Tom5190's Dolphin S3 8P

So finally managed to get the car cleaned this weekend. Also had to replace the bottom sections of the front arch liners as I had managed to lose some of the under tray screws & the liners hit the floor cracking them.

My interior fans packed up just after the last post! It was showing a low voltage fault code on VCDS so I bought a fan control unit which didn't solve the problem. I tried powering the fan itself up out of the car to no avail, so I stripped the unit as far as possible cleaned everything and re-greased it and luckily that's solved the problem so no parts needed. Jackpot!

That's the car almost set for the trip over to the ring on Thursday, ill be raising the rear around 5mm before hand.

Some photos from today:

DSC07075 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07082 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07094 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07096 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

Hopefully ill have a trouble free update next week with some decent photos & videos from Germany!
 
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I generally don't like TD 1.2s very much. But in that color against grey they look absoloutley fantastic !!
 
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She's looking mint mate I'm loving those alloys, especially in that colour with the Dolphin Grey, it's a good combo.

It's all about the de-wiper (with glass grommet) as well, after doing it myself last week it just looks so much better! I've also de-badged my rear Audi rings, got to love that smooth appearance haha, I saw another black S3 and it's funny how much of a difference the silly wiper looks in comparison.
 
Ok so I'm back from Germany. Overall the car went well on the laps, I booked 9 & completed them all. I managed to get down around the 8min15s mark so I was happy with that. There's a video below of one of the slower laps:



A couple of photos:

DSC07115 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

13-14h-IMG_3487 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

So the tyres are good, a lot more grip than the PS3's & they have worn well. I drove the car hard & they got quite hot. No problems there I think they are a bargin. The grip levels aren't near R888's but for £75 a corner they are well worth the money. Few photos below of them after the 9 laps:

DSC07114 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07107 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07102 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

The brakes were awesome, insanely better than the last setup. I stamped on them hard, did back to back laps & the performance didn't drop off. No warpped discs or damaged pads either, I don't think I could be any harsher on the brakes than I was, I pushed them as much as possible, here's a picture of them straight after the 9th lap:

DSC07105 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

Which brings me onto the suspension..... basically its terrible. I had to raise the KWs to pretty much there max (which is higher than standard it seems!) to get any sort of useable stiffness. I took it out at the height in the previous post & it rubbed in all 4 corners, the body roll was worse than standard suspension. I know I don't have the ARBs & that's a huge factor but for it to be worse than OEM was annoying. At the final height it was ok but its really high now & any benefits from running lower are gone. So basically DO NOT buy KW V1s if you intend on using them on track. So the image below is from my second attempt at a lap with it being raised around 16 turns on the front from the first lap. It was still too soft at this height.

DSC07110 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

I broke a few things, like a wheel bearing, engine mount & I've got some compressor surge. So the cars off the road again now for a few months likely until I go back to Germany in August :)
 
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Watched the full lap guessing you have done a bit of track time before!? Made me a wee bit jealous


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Good lap, not much competition. Take a look at BC racing coilovers if you plan on doing more track based stuff with the car.

Gives you more options such as being able to set the height, stiffness and rebound on their own. Only downside is it would take a lot of time to set correctly
 
Cambaines said:
Watched the full lap guessing you have done a bit of track time before!? Made me a wee bit jealous

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You should make the trip over if you fancy it, the Ring is awesome and you don't need bags of track time or a race car to enjoy it. Accommodation, food & beer are alot cheaper than the UK so its usually a pretty cheap trip too! I'm at about 35 laps in total now i'm just getting settled with what corners are where really & gearing etc but I've still got a long way to go!

smurfworth said:
Good lap, not much competition. Take a look at BC racing coilovers if you plan on doing more track based stuff with the car.

Gives you more options such as being able to set the height, stiffness and rebound on their own. Only downside is it would take a lot of time to set correctly
Click to expand...

Cheers matey, I've had a look at the ER Series before I think I will end up going for something like them or possibly stick with KW & go V3. The plan is really to replace all 4 wheel bearings now, fit as many polybushes as I can find & replace any others with OEM, fit some ARBs & the WALK then see how it goes in August.
 
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How do you mount your in car camera and I guess you use something like a Go Pro?
 
I've just knocked up a really basic mount that slots into the head rest arms and extends to the middle of the car were the Go-Pro is stuck on. Ill grab a photo of it for you its just made from some HDPE I had lying around at work.
 
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Rob C said:
How do you mount your in car camera and I guess you use something like a Go Pro?
Click to expand...

Here's the mount, bare in mind it did take about 20 min's to make on the morning that I left for the ring! I sort of forgot to get one made properly and left it until last minute:

DSC07481 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07480 by T.walker5190, on Flickr


In other news the car is fixed, I've changed the broken wheel bearing. Which annoyingly has wiped out the pads and damaged the caliper but the caliper should be fine. I'll need some new pads though. :(

I've checked the tyre depths too. Tyres have covered 9 laps of the ring, that's around 120 harsh track miles. & around 2000 road miles since they were fit.

The fronts have lost 1.3mm
The rears have lost 0.9mm

The car will be tucked away until I go back to Germany in August/September. By then it should have the other 3 wheel bearings replaced, some ARB's & some polybushes. I'll update this accordingly!
 
That's really good wear rate on the tyres. Really tempted by these.
How are they in the wet?
 
Yea I'm pleasantly surprised. They are noisy, a lot noisier than the previous Michelins, but they seem to have quietened a little since they first went on. Also its worth noting I have got the 180 (Hard) compound, they come in a medium & soft too.

They perform better in the wet than my Michelin PS3's did. That's all I can compare them too really. In the dry you can notice quite a bit of difference in grip when they are cold to when they warm up a little. The grip isn't that fantastic when they are cold.
 
That's awesome then if they are still good in the wet. Think they will be my next set of tyres then :)
Yeah have always thought the hard would be best for road use
 
Uh oh. Found these images from the Ring trip. This is some serious body roll!!!

13022348 10154766994583332 370318848 n
13059736 10154766994568332 1962161365 n
 
Yes it is. Arbs on the cards? So you found kw v1 too soft for the track?
 
Yep ARB's & a full polybush kit in the next few months before going back, then ill see what its like on the V1's again. But yea V1 way too soft for track!

KW's site does state that the V1 kit is 'Ideal for customers interested in Show & Shine'

Wish I had read that before buying them!
 
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Shame you bought them before knowing they aren't for track use. I think you should have gone for v3 at least. Or maybe you could get stiffer springs for v1 from kw.
 
Yea a bit foolish of me, I spoke to a few people who had used the V1 and they said V1's were great & really improved the handling. The cheapest/lowest spec of coilover that KW make that they say is for 'Track-day use' are the Clubsports. They list KW V3 as road use also.

I think I will likely end up swapping the springs out for stiffer ones and dropping a helper spring in there too but the damping itself is too soft I think. I wont be switching to the Clupsorts any time soon so I think like you say, a set of stiffer springs after seeing what difference the ARBs & bushes make will probably be the next step after that then mayb switch out for some V3 dampers next year & keep the stiffer springs.

Its not all bad its a learning curve I guess ha!
 
Tom5190 said:
Yea a bit foolish of me, I spoke to a few people who had used the V1 and they said V1's were great & really improved the handling. The cheapest/lowest spec of coilover that KW make that they say is for 'Track-day use' are the Clubsports. They list KW V3 as road use also.

I think I will likely end up swapping the springs out for stiffer ones and dropping a helper spring in there too but the damping itself is too soft I think. I wont be switching to the Clupsorts any time soon so I think like you say, a set of stiffer springs after seeing what difference the ARBs & bushes make will probably be the next step after that then mayb switch out for some V3 dampers next year & keep the stiffer springs.

Its not all bad its a learning curve I guess ha!
Click to expand...

I think the v3s are OK for occasional track use,and wouldn't disgrace themselves at all.
I used my old v3 setup on a trackday and had no issues.

The Clubsports are more costly by some way,and much stiffer,and may well be a bit more than most people want for road use.
 
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S3Alex said:
I think the v3s are OK for occasional track use,and wouldn't disgrace themselves at all.
I used my old v3 setup on a trackday and had no issues.

The Clubsports are more costly by some way,and much stiffer,and may well be a bit more than most people want for road use.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I imagine at some point down the line I will end up with the V3's & some custom springs (if the V3 are still too soft.)
 
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Tom5190 said:
That's good to know. I imagine at some point down the line I will end up with the V3's & some custom springs (if the V3 are still too soft.)
Click to expand...

Clubsports use linear rate springs which feel totally unlike the v3s.
Same range of adjustments over bump and rebound.
Adjustable topmounts(which are NOT compatible with v3 struts).

Overall,I think the spring rate is very high,and not terribly compatible with road use with all the bumps and potholes we have,meaning the damping needs to be fairly well up,and in turn the overall ride is pretty hard as a result.

The best setup I'd ever had was on a GpN Escort Cosworth adapted for road use.
It had fully rose jointed suspension and a Proflex clone strut system.

It had superb damping,and very good suspension travel without being crashy,but it needed revalving every 5000 miles,and cost around £1.5k per wheel,back in the 90s.
God knows what I'd have to pay for that now.
 
S3Alex said:
Clubsports use linear rate springs which feel totally unlike the v3s.
Same range of adjustments over bump and rebound.
Adjustable topmounts(which are NOT compatible with v3 struts).

Overall,I think the spring rate is very high,and not terribly compatible with road use with all the bumps and potholes we have,meaning the damping needs to be fairly well up,and in turn the overall ride is pretty hard as a result.

The best setup I'd ever had was on a GpN Escort Cosworth adapted for road use.
It had fully rose jointed suspension and a Proflex clone strut system.

It had superb damping,and very good suspension travel without being crashy,but it needed revalving every 5000 miles,and cost around £1.5k per wheel,back in the 90s.
God knows what I'd have to pay for that now.
Click to expand...

Ah ok I see, I think that's likely to be too much for me then. The cars never going to be 100% track use I'm more sort of trying to build it into a cross between 100% flat out abuse at the ring, but with a comfortable drive over & easy to take on other European road trips. Something I can drive to Silverstone/Spa etc & enjoy it on track without having a stripped interior & no A/C.

I guess its all just a battle of compromise, I'll go with the bushes & ARBs first as they need doing regardless anyway, then I'll likely end up with a set of V3's on there.

Also while your on, any comments on the following list? Whiteline vs Superpro has got me a little baffled & not sure if I'm missing any other similar components. I think I've got all of the available suspension bushes covered??


H&R Anti-roll bar kit (assuming this comes with bushes)
Super-pro Camber adjustable Bottom Ball Joints
Super-pro Anti lift kit
Powerflex all of the following
Bottom arm front bush - camber adjustable
Rear tie bar to chassis bush
Rear lower spring arm - inner & outer bush
Rear lower link - inner & outer bush
Rear upper link - inner & outer bush
Rear sub-frame front bushes
Rear sub-frame rear mount bushes
 
Tom5190 said:
Ah ok I see, I think that's likely to be too much for me then. The cars never going to be 100% track use I'm more sort of trying to build it into a cross between 100% flat out abuse at the ring, but with a comfortable drive over & easy to take on other European road trips. Something I can drive to Silverstone/Spa etc & enjoy it on track without having a stripped interior & no A/C.

I guess its all just a battle of compromise, I'll go with the bushes & ARBs first as they need doing regardless anyway, then I'll likely end up with a set of V3's on there.

Also while your on, any comments on the following list? Whiteline vs Superpro has got me a little baffled & not sure if I'm missing any other similar components. I think I've got all of the available suspension bushes covered??


H&R Anti-roll bar kit (assuming this comes with bushes)
Super-pro Camber adjustable Bottom Ball Joints
Super-pro Anti lift kit
Powerflex all of the following
Bottom arm front bush - camber adjustable
Rear tie bar to chassis bush
Rear lower spring arm - inner & outer bush
Rear lower link - inner & outer bush
Rear upper link - inner & outer bush
Rear sub-frame front bushes
Rear sub-frame rear mount bushes
Click to expand...

I had all of the bushes done when the suspension was being changed,and the ALK was done as well.

We used Superpro all round,but they're all good kits.

Took the rear seats out here,which weigh around 60kgs in all,and they're easy to refit if you need.

I'd say mine has got to the point where it's not a comfortable drive on bad roads,and also a bit fidgety thanks to the front camber changes.
 
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I've messaged a few suppliers I'll see what I get back if I can stick with 1 name on all the bushes id prefer too. I noticed Powerflex doing an ALK too but I've not seen anyone using that yet.

Jesus that's a lot!! I don't suppose you weighed the front seats did you?
 
Tom5190 said:
I've messaged a few suppliers I'll see what I get back if I can stick with 1 name on all the bushes id prefer too. I noticed Powerflex doing an ALK too but I've not seen anyone using that yet.

Jesus that's a lot!! I don't suppose you weighed the front seats did you?
Click to expand...

No but I know a man who did...they're about 20+kgs each.

The brakes were also a really heavy old piece of iron...the APs we both have are much lighter and better.
 
Jesus no wonder these things are so heavy! I wish I had weighed the new brake setup. I weighed the old setup for postage & I'm pretty sure it was around 45kg's for calipers, carriers pads & discs! I had to sent it on a small pallet :scared2:
 
Honestly mate, consider H and R monotubes, they are a epic coilover kit, no body roll, yes not perfect on the road as can shake you to death but they are epic and ideal for track work
 
Tom5190 said:
Jesus no wonder these things are so heavy! I wish I had weighed the new brake setup. I weighed the old setup for postage & I'm pretty sure it was around 45kg's for calipers, carriers pads & discs! I had to sent it on a small pallet :scared2:
Click to expand...

I think that's about right.
The old VWRacing kit I had was about 25kgs and I'm sure the AP kit is a bit lighter still,but way,way better.
 
Tom5190 said:
Ah ok I see, I think that's likely to be too much for me then. The cars never going to be 100% track use I'm more sort of trying to build it into a cross between 100% flat out abuse at the ring, but with a comfortable drive over & easy to take on other European road trips. Something I can drive to Silverstone/Spa etc & enjoy it on track without having a stripped interior & no A/C.

I guess its all just a battle of compromise, I'll go with the bushes & ARBs first as they need doing regardless anyway, then I'll likely end up with a set of V3's on there.

Also while your on, any comments on the following list? Whiteline vs Superpro has got me a little baffled & not sure if I'm missing any other similar components. I think I've got all of the available suspension bushes covered??


H&R Anti-roll bar kit (assuming this comes with bushes)
Super-pro Camber adjustable Bottom Ball Joints
Super-pro Anti lift kit
Powerflex all of the following
Bottom arm front bush - camber adjustable
Rear tie bar to chassis bush
Rear lower spring arm - inner & outer bush
Rear lower link - inner & outer bush
Rear upper link - inner & outer bush
Rear sub-frame front bushes
Rear sub-frame rear mount bushes
Click to expand...

I have the SuperPro 5238RK full rear poly bush kit for sale if interested - new and sealed. Never got round to fitting. PM if interested.

Includes:
SPF3348K Rear Upper Control Arm, Inner Bush Kit
SPF3349K Rear Upper Control Arm, Outer Bush Kit
SPF3352K Rear Lower, Rear Control Arm, Inner Bush Kit
SPF3350K Rear Lower Front Control Arm, Inner Bush Kit
SPF3351K Rear Lower Front Control Arm, Outer Bush Kit
SPF3353K Rear Lower, Rear Control Arm, Outer Bush Kit (mounted in hub)
SPF3347-70K Rear Trailing Arm, Front Bush Kit (Normal Road Use)
 
Had a change of plan with the car, I didn't keep it off the road again. Weather has been too good & the dates for Ring in August/September are looking pretty bad in terms of what's on each weekend. So I'm in limbo a bit with that at the minute, thought I may as well just drive it daily again and enjoy it. If it looks like I wont get back over to the ring I'll probably wait until winter again to do the ARBs & bushes etc when it is off the road over Christmas time.

In the mean time I've changed the other 3 wheel bearings so its got a full new set on, & changed the oil and filter. There's a photo of the TTRS brake cooling plates as well which I had missed of the previous update. Not 100% convinced if they actually do much. So I've had a few weekend drives out, messed around with the ride heights and got to a nice height were it doesn't seem to be rubbing at all on the road now under any type of driving.

Some pointless pictures:

DSC07484 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07488 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07496 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07498 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07505 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC07515 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
 
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Last edited:
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How did you find the brakes? I'm potentially looking for new pads. I have the same setup as yourself but the Pagid blue RS 4-2's caused massive brake wobble for me when I've been out of track.
 
I was really happy with them. I was engaging ABS quite a lot over the 9 laps I did with them. I don't think I could be any harsher on them at all they stood up to everything I gave them and I'm just using them on the road daily now. The stopping power from cold is only a little better than standard but once they are warm they feel really responsive.

I'll have the wheels off tomorrow night ill grab a few photos of the pad surface for you.
 
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She's looking pukka mate, great job!

How did you go about attaching the Cupra R splitter? I want to do this myself.
 
Quite rough to be honest. I used some stainless self tapping screws and screwed it into the bottom of the bumper, there is a large flat section underneath.
 
Tom5190 said:
Quite rough to be honest. I used some stainless self tapping screws and screwed it into the bottom of the bumper, there is a large flat section underneath.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the info bud.

Enjoy LeMans!
 
So Le Mans was fine no problems on the trip.... sort of... which is always a bonus. I ripped my LCR splitter off while we were camping, which im not going to replace so the splitter has gone now. The car got pretty muddy!:

DSC07568 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

The car hit the 200,000 miles mark when we were in France! Due to the amount of time it took me to put the red vinyl sections on I decided to leave them on the car a few more weeks.

I had a run over to the lakes this morning and spent the day over there driving round:

DSC08866 by T.walker5190, on Flickr

DSC08905 by T.walker5190, on Flickr
 
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