Meteor Grey S3

[DeckedS3]

Hello people :icon_thumright:
Now I've had the car and done some mods here is my build thread. Not as in depth as some others....
I took delivery the S3 back in October 2008, a nice new facelift in Meteor grey......

The car needed some serious loosening up! But it was slightly better than what I expecting..... The car was a lot slower than my R32 with the turbo fitted (as expected). The Haldex was the biggest improvement (being Gen4). It was instant in the wet and felt more positive when pushing it hard, the TC doesn't come on as quickly as the R32 and when it does it's not as intrusive. In all I was happy with the S3 from day 1 and I'd kept telling myself this one's going to remain standard :lol:
Once the 1000 miles were up I started giving it some real welly, this is where i started to notice how restricted the engine was and I knew Revo was coming. I bought a Revo remap for my sisters Gti and convinced my mate with Seat Leon to do the same, both with impressive results, so I decided to get mine done.
After Christmas I decided to give AMD a quick call and I got the Visa out...... oops!
I went for the Revo stage 1 with Select plus unit, but as my car was a facelift model and it has a revised exhaust downpipe and lambda probe positioning, there were a few issues.... Basically it kept misfiring. (nothing that you could feel that badly, just in 4th gear at about 6.5K+ it felt like it was holding back) the power was still very impressive. We tried stage 2 but it didn't help. The quickest fix for me was to get the Milltek on there, so I did! I went for the turbo back unresonated special tipped system. And O boy am I glad I did. This cured the problem instantly. At the same time it was in for the exhaust I had the Bilstein PSS10's installed and Evoms intake (I'd previously installed the Forge DV).

Really impressed with the suspension, I think I'm going to drop it another 10-15mm as I haven't scrubbed yet. It rides the bumps really well and the way you can change the settings is awesome! Makes things really simple. Only set on 5 all round so once it's settled I'll be stiffening it up a little.... We'll see how much "she" can take (BTW she noticed the other day! DOH!)
The Milltek is quiet in the cabin, but I gave it a blast through a tunnel the other day and I think I sucked about 3 commuters through the intake and spat them out the back.... lol. Along with the EVOMs and forge DV it sounds evil! kinda like having a flock of doves in a Darth Vader helmet :devil:

The car drives really well, it's so smooth and now no longer feel restricted. I know the APR fuel pump is calling for me but I want to find out how guys are doing on stock clutches before I bite the bullet (I won't do it if it kills the clutch as I don't want an aftermarket).
So, so much for keeping it stock

 

[eugegall]

Car looks awesome mate. You hav bigger balls than me. Im going for the revo remap shortly. But i not sure what it does with audi on services. Aparently they wont service the car if they see it has a remap? Is this right?

Great car again

 

[Sem]

Lovely car and the ride height looks spot on.

 

[VRStu]

Car looks awesome mate. You hav bigger balls than me. Im going for the revo remap shortly. But i not sure what it does with audi on services. Aparently they wont service the car if they see it has a remap? Is this right?

Great car again

No I don't think so.

Best to get a Select Plus.

 

[DeckedS3]

Car looks awesome mate. You hav bigger balls than me. Im going for the revo remap shortly. But i not sure what it does with audi on services. Aparently they wont service the car if they see it has a remap? Is this right?

Great car again

My local garage seems ok.... I can switch it off and clear any code that may show the revs have gone above a certain point. hopefully that will be enough. I know of others that have had warranty work with similar mods to me.

 

[Sohrob]

How have you found the forge dv valve? Heard mixed reports on these.

 

[Sohrob]

one of the best s3's on here aswell imo

 

[magnus911]

ok that settles it! I'm getting coilovers this weekend!

Awesome car man, it would have been rude not to mod it a little!

 

[DeckedS3]

How have you found the forge dv valve? Heard mixed reports on these.

Not really had a problem with it. I think it's a tad loud but you can drive it hard without it blowing. You just need to be a little bit hesitant when coming off the throttle.

 

[DeckedS3]

ok that settles it! I'm getting coilovers this weekend!

Awesome car man, it would have been rude not to mod it a little!

Thanks. Well worth it IMO. I drive it quite hard and with the Bilsteins you can stiffen it up in 5 seconds, it's perfect!

 

[S3 LTN]

That looks amazing DeckedS3. Seriously good!
Love the picture of the backend... sits so nicely.

Thought about spacers? Would add that lil extra to it.
Extremely great looking car mate

 

[FazS3]

Fella that car is looking sooo GOOODDD!!!

 

[PaulAr]

Havnt seen that colour before.

Suits the facelift S3 a treat.
Very nice.

cheers
Paul

 

[DeckedS3]

That looks amazing DeckedS3. Seriously good!
Love the picture of the backend... sits so nicely.

Thought about spacers? Would add that lil extra to it.
Extremely great looking car mate

kinda against spacers but we'll see......

 

[DeckedS3]

Havnt seen that colour before.

Suits the facelift S3 a treat.
Very nice.

cheers
Paul

Neither have I.... I keep looking but still to see another.
It changes colour depending on the light and hids the dirt really well!

 

[Rabbit222]

@Deck, your car is looking awesome mate! Suspension looks spot on!

How have you found the forge dv valve? Heard mixed reports on these.

If you don't mind my reply to your question....

I have had endless issues with my Forge DV and with the introduction of the Revision H DV by the VAG group I couldn't be more happier. I removed my Forge DV about 2 weeks back which at the time had come completely loose towards the head part of the DV...really surprised me. I was having boost issues ie: actual vs requested not being met. The Piston in the unit occassionally jammed which eventually became quite frustrating. I would honestly recommend the Revision H DV which I have had fitted to my car since Sunday evening and I can tell you this...it holds boost much much better than the Forge DV( the joys of having a boost guage) I'll try and crack some datalogging this weekend and hopefully post up the results.

 

[madalex]

that second to last photo of the rear is AMAZING

 

[redbutcher]

Superb looking motor and very much OEM looking from the outside which is a definite :icon_thumright: IMO.

 

[Ash B]

Car looks great! Loving the photos and the colour of the car.
Done some mods and car sitting just right. Good write up aswell. Hope your enjoying the car mate

Ashley

 

[Matt]

Very nice. Love the colour and the suspension drop has made the wheels look much bigger. Wouldn't change another thing looks wise :thumbsup:

 

[PNH80]

kinda against spacers but we'll see......

If you enjoy driving the car hard and generally enjoying the responsive handling of the S3 whatever you do....Stay away from spacers on the front end. They deaden the feeling of the road through the wheel and basically numb everything.

I had to take mine off recently (10mm hubcentric H&R's? and i couldn't believe the difference. I'll never put spacers on the front of a car again.
By all means put some on the rear end to make it more aggressive.

Anyway the car looks superb mate. Good choice of colour, spec and mods!

Paul.

 

[S3 SAF]

car looks spot on mate...!

 

[DeckedS3]

If you enjoy driving the car hard and generally enjoying the responsive handling of the S3 whatever you do....Stay away from spacers on the front end. They deaden the feeling of the road through the wheel and basically numb everything.

I had to take mine off recently (10mm hubcentric H&R's? and i couldn't believe the difference. I'll never put spacers on the front of a car again.
By all means put some on the rear end to make it more aggressive.

Anyway the car looks superb mate. Good choice of colour, spec and mods!

Paul.

Thanks. I had a set of these on my R32. I needed them because of my BBK and I if I had a choice I would of rather not of used them. It was more a case of, in the back of my mind I knew they shouldn't be there and there must of been additional stress on the hubs/possibly the bolts too. I've had bad experiences in the past with wheels coming off (not down to stupidity).

 

[DeckedS3]

@Deck, your car is looking awesome mate! Suspension looks spot on!



If you don't mind my reply to your question....

I have had endless issues with my Forge DV and with the introduction of the Revision H DV by the VAG group I couldn't be more happier. I removed my Forge DV about 2 weeks back which at the time had come completely loose towards the head part of the DV...really surprised me. I was having boost issues ie: actual vs requested not being met. The Piston in the unit occassionally jammed which eventually became quite frustrating. I would honestly recommend the Revision H DV which I have had fitted to my car since Sunday evening and I can tell you this...it holds boost much much better than the Forge DV( the joys of having a boost guage) I'll try and crack some datalogging this weekend and hopefully post up the results.

Thanks. I may look into this as the Forge is a little loud. But so far I've not had any issues with mine.

 

[daviscup]

Looks fab mate, specially the buckets! Was the colour a special order? Does'nt seem to be an option on the Audi online config.

 

[DeckedS3]

Looks fab mate, specially the buckets! Was the colour a special order? Does'nt seem to be an option on the Audi online config.

It's now available on the S3, not sure about the A3.

 

[daviscup]

Ah cool. They must'nt have added it to the S3 config. yet.

 

[PNH80]

Ah cool. They must'nt have added it to the S3 config. yet.

I think Meteor Grey is an 'S' only pearl colour (sorry if i'm wrong). I've only ever seen it on an S5 and S3.

 

[golf]

It's no Dolphin Grey.

Only joking, car looks great but I bet you miss the power/sound of your R32!

 

[mac1403]

Stunning looking car mate. That has to be one of the nicest on here. Good choice on everything, although I don't know if I would have the balls to Mod so quick. Besides that my missus would put me under the patio LOL

 

[TDI-line]

Wow, that's lovely.

 

[DeckedS3]

It's no Dolphin Grey.

Only joking, car looks great but I bet you miss the power/sound of your R32!

To an extent yes..... The noise of the R32 was awesome but you have different noises to listen to with the S3. And the handling of the S3 is much better!

 

[DeckedS3]

I thought this thread was due a bit of an update…. It's been a while!

Over the years the car went from stock to Revo stage 1 to 2+ with all the usual trick bits including an uprated intercooler, LOBA clutch, Haldex upgrade, ARB's and I can't remember what else.… The car ran great excluding a failed throttle body the car ran perfectly.

I gave the car a fresh look by installing the black grill and debadging the rear.

I then decided to switch to APR and had their stage 3 big turbo fitted. There was a small issue with the original stage 3 map but APR fixed it about 2 weeks later with a software update. The difference between stage 2+ and stage 3 is awesome, the car drives completely differently and if I hadn't been scared of messing the car up I would of done it sooner.

This is when boredom struck again! I was on the verge of selling the car and getting something else but to keep me interested, I decided to convert the car from manual to S-Tronic. This wasn't easy. But after a few weeks of reading up on the wiring and the ECU recoding I thought I'd give it a bash. It took a few months but I eventually got it up and running and despite a small amount of clutch slip when my foot is heavy on the gas low down in the rev range it's been flawless.

I can't find a final picture of the interior with the gearknob but it is all done

I've got a few more things going on over the next few week/months including stage 3+, a new cast intake manifold and the Dodson DSG upgrade. So I'll do an update once that’s all up and running. The car isn't a daily driver and I intend on keeping this for many more years to replace the Mk2 Golf I never bought.

 

[S3Alex]

Which intake are you thinking of.

 

[DeckedS3]

Which intake are you thinking of.

I've got the HPA one. I just need to fit it.

 

[S3Alex]

I've got the HPA one. I just need to fit it.

Very nice quality gear.
Really well made.

 

[RedDejavu]

You like to do it the hardcore way! Well done mate, really like your project. Wish I could see your car in flesh I bet it shifts like mad!

 

[sheridan94]

You certainly arent doing anything by half measures. Well done !

Offtopic
I saw a vid of your car on youtube from like 5 years ago, my car is identical to yours (standard) and a similar reg and i thought it was the old owner giving it the biggun hahah i have to say it sounded great

 

[micks378]

hey buddy.. I have the same setup in my S3.. (miltek,evoms,BOV, Stage 2) but never had it dynoed since I was the second owner.. I think I need to get it done.. cheers for the info

 

[DeckedS3]

I collected the car last week from AMD with the lpfp installed and the stage 3+ map. I doesn't feel that different, it's just given the engine a bit more punch across the rev range. The biggest change are the gear changes, they feel and sound slightly different. It's like the rev counter can't keep up. From what I can feel, it's not slipping and 0-60 times have improved. We're down to 3.4 seconds now..... I short shifted 1st here but you get the idea.



HPA Intake manifold and Dodson clutch packs to go on next month.