GuyJ's Sprint Blue S3

[GuyJ]

Well, i have been trawling the forum for a while now and figured it was time for me to start a "build thread".

So i bought the car Nov. 2012 from Aberdeen, totally standard...


I was dying to change a couple of things but to be honest i just didn't have the money. My plan was to go stage one and be happy...but then a good friend of mine introduced me to these wheels...

Genuine VW helios! I found them on eBay at a good price so i just had to. Once i got them it was time to save up for tyres. I went for pirelli p zero nero's 215/35/19. I also got the wheels powdercoated by Mikey at Fife Powdercoating who i would highly recommend.
I knew i would need to lower the car and i was weary of "normal" coilovers not going low enough...So after emailing back and forth with Simon at Still Static i decided to go for H&R ultra lows, 110mm kit.
I could not be happier. Unbelievable piece of kit.

(that picture is of a friends R32 kit that i helped fit, it was just to show how much shorter the actual kit is compared to standard)
I wanted comfort as well as being low AND good handling. These Deliver all of the above. The car looks awesome too IMO



(please excuse the rubbish iphone pics. I need to get a decent camera)
This was the day after i fitted the suspension. I allowed for settling and lowered the front a further 10mm.
It is now time for me to get my arches rolled to avoid catching the wing lip. It is rubbing on full lock but nothing too bad.




I know i need the grill painted black before anyone says The rear diffuser and lower front lip have been done but i plan on getting them re done along with a front end respray to freshen it up. ****** stone chips

I recently took the car to Blair Atholl for the weekend and started to hear a "whurring" noise. diagnosed it as a n/s/r driveshaft. So the car is currently in my garage stripped waiting on the new one arriving along with rear discs and front & rear pads.


So yeah, Im going to be getting proper pictures soon and i will share them here.
Most my pictures are on instagram - GuyJohnston22
Im hoping to be doing a lot more and i will keep this updated!

Thanks
Guy

 

[NHN]

You popping down to the show on the 21st July?

 

[GuyJ]

You popping down to the show on the 21st July?

Are you talking about Cumbria show? Unfortunately my weekends are all tied up with racing now 😔
I'am however going to edition but not with my car!
To save me PM'ng you i sourced lights from someone else...they arrived. O/S was all smashed. Parcel force won't compensate 😭
Nightmare! So I'm ordering another tomorrow :-(

 

[leeds2592]

Helios

 

[GuyJ]

Helios

That was my exact face when they arrived.
I realllly need to get better quality pictures.

 

[gogz s3]

That's stunning pal, the stance is spot on an the wheels really suit it, look forward to reading the rest of the build.

 

[Wicked666]

Looks great! Personally i'm not a fan of the blacked out grill as they seem too common on A3's and S3's. The silver grill makes it stand out as an S3 imo.

 

[GuyJ]

That's stunning pal, the stance is spot on an the wheels really suit it, look forward to reading the rest of the build.

Thanks! Well, my plan is to drop the front a further 5mm, but, as i already said, it is rubbing slightly
Im going to roll my arches and see what the script is, then sort the paint out!
That rear close up picture is with 15mm spacers fitted. I haven't actually ran the car with these in buuuut all i need to do is whip the arch liners out and its good to go! ( I hope)

Looks great! Personally i'm not a fan of the blacked out grill as they seem too common on A3's and S3's. The silver grill makes it stand out as an S3 imo.

Wellllll, i bought a set of mirror caps to have painted black too but i think they tie in really well with the wheels. The rear looks really good with the painted lower valance. I also recently fitted black Audi rings, Black S3 badge and dewipred using a flush fit bung.
I should stop spending money on the car and buy a decent camera!
As for the grill, i know its common but sometimes i guess things are common because it looks good!

 

[S3Alex]

19s seem to produce a number of issues with rubbing,especially with wider tyres,and rolling the arches should get rid of some of that for you.

Choosing narrower tyres as you have should keep it to a minimum as well.

We had a serious job getting wider tyres squeezed under mine,but that was worth the struggle.

P.S.....don't listen to anyone re the black grill.....it looks good and suits the car!

 

[GuyJ]

I'm hoping/needing to roll the arches soon. With the car being off the road for a while i should realllly do it now but i don't have the spare cash atm. Especially after one of MY11 rear lights arriving in pieces and parcel force not compensating
I have nice polished lips now
It was N8 who said to go for 215's and I'm glad i did. He also told me about Still Static!

I'm super excited to get a move on with the car.

 

[NHN]

Especially after one of MY11 rear lights arriving in pieces and parcel force not compensating

Although I didn't supply them, hopefully I can help you replace it

 

[S3Alex]

I'm hoping/needing to roll the arches soon. With the car being off the road for a while i should realllly do it now but i don't have the spare cash atm. Especially after one of MY11 rear lights arriving in pieces and parcel force not compensating
I have nice polished lips now
It was N8 who said to go for 215's and I'm glad i did. He also told me about Still Static!

I'm super excited to get a move on with the car.

I know what you mean....once you start on something with one of these,it becomes a cash pit.

I'm looking at around 3 weeks off the road soon,for all the parts and work on mine,but the results,as with yours,will always be worth it!

Enjoy the journey.

 

[GuyJ]

Thanks Nigel!

S3Alex, your car is on a different level all together! Insane amount of time/effort/money invested but, as you said, it will 110% be worth it.


I found a few pictures tonight :icon_thumright:

En route home from Ultimate dubs this year

(I promise that is my last boring standard S3 picture )

I picked up a EVOMS! 10 points to anyone who can spot what else i have changed!

 

[ramp1990]

Im gonna have to get some of those rear lights for my s3 look so much nicer

 

[GuyJ]

Im gonna have to get some of those rear lights for my s3 look so much nicer

The MY11's? I cant wait to get mine on. I have one sitting there...I have been tempted to fit just the one
I'm going to bide my time. Ended up paying £340 plus for rear lights.... at least the one that arrived broken has working bulbs i suppose..... I hope.

 

[TDI140]

im jealous of the helios wheels let me know if u ever famcy a change for some bentley wheels ;-), best colour looks awesome

 

[ramp1990]

how muuch are the m711s? best color sprint blue always looks clean

 

[fuzion]

looks awesome.. always wondered what my s3 would look like with those wheels, and it'd look awesome LOL! very tidy mate!

 

[turbonutz]

how do you find the supension now? i was thinking of lowering( not as quite as low as yours hoever due to arch rub) but im liking lower with comfort n handling as u mentioned!

 

[GuyJ]

how muuch are the m711s? best color sprint blue always looks clean

Best speaking to NHN mate. It always looks clean in pictures

looks awesome.. always wondered what my s3 would look like with those wheels, and it'd look awesome LOL! very tidy mate!

Thanks, I am super pleased. I fancy a change already

how do you find the supension now? i was thinking of lowering( not as quite as low as yours hoever due to arch rub) but im liking lower with comfort n handling as u mentioned!

It delivers exactly what i asked for. Lows, Comfort. I do drive hard at times and the suspension feels responsive and a improvement over stock.
I would like to lower a touch more however, my sub frame came in contact with road the other night. I'm still getting used to "reading" the roads.

My kit cost £1200 so if you want performance i would maybe consider suspension where the primary function is improved handling as apposed to lowering!

 

[S3Alex]

It delivers exactly what i asked for. Lows, Comfort. I do drive hard at times and the suspension feels responsive and a improvement over stock.
I would like to lower a touch more however, my sub frame came in contact with road the other night. I'm still getting used to "reading" the roads.

My kit cost £1200 so if you want performance i would maybe consider suspension where the primary function is improved handling as apposed to lowering!

I don't think yours is excessively low,but if you managed to bottom the car out,then what you've found is the trade-off between the suspension being soft enough to allow for comfort,low enough for appearance,but high enough to miss the bumps!

Mine is (from what I've seen of the pics of yours and mine) about as low,but much harder,so although I still get the occasional tyre rub (with 245x 40 tyres) the chassis or subframe never get that close to the ground.

Thats as you point out,the difference between handling and lowering,and totally different suspension setups.

 

[GuyJ]

That's exactly it Alex. I was going to go for the race kit which offers the same lowering possibilities with dampening adjustability but I asked my self "why do I need that?"
I'm never going track the car as I have a race car to fulfil my "need for speed" (albeit a wee mini!)
The kit offers 50-110mm lowering. I have 10mm of visible thread left on the front and the rear adjusters are set flush with the "cup"
When I contacted the road I was driving hard and through a dip so it was my own fault!

I don't want to keep going on about it like a old man but the comfort is superb.

N8, I will PM you when I get on the lap top.

 

[GuyJ]

I'm upset no one has noticed my black washer fluid/bottle caps :-(

 

[S3Alex]

That's exactly it Alex. I was going to go for the race kit which offers the same lowering possibilities with dampening adjustability but I asked my self "why do I need that?"
I'm never going track the car as I have a race car to fulfil my "need for speed" (albeit a wee mini!)
The kit offers 50-110mm lowering. I have 10mm of visible thread left on the front and the rear adjusters are set flush with the "cup"
When I contacted the road I was driving hard and through a dip so it was my own fault!

I don't want to keep going on about it like a old man but the comfort is superb.

N8, I will PM you when I get on the lap top.

I obviously started with the standard suspension on mine as well,and found it really didn't have much body control(!) on the car at all,and was pretty wobbly at speed.
After that came a set of ARBs,and kW v3 suspension,which is actually pretty good on comfort and handling,and for most of us,a pretty good compromise as well as offering a lot of adjustability.

Having hogged my car out perhaps a step too far for that,I was finding that we couldn't adjust camber,and it was also getting a bit soggy at speed,and certainly on a track day it was understeering enough to make it hard work.
That's when the Clubsport gear arrived,which is some beyond being comfortable....it's hard,and pretty tough over big bumps etc,but the gains for what I wanted are there.

Having a Mini for trackdays must be great fun!

 

[leeds2592]

That was my exact face when they arrived.
I realllly need to get better quality pictures.

I've wanted some for aaaaaages, but I never seem to be able to save enough

 

[GuyJ]

Wellll....

Got some proper pictures taken

 

[GuyJ]

Some more pictures here Flickr: PeteCail's Photostream

So, i trimmed my rear arch linerand fitted the 15mm spacers.
At the same time i noticed a squeeking coming from the rear. After a quick look i realised i needed to trim my rear bump stops. So i did then built the car back up and headed to St. Andrews for some pictures.
I heard a slight rubbing noise every now and then but just thought it was the tyre...
I was wrong. The rear wheels were "tucking" when i was hitting bumps. The outside face of the wheels are scratched from hitting the body
I had a sprint blkue line around both wheels. Sooo they need refurbed. installed trimmed bump stops to stop this from happening.


I love how the car looks but is becoming a hassle. I drive my works van faster than the S3 now! Im not a boy racer (even though i do race haha)
So...I dont know what to do now. Happy with looks but....the car is a hassle to drive

 

[NHN]

Soon rear lense will be sorted aswell

I would tuck the wheels in a little, raise a tad, maybe even change wheels & it will be fine fella, no point dragging your **** everyday & not being able to enjoy the car for what it is, is there.

 

[sliced]

Maybe get the arches rolled too? Loving the colour and stance

 

[Wicked666]

Car looks awesome. I'm still a massive fan of the silver grill as makes it stand out from normal modified a3's in my opinion

Hope you manage to sort out the rubbing. Maybe air suspension is the way forward?

 

[smurfworth]

following this on instagram, as nice as it looks its too low to be used for what it should be. raise it up or put another grand into the suspension and get air

 

[immo]

following this on instagram, as nice as it looks its too low to be used for what it should be. raise it up or put another grand into the suspension and get air

What he said...

It looks great but you shouldn't expect to be able to drive it normally like that. Impractical as ****

 

[GuyJ]

As i said i am and have raised it.
Another grand and get air?.....
Another £2k and i can buy air and then I still need to fit it.
Arches are getting rolled along with front end respray

 

[GuyJ]

Woooops, I didn't say i was raising it

But i did! 15mm at the front and 10mm on the rear