Newbie in need of S3 Advice

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audiss3

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Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum. Having sold my car I am now in the hunt for an Audi S3. I have done a bit of research and found some really useful info on this forum, but wanted some specific advice that im hoping can help me choose a good car.

I have been to see a few S3's so far and the one I liked the best was a facelift model with a remap. Only problem is that when I test drove the car everything engine wise felt a bit rough. On a cold start it was quite noisey, and even at idle when you touched any of the electrics the idle would hesitate a little and almost sound like theres a bit of a struggle before levelling out. The general engine sound was quite loud, and on driving the power delivery wasn't quite what i expected from a 200bhp+ car. Everything else was spot on and overall the price isn't bad at all. I am hoping it could be a common issue and something easy to fix e.g. maf, coils etc but wanted to know if its worth taking the risk. Can anyone give me some advice based on the symptoms described?

Thanks in advance and look forward to posting on the forum once I buy the car.
 
ON power dilvery, it is more of a progressive delivery, you wont feel the thump in the back as much as its power is spread over a wide rev range. the mapped car would see figures of around 250bhp bit more maybe.

when buying the car, check ALL electricals and even get a mechanic out to look over. a mistake in finding a fault could be costly, as another person found out with his clutch .!! and they can also be used to haggle down prices :D
 
thanks for the info so far. On the question of the engine being quite loud on cold start and also when driving? what could be causing this, almost a rough grinding sound throughout the rev range and down to idle. I went to see an older S3 today and the engine was much quieter and smoother when accelerating, so it doesn't seem an inherent characteristic of the s3.
 
What is your budget mate? Personally I'd walk away as for every banger out there, theres an immacuate/well looked after example. I was on the hunt for a couple of months before settling on mine, and i'm glad I did as its not caused me a single problem in 18months of ownership (You watch - ill be posting a turbo failure up on here later today after saying that lol)
 
More than likely itll have been thrashed to an inch of its life, never warmed up or cooled darn. Like said walk away.
 
To be honest the car has got full audi history and is immaculate in every other way. I have a budget of upto £5.5k. I am suspecting a water pump or maybe someother part that could be on its way out? Following a remap should i be expecting the S3 to have more of a growl?
 
audi upgrades
emery1990 said:
ON power dilvery, it is more of a progressive delivery, you wont feel the thump in the back as much as its power is spread over a wide rev range. the mapped car would see figures of around 250bhp bit more maybe.

when buying the car, check ALL electricals and even get a mechanic out to look over. a mistake in finding a fault could be costly, as another person found out with his clutch .!! and they can also be used to haggle down prices :D
Click to expand...

Guilty as charged
 
Everyone whose sat in my car driving at a rapid pace has commented on how smooth and refined it is, grinding noises is a nono, look elsewhere.
 
thanks for all the advice guys. Well I went to see a couple other S3's and then went back for a second look. I think I was making too much of the noise and on the whole it is fine, and overall was the best package so now am a owner of a facelift S3 with a remap done at Bigboystoys (REVO I believe).

Now a few niggles which I would like to get sorted soon, and im hoping you can give me advice on:-

1) The temp guage seems to take forever to get to 90 degrees, and when driving on the motorway it drops down to 65-75 degrees. I suspect this could be due to a faulty thermostat (possibly stuck open)? I went to a VW/AUDI specialist who advised that the car would need an electronic thermostat which only comes with the housing, yet when I phoned Audi main dealer they said its a standard thermostat and its only the 1.8T's that have the electronic one. Bit confused and can it be done DIY?

2) The passenger window seems to go down ok, but on the way up seriously struggles and if I have it all the way down the window just can't go up without me physically pulling the window up with force and the up switch pressed. Can anyone help here?

3) When driving the car performance doesn't quite seem to be what I expected. I have just come off a BMW 330ci SPORT (also remapped) and the 330ci seems significantly quicker in every way. I do hear a sort of whoosh whoosh sound from the engine when I put my foot down on the motorway, not sure if this could be a sign of a leak? I have run a diagnostics on the car with no faults found and the car idles perfect.

Apart from the above, the car overall is stunning and does genuinely have a solid handling and feel to it. I was hoping you guys can give me some tips on the above. I am keen to get the car A1 and enjoy S3 ownership!
 
clicked the search button and think I now have some answers :-

1) This certainly does sound like a thermostat and I will be getting one from eurocarparts this week. May try the DIY but not sure how confident I am just yet

2) This sounds like the common broken clip issue as per the FAQ. I will definetly order the clips from the main dealer this week.

3) Guys im hoping someone can give me some advice on this. I just drove the car again on the motorway and am seriously concerned about the lack of power. I can feel the turbo slightly kicking in at 2500 - 3000 rpm and then just drops of and nothing, and a slight hesistation there after too. I can hear a ' whoosh whoosh' type sound from the engine when I plant the foot down but not much happening. Almost feels like im running without a turbo most of the time. Can anyone advise on what this can be as a diagnostics just comes out clean?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
audiss3 said:
3) Guys im hoping someone can give me some advice on this. I just drove the car again on the motorway and am seriously concerned about the lack of power. I can feel the turbo slightly kicking in at 2500 - 3000 rpm and then just drops of and nothing, and a slight hesistation there after too. I can hear a ' whoosh whoosh' type sound from the engine when I plant the foot down but not much happening. Almost feels like im running without a turbo most of the time. Can anyone advise on what this can be as a diagnostics just comes out clean?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

Firstly remember its around a 1.5 tonne car with 4wd, so it might not seem as fast as your old bmw.

However, it shouldnt seem as slow as your describing, from 2k to around 5k it should pull then tail off.

Get vag com on the case - clear all the fault codes and take it for a drive and then check again. sounds like you might have a boost leak.
 
thanks for the response. I have checked the visible hoses and not found any leaks. A basic diagnostics has thrown up no fault codes, but will need to find someone with VAGCOM as the next step for sure. Any other advice on things to check or look out for in the meantime would be great.
 
update on this one. Following some rave reviews I have read about 4rings, I have booked my car in to check for the lack of power and thermostat replacement. Will know more tomorrow evening, fingers crossed it is nothing major.
 
I dont know wether its me thats used to the car or not but mine seems tobe abit flat between 3-5k and then after 5k its all hell, the car just pulls and pulls even into the redline which is bizarre. Its only started doing it though after fitting the new tip, before itd die at 5800.
Sometimes i wonder if its just me that expects too much out of the car.
 
Last edited:
Ok guys, update on this. 4rings came out and replaced the thermostat and temp needle seems fine now. Although we still haven't got to the bottom of the power loss. A split vacum hose near the dip stick was repalced but the symptoms are all the same.

We ran the car in 3rd gear to max rpm with VAGCOM attached and the figures would clearly show that the car was for some reason not asking the turbo to boost to the 'bar' required. There would be slight surge at 2,500rpm and then drop off and then suddenly come back for a sec and then nothing till redline with full throttle. Tried the same run again with the MAF disconnected and this time again not got nowhere near the boost but the acceleration was a lot more consistent and smoother. Really am puzzled and so was Dean from 4rings. We know the MAF is shoddy so that will be next to be replaced but not confident this will bring back the power.
The car was remapped at Bigboystoyz in 2007, and Dean suspects that it could be the map thats gone bad. Not sure if these guys warranty the maps though.


I will grab a MAF tomorrow. Can anyone advise on whether the BOSCH items at ECP are any good as it is easier for me to get to. Audi main dealer would be a pain, but if thats the only place to get a genuine MAF then I will make the trip. Dean said the MAF in my car was a pattern part, so i wonder if Audi main dealer would accept this as part of the exchange deal. Any advice on the MAF or the symptoms described would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Hi Buddy,

Don't expect too much of your S3. As previously said, for a little car it weighs an effin ton and, even with a remap won't be anywhere near as fast as the BMW. Due to the size of the piddly turbo, power will kick in really early and will stop just past 5k so when you get used to driving it you should be able to get the best performance out of it. A dodgy MAF sensor will make it it run badly or feel sluggish but, and this is a big but. A remapped S3 isn't going to set the world alight if you've been used to a fast car.
 
thanks for the response mate. I really thought the performance would be comparable to the 330ci but i guess I better be a bit more realistic with my expectations!

I have just bought a Genuine MAF directly from Audi main dealer and want to get out there and install it. Its Pi$$ing down so will wait a tad to see if it lets up.

I do not have VAGCOM myself, so will I have to get someone to reset any ECU memory when the new MAF is installed ?
 
Another update guys. I fitted the new MAF today, and certainly makes the car feel more responsive. However on full throttle the car still seems to be not pulling like it should at all, I had a friend who drives a 150bhp 1.8T sit in the car with me, and even he noticed that for a mapped S3 the performance didn't seem very different from his car, maybe even lacking.

So after replacing the thermostat, split vacum hose, and now MAF, the car is still not right. Only had the car for 2 weeks now, and its starting to really get to me.

One thing we notice is that when you put your foot down you can hear a very loud and noticeable 'whooosh' 'whoosh' sound of air coming from the engine near the windscreen. No idea if the car is supposed to sound like this?? Not sure what the next step is now, really out of ideas.
 
guys,

I have taken the car for a data run today using VAGCOM and these are the figures I got. Pedal to the floor in 3rd gear. The car as I said has a REVO map, so the boost Vs actual is all a bit worrying and I have seen that the air mass should be over 200 g/s. I have fitted a brand new Audi genuine MAF this week, so im hoping it isn't that. Can anyone please check the figures and give some advice as to why I could be losing so much power? (i ran out of road hence the figures dropping off at the end)

audiss3vag.jpg
 
quick visual for comment. I took a spreadsheet off the Ross-tech site and plugged in the figures above which shows the following torque/bhp graph.

munirmap.jpg
 
A bit low, they should get at least 260bhp and around 295 torque, woosh under the windscreen sounds like turbo thats where it sits maybe the hoses around there! what DV have you got? not open circulated one I hope, as that would drop the boost a lot, i have noticed on mine twice the small pipe/hose on the bottom left side of the air box coming off and making lots of wooshy noise, with power loss,...

how easy was changing the thermostat? is it a DIY job then? thanks
 
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