 30/40 miles out of a full tank so this could possibly help.

 

[24JSeymour]

As you say a lot of it comes down to driving style, to and from work (7 miles each way) I'm ok and don't tend to go above 3000rpm unless I need to overtake someone, it's only the night time and weekends I'll give it some (even then I don't do many miles). So if I've been driving harder then usual I see low 200's but to know people are getting between 300 & 400 surprises me a lot, even if I drove like an absolute saint I imagine I'd only see 300 at best and that's at a push!

Might get my wheel alignment checked now as haven't had that done since getting the car in May last year, had this done in my old Corsa and gained an extra 30/40 miles out of a full tank so this could possibly help.

Yeah thats not good at all!
Im on APR 2+ and i got to the Nurburgring on a full tank last year via a ferry from hull to rotterdam so was around 350miles,
That included a race with a Mercedes SLS along the autobahns at 170mph...

even when driven relatively hard over a full tank i still get around 250-300miles haha!

 

[HHS3]

Yeah thats not good at all!
Im on APR 2+ and i got to the Nurburgring on a full tank last year via a ferry from hull to rotterdam so was around 350miles,
That included a race with a Mercedes SLS along the autobahns at 170mph...

even when driven relatively hard over a full tank i still get around 250-300miles haha!

Wow that really does put it into perspective! I'm skint but getting a wheel alignment done asap sounds like it would save me money, as I can't think of any other reason I'm seeing a lot less out of a full tank compared to others?

170mph on the autobahn sounds like a lot of fun! Fastest I've got out of mine is 140mph on the motorway at night but I had to slow down as I came into traffic, she definitely had a lot more to give though!

Does a remap automatically remove the speed limiter? As they're restricted to 155mph from factory.

 

[Tom5190]

Wow that really does put it into perspective! I'm skint but getting a wheel alignment done asap sounds like it would save me money, as I can't think of any other reason I'm seeing a lot less out of a full tank compared to others?

170mph on the autobahn sounds like a lot of fun! Fastest I've got out of mine is 140mph on the motorway at night but I had to slow down as I came into traffic, she definitely had a lot more to give though!

Does a remap automatically remove the speed limiter? As they're restricted to 155mph from factory.

Tracking will be causing a bit of the problem but I guess it just depends on your journey. I'm saying I get 320-330 from a tank on day to day driving but my work journey is 26 miles each way and 24 of that is sat at 70mph. (unless I'm late :O) Also I am getting 30/40 miles more from a tank since the map than I was previously. Not yet checked what effect (if any) the de-coke has had but ill find out soon.

I'm not sure about the limiter, mines Shark stage 1, maybe the APR does remove the limiter. The digital speedo reaches 171mph but I had a separate GPS unit in the car as well which was only reading 159mph. That said it was almost at the rev limiter in 6th.

 

[leshkin]

Your 7% difference between speedo vs GPS seems in line with what is expected at those speeds. Even 159mph is not bad for a small hatchback

 

[HHS3]

Tracking will be causing a bit of the problem but I guess it just depends on your journey. I'm saying I get 320-330 from a tank on day to day driving but my work journey is 26 miles each way and 24 of that is sat at 70mph. (unless I'm late :O) Also I am getting 30/40 miles more from a tank since the map than I was previously. Not yet checked what effect (if any) the de-coke has had but ill find out soon.

I'm not sure about the limiter, mines Shark stage 1, maybe the APR does remove the limiter. The digital speedo reaches 171mph but I had a separate GPS unit in the car as well which was only reading 159mph. That said it was almost at the rev limiter in 6th.

Ah I see makes sense, even though mines a 15 mile round trip, it is practically stop, start, stop, start for most of it which doesn't help.

I'm interested in getting a de-coke done after seeing the benefit it has on our TFSI engine from the photos Alex put up of his S3. I've just got to find somewhere locally who does it, as currently the nearest place to me is APR.

Cool must've been a lot fun! Me and my brothers always said we wanted to do a road trip to the Nurburgring. I'm currently Revo Stage 1 but am looking to go Stage 2+ with a custom map from Storm Developments, so will ask them about the speed limiter.

 

[Moxy89]

So your not happy with the v1, I just gone with the h & R monotube which are meant to be decent bits of kit, more handling based than comfort and there the same price as the v1

 

[Tom5190]

So your not happy with the v1, I just gone with the h & R monotube which are meant to be decent bits of kit, more handling based than comfort and there the same price as the v1

Yea basically, I thought they would be stiffer. I asked about the H&R at the time but I was told by a few people that the KW were stiffer! Meh I guess ill just live with it & move on with the ARBS's & bushes next then go from there.

 

[Tom5190]

Just measured mine - 4th gear run - Shark Stg1 map

246.7g/s @ 6440rpm

/0.8 = 308.4 hp

The car made 308.9hp @ 6500rpm on RR yesterday.

So After my map I measured the MAF readings (this post is from the MAF thread.) It worked out pretty accurately then. So I decided to run them again today to see what effect the de-coke had. Same road, same gear etc.

I got 252.9g/s @6440rpm. I'm really surprised with that I wasn't expecting that much of a difference. so that roughly means:

/0.8 = 316hp (roughly)

Disregarding the calculation, the g/s alone shows quite a big improvement for what is essentially a minimal cost job & just 'cleaning.' Certainly worth doing!