Yeah, the 8V S3 doesn't do it for me for some reason... The toys and tuning potential is cool, but if I was looking at a new Audi it would be the facelift RS3 with the virtual cockpit and adaptive cruise. It would be a lot more money though and zero opportunity to make it my own for fear of losing the warranty, so I'll pass... For now at least.
Thanks buddy! I don't pretend to understand everything, but do tend to pick things up as I research the subject. I think most of my mods are pretty straightforward and quite common, but this one is probably one of the rare ones at least in UK. I'm really hoping that it helps with the issues I've had with it. If it doesn't work out, I can always switch back to stock S3 injectors as the original placement is preserved.Always great to get updates Lesh, especially with these changes where you are pushing the boundaries of knowledge a bit
Haha, trip with my girls to the Cheddar gorge has been fun today. Drove the length of the road and can only imagine how much fun this road can be when it's quiet! Walked alot and got some cheese though, so that's niceThats a result mate, if you were going to have issues they would have shown on a decent drive like that, always good when something you trial works
That said i do get cheesed of with that journey down to Cheddar.....
Ha, nice one and thanks for the nice comments - she's definitely a keeper! The mileage means nothing to me - it's all about how it's been looked after... Getting on top of maintenance is key. I've seen plenty 100k+ tuned TFSIs around and many are going strong and at the same time plenty of sub 40k cars that have no end of issues, so as long as you don't have any underlying problems (unlike meYour S3 is hands down my favourite build and I think I've read this thread 2 or 3 times haha! Massively jealous of all your mods! I'm slowing building mine up now for an R-Tech Performance remap (they seem to come highly recommeneded on here and not too far from me) but i'm going to be upgrading the hardware first, small things like DV+, HPFP cam follower, Revo air intake and work my way to the suspension. Nothing massive as I only plan on only going stage 1.
I think our S3's are on roughly the same mileage (mines just hitting 82k)? Do you see any major problems with remapping a car with that kind of mileage without needing to poor money into it? The car seems sound as I've recently had it in VRT Slough for a full service and scan with zero faults. Just wondering if there is anything i need to be weary of now. I know the clutch is possible the first thing to go?...but is that something to worry about at stage 1?
Thanks
P.s. i'm now following your Instagram as VRT posted your S3...I could pick it out anywhere haha
), you'll be fine going as far as you want with it. I also planned to go to about 360bhp and was happy with Stg2+ - a couple of years later, things have escalated a bit haha 
Thanks fella! I doubt I'll go much further in terms of power to be honest - going any further means an engine forge and that is not something my budget will stretch to for some time unfortunately, plus I really struggle to see the point of any more power for how I use this car at the moment. Especially as she is already starting to pop, bang and burble more than a true sleeper should hahaNow Driving to Cheddar ? , will you be returning via Gloucetser or leicester by any chance lol.
Excellent build mate keep it up very interesting to read how far you can push an S3.
Beware, i am only 25 miles from slough
Some photos of the old girl in some early morning Cheddar Gorge and Chew Valley Lake surroundings... Been a while since I managed a ridiculously early hoon.
The S3 felt spot-on! So much love for this car!
, loving your build thread, got me thinking about a TTE420 next as I’ve done everything else and want to keep mine a while.
I bet I know what the problem is
When I originally bought the car, it had a nasty judder under braking. I incorrectly assumed that this was down to unbalanced wheels. After getting them rebalanced a couple of times things improved slightly at motorway speeds, but brake judder never fully went away and was only getting worse.
Not knowing my options, I bought and installed a new set of brake disks/pads. The issue went away - result! Unfortunately it slowly started to reappear and got worse over time. Thinking that I warped my disks again, after a few road trips and spirited runs, I decided to get he disks skimmed by a local workshop, which came highly recommended. Once done, this fixed the brake judder problem and I was happy, for a while.
Very soon after the disk skim, I had the new BBK installed, but after just two or three thousand miles I started to notice that familiar judder coming back. By this point I was getting rather annoyed at the amount of money this was beginning to cost me as well as the frustration of having a nice car that I did not enjoy driving. After doing a bunch of reading and asking friends for advice, I found Marcus, who runs a place called Disk Skimmers near Cambridge. Top guy and knows his brakes
The moment he took one of the front wheels off, he showed me my problem! It turns out that my OEM wheels were refurbished at some point, using powder-coating. It was very good work, but the process also resulted in a very fine layer of coating left on the inside of the wheel which mounts to the disk. This fine layer of powder-coating was enough to cause an imperfect contact between the wheel and the brake disk, which caused the disk to start to deform slightly. We're talking microns here, but this is enough to cause the nasty judder that I came to expect from my car.
The solution was quite simple - light skim of the disks to fix the damage that was caused by the bad contact with the wheel. (This is normally as far as most disk skimming places go and fix the symptom of the problem, but not the cause.) The second part was to sand the mounting surface of the wheel down to get rid of the powder-coating, then a very light filing of the same to make sure that the mounting surface was completely smooth and level and ensure a perfect contact with the disk. The reason that the filing was required is because the alloy of the wheel will actually try to 'mould' around the powder-coating with every heat cycle. Marcus knows his stuff - http://www.discskimmers.com/
Hi Lesh
I do actually remember that post but i very much doubt its my problem. I have had the car from new. the wheels are original, the spacers Anodised, the discs new and the hubs not painted on the mounting surface . I know where you are coming from being in the motorcycle trade i have had loads of PC done and it can be up to 10 thou or 250 microns thick, and it will flake as its more of a skin than an adhered coat like paint.
I have found with my problem its definitely worse with speed. Can be a lot worse with distance but i dont think its disc warp with heat.
the reason i say this is i did prob 20 miles last night down the M11 at very fast speed and never touched the brakes in all that time but then hang on the anchors and it was juddering immediately i touched the peddle and before the brakes were even fully applied. I checked the mileage and the discs have done 4.5k., i also checked old receipts and this is a problem i have had for 34k and started with the original disc,s + their replacements and now the j hooks.
i dont have the facilities to spin the discs up on the car so i will book it in and get them to clock the run out on the discs then the hubs.
Sorry ti hijack you thread, i will shut up
Just a thought - why would it be fine for 3k miles then start to wobble? Sure if it was a surface issue it would be there straight away?
Haha, trip with my girls to the Cheddar gorge has been fun today. Drove the length of the road and can only imagine how much fun this road can be when it's quiet! Walked alot and got some cheese though, so that's nice
Ha, nice one and thanks for the nice comments - she's definitely a keeper! The mileage means nothing to me - it's all about how it's been looked after... Getting on top of maintenance is key. I've seen plenty 100k+ tuned TFSIs around and many are going strong and at the same time plenty of sub 40k cars that have no end of issues, so as long as you don't have any underlying problems (unlike me
Definitely agree with your approach on sensible map and focusing on brakes and chassis - they make an excellent base for a fun all-round road car. The only problem is that once you do that, you'll want to go further... Especially if you hang around on this forum
Oh, btw James, if you are not far from VRT then you're not far from where I am based... We have a small group of S3 owners from ASN that do occasional countryside drives/meets - ping me a PM if you're interested in joining us at some point.
)...but when replaced it's back to 100%. So i'm quietly confident the car is sound.
Mine won't even be in your league but i'm a massive Audi fan so it's a win win for me.
The issue is not the fact that the surface is uneven, but that the contamination between the disk and wheel will make the disk deform around it... Marcus explained it better to me, but the idea is that rust or remnants of paint will affect the way metal expands and contracts in affected areas. The end result is that the disk will end up with a different runoff/offset from hub center in different places with each heat cycle. The more heat cycles it goes through, the more the difference and this causes the brake judder to get progressively worse. I didn't think this would be the cause for judder, but he is a full-on engineer and spent a big part of his life in metal alloy engineering said that even microns of contaminants can have an effect.
Do you have any recommended places for 4 wheel alignment? I need to get mine checked and there seems to be a fair few that have the Hunter equipment just not sure about the garage themselves.
Yeah that sounds awesome mate. I'll PM you about it
I hope you get it resolved Paddy... I know all too well the frustration with this kind of thing. At one point I was ready to throw in the towel as I couldn't enjoy the car for what it was meant to be and it was getting way too expensive to keep replacing expensive bits of metal. If anything, before replacing more stuff, have a chat to Marcus and maybe visit him as he might be able to narrow it down for you, if not solve it completely.Thanks Lesh
I don't disagree with a word you say and thanks for you input. I will book it in today and get my guys to check disc run out as well as hub face run out
I just have a nagging feeling that as changing one front wheel bearing fixed it for 3k miles the other bearing might now have gone given they are both the same age and mileage.
If it comes to it then Cambridge it is
I've always thought the suspension could be better and my girlfriends hates riding in mine because its too hard for her...but she does get a brand new 4 series every 6 months, so I think shes become a custom to that kind of ride comfort. It normal gets lost on me because of the enjoyment I get from driving it. Not to mention the exhaust, although the power valve system is a little out of my price range for now.I don't doubt in his experience and knowledge. It's great to have someone with knowledge that takes his time to explain how things work.
I cleaned the inlet ports/valves myself a while back, before RTech map went in as I had the manifold off to fit the RFD kit anyway. I think it depends on the state of individual car as each one will be different. Either way, media blasting is the best method for cleaning that area as the carbon clean process using hydrogen will only go so far.
Cheers for the Advice , so dyno road next time then , will need to look up this media clean , did the Walnut blast due to it being 9yr old car and had done 80,000 miles so guessing it hadn't had one done b4 i got it .
