Free or cheap Modifications

jdas03

jdas03

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Hi i just wondered what things you could do to an s3 that is free or cheapish that can affect the way the car performs, looks, feels or sounds.
I recently changed tyre pressures after reading something on here and its done wonders for the handling.
Are there any other little things you can do that make a big difference?
I have heard funny things like making holes in air box for a gruntier sound?
Any ideas or things you have tried would be great :)
 
A nice cheap interior mod is the ambient lighting in the roof console IMO, cant beat it for £8 ish
 
Its a twin LED that sits inside the roof console and plugs into the existing spade terminals, then you drill 2 small holes in the plastic cover then when the headlights come on you get a red glow over the centre dash and gear stick area.

I'll see if i still have the fitting guide which has the part number.
 
What you change your tyre pressures to and what were they before?
 
What petrol do you use, if its normal unleaded, start using V power, it makes a difference :)
 
I'm curious about your tyre pressure experiences too... what'd you find?
 
LCR front splitter, around £20 from a Seat dealer and improves the looks of the front end imo.
 
Wow some great little mods here, like the ambient light one, would be interested to see a guide. As for tyre pressures, started with 30 all round, then experiemented with 32 front 34 rears, then upped to 32 front to 36 rears and that's where I stay, find turn in great, feels better and gives me way more confidence :)
As for v power, does it really make a difference in the s3? Thought you were looking at serious motors before you'd see some gain? I've yet to try it properly though so please correct me :)
Any other things people have done? Brake caliper paint looks good, did mine and got heat proof audi rings for it, nice touch I think :)
 
Wow some great little mods here, like the ambient light one, would be interested to see a guide. As for tyre pressures, started with 30 all round, then experiemented with 32 front 34 rears, then upped to 32 front to 36 rears and that's where I stay, find turn in great, feels better and gives me way more confidence :)
As for v power, does it really make a difference in the s3? Thought you were looking at serious motors before you'd see some gain? I've yet to try it properly though so please correct me :)
Any other things people have done? Brake caliper paint looks good, did mine and got heat proof audi rings for it, nice touch I think :)
 
I've been using v-power almost since I owned mine, can't remember the performance difference now to be honest, but am very confident that it improves the mpg, especially on a motorway blast. With that and a vpower drivers club card it doesn't really work out costing much more than standard so well worth a try
 
Yes it does improve your performance as probally the economy ever slightly, i read up that using lower grade petrol causes your car to purposely make itself slower to protect itself from engine knock. So using 98ron is better, i can really notice when using rubbish fuel!

Is the lcr splitter a straight swap, mines busted from a pheasant impact.
 
emery1990 said:
Is the lcr splitter a straight swap, mines busted from a pheasant impact.
Click to expand...

Nope theres cutting involved prob best to take your old one off and copy what was done before, other than that try a search as theres alot on fitting lcr splitters.

cheers Matt
 
alloy door pins brighten the interior & match other alloy finihsing bits. Chrome bulbs also clean the light lenses up.
 
I havnt got one atm just the normal a3 one, ill have a look.

Chroming stuff is too bling for me, Give your car a massive clean, i mean masive, spend all day doing, i spenmt half a day, and that wasnt a mental clean, just claying took ages.!
 
Just change the front orange indicator bulbs to silver coated ones, gets rid of the 'fried egg' look
 
Updating the rear number plate lights is a really nice touch. I'm fairly sure TT pedals are a fairly cheap clean up to the interior as well.
 
Yer TT pedels is something i was ooking at,theLCRfrontsplitter though, got me interested now! where can i order online, dont seem to be any on ebay :-( looks nice though! seen a few s3's dechromed front grill! that looks good too!
 
Dont buy one online, there cheaper from the SEAT dealer, about £26.
 
As Nattie says, dont buy from ebay you will get ripped, go straight to the dealer, for a change they are cheaper on something.

The V Power does make a difference, the car feels more responsive and I have seen a noticeable difference in economy as i do alot of miles.
 
jdas03 said:
Yer TT pedels is something i was ooking at,theLCRfrontsplitter though, got me interested now! where can i order online, dont seem to be any on ebay :-( looks nice though! seen a few s3's dechromed front grill! that looks good too!
Click to expand...


I can vouch for the grill, wasn't sure whether to get it done or not, glad i did though cause it looks 100% better, I think it depends on what colour car you have as to colour code or simply spray black...
 
You could always colour code your grill surround instead of doing the boring black :moa:

picture.php
 
Westle said:
You could always colour code your grill surround instead of doing the boring black :moa:

picture.php
Click to expand...


That's what I went for in the end, does look a lot better. As soon as I turned up at the garage and saw my car I thought......yes

you can get away with it on the darker cars, if you have a lighter colour S3 I think you'd be better off going black...
 
Yeah it does look good and standard. It really updates the look of the front and also makes your chrome mirrors stand out if you have them. Your motor looks good in your sig Leggy.

It would be nice if someone owning a silver or red S3 tried a colour coded surround just to see what it looked like. If someone plans on getting their front bumper sprayed the body shop will probably do the surround at no extra cost. If you dont like it then you can always get another surround for cheap.
 
anyone spot anything different from my little rear lights ? see photo carefully.
Although I may have gone a bit overboard on the front with the chrome - no you probably don't want to see it.
 
TT pedal covers, about £30 from the Stealership.

MK4 Golf Aero wipers / arms (from 2002 model onwards), £25 from Fleabay

S3/TT wheel arch intercooler vent (for those that have A3's), £10 from Fleagay

Rear aero wiper arm from late Polo, blade from Touran, £30 from Stealership.
 
Westle said:
Yeah it does look good and standard. It really updates the look of the front and also makes your chrome mirrors stand out if you have them. Your motor looks good in your sig Leggy.

It would be nice if someone owning a silver or red S3 tried a colour coded surround just to see what it looked like. If someone plans on getting their front bumper sprayed the body shop will probably do the surround at no extra cost. If you dont like it then you can always get another surround for cheap.
Click to expand...


Thanks Westle, it's suprising how much it changes the front end, for the better...

I was just pondering that to, colour coding the grill on a red or noggy S3 could look really good, I'm not sure, would be good to see someone take the plunge...

For the record, your car looks smart also, it was theIMG_0298.JPG pic of your car at the ring that was the turning point for me I think...:)
 
leggy said:
Thanks Westle, it's suprising how much it changes the front end, for the better...

I was just pondering that to, colour coding the grill on a red or noggy S3 could look really good, I'm not sure, would be good to see someone take the plunge...

For the record, your car looks smart also, it was theIMG_0298.JPG pic of your car at the ring that was the turning point for me I think...:)
Click to expand...


Thanks mate. Just to let you know that the Ring pic was before I had the spray work done so my grille was sprayed black in that pic.
 
Westle said:
Thanks mate. Just to let you know that the Ring pic was before I had the spray work done so my grille was sprayed black in that pic.
Click to expand...


Yeah I know, you can't really tell the difference from a distance, I liked it black but colour coded looks better close up, only cost me an extra £40 professionally sprayed, 2 pack and laquered...thought that was a result.:icon_thumright:
 
Good deal. I managed to get mine done free of charge. It was in for the roof and front bumper and I spoke to them last minute and asked them to do the surround too. They didn't have to mix up any more paint so they didn't charge.
 
thegoal007 said:
anyone spot anything different from my little rear lights ? see photo carefully.
Although I may have gone a bit overboard on the front with the chrome - no you probably don't want to see it.
Click to expand...


Hard to see from the avatar but have you chromed the edge of them? Got any more pics?
 
What about dewiper the rear? Or debadge it?

Maybe we should make a list of what you can do on the cheap...
 
Yer add things you can do on the cheap as well. Want to get a nice list of ideas to try for poor people like me :) lol was thinking of getting rear windows tinted black, seen film on the net to do it. Not sure how it'll look, maybe too black as mines a black S3 anyway!
 
What about HID bulbs? Or pressed plates, even the legal ones look good I think.

Either aren't too much.
 
audi upgrades
Civic Type R aerial fits and looks good, can get them relatively cheep of eBay or from a dealer
 
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