New A3 sline Quattro owner - questions!

Nigel Martyn said:

Hi all, first post - just bought a 2006 sportback, 2litre petrol Quattro. I’ve got a few questions and hopefully you guys can help (I’ve searched the site and found some information but no definitive answers).

1/ steering wheel shake - at 70mph+ get a lot of vibration from the steering wheel and some from the floor. Garage looked at it today, rebalanced the wheels and no better.
Think it may be the driveshaft but can’t diagnose which one - not sure what to do next?

2/ 18’ wheels, standard suspension - best option for spacers? 12/10mm?

3/ radio replacement - got the dns-e sat nav unit, seem thwm for sale used on eBay for £250 which makes an aftermarket unit from Halfords reasonable, worried on the fit (want it perfect) and read issues with Bose compatability?

4/ engine remap - been quoted 240bhp or 264bhp. - both safe to do?

cheers for any help!

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1. When it comes to the steering wheel shake, I assume the tyres are good nick, no Chinese ditch finders etc. For me I had a combination of unbalanced wheels and tyres wearing on the inside which was causing the shake on my S3. Other than that, I’d give it to a reputable VAG specialist to diagnose.

2. Unfortunately I can’t help you there as I’ve never really been a fan of spacers and that whole scene.

3. I also have a Bose system in my 57 plate S3, I also struggled finding one which I could get to work with Bose however most of the mainstream units out there will have kits which allow them to properly work with steering wheel controls and various Audi sound systems such as Bose. I ended up with a nice Sony unit which has Apple CarPlay and currently has a nice discount at Halfords, it’s not fitted yet so I can’t go into detail about functionality but I know someone with the same spec car as mine with the unit and they’re enjoying it. I can link it if interested.

4. I had my golf gti remapped from 211 bhp to 276 bhp on stock components and it had roughly the same engine however it was a different drivetrain but I'd say both are safe to do in your case. I'd recommend getting it done by a reputable vendor as they will cover any issues it causes which is unlikely anyway. But it improves the feel of the car completely plus usually giving better fuel economy. I'll probably be getting my S3 remapped soon as I had failed to find any downsides to it with my previous experience.

Hope this helps in some capacity.

1. Common problem for Quattro, rubber donuts on prop shaft hard or worn, propshaft out of balance, metal ring at rear end of prop shaft come loose(you be able to hear that).
2. Don’t like spacers, I use the correct ET for wheel fit.
3. No idea.
4. My 2010 TSI was mapped by AMD Technic, made 249bhp and a dream to drive. Make sure you have the custom remap which includes rolling road time to iron out any niggles, you’ll pay an extra £100 or so but well worth it. Use one of the Audi specialist mappers, AMD, Awesome, RTech, Jabbasport etc. there is a few listed in the Forum Sponsors section. Your coil packs will die soon after mapping, replace with Bosch versions.

Just seen you are in Essex, if nth of the county go to Jabba in Crowland, if south it has to be AMD by Lakeside. Expect to pay £399.