Marlon's Mineral Grey S3

[NE Marlon]

Hi guys,

I thought it was about time I introduced myself as I've been hovering around the 'How To' section for months now. I've been pretty heavily involved in the Newport Edition for a few years now (newportedition :thumbsup since getting a MK2 Golf 8v. That was my pride and joy for years. Unfortunately it got 'screwed' on my drive just shy of 3 years ago and they caused some pretty extensive damage but didn't get it away. It's been under a cover ever since and I've started breaking it over the last weekend.

Subsequently, I got my hands on a Mineral Grey 8L S3 back in October from a very good friend of mine. He bought if from Audi with 13K on the clock 6 or so years ago and has had it ever since. I had it off him after agreeing to sell him one of the kids and the deal was done!

Stats were:

2001 X S3 210bhp model
85K on the clock
Full black Recaro leather interior.
Standard everything else

It needed for very little when I got it.

The good fortune didn't last long and someone drove into it outside the house after I'd had it for 10 days, causing:

Managed to track the vehicle down and got it fixed with a brand spanking new tailgate from VAG.

Long story short, had some EML issues which were eventually remedied after numerous vac hose replacements, by a new MAF. This made a huge difference and the car felt like the motor I'd been expecting. New rear drop links, front discs and pads, Haldex service, temp sensor (all the usual stuff it since appears...) made it a thoroughly enjoyable daily.

Inters '14 was a relatively sedate affair for us this year (I did say hello to a couple of the guys on the ASN stand and loved the barbecue!) but it did see me popping into the APR tent and the car having a little attention by means of a Stage 1 map. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Needless to say, I've been well and truly bitten by the 20VT bug! A new TIP and 008 are on order from Forge then it will be sorting the handling.

As you can tell, I go on a bit... Here's some car shots. Look forward to meeting a few more of you guys in the future and feel free to pop over to one of our meets if you're bored on the first Sunday of the month

Marlon

 

[Sandra]

Welcome to audi-sport.net hope you enjoy the forum.

 

[NE Marlon]

Just a minor update:

Grabbed a load of ‘essential upgrades’ from the good folks @ Forge Motorsport:

Picked up some good quality clamps from a local hydraulics company:

WORMA W2s if anyone’s interested. And yes, I know, they’re possibly a little over the top for induction pipes but they a little bit of form and function never hurt anyone.

So with the ethos of taking loads of pictures before I took anything apart, here goes:

How it looked to start

Airbox out

Reference picture of the pipe setup on the N75 just in case

And another… (can never be too careful)

Almost out…

The comparison picture. To be fair, my old TIP seemed to be in pretty good health and had next to no sign of oil in it. Yay!

One K04 with no play in the shaft. Double Yay!!

Almost back together

Finished, after taking the opportunity to clean up the air box with some Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. That stuff’s brilliant!

Took it out for a ‘spirited’ drive after it got up to temperature and it only ****** worked (not one of my strong points!). Seems to a little sharper and more responsive as well as a little less aggressive if that makes sense.

All in all about 3 hours work I reckon. Not bad for a proper amateur and all done on the drive.

Loads of extra ‘little’ jobs planned and general tidying up. Thanks for the interest.

Marlon

 

[Sam_]

Welcome to the forum. Nice color!

Probably not the news you want to hear but you would have been better off with a Badger 5 80mm TIP. I had an APR TIP and stage 1 map and it was a noticeable difference going from APR TIP to the B5 TIP in both sound and performance. Something to think about later. Or go straight for a Garrett big turbo

 

[Lavis89]

You can never go over the top with hose clamps! I've got high quality ones on all the hoses on my car, so far I've never had a hose pop off, was one of my main worries when fitting a fmic

 

[NE Marlon]

Welcome to the forum. Nice color!

Probably not the news you want to hear but you would have been better off with a Badger 5 80mm TIP. I had an APR TIP and stage 1 map and it was a noticeable difference going from APR TIP to the B5 TIP in both sound and performance. Something to think about later. Or go straight for a Garrett big turbo

I suppose that's always going to be the case with different mods. If I'd started reading the forum a little more in depth before doing the mods I probably would have taken it to Bills' but I had a good deal on the bits and the plan was only to do minor mods and keep it relatively standard looking.

We'll see how long that lasts...

 

[daz-20vt]

By your response im not sure if you understood what sam was saying.
Maybe you did but just in case fyi.
Bill has created a tip that is 80mm from maf to turbo with aluminium adaptor.
The forge one as you saw goes very small before the bend so restricts air feed to the turbo.
Actual gains to be had with bills. Its really good.

 

[NE Marlon]

No, I did get it. It'll be something I'll look at in the future, no doubt.

 

[daz-20vt]

Fair enough it was only the "taken it to bills" that threw me.
You mapped yet?

 

[NE Marlon]

Only reason for the Bills' reference is Badger5 seems to be the 'holy grail pilgrimage' for all 20VT owners the more I read up on it! I'm hoping to pop along for a nose as he's pretty much round the corner.

And yep, APR Stage 1 98 RON.

 

[daz-20vt]

Oh that was right. Remember now.
Was going to suggest doing it along with a map to get a more noticable gain is all.