I've realised I'm putting more and more of my work on the forums as it's helped me so much in the process of taking my s3 from standard to (currently) 300hp. As there's plently of work that's gone into my car I think it's warrants a progress thread...
So I bought my Audi back in September 2013 after selling my much loved Corrado g60. It was completely standard apart from a forge recirculating valve, 90k, recent bumper respray and good history. I only looked at one and although they say don't buy the first car you find... I did. The drive home was great alongside my friend who had an a4 2.0t (200hp) and the s3 didn't seem a lot different in power.
Replaced the tip valve with a b5 v2 with aluminium billet and took a picture inside the turbo. Loads of movement in the shaft and it looked like something had smashed through the vanes. Damn... New turbo then.
Bought a new genuine K04 and used jabbasport to fit. (There local to me) while they were doing this they found the manifold had cracked so had to replace this with new Oem one.
A few months later decided to polybush the whole car using super pro bushes. While this was getting done I had the clutch replaced alongside a new master cylinder and rear drop links.
After spending a bit of cash on the car and a lot of research it was time to go down the modifying route. After cam belt/water pump was done I bought a Milltek cat back exhaust, pipewerx sports cat and relentless v4 manifold.
It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted a fmic but in the end I knew eventually I would want more power so decided on the welly cooler and fit it one weekend.
I had welded 90's on it to eliminate silicone elbows and for a cleaner look, also painted it black eventually for a bit more stealth. Unfortunately had to loose my fogs but I wasn't too bothered once it was all back together.
After the intercooler, exhaust, s2k filter, cold air feed, Bosch 550 injectors, I was fairly happy I was ready for a stage 2 remap.
Booked in with Niki at rtech and went down there for the day. First thing they said was the exhaust sounds like it's blowing, smoke tested and found the smallest leak on the v4 to downpipe. I wasn't too worried as when it got hot it was ok and the thought of taking the manifold off made me feel a bit ill. Ended up with 299hp 303lbft but he said could of make 310/340 if I had the rods. It also outlined the fact I needed a new fuel pump.
So next on the list was a dw65 fuel pump. Got that and fitted and can actually feel a difference and here it pumping when on full chat which is quite cool.
Usual vag problems in between - thermostats, coolant sensors, n75 failure, alarm battery fault in boot etc.
In between this I bought a skoda vRSse as a daily as the mileage on the Audi is creeping and want to try and regulate the mileage a bit better.
Skoda is great, first diesel I've owned and is fine for my daily commute.
So... After missing loads out and without trying to bore everyone I am at the stage now where I'm booking in to get my rods fitted, a Sachs paddle plate to go with the Oem clutch, and the gearbox is showing signs of wear so will be getting the synchros done too. More money but peace of mind.
So any future work will be going in here which may include the aet hybrid.... We'll see. But I thought as I've been using the forum for over 2 years I'd want to finally start a thread.
Here's a pic of the old Corrado as it looked the business...
So I bought my Audi back in September 2013 after selling my much loved Corrado g60. It was completely standard apart from a forge recirculating valve, 90k, recent bumper respray and good history. I only looked at one and although they say don't buy the first car you find... I did. The drive home was great alongside my friend who had an a4 2.0t (200hp) and the s3 didn't seem a lot different in power.
Replaced the tip valve with a b5 v2 with aluminium billet and took a picture inside the turbo. Loads of movement in the shaft and it looked like something had smashed through the vanes. Damn... New turbo then.
Bought a new genuine K04 and used jabbasport to fit. (There local to me) while they were doing this they found the manifold had cracked so had to replace this with new Oem one.
A few months later decided to polybush the whole car using super pro bushes. While this was getting done I had the clutch replaced alongside a new master cylinder and rear drop links.
After spending a bit of cash on the car and a lot of research it was time to go down the modifying route. After cam belt/water pump was done I bought a Milltek cat back exhaust, pipewerx sports cat and relentless v4 manifold.
It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted a fmic but in the end I knew eventually I would want more power so decided on the welly cooler and fit it one weekend.
I had welded 90's on it to eliminate silicone elbows and for a cleaner look, also painted it black eventually for a bit more stealth. Unfortunately had to loose my fogs but I wasn't too bothered once it was all back together.
After the intercooler, exhaust, s2k filter, cold air feed, Bosch 550 injectors, I was fairly happy I was ready for a stage 2 remap.
Booked in with Niki at rtech and went down there for the day. First thing they said was the exhaust sounds like it's blowing, smoke tested and found the smallest leak on the v4 to downpipe. I wasn't too worried as when it got hot it was ok and the thought of taking the manifold off made me feel a bit ill. Ended up with 299hp 303lbft but he said could of make 310/340 if I had the rods. It also outlined the fact I needed a new fuel pump.
So next on the list was a dw65 fuel pump. Got that and fitted and can actually feel a difference and here it pumping when on full chat which is quite cool.
Usual vag problems in between - thermostats, coolant sensors, n75 failure, alarm battery fault in boot etc.
In between this I bought a skoda vRSse as a daily as the mileage on the Audi is creeping and want to try and regulate the mileage a bit better.
Skoda is great, first diesel I've owned and is fine for my daily commute.
So... After missing loads out and without trying to bore everyone I am at the stage now where I'm booking in to get my rods fitted, a Sachs paddle plate to go with the Oem clutch, and the gearbox is showing signs of wear so will be getting the synchros done too. More money but peace of mind.
So any future work will be going in here which may include the aet hybrid.... We'll see. But I thought as I've been using the forum for over 2 years I'd want to finally start a thread.
Here's a pic of the old Corrado as it looked the business...
but well worth it
