Naths 2for1 Maintain, Improve & Track! Thread

[Nath1790]

Also of interest to me at least, I took the time to look up the cars MOT's online and to actually look at the service book rather than flick through.

Turns out the car has been serviced and had an oil change every single year without fail. Interestingly though since 2007 the car has also failed every MOT first time without fail. I'm not sure what kind of person gets the oil changed and car serviced religiously but doesn't bother with tyres/bulbs/wiper blades which are advisories at least most years.

 

[Nath1790]

Ooooh 2nd page, I must talk a lot.

I received my suspension kit last night so this morning whilst getting bits and bobs I dropped by my local garage. Not been there for nearly a year but they remember myself and the other half and I asked about them getting the bits fitted. I took everything down, we had a chat and they reckon no worries and it'll be ready tomorrow hopefully. Parts in question:

• Vogtland 35mm Suspension Kit (thanks DPM for quick delivery)
• Front 288mm Pagid discs and Pads
• Front Top Mounts & Bearings (Standard)
• Front Drop Links
• Front Ball Joints
• Tie Rod Ends
• Wheel Alignment

They were saying £45 a corner but we'll have to see.

And once I got home, I immediately received some lovely new wheels

Cades Eros; cheap and 16" but they'll look alright and last a while.

Also this:

It's highly rated and should be useful in the future.

Also car mats arrived!!! But no pic so obvs it's not true

With any luck I'll have pics of the car Sunday/Monday.

 

[daz-20vt]

so are you tracking this car bud? your s3 was the daily wasnt it??
be good to see another 8l on track!

 

[Nath1790]

The S3 was the daily yes, but as I'm down to just this car it's going to have to do everything. Daily, commute, long trips, poss work stuff etc so it needs to be in good order mechanically as well as visually really. The bodywork needs some attention - scratches and rust on the bottom of the doors.

Until I get use of another car, nothing major will happen with it. I.e. engine work or a cage.

Also I'm now getting married this year and wow that's expensive.

I fully intend to track this properly and to join in with the whole Audi-Sport 8l's kicking *** thing though.

 

[Mrharris2]

If your tracking it mate why have you got 288mm standard discs and pads you not upgrading to 312mm fronts at least?

 

[Nath1790]

With standard pads and fluid I doubt I'd get much benefit really plus it's only the 150 model and that's not changing anytime soon. I feel with decent pads and fluid for when it hits a track hopefully later this year it'll be fine to start with.

 

[Nath1790]

Right, all the above bits are done. The car feels so much better now, before it rolled and wallowed but now it's much tighter and more direct. The steering has gained a bit of weight too which is nice. Hopefully the car will settle a little lower than it is as the rear is still quite high but there's no weight on it so I don't expect much. The only hiccups were that I got the wrong brake pads and that one of the top mounts was wrong so they changed the worse one and no more were in stock. It's very obvious though so I'll need to get that done in the future.

The other half knows nothing about this stuff and I didn't explain any of the suspension stuff (waste of time) but all by herself she commented that you can feel all the bumps now. She thinks that is bad though .

I also replaced the DV for a 'Turborevs' model and put the airbox back on with a pipercross filter. The car feels much smoother and more responsive now but whether that's both items or just the DV I don't know. There is no DV noise though and I've left the standard spring in it so I'm a tad unsure on that.

I've just given the car a 2hr cleaning session which involved the following:
Gold Class Shampoo
Wheel Cleaner
Clay with Detailer
Polish
Carnuba Wax
Fast Glass
Bumper Cared the plastics which I like
Rim Seal
Tyre Dressing
& a hoover with new mats

Thanks all.

 

[Mrharris2]

What size tyres are you running mate? 85s I joke but seriously what size

 

[Nath1790]

Whatever the standard size is, probably 55 profile but I like them.

 

[Mrharris2]

It's about time people got some beefy tyres on their wheels instead of 20 profile and stretched to their tits I'd vote 45s myself I changed a few months ago from 55s on my standard 16" wheels and they handle 10 times better no roll or nothing now

 

[Nath1790]

Lengthy thread update inbound;

So just before the MOT back at the start of March I intended to blank the Airbag light but couldn't remove the cluster so I simply cancelled the MOT and SORN the car for a while.

I tried to keep starting the car and rolling it around in the hope nothing would seize up but after a while the battery gave up and wasn't even jumpable anymore. I managed to get the car in the garage for a week but it meant I couldn't get my cleaning products so I rolled it out and managed to cause a nice gash down the side of the door strip (picture at some point). Moral of that story - 98 A3 doesn't really fit in 98 garage. Idiot builders.

I recently got an insurance renewal quote through which wasn't too bad but had increased a little, I cancelled that thinking I'll just get the car back on the road nearer the end of the year. However I found that a new quote would be a lot more than my renewal so I simply accepted the renewal.

That prompted me to get Fraulein back OTR because its pointless just having it sat there insured so I:

• Bought a battery charger from Halfrauds - worked a treat!
• Booked in with a local Auto Electrician to sort Airbag light and brake switch - nice guy, knew what I wanted doing and made sure to explain any implications.
• Booked in MOT at local garage next door to Auto E (handy) - it passed without a problem. (First 1st time pass the car has had for years).
• Taxed online DD - easy and quick.
• Had a few bits investigated and sorted whilst the car was in the garage; rear disks and pads and the worn top mount that didn't get replaced when I had the suspension refresh. - unfortunately this was darned expensive.

 

[Nath1790]

So I picked the car up yesterday and it feels really weird compared to my current daily. The steering wheel feels enormous! The pedal positioning is really odd and it doesn't make any noise It also feels sloppy and slow. It appears to not have VTEC too which is a bummer.

Now I know having an EP3 is probably a sin round here but its been awesome, sadly it'll be getting sold soon but at least I know what a proper hot hatch feels like! Something to aim for at least!

Fraulein seems to have very heavy stering at low speeds too which I don't seem to remember but for the time being, it will just be getting washed and detailed because getting it back on the road has put a huge dent in the credit card. I'm currently just looking forward to getting more than 30mpg!

The Civic is being sold soon mostly to help with the weeding fund which is only a few months away but I'll try and hold a little back as I want to get an exhaust system sorted. Most likely consisting of a Downpipe, universal cat and a generic catback. It'll never sound as manic as my race tube equipped Civic but hey ho. I expect in a month or two I'll be asking for a few links to the Bay for suitable systems as there are loads and I have no real clue what diameter to go for with the lil K03.

I'll be uploading a few pics of a hopefully clean car tomorrow.

I've written up plans on where I want to go with the car but when I work out a date that I might be able to afford it all, everything starts getting depressing! Doubt It'll get mapped with accompanying mods until early next year at least! Plus I've read that AGU mapping may be harder to get too.

 

[Nath1790]

Few pictures of a clean car as promised! I've changed all the top rear brake light bulbs which was a nice simple job and hopefully cured an annoying rattle under the passenger chair. The passenger window control has been disconnected also because the window just goes down and stays there.

Wishing I had gone for a smaller profile tyre but you live and learn. It rides a lot better than the Civic though.

Had some new plates made up too. Shouldn't have bothered with the side Audi sign as it puts the letters off centre (OCD problems!) Oddly the rear plate had been secured with a screw through the boot at either end because the original screw holders had rusted beyond all believe. I had to drill them out because they stuck out a lot but all is well now. After yesterdays clean I noted that the discs were a horrid dirty colour so I went out for a quick blast and managed to clean them up pretty well. Pictures from today so I'm happy its still clean.