Newbie after advice

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Webby34

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Hi all, I've just taken my first step into the car world by buying myself an audi s3 8l. I've never owned a car as never really needed one and was more into two wheels. But now having a family and suffering damage to my spine in a MX crash has put an end to bike days. I've always liked the audi range but the a3/s3 has always stood out. A mate had the audi before me and let me have a few drives of it, and loved every second being behind the wheel. So when he came to me saying the s3 had to go as he was getting an rs4 I had to have it. It's the facelift model, silver, 81k on the clock, full audi history, 10 months mot and 5 tax. Few bad things about the car right drivers spring has snapped, dent in front passenger arch, dent in rear drivers arch both about the size of a tennis ball. Other than that the car is mint apart from the climate control switches have a bit of wear on them.

As the spring has snapped another mate has suggested replacing them all and the shocks. He can get hold of a full set of konis for £210 and fit them for £60. I've looked at the sets online and think this is a really good price but could be wrong. He's also offered to sort dents for £300.

As I've already said I'm completely new to the car world and at 34 years old feel daft asking the following questions.
Are the koni springs shocks any good for the car? Is £300 fair price for the body work?
Is it normal that the normal head lights are yellowish and the full beam are bright white? Are dump valves worth the money?

my plans for the car are to get it back to A1 condition, a milltek exhaust ( heard these are meant to be the nuts), performance air filter but not sure which to go for, a remap/tune at R-tech and may be some differents wheels.

Really appreciate any help pointers etc. cheers webby.
 
Its the koni set for shocks and springs or just springs?

£300 to remove 2 dents is quite dear in my eyes, round my end itd be half that.

Yes the headlights fade quite badly, buy a headlight restoration kit from meguiars or just use wet and dry and a machine polisher.

Dump valves id just buy a new standard bosch dump valve from tps etc.

Miltek do sounds nice but wont really offer any perfmance gains it thats what your looking for but will sound nice.

Also where yu based?
 
I live in Kidderminster mate. Yea the konis are springs and shocks. I was looking at taking the car to around 260bhp if this is possible with out going into turbo upgrades etc. just looking at basic mods really. As for the body work ill shop about.

Oh meant to add in original post that I got the car for £1800!!
 
webby you've got yourself a bargain there mate.

id get the koni shocks and springs, thats very cheap, for the fitting as well.

as for 260hp power goals. with the car in tip top shape and no problems or errors at all you can have that with a remap alone.
if i were in your shoes id fit a Badger5 TIP (turbo inlet pipe), get a remap from somewhere reputable, and make sure that the Dump valve is functional or buy a new standard one (cheap).
all in that'd be about £500 and you'd have one hell of a smile on your face.

welcome to the club
 
As far as I'm aware the dump valve is fine, but I've heard many people saying upgrading them is a waist of money. Roughly what sort of bhp would the car get with exhaust, filter, TIP, remap?

Thanks for the advice
 
Webby34 said:
As far as I'm aware the dump valve is fine, but I've heard many people saying upgrading them is a waist of money. Roughly what sort of bhp would the car get with exhaust, filter, TIP, remap?

Thanks for the advice
Click to expand...
should see 260 on a healthy car. 270 at a push.
+ lots of torque, depending on the boost you run.

'stage 2' spec is:
tip + filter
front mount intercooler
3 inch downpipe and decat
stage 2 map

they are the basics for stage 2, you can get more out of them with other mods like inlet/exhaust manifolds, catback exhausts, water meth injection, large port cylinder heads. But beyond stage 2 levels of tune you highlight the weak part of these engines which is the conrods. Tuning them beyond stage 2 power levels (270-280hp) and your pushing your luck. UNLESS you are mapped to accomodate that fact i.e. linear progressive map without spikey boost levels.
 
Welcome,

Along with the suspension you might want to look at changing the rear ARB for an R32 item and also check out the condition of your lower wishbone bushes and dog bone mount bush. How much do the koni springs lower the car as you might need to consider adjustable rear tie bars to allow the alignment to be setup correctly.

You might want to consider new brake pads and discs if you go down the remap route.
 
I think there 25mm front 30mm rear but not 100% on that. I don't really want to be messing with the car to much, just a few simple basic mods. So If dropping the car that much is going to cause issues then ill look at getting some that don't drop it so much.

Although the cars had discs and pads about three months ago, any pointers on some performance brakes? Last time I was looking into cars Tarox brakes were all the rage.
 
Ferodo DS2500 are highly regarded on the forum along with black diamond disks.


The tie bars arnt essential and every car sits differently when lowered, but they will ensure that the rear alignment is setup correctly and stop uneven tyre wear. I'd still go ahead with the koni setup at that price and then consider fitting the tie bars at a later date. DPM performance who advertises on here sell a selection.
 
Cheers for the pointers. I saw my mate about the konis today. There adjustable and can drop to 60mm I think he said. I'm happy with that as can hopefully get the stance I'm after. Want the tyres to hug just inside the arches. A mates golf is dropped to much in my eyes as the top of the alloy is inside the arch. But each to there own.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
how bad are the dents? What sort of work needs to be done for £300

I have often heard good reviews about konis. The rear ARB upgrade is good and renew all the bushes. I'd be careful not to make the ride too hard if you have had a spine injury.

As for the exhaust I think that the standard exhaust is OK on the S3, its the downpipe that is restrictive.
 
The dents are about the size of a tennis ball, the front looks worse as its right where the bumper joins the arch. The flat ridge in the arch has been bent creased in. The rear ain't as bad. But think I bit of paint work will have to be done as you can see some layers of original paint.
Ha ha my backs fine, just can't stay bent over a bike for more than an hour.
The down pipe? That the manifold?. What's the best option on the exhaust?
 
Will do shuck. When I get the ball rolling I'm going to do a photo log from start to finish and post them up.
 
Exhaust manifold connects the head to the turbo, down pipe connects the turbo to the exhaust system. Both are restrictive of flow on the 1.8T but the downpipe is easier to upgrade.
 
Some pictures taken at work. Car needs a real good clean and the camera on the iPad has got a scratch on it so not the best shots. Also first time at uploading pics so bare with me if this goes t*ts up.
 
Last edited:
Ok this ain't going to work, can't highlight links properly on photo bucket. iPads do my nut in. Will try on laptop over weekend....
 
on the dent side my friend i would try looking for a dent devil around your area i had a right dent in my boot and when he had finished you could never tell where the dent had been and it cost me £40, you will feel a lot better when you get them out it spoils the car and gets you down..
 
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