Help with upgrading my 1997 a3 agu 1.8t

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Luther1985

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Hi guys i have an audi a3 '97 1.8t with an agu engine.
It already has the following upgrades:
Forge dump valve
Pipercross velocity air filter
asm piping
aftermarket downpipe
milltek exhaust
remapped
forge motorsport intercooler
sports brakes, tyres and suspension
and a few other valves which im not sure of exactly.
On the dyno its developing 220hp and 260f/lb torque,
max speed 165mph. I have been told that the next logical
step to more power would be to upgrade the turbo, downpipe
and exhaust manifold. I was told that a gt28 turbo is recommended.
I would be interested in peoples opinion on which would be the best
course of action for more power, and which parts i should look at getting for
it. Any help is greatly appreciated
 
if you have got a 1997 a3 agu, it wont be making 220bhp unless its got a k03s on it, the standard turbo is a k03 which a healthy one with a healthy engine would make 180-200bhp that's with all the supporting mods.

whos the car mapped by?

take a look at these threads for options.

prawns track car

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/109831-prawns-a3-track-car-nurburgring-toy.html

my k03 fitment hybrid a3

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/161918-my-a3-will-go-fast-build-thread.html



there is plenty of reading there for you!
 
coatesy said:
if you have got a 1997 a3 agu, it wont be making 220bhp unless its got a k03s on it, the standard turbo is a k03 which a healthy one with a healthy engine would make 180-200bhp that's with all the supporting mods.

whos the car mapped by?

take a look at these threads for options.

prawns track car

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/109831-prawns-a3-track-car-nurburgring-toy.html

my k03 fitment hybrid a3

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/161918-my-a3-will-go-fast-build-thread.html



there is plenty of reading there for you!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Im not sure who mapped it as i bought the car in its current
state. It is in excellent condition and the engine is very healthy, the car is very quick.
Ill read up on those threads thank you!!
 
If it's very quick; why do you want more power?

The things you've listed are just generic mods, most A3's on here have that sort of kit. Post some pictures up and we'll tell you what it has and hasn't got; for instance the chances of it having £800's worth of Forge intercooler and then cheap ebay ASH hoses and no K03s are pretty slim. Sports brakes, tires and suspension? What does that mean?

Also, the gearbox maxes out at 155 not 165 I've been there many times.

Nobody is going to say just say "do this", your best bet is to have a think what you want from the car and then do your research based around what you would like from it. The tuning potential of a 1.8t is infinite, how far do you want to go?

Pics and a proper spec along with who mapped it would help is guide you in the right direction. But ultimately it's your choice and research; we're not going to be the ones working on the car for you.
 
16Klappe said:
If it's very quick; why do you want more power?

The things you've listed are just generic mods, most A3's on here have that sort of kit. Post some pictures up and we'll tell you what it has and hasn't got; for instance the chances of it having £800's worth of Forge intercooler and then cheap ebay ASH hoses and no K03s are pretty slim. Sports brakes, tires and suspension? What does that mean?

Also, the gearbox maxes out at 155 not 165 I've been there many times.

Nobody is going to say just say "do this", your best bet is to have a think what you want from the car and then do your research based around what you would like from it. The tuning potential of a 1.8t is infinite, how far do you want to go?

Pics and a proper spec along with who mapped it would help is guide you in the right direction. But ultimately it's your choice and research; we're not going to be the ones working on the car for you.
Click to expand...




yea lol u are right it maxes out at 156mph:). here are some pics: Photo 1Photo
in response to one of the quotes above, it is quick but i guess getting more power out of it is kind of a hobby:). i would like to push to 280-300bhp?
Ok a little more information guys:

koni STR.T suspension
denso spark plugs(?)
michelin pilot ps3 sport tyres
unfortunately that is all i can gather from the receipts. the dyno run was done by austec racing, maybe its not accurate
enough. hopefully the enginebay pic can shed some light, if its not close enough ill take some more today.thanks for input
 
sorry the files came up a bit small, ill upload better ones later on today
 
Luther1985 said:
yea lol u are right it maxes out at 156mph:). here are some pics:View attachment 7440View attachment 7441
in response to one of the quotes above, it is quick but i guess getting more power out of it is kind of a hobby:). i would like to push to 280-300bhp?
Ok a little more information guys:

koni STR.T suspension
denso spark plugs(?)
michelin pilot ps3 sport tyres
unfortunately that is all i can gather from the receipts. the dyno run was done by austec racing, maybe its not accurate
enough. hopefully the enginebay pic can shed some light, if its not close enough ill take some more today.thanks for input
Click to expand...

If you want 280/300 BHP you need to spend roughly £2500/£3K to do it properly.

You would need to buy a K04 turbo, injectors, an XS tubular manifold, a water meth kit if you want to do it properly, a new downpipe and decat, a badger 5 TIP, a new MAF, you'd need to replace your current FMIC with a larger core and larger pipe work, you'd need a VR6 clutch and G60 flywheel to cope with the torque and more importantly than anything there is only one man in the whole country who will be able to get you those top end figures from a K04 so you'd need to ring R-Tech and get your mapping done there. He's in Hinkley.

Otherwise you're looking at a GT28, but the turbo will cost more than the car which is stupid.

Your FMIC is not a Forge one, it is the £200 ebay one. Not a bad bit of kit but only good for 250bhp really. It looks fairly decent spec to be fair. First thing to do it work out if it is a K03 or K03s. I'd presume a K03s with that figure.

See if it has the large barrel around the outlet like the top one in this picture -

k03s-k03.jpg


You will see that by following the FMIC tubes to the back of the engine bay.

If you want my advice; get it on a reputable rolling road and see exactly what it's doing. Tell us the figures and we'll probable suggest you go to R Tech and get the map updated and tweeked.

I'd stick with the K03s, take it to the top of stage two figures and be happy with it. When these cars are mapped properly with a tiny little K03s giving it everything they are really fun and reliable. The faster the car, the faster you're going to crash. Not to mention insurance companies seem to frown upon BT setups in little FWD hatchbacks.
 
16Klappe said:
Also, the gearbox maxes out at 155 not 165 I've been there many times.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, your old ko3S maxed out at 155mph, not the gearing.

The AGU box and FD reaches around 150mph at 6krpm in 5th, giving it a theoretical maximum speed of 170 based on the factory 6800rpm limiter.

With a 7200rpm limiter as found on many mapped cars, this puts the theoretical max speed at 180mph on the limiter, and with a 7600 limiter as you'd have on a hybrid or something, the theoretical max is 190mph!
 
thanks 16klappe that was very helpful, ill look for the turbo type today and get back. i think you are right, id be happy with 250hp and the car being reliable:). as you can probably tell im quite new to this so all advice is greatly appreciated:)
 
p.s another question... does anyone know of a reputable rolling road in or around the london area?
 
250bhp is a nice amount of power, i went from 150bhp straight to 270+ bhp and it was the best thing iv ever done! but because im abit of a power junkie im trying to make it even faster.

if you want to upgrade your turbo and don't want to change your current downpipe and manifold, you can speak to dan (beachbuggy) on here and ask him about his k03 fitment hybrids. you will see its what i use in my build thread.

you've just got to be aware that once you start spending this sort of money on your car you are never going to get it back. and obviously making a car go way faster than it should will need the right sized brakes and suspension ect. unless you want to make your self a super fast coffin lol

as 16klappe says the only places to take your car to for a remap is R-tech, but there is also badger 5. these are the only people id let play with my car.
 
My personal view is if your wanting 300hp just go streight for the Garrett.

Fitting the K04 means you need to change all the same parts you need to change to fit the garrett unit, but its leading you down a dead end route. A stock K04 is also basically flat out at those power figures and heat becomes a big issue. Stick a T25 manifold on there and you have endless options from 300 to 400hp and beyond. Sure buying a new turbo is expensive, in the region of 900quid for a GT28RS for instance, however when you consider the cost of buying a K04, and having it rebuilt and hybridised to comfortably make 300hp, the gap suddenly closes significantly

If your happy to expect a bit less than 300, then a hybrid like coatsey has might be a cheaper way to go, but you want to be sure your specs not going to creep in 6 months time leaving you wanting more...
 
Photohi guys i took a pic of the turbo where it joins the intercooler:
i think its a standard k03 turbo. coatsey thank you for you input, what would be the best way to get in contact
with beachbuggy?
 
they're externally identical, there's no way to tell them apart without either finding the little blue ID tag on the compressor housing and getting a number, or whipping the TIP off and counting the number of fins on the compressor wheel :)
 
Prawn said:
they're externally identical, there's no way to tell them apart without either finding the little blue ID tag on the compressor housing and getting a number, or whipping the TIP off and counting the number of fins on the compressor wheel :)
Click to expand...

I thought all K03's were silenced and all K03's weren't? Is that an old wives tale?
 
16Klappe said:
I thought all K03's were silenced and all K03's weren't? Is that an old wives tale?
Click to expand...

Nope, not at all man.

I'm fairly sure yours on your audi isn't silenced actually!

some are, some arn't. from what I've seen though, audi ones arn't silenced, and seat ones are. not sure if that's a general rule, but it's been my experience to date.
 
hmm so its hard to tell from the exterior which type of turbo it is. ill have to get a torch and look for the blue id tag then!!
 
hi again guys i have done some research on the rolling road used to get the 218bhp result. it is a Maha LPS3000 four wheel drive dynometer at austec racing in crawley west sussex. has anyone heard of this type of dyno?
 
Luther1985 said:
hi again guys i have done some research on the rolling road used to get the 218bhp result. it is a Maha LPS3000 four wheel drive dynometer at austec racing in crawley west sussex. has anyone heard of this type of dyno?
Click to expand...

hi Luther, I live in redhill Surrey, about 10 miles from Crawley, I know that place, they only do eprom chip for our car (a3), they started out as a tvr tuner really, I have a 98 AGU and 2 weeks ago I went to r-tech in Hinckley, very helpful guys and a great price for the remaps, I only have a standard ko3 at the moment, so like a few have said go to r-tech, I was told they are the best for AGU,

simon
 
cheers simon that was very helpful, i think ill give r tune a call and see what they say. do they have a rolling road there?
 
Grale1 said:
so like a few have said go to r-tech, I was told they are the best for AGU
Click to expand...

If it's big figures you want, there is only R-Tech.

My new A3 is an AUM with a K03s, it is just an R-Tech stage 1 mapped over 18 months ago with a TIP, downpipe and decat, 007p, airfilter and N249 delete. It flows 180.8g/s, which is basically 226bhp.

R-Tech mapped my last A3 which was a pre-facelift AGU with a K03s, that thing was simply mental in a word and is a pretty legendary car. That thing made huge power, and at the time was the fastest K03s car around.



R-Tech mapped Prawns (now Frenchmans) car, same spec as mine and that made 224.5bhp on Badger 5's rollers. And they're real heart brakers.

R-Tech did all of the mapping on Prawns track car, and you can draw the torque curve with a ruler on that thing. It's incredible.

Niki has had 250bhp out of a very special K03s, unheard of by anybody else. When I first got into A3's everybody said a K03s was maxed out at 230bhp.

In short; if you want man power then I'd recommend R-Tech. You won't find many big power/proper cars on any UK VAG forums that Niki hasn't had a hand in. :)
 
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Yeah they have a rr there, very good prices on the mapping also, I'm only just getting to all this my self, best advice I can give you my self at this moment in time is listen to everyone on here everyone seems to know there stuff and all a great bunch of guys willing to help,
 
here is a few videos of my car on the rollers at R-Tech.









i travelled 170 miles to drop my car off with them worth it though ill be taking it back down again to get the map tweaked next year for a little extra power
 
Last edited by a moderator:
personally if it is your "hobby" mate.... and youll probably want more power after the Ko4 then might as well got he gt28 route as it would give you a proper smile when you beans it and besides that if that is still not enough then you it would be somewhat a good platform to go the gt30 route.. but thats if you aim on keeping the car for a while and dont mind spending
 
thanks so much guys, you have all been very helpful. i think firstly i get it on another rolling road to confirm/disprove the other ne and see what im working with. then ill work from there:)
 
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