It's been nearly 2 months since my previous post - not a great deal has happened but there is some updates worthy of posting!
As I mentioned, we've recently moved to New Zealand and I wasn't about to give up the S3 (too much spent/too much wasted?) so I sent that back. Although we can get the S3 8P here, they are Japanese imports however, there is very few pre-fl 8P's, made for the New Zealand market. Price wise, comparable to the UK (maybe slightly cheaper) however parts are incredibly expensive whether you go to the main dealer or reseller.
Prior to using the S3 here, I needed to go through a Low Volume Vehicle Certification process, essentially certifying each modification made to the car, to ensure it's safe and complies with NZ standards. It's not a cheap process (on the NZ$) as they charge based the job, then a charge for each System inspected - a 'System' for me being:
1 - Suspension System (including ARBs and WALK)
2 - Braking System
3 - Wheels and Tyres
4 - Exhaust - noise and emissions
Following Certification, we need to get the car 'complied' for NZ - this is essentially registering the VIN number on the NZ Transport Association system (aka DVLA) so that the car can be registered and insured.
Before booking the Cert we set about fitting the Whiteline ALK and wheel stud kit - this needs to be certified so no point in fitting it after the process. The ALK was a straight forward fit and after a wheel alignment made the steering feel more responsive - possibly a mental thing; justification for the purchase? but nevertheless the steering feels better.
Then on to the wheel studs, these are a Bimeec kit, M14 x 1.5 stud, 75mm total length of which 20mm screws into the hub. The nuts are 19mm radius R13, to suit the Oz Alloys.
The rear sets were easy to fit, however with the front we needed to make a small mod to the back side of the rotor - (a late night sms to the UK confirmed what I needed to do - thanks
@leshkin)
You'll see on the photo below that there is a lip/separator between the hub thread and the thread that the hex nut screws onto. When sliding the rotor over the stud it wasn't sitting flush against this hub due to this lip, so bevelling out the hole a little on the rear of the rotor allowed this to slide over and sit flush.
We were then ready for Certification - it's a straight forward process however they did call me out on 2 items.
The first, which I knew would be an issue, was the front brake pads. They were the Yellow Speed Racing pads that came as part of the set, but as there is no part number on these pads that cross-references with a NZ approved pad manufacturer, they needed to be replaced. I didn't bring any replacement pads from the UK even though I knew these would be a fail and getting a replacement pad within New Zealand was impossible but luckly I was able to order a set of Mintex 1144 (MDB1977M1144) from ECP Australia. These were delivered in 5 days at a cost of £104 delivered. I think this is less than half of the cost in the UK.
The second item in question was my ST-X Coilovers, specifically that they have a polymer coil mount and not alloy as many other sets have. The LVVC people made several calls to KW in the States and after presentation of the TUV documentation applicable to my coilovers, the certification paperwork was submitted. Turn around for getting the cert plate was 5 days.
With the certification and subsequent compliance/registration dealt with, I decided to treat the S3 to a fluids change. Opie Oils send internationally so my stocks of Millers 5-40 NT can be maintained along with some Motul RBF600 brake fluid. As with all other parts, getting a 5-40 (VW507) oil here is nearly impossible, a 5-30 (VW507) is available but I'm not sure how this would be with the Stg2+ map. Until then, the Millers will be ordered!
Something worth adding, when the car was mapped to Stg2+ it was mapped on 99Ron. However, in NZ 98 RON was the highest octane rating available at the pump (NZ BP Ultimate). So prior to exporting, I had the S slightly de-tuned to run on 97RON (UK BP Ultimate).
The reason I went to 97 is because I couldn't find 98 in London or the surrounding areas. A mapped car will adjust up an octane, so from 97 to 98 but it wouldn't like dropping a from the mapped 99 to 98.
Ironically, we've had a new entrant into the fuel market here (NPD) that offer 100RON at the pump....
Anyhow, the obligatory photo of my drives...
