S3 track car questions

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beachy01

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im thinking of starting up a little project and building a track car with an S3 as the base car and ive got a few little questions i hope you could help me with !! Do you think a 8L S3 is a good choice of base car? For the price im wanting to pay everything has around 100-120k miles, would this put you off in terms of starting to modify it if it was completely standard? I had a stage 2 ibiza cupra, is stage 2 on an S3 basically the same, i.e FMIC TIP etc??cheers
 
Mileage wouldn't concern me on a build like that at all, as almost all the bushes and suspension parts will need to be replaced anyway.

engine wise, if you're building it on a budget you're unlikely to exceed what the standard engine can take, and if you're building it to go all out for big power, you'll more than likely be rebuilding the lump anyway, so again, I wouldn't worry.

My A3 track car is on over 220 000 miles now, not on the original engine any more, but the shell has been around the block a fair few times!

There's a good range of parts for these cars out there, and lots of parts bin options from other VAG stuff that works well too.

Nobody really seems to have done an S3 track car properly yet, I can only think of 2, one of which doesn't seem to be mentioned online anywhere (the white one that crashed, and came back green), and one in the USA that's written about on Vortex.

It'd be good to see one done over here to see if it's actually any good!
 
Lcr m3 328i 330i are all other options for you.
My s3 is fully stripped. Its good i really like it but lcr is cheaper and has brembos already.
I had my s3 anyway otherwise i dont think id have used it for track.
 
i thought about it on an S3 i bought last year, never got around to it for one reason or another, mileage is no issue as said above as a lot will be changed, i just bought one n monday with 140k has a few bolt ons but never been mapped, so its going to be, and if it goes bang i have a complete BAM to put in it.

Go for it i say, i think Prawn is eager to see what a proper S3 track car can do against his car
 
Prawn said:
Mileage wouldn't concern me on a build like that at all, as almost all the bushes and suspension parts will need to be replaced anyway.

engine wise, if you're building it on a budget you're unlikely to exceed what the standard engine can take, and if you're building it to go all out for big power, you'll more than likely be rebuilding the lump anyway, so again, I wouldn't worry.

My A3 track car is on over 220 000 miles now, not on the original engine any more, but the shell has been around the block a fair few times!

There's a good range of parts for these cars out there, and lots of parts bin options from other VAG stuff that works well too.

Nobody really seems to have done an S3 track car properly yet, I can only think of 2, one of which doesn't seem to be mentioned online anywhere (the white one that crashed, and came back green), and one in the USA that's written about on Vortex.

It'd be good to see one done over here to see if it's actually any good!
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Nobodys done an a3 "properly" either
 
cheers for the answer! Prawn ive had a good read of you thread, its good reading and has kept me busy at work for a few days haha!! its going to be a gradual thing i think but i thought id use an S3 as the base car as i really like the look!!
Went to the cousins at the weekend and he took me out in his 380bhp pulsar which was unreal, he told me to get one but im just thinking S3's look miles nicer!! I spoke with him as he did alot of the work himself as i have very limited expirience with this kind of thing, to which he said once you get your head round how a car actually work mechanically it gets easier!! i dont think i could go as far as you Prawn but im sure over time i could muster something up ha
 
kwistof said:
That must be pretty damn loud inside the cabin without any carpets, door cards and roof lining...
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With an oem exhaust lol
its ok tbh mate and i want it loud as its track based.
 
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beachy01 said:
cheers for the answer! Prawn ive had a good read of you thread, its good reading and has kept me busy at work for a few days haha!! its going to be a gradual thing i think but i thought id use an S3 as the base car as i really like the look!!
Went to the cousins at the weekend and he took me out in his 380bhp pulsar which was unreal, he told me to get one but im just thinking S3's look miles nicer!! I spoke with him as he did alot of the work himself as i have very limited expirience with this kind of thing, to which he said once you get your head round how a car actually work mechanically it gets easier!! i dont think i could go as far as you Prawn but im sure over time i could muster something up ha
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You could easily its massively addictive. Prawn himself didnt expect to go this far im sure.
You ever done any track time?
 
yeah ive done a few track days in My ibiza cupra!! was ggod fun but now i have a new job and a bit of extra money i fancy a little project!!
 
daz-20vt said:
With an oem exhaust lol
its ok tbh mate and i want it loud as its track based.
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Mines pretty loud just without the rear seats in tbh dude! lol.
Then again I do have polytek 85 shore engine mounts, all poly bushed up underneath with a SMF as well and a 3" DP and sports cat :)

Sooooooo need a Milltek cat back in my life
 
IMO, unless it had over 400bhp, an S3 would be a fairly poor track car. Too heavy, too slow, the haldex is unpredictable, and not needed on a track car at less than those power levels
 
Other than speed how would 400bhp resolve anything?
My car is stage 1. Stripped and it felt great.
I need less body roll but otherwise tue cars good.
And haldex can now be put into perminant 4wd for 40 quid so tjats that sorted.
Empty its a lot more capable than given credit.
 
vroomtshh said:
IMO, unless it had over 400bhp, an S3 would be a fairly poor track car. Too heavy, too slow, the haldex is unpredictable, and not needed on a track car at less than those power levels
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and then it rains
 
Front wheel drive for the win!!!!

Until someone actually man's the feck up and does one properly, we're never going to know.

it's a shame, because they COULD be fairly good in theory if you could get the weight down and fix the haldex split for track use.

I'm certainly yet to find one on track that's been anything but in the way, but that's another story :laugh:
 
jasongtr said:
and then it rains
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Haldex cars are pretty scary in the wet on track, initial understeer as you wait for the system to detect the slip, which then translates into unpredictable oversteer as the haldex clutch engages and sends power to the back!
 
thats when the aftermarket controllers work though surely, even the basic screw in type, keeps the power from jumping around too much
 
if i keep my S3 (which i quite possibly might) then my mk2 golf haldex (undergoing its build) will be a track car so will need a controller of some sort, preferably one i can turn the haldex off for road pootling around
 
I've seen people wire the clutch up to a switch, and literally run 2wd on the road and full permanent 4wd when on track. Although I'm not sure how this would work out or last long term, as it would have the potential to wind the centre diff up I'm sure.
 
May be worth asking Sambo on CGTI as i'm sure he's had to find a solution in the lupo recently!
 
I find it odd you keep saying someone should man up and do it to an s3 when you know im in the process of doing so.
Gimmie a year and we see what happens
 
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badger5 said:
What centre diff would that be prawny?
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You know what I mean :laugh:

the haldex hydraulic clutch pack thingybob that I don't claim to know anything about.

I'm sure I read somewhere about the clutch pack overheating when run permanently engaged?
 
daz-20vt said:
I find it odd you keep saying someone should man up and do it to an s3 when you know im in the process of doing so.
Gimmie a year and we see what happens
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Took me 3 years :racer:

I look forward to seeing the results for sure :)
 
Prawn said:
You know what I mean :laugh:

the haldex hydraulic clutch pack thingybob that I don't claim to know anything about.

I'm sure I read somewhere about the clutch pack overheating when run permanently engaged?
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its not "proper quattro"

I dont see why engaged and all 4 wheels turning at same speed would heat anything up particularly..
kinda pointless it being engaged all the time when cruising of course, and without a centre diff, and locked it would "wind up" the transmission fo sho
 
If you do the work for me and let me bank roll it then I am not overly precious about mine.

It's a lot of the way there.
 
Yes, but we'd need someone that can actually drive too to give a true idea of how capable it was :laugh:

:racer:
 
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Prawn said:
Yes, but we'd need someone that can actually drive too to give a true idea of how capable it was :laugh:

:racer:
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:laugh:

We should all hit a go kart track first to establish who can peddle :racer:

That's what me and a load of my mates ended up doing in the end down here to a settle a few things to rest lol
 
vroomtshh said:
Yeh and extra weight really helps the handling and braking in the rain :p

People not doing trackdays underestimate just how much grip there is, wet or dry.
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won't hurt to have some extra weight over the rear wheels (especially in my mk2) and lets face it its not a huge amount of extra weight really, not like a rear beam weighs nothing, besides the comment was purely about being able to get the power down
 
jasongtr said:
won't hurt to have some extra weight over the rear wheels (especially in my mk2) and lets face it its not a huge amount of extra weight really, not like a rear beam weighs nothing, besides the comment was purely about being able to get the power down
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No mate the s3 4wd doesnt aid or help at any given time. You cant get any ower on early the car will just try to kill you!!!
The a3 (pretty much the same chassis car with 2wd) is an absolute track monster that hardly needs touching.
in fact i was just reading online that seeing redbulls poor start to the season they are in talks with dave from budget motors of bradford about an a3 he currently has on the forecourt, they want to scrap the current car and use the a3 for vettles new car for guaranteed success this year
 
didn't understand the 1st sentence, but its not the same chassis is it, haldex cars are independent rear suspension, FWD cars are not.

Redbull won't go far wrong though, they haven't got to grips with turbocharging yet :laugh:
 
I was being extremly sarcastic dude lol
 
i did wonder, but with the written word its hard to tell sometimes.
 
jasongtr said:
i did wonder, but with the written word its hard to tell sometimes.
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Indeed.
Just makes me laugh how the a3 lot go on as if their car was designed for le mans and as if the s3 was designed for delivering milk
 
ill refrain from getting into the FWD/4WD/RWD debate, but both of my cars are 4wd and I'm building a 4wd mk2 golf because my last 20v mk2 golf was a hoot but being fwd had very limited traction (carp really)
 
Prawn said:
Front wheel drive for the win!!!!

Until someone actually man's the feck up and does one properly, we're never going to know.

it's a shame, because they COULD be fairly good in theory if you could get the weight down and fix the haldex split for track use.

I'm certainly yet to find one on track that's been anything but in the way, but that's another story :laugh:
Click to expand...

Who knows maybe one day I will man up and turn mine into a track beast....got all the handling mods in place just needs an extreme diet and a haldex controller.....ummm ;)
 
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