# Karls Track day TT, Officially a 10 second car 10.8 @127 mph



## desertstorm

Hi all, various searches concluded that this was the best TT forum to join for information advice etc.
Used my daily runner a few times on track but decided better to get a dedicated track car and it had to be something VAG.
The MK1 225 TT offers a lot of car for not so much money really. Problem is trying to find one thats not had a million owners and been to the moon and back.
After looking for a few weeks came across this Y plate example with 88K on the clock and 5 previous owners. Full service history and a recent cam belt/ water pump change.Its totally standard in pretty much every way, I cannot find any mods or tweaks, still has the original diverter valve and stock air box etc. Even has the original untouched first aid kit.



















Fixed some of the issues that the car had, micro switches in the door locks both sides, dismantled the G200 sensor and resoldered the chip, replaced the rear brake discs and pads and the one caliper as the piston was seized.

Plans are for a full strip, if it doesn't need to be there to make the car run/stop it will be going.
Brembo LCR calipers with 330mm discs, ds300 pads. Half cage , bucket seats , probably Gaz Gold suspension with the various suspension tweaks / bushes etc needed. Haldex insert.
Welly cooler and a tip with a divertor valve and a remap by Rick at Unicorn Motor developments.
plus loads of other stuff I am sure.
Want to get the car up and running and trackable with suspension , brake , interior mods and mild tweaks to the engine.
Longer term looking to replace the turbo and fit rods etc in the engine as well as oil cooler / exhaust etc for something a bit more serious.

Hopefully I can get it as quick as my daily driver diesel estate .

Index to the thread, Links to various mods in the thread.

Air con delete https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8098729

Seat Leon Cupra R brakes https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p8098777

Cookbots https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p8104497

EGT Sensor fix https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8176722

Intercooler testing and install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8290274

Badger 5 TIP https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6#p8290306

3 inch down pipe and cat delete https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 8#p8290378

Boost gauge https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8293154

Remap at Unicorn Motor developments https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6#p8301546

oil cooler https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 0#p8352170

Gaz Gold suspension https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8370249

Seats https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 8#p8389258

Decat pipe https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6#p8430786

Team Dynamics Jade alloys https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 8#p8438058

Rear weight removal https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8465522

Haldex powertrak insert https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8472034

Shift light https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8480762

Brake cooling ducts https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 8#p8495258

Gearbox oil change https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8512369

Rocker cover oil leak https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6#p8515546

MK 2 Bottom balljoint upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p8520673

Low fuel pressure testing https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p8595625

Hunter car alignment https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8602514

Roll cage https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8628762

Forge baffled sump https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8631922

DAB radio Handsfree install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p8633145

Cage install and sound desdening removal https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8689762

AC evaporator and wiring removal https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 0#p8730490

Battery install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p8735273

Battery Install 2 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 8#p8757658

OMP steering wheel https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8748849

Short throw gear change https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p8795025

Alarm battery replacement https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8801402

DW65V fuel pump install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 6#p8818146

Catch can https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8845074

Ebay rear wing https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8854354

RS3/TTRS front brake upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 4#p8871074

Rear towing eye https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 0#p8978690

Rear brake upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8983402

Vortex generators https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p8986271

Rear brake pipe repair https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8988349

Custom exhaust at Longlife https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p8990027

Curbrough June 2018 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p8993349

Rockingham June 2018 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p8995051

V6 radiator upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p8999061

Autec Wizard allo wheels https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9005741

Car weigh in at Track toys https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9015747

VAG Tuner live Donnington July 2018 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9015815

Corner weighting at Track Toys https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9040045

Curbrough August 2018 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9043641

G25-660 arrives https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9052867

Intake manifold TB adaptor plate https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9073413

Donnington October 2018 with Dad https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9074951

Bi XENON headlight modification https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9075421

Nortech manifold and Downpipe https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9076291

Lightweight 70A alternator https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9079551

MAP sensor mounted on intake manifold https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9089051

PLX AFR gauge install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9090739

Ignitron ECU install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9092111

Engine out for first rebuild https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9101983

Engine going back in the car https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9140177

8600 RPM https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9153041

Compression check https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9175895

CSF radiator upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9182367

Badger 5 Dyno run https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... d#p9189617

Front splitter, brake disc temp monitor https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9198503

N/A inlet cams acquired with info https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9199031

Castle Combe Performance German day https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9203603

Water injection mapped with SSR on Ignitron https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9213353

Bosch 044 fuel pump upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9225569

Curbrough track day August 2019 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9225669

Donnington track day Sep 19 McCleans off https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9231947

Intake cam change https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9248827

Badger 5 dyno run with new intake cam https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9249451

Santa Pod October 2019 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9252419

Turbo outlet pipe and Pagid RS4-2 rear pads https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9269325

Silverstone Track day December 2019 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9273361

BYC rear wing install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9288325

Front wing mods and bonnet vent https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9298379

Radiator fan single fan mod https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9326129

SEM Motorsport intake manifold https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9338319

HPA haldes controller install https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9338779

Rear skirt trim and exhaust diffuser removal https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9339263

Audi R8 coil upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 7#p9355407

Heat insulation on tunnel https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9356563

BTCC brake upgrade https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9357061

Bedford Autodrome Track day https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9369255

Wossner piston failure engine blow up https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9384013

Engine rebuild Take 2 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9417305

Gearbox failure https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 5#p9425085

Bedford Autodrome track day 2 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9430661

DQ250 DSG gearbox install part 1 https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9444531

Badger 5 Rolling road on new engine rebuild https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 3#p9445673

DSG steering wheel and temp sensor https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9452571

Engine mount Poly fill https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9457771

DSG gearbox testing https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 9#p9458779


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## Hoggy

Hi, Welcome to the TTF.
Best of luck with your project.
Hoggy.


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## YELLOW_TT

Welcome


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## Allspeed

Where should the first aid kit be hiding in the car?


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## Cloud

Welcome to the forum


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## desertstorm

Thanks for the welcome  . First aid kit fits in a compartment on the drivers side rear passenger trim panel .


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## desertstorm

Done a few more jobs on the car, took the wheels off the car and rubbed down on all the kerb rash and marks on the wheels. Resprayed them and they look a lot better . They will probably only be on there for a few months until I track down something significantly lighter. I have two sets of Team Dynamics 1.2 for my A4 and a set of these will probably be finding there way onto the TT. Still undecided on 17 or 18 inch rims. Leaning towards a 8 x18
rim with 225/40/18 tyre as there is not much difference really in price between 17 and 18 inch track day tyres comparing 225/45/17 and 225/40/18.
Larger wheels leaves the option of possibly larger brakes on the front. Looking like a 330mm system ATM that will fit under 17 inch rims no problem.

Checked the compression on the engine as a basic health check, came out
Cylinder 1 160 PSI
Cylinder 2 175 PSI
Cylinder 3 180 PSI
Cylinder 4 180 PSI
Looking at various threads on the net these seem to be good readings .
Whilst the plugs were out I checked them and the car is currently running Bosch double platinum FR7KPP33 plugs . They don't look that old TBH but not sure they are the best especially when the car is mapped so after looking around will order some NGK iridium BKR7EIX plugs, which seem to get a pretty good write up.
Car is in need of some Top mounts I think, Just a bit of a gap. Will probably go for some Silver Project adjustable top mounts when the suspension goes on so that will get sorted then.










Been doing some shopping on Ebay. Picked up a Badger 5 V2.2 TIP second hand. Never been fitted, looks like a good bit of kit.










Also bought a Forge 008 dump valve to replace the OE Bosch 15Yr old item.
Ordered a Haldex filter tool off Ebay and oil and filter from CP4L as I am not sure when the last time the Haldex was serviced. I am not 100% sure it's working correctly as I tried running the output test on VCDS and I couldn't hear the pump running.
So will be looking at that tomorrow as well as changing the PAS fluid which I am sure is probably the original.
Ordered some Fuchs Titan Sintofluid to change the gearbox oil as I am fairly sure it's the original that's probably in there.
Also ordered some injector seals as I can see it's wet around the injectors on the manifold, cheap parts and doesn't take too long to change them hopefully.
Will also order an 82 degree thermostat to change that, car seems to have an issue warming up and I have yet to see the gauge hit 90. After about 3 miles it's around 75-80 degrees but doesn't get past there. VCDS measurements seem to show the same values.

I dismantled the faulty window switch that was causing issues. It was putting out 12V on both the up and down pins at the same time, so the poor window motor didn't know which way to go.


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## smithp77

Great start and I am looking forward to seeing this thread develop. 
I have a couple of mk1 225s now and am working towards turning one of them into a monster. 
Have you changed fuel filter (I know your not a rookie) I changed mine on its 1st service and I think it was still the original (100k....) made a huge difference.


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## desertstorm

Updating the thread a litle, Checked out the coil packs to see what the car was running. Fortunately looks like one expense I won't need to be making.
06A905115D which appears to be the latest version of these. They don't look very old at all , looking at pictures of other coil packs and mine there appears to be a manufacturers date code on the in the bottom right hand corner on mine it has 19/14 which I think is the 19th week of 2014. So they are fairly new.


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## desertstorm

More jobs on the car, changed a brake pipe on the rear that I noticed when changing the caliper. checked over all the others that I can see and this is by far the worst. Will probably change the same pipe on the other side at some point as the paint is flaking but it's nowhere near as bad as this one.










Changing fluids and filters around the car as some of them have never been changed.
Gearbox oil changed for some Titan Sintofluid which is a fairly common oil used by a lot of people. The stuff that came out was fairly black so I suspect was original. Gearchange a little smoother and less notchy than it was before.










Drained the small amount out of the transfer box as well and cleaned the magnetic plug in there.










When I changed the oil in my Passat I used Castrol Syntrans and found that the bottle connected to a normal garden hose quite well and this would fit in the fill hole. So just transferred the oil from the Titan bottle to the syntrans bottle and kept filling till it started dripping out the fill hole.
Then swap the hose into a Titan bottle to fill that and put the plug back in the gearbox.




























Changed the fuel filter using a new Mann filter. No longer made in Germany, China now , no wonder it's cheap.










Easy enough job just remove a plastic panel on the underside of the fuel tank on the drivers side . The jubilee clip was rusted solid so had to cut that off.
Fuel filter on the car was the original item date code 17.10.00, It had a lot of very black stuff in it when I took it off and emptied the fuel.










And the new one in place with the lightweight rust free fixation, A tie wrap. Hopefully not have any probs with fuel supply.










Investigated the haldex as when I ran the output test on VCDS I couldn't hear the pre charge pump running.
Just touched the earth strap and it virtually fell off in my hands, great design there.










Went to undo the earth point on the body, and the nut was so corroded the stud snapped off. do had to drill a hole and mount another earth stud.










With a new earth cable attached I can now here the pump running on the output test so looks like the car is now 4WD again.
Just to make sure I jacked the car up off the ground all around and checked the rear wheels were rotating when in gear, and they were.
I have a new filter and oil to fit as I have no idea when these were last changed. Also checked out the Haldex control unit to see what kind of powertrack insert is required. Looks like the circlip type so looks like I will be having some fun removing the controller to fit that.


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## desertstorm

Removed the starter motor and added a bit of grease here and there and some WD40 as every now and then it make quite a wining sound when starting . Seems to be a common fault but it seems to have fixed it as I haven't heard it do it since I had the starter out.
Changed the coolant thermostat as the one in the car seemed to be faulty as the car was taking quite a while to warm up and didn't ever get over about 72 degrees.
I was planning to change it anyway as the 2003 on TT's had an 80 degree stat and it seems to be recommended for track and performance cars.
Fairly easy job and I changed the coolant whilst I was at it, I think it was just starting to turn as it looked pinky red in the bottle but when I drained it out it was more pinky brown.










The stat has fixed the warm up issues and it's hitting 80 plus degrees within 3 miles.

I have bought some Elring Dirko sump sealer and some oil and a filter to change the oil to something a little better. Will remove the sump to check the state of the oil pick up and make sure there's not too much sludge in there. The car seems to have had fairly regular oil changes but I want to make sure it's looking fairly clean before doing anything with it.
Went for some Millers CFS 5w 40 Nanodrive fully synthetic competition oil. Seems to get a pretty good write up and the reviews look good.
Also it was only £45 delivered from JJC on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301704241286?

Also bought a shorter serpentine belt so I can delete the air con system, so that's a job for an afternoon. will then measure up for the FMIC as should have a bit more room without the aircon rad in there.

Last but not least I have found the NSF wheel bearing appears to be grumbling. As they are a pain to replace needing a press etc to get them in and out I have bought a complete hub second hand so hopefully that will just be straight swap.

Think I can get on with converting it into a track car then hopefully. Just bought a Seat Leon Cupra Brembo set up off fleabay so hopefully that will cover the braking requirements for a while with some DS3000 pads and brake cooling pipes should hopefully stop reasonably well.
There is also an upgrade path with these to some 330mm 2 part discs from Godspeed. Should they be needed.


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## desertstorm

Bit of an update to this thread. Have been busy doing stuff to the car. Not all of it performance mods. Got the NSF wheel bearing changed and the car is so much quieter, when the hub was off the car you could feel and hear the noise with the bearing. Took advantage of the ECP upto 55% sale and picked up an SKF bearing for £37 and dropped off the hub to Midland VW for them to change the bearing. Big shout out to them for quick efficient and cheap service, just £10 to change the bearing.
The complete second hand hub I bought off Ebay was a complete waste of time, the bearing in that was a lot worse than the one on my car already. Returned to the seller for a full refund.
The aircon system developed a rapid and terminal pressure loss last weekend. As I was going to change the serpentine belt anyway as it looked a little second hand I counted this as a free mod.
Fairly straightforward to remove this the only tricky part is the pipes around the back of the engine. These will be stopping there until such time as I either remove the engine or have the turbo/ exhaust out. Also removed the charcoal canister and one of the horns.










Reused one of the pipes from the charcoal evap system to loop the tank breather to the pipe that runs under the car.










And blocked off a few more holes.



















I removed the alloy pipe across the back of the engine bay and removed the one surplus pipe and replaced the pipe so got rid of a small amount of extra piping. Toyed with the idea of replacing the pipe with some hose but decided it's probably made out alloy because of the heat from the turbo / exhaust so will leave it as it is.


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## desertstorm

Fitted the Seat Leon Cupra R brakes to the car.










These were second hand off Ebay and have new pistons and seals 6 months ago,along with pins and springs. However the previous owner had tightened the one bleed nipple too much, unfortunately despite my best efforts I couldn't undo it and it snapped off, Fortunately it was the inboard one. So not a complete loss as you can still bleed the brakes just means you need to rotate the caliper to get the air through from the inside pot to the outside one.
I repainted them black for that more stealthy look. Have some Ebay Brembo decals to add when they are all sorted.
The Brake discs are MTEC and have virtually no wear, they look reasonable quality as they have the pillar vents as opposed to the more traditional vanes used on cheaper vented discs. Came with a virtually new set of Brembo pads and some HEL braided lines.
The HEL brake lines are way too long about 70 cm so need to source some shorter lines. Currently fitted them temporarily using tie wraps to keep the lines out of the way of the rim.
The difference in braking power between these calipers with standard Brembo pads and the 312mm standard brakes with Pagid pads is like night and day. And the brakes haven't even bedded in yet.
The overall weight of the larger 323 *28 disc system is actually a little less than the 312mm standard system due to the reduced weight of the caliper.
The 312mm system weighs in at 13.7 Kg Disc,caliper, pads,hose etc.










And the LCR system 13.0 Kg.










One of the reasons I went for this brake system is the pad prices are quite reasonable. You can get DS3000 pads for around £130 but when I had a look on Fleabay I came across these which worked out at £148 delivered. Ferodo DS1.11 , seem to get very good reviews and hopefully will last longer than DS3000 pads along with better disc life if all the gumph is correct.










Will sort some hoses and back plates out for some proper cooling when I fit the FMIC.


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## desertstorm

Not been too impressed with the clutch action on the car.struggle to get decent gear changes 2-3 or 3-4 as the biting point of the clutch seems to be quite low. I tried bleeding the clutch that didn't make too much difference.
I noticed reading some threads that some people had removed the restrictor in the plastic clutch bleeder so I decided to remove this.










Whist I was dismantling the system I had noticed the car has exactly the same pedal damper that my daily B8 A4 had . I removed this on my A4 and this improved the gearchanges no end making it much easier to get quick changes. So I did the same with the TT.
Two 10mm female joiners joined by a 10mm male joiner, welded together. It's much easier to get at on the TT than it is on the A4.

Before










After










And the result, the gearchanges are so much better, with reduced travel on the pedal and no issues changing up and down the box quickly.


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## desertstorm

Changed the oil and cleaned out the sump /strainer whilst the sump was empty. The car seems to have had reasonably frequent oil changes in it's life but for the sake of an hour and £10 for some sump gasket sealer and an O ring I thought it was worthwhile taking off the sump to have a look.
Fairly straightforward to get the sump off lots of 10mm Bolts and 3 larger bolts through from the gearbox into the sump. A ball end allen key is handy to get some of the 10mm nuts at the gearbox end of the sump.
Decided to go for some quality oil and the larger oil filter. Also bought a new O ring for the oil pick up strainer.










The bigger oil filter is a good deal bigger than the standard item fitted to the car.










The strainer , not overly blocked with stuff. There were some small pieces of red plastic, presume these may be off some chain guide or similar in the engine.










Cleaned the strainer out in some white spirit and this is what came out. This car has only done 88K .










Now nice and clean










The sump before , don't think this is too bad.










And after 10 minutes with some thinners and a few old rags.










The oil change used all 5L of the oil. The larger oil filter must hold an extra 0.5L of oil.

Will be adding an oil pressure and temp gauge when I fit an oil cooler.


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## YELLOW_TT

Nice work.


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## desertstorm

Thanks.
One of the next jobs I have to do is installing some Cookbots and bought some Powerflex Black rear bushes.
Also invested in a Powerflex yellow Dog Bone as several threads seem to rate these. When I was under the car the other day there seemed to be quite a bit of flex with the existing dogbone bush.
The rear bushes on the wishbone are split so they would fail an MOT anyway. There doesn't seem to be much play in the front bushes on the wishbones, There will be a lot less with these Cookbots as they are pretty solid.
Question is does anybody have any pointers or ideas for me on fitting these. I have a pretty big bench vice so hopefully the bushes will press in with that. If not next door has a 6 ton small press in his garage.










Cheers

Karl.


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## desertstorm

Got back to fitting some more bits to the car over the weekend.

Cookbots and some Powerflex black bushes for the rear of the lower arm.
I am glad my next door neighbour has a huge vice that could press the Cookbots in as I am sure my bench vice wouldn't have done it. The second one went in a lot easier than the first. The Powerflex black bushes were a bit of a game to press in as well. Managed with my more modest bench vice but you had to get them dead centre to have any hope of getting them in.










And what a faff trying to refit the arms, everything fairly straightforward except trying to get the rear inboard bolt located.

The existing dogbone mount on the car was pretty soft and squidgy. Again never an easy job working on a 15 year old car , one of the smaller 13mm bolts that holds the mount to the subframe snapped. When I eventually got it out could see this was due to corrosion between the alloy base of the dogbone and the bolt. Fortunately the remains of the bolt just twisted out with my fingers.










I like it when you change things on a car and you can feel the results straight away. The gear change is more positive, no issues with any vibration from the dogbone. There is substantially less movement with the uprated parts.
The steering feels a lot more direct and positive as I hoped it would . Definitely worth doing.


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## desertstorm

Been playing with Nefmotos logger to check the car out. I am pretty sure it's a bog standard 225 but if somebody in the know could have a quick look at the attached PDF and tell me if it looks standard.

Wasn't sure what to log as there is so much stuff. This is a 3rd gear pull.

The MAF seems to max out around 180 ish so by my maths 180/0.8 = 225bhp which looks promising.

The EGT sensor tats seems to be a bit iffy. When I first started logging it was stuck at 1110 degrees then after a few seconds went to what seemed a more normal reading. But occasionally it flickers around quite a bit, I have seen fault codes logged for it so seems to be another thing that needs attention.

View attachment 3rd gear pull logs.pdf


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## desertstorm

Had a bit of luck with the EGT sensor this afternoon. Decided to have a look at it and with the engine running moving the connector or pressing on the case would cause the EGT to go upto 1110 intermittently. I took the connector off and checked the pins all looked good. Sprayed some electrical switch cleaner on the connector and pins and it was still the same.
Undid the 2 hex bolts that hold the sensor in place and quite easily managed to lever the top off with some flat blade screwdrivers.
Fortunately my EGT has the jelly filling which is easily removed.
I have circled the 5 connections to the PCB, The 3 on the right looked fine, but you can see the 2 on the left which are for the thermocouple, the joints have cracks around them. You can see a very thin black line.
This happens due to vibration or repeated heat cycling causing the joints to fail. I touched up all 5 joints with the soldering iron and stuck the lid back on with some plastic glue.
This has 100% fixed the problem, after 3 or 4 minutes of moving the connector and flexing the box it never once showed 1110.


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## desertstorm

Did some more logging today after I fixed the EGT and the car does feel like it's running a bit better . I suppose with the sensor flashing up high EGT's that would kick in some kind of protection . It does seem more consistent.
Heres a log 3rd gear acceleration run. I have logged the Lambda sensor specified and actual and it seems to correlate quite well around 0.95 when flat out above 3K RPM. The boost seems to be holding to the specified level , even a little above it.
Hopefully this all looks standard and normal for a 225.

View attachment 25-06-17 3rd gear accell run2.pdf


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## desertstorm

Not updated this for a while. Been busy collecting parts and the next few weeks will be busy fitting them all and hopefully getting the car mapped by Rick.
Started with an intercooler upgrade. Decided to go for a wellycooler, Didn't want 75mm pipes as the plan was to try and make it possible to refit the aliens when it came to MOT time. This did involve quite a bit of tweaking with the pipes but it is possible to fit the washers to the bumper and install the bumper on the car.
Started out deciding what intercooler to get, nearly everybody fit's bar and plate, I went tube and fin. The intercooler only weighs 6.2Kg 600 x 300 x65mm and presents much less resistance to flow through the cooler to the rad externally. Some bar and plate coolers can be very obstructive.
The seller of this cooler actually posts pictures of the intercooler core and they use an offset fin design. Not the lowest amount of pressure drop but some of the bar and plate coolers have straight fin designs that let the air straight through with minimal pressure loss. And consequently result in poor cooling of the air. It just runs straight through without touching the sides as such.
I wanted to measure a few things before I got going just to see what the standard I/C system did in terms of pressure drop.
This is all very rough science and the main thing you can deduce from the results is guesstimated pressure drops.
I have a Magnehelic gauage that I picked up off Ebay really cheap a few years ago. This measures differential pressures and is very accurate full scale is 1.5 Kpa which is around 0.22 PSI.
First I calibrated the vacuum cleaner  . Disconnected the MAF from the car and connected the vacuum cleaner to it so it was sucking through the MAF. Started the engine to get the ECU reading the MAF and the vacuum was flowing 24 g/s . Which is around an eighth of the flow seen at max power.
Turn the engine off and reconnect the MAF. Clear the fault code that the ECU flagged due to the high flow at idle.
Connect vacuum to the pipe where the first intercooler connects and disconnect the pipe from the throttle body. Thus measuring the pressure drop across the existing intercooler set up.









A reading of 0.8 Kpa or 0.116 PSI if you scale that up x8 = 0.93 PSI or around 1 PSI at similar flow to peak power.








The intercooler is from Germany Boost Products. I bought it through Ebay £149 delivered. I am sure it's probably made in China, But it's good quality welding with cast end tanks and looks pretty solid.
































I bought a load of 2.5 inch pipes , couplers and bends from the Toyosport shop for £65. I still have a lot of this left. This pipe kit includes some 75 degree bends which prove useful.
Needed to buy another silicon 90 degree bend and I purchased 12 JCS Hi Grip clips as I know the ones supplied with these pipes are not that good.
If they are good enough for Bill they will do me fine. And I have to agree they are very good.









Mocked up the pipe run and the intercooler to see what kind of pressure drop it showed. came out at 0.65 Kpa or about 20% less pressure drop than the OE setup.









Made a bottom bracket from so thin galvanised angle brackets I had left over in the garage, sprayed Matt black. Forgive the gobby welding, the metal is very thin and galvanised which doesn't help. Sprayed most things Matt black going for the stealth option  .









The top bracket , is a much stronger affair and could support the intercooler on it's own . I made up some air guides to try and get air flowing through the core and hopefully guide some to the top of the core. The air guide plastic is from an old black square section downpipe off the house. I don't throw anything away  . You never know when it may come in useful. The top and bottom pieces are secured to the intercooler with short self tapping screws as the top and bottom plates are approx 3mm alloy plates.









Made up a tool to swage the ends of all the pipes. Actually not that difficult to do and hopefully means all the pipes will stop connected.









The pipe runs, You can see I recycled one of the original hoses.









Pipe run on the drivers side, You can see the way it runs allows for the bottom of the headlight washer to fit in. A straighter run without the 90 degree bends would have resulted in a smaller pressure drop across the entire system but it was of the order of less than 0.1 PSI at full flow .








The passenger side










Checked the pressure loss on the car when it was all plumbed up and came to 0.67 Kpa. pretty much what I had measured earlier. So this has about 15-20 % less pressure loss than the standard intercooler system.










Repositioned the single horn on the bolt that secures the front bumper support.










And checked the whole system for leaks by pumping it up to 25 PSI. Not even a hiss from any of the joints. Very impressed with these JCS clips.









Will do some data logging to see if this has made any /much difference before I fit the Badger V2 Tip.


----------



## desertstorm

Finished the intercooler install off by removing the cross pipe off the car to trim it. I decided that as they fit these to the 180bhp with only 1 intercooler it obviously does more than linking the intercoolers and would serve to brace the front suspension legs. So just chopped off the excess redundant tube length off each end and refitted it. I was surprised how light it was.


----------



## desertstorm

Fitted the Badger 5 V2.2 TIP and a Ramair foam filter along with the Forge 008 I have had sitting around for a while.

The Badger TIP was bought second hand off Ebay, It was still in the bag and had never been fitted. Not my first choice being red but the saving over the new price was worth it and you can't see it anyway with the bonnet down.









The TIP and alloy turbo adapter are a quality piece of work complete with all the bits and pieces you need to fit it.
I went for the Ramair filter as didn't want an oiled filter and this filter is about as big as you can fit easily in the space available.

Removal of the existing TIP is fairly straightforward apart from trying to remove the stupid OE clips .
You can see the difference between the Badger TIP and the original item.









I used some of the Grey Elring Dirko sump sealer to fit the alloy intake on the turbo, It just smoothes the transition between the turbo and the adapter.










Next comes the DIY bit where I try and save some money.
The Ramair filter was just over £40 off the Flebay shop that Ramair have. Should have been £45 but you can make offers so offered £40.60 and this was accepted. They do a kit that includes a nice metal shield to isolate the filter from the hot air off the engine.
Putting my Blue Peter badge on I got the scissors and some cardboard.










using some of the barge board I had left over from doing the soffits and barge boards on the house I converted my cardboard model into a nice sturdy plastic version.










And sprayed the completed item with some of the matt black I had from spraying the intercooler.



















Car now makes all the chirpy sucky whistle noises that any self respecting 18 year old would love his Corsa to make.
The pictures above were taken before I fitted the dump valve , just fitted the standard green spring for now. Will alter it for a yellow one when the car is mapped. You may have spotted the MAF is inplugged. I didn't and found out when the EML popped on.
Car is definately much better for the addition of this. Pulls much better from around 4500 I can see improvements in the MAF readings and the car definitely has more go at the top end.


----------



## desertstorm

Whilst I had the headlights out fitting the intercooler I thought I would check the headlight bulbs as I wasn't too impressed with the performance.
The bulbs were both Osram Xenarc items and looking at the date codes I believe one was original and the other was from 2009.
The original one was definitely past it.










Not wanting to buy some no name Chinese Ebay bulb that will probably have mediocre / poor performance but also not wanting to spend a fortune on genuine bulbs I hit the net.

Came across Yeaky bulbs . One of the better Chinese manufacturers, they aren't all bad. I believe the company that owns Yeaky also manufactures Hylux ballasts and some of the other better known names.
They get quite good reviews in tests comparing them to bulbs 5-6 times the price.
Bought them from Hids Direct for £22 for the pair. Very impressed with them compared to what was in. Went for the 5500K version and the light is very bright white.


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## desertstorm

I am happy with the results I have seen so far. Did some logging the other day after I fitted the Badger Tip and Ramair foam filter.
Must say the TIP and filter make the car so much better at the top end. Over 4500 RPM there are noticeable improvements in MAF readings and the engine pulls much better at higher RPM.
Theses are two 3rd gear acceleration runs one after another. I had already done two shortly before this so the engine was well warm . The ambient was 21 degrees and I think the intercooler did quite well. You can see how the intercooler temps start off around 34 degrees as I had been sitting in the car stationary for a while but as soon as I get some airflow moving through the intercooler temps quickly drop and at the end of the first run intake temps are down to 28 degrees. First run was between 77 and 87 seconds.
The intake temps rise again to around 35 degrees as speed is down to 20mph. By the start of the next run around 106 seconds temps are down to 31 degrees as this was starting from 3K rpm the extra road speed had cooled the intake temps.
As soon as the car starts gaining speed intake temps drop again to around 29 degrees at 113 seconds.

View attachment Intercooler logs Ramair-TIP 3rd 4th accel run 21C-2.pdf


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## desertstorm

Well the exhaust is in and it only knocks a tiny bit. Every now and then when pulling away in first gear, sounds like the hanger bracket at the front hitting the subrame . It is fairly close. I am glad I changed the dogbone, there is no way you could fit one of these with the amount of movement that it would have had on the 15yr old original item.

I have Elsa Win and looking at that I did everything that it said to remove the exhaust front pipe. And it still wouldn't come out. I probably could of got it out in one piece by disconnecting the steering rack from the column and dropping that end of the rack down. But then I would have had all the hassle of sorting the steering out.
So it came out in a few pieces. good job it wasn't going back on the car. Finest Chinese engineered exhaust from Ebay. £145 I think from Turborevs.









Didn't come with a gasket for the turbo and from what I have read the ones supplied with these are not very good anyway. Thus ordered an OE multi plate steel item.

Got the car jacked up nice and high, so high I had to go and get the steps so I could climb onto the top of the engine to get down the back of it.









This was the kind of thing I had to get around, No way of undoing these bolts, some had disintegrated.










Dropped the subframe after marking the position of the bolts. God they were tight especially the front ones.



















Fortunately not to difficult to undo the nuts on the turbo they came off quite easily really. What didn't help was the braiding on the flexi section had split and this kept getting caught.
Had a look at the exhaust end of the turbo whilst I was there.










Looks OK no obvious cracks or other issues and no turbine movement is what I would expect.










A pile of bits. Took the heatshield off the firewall at the back of the engine and removed the rest of the pipes from the AC system .
The removal of the heatshield made it a lot easier refitting the Lambda sensor at the front and doing up the turbo bolts. Gives you a lot more room to swing a spanner.
Weighed the original and new exhaust with all the pipes I removed about 9Kg less weight.
One of the cats may be going back on the car come MOT time. I have a plan to recycle one.

Had an issue where the new exhaust joins the old one. The OE system is 65mm outside diameter. The tube on the new exhaust was 63.5mm . The OE clamp would not clamp down to 63.5mm. with the clamp as tight as it would go you could still spin it on the pipe.Even after I modified it a little it still didn't clamp. I found a solution with a piece of 63mm pipe I had that only had a 1mm wall. Cut a short piece and used it as a sleeve to wrap around the new pipe. Now upto 65.5mm diameter with a little exhaust putty it fits OK.
Going forward I will probably have a custom exhaust made 3 inch all the way through with a single silencer to reduce the weight. So this is a temporary measure.










I had to remove the exhaust after initially fitting it as the flex was rubbing on the prop. You can see the balance weights at the front of the prop are just in the wrong place. Fortunately removal of this pipe is reasonably simple compared to the OE one. I modified the exhaust a little and there is a little more clearance. This is how it looks now. Doesn't appear to rub although I think the hanger bracket is touching the top of the bolt as it's quite close.



















Bought an extender for the rear lambda to avoid any errors and this seems to work. Although it's going to be mapped this week so will ask Rick to remove the fault codes relevent to this.

Car pulls better at the top end . The butt dyno has definitely detected an increase up there. will do some logging and see how it compares to previous mods. A little more noisy as well, didn't think there would be that much difference especially at idle


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## desertstorm

Fitted this today as well as changing the injector seals and finding my leak in the PCV system.
Quite natty. Combines and oil temp , oil pressure and voltmeter along with a boost gauge.
The air vent in the TT was made for 60mm gauges like this. Really easy to fit and it looks quite good I think.
I didn't think that was enough so bought another 10 bar sensor and connected it in the fuel pressure rail.
I have a switch on the dash that switches between the oil pressure and fuel pressure, normally would just leave it on the oil pressure but good to check the fuel pressure every now and then.
In the picture it's displaying fuel pressure. Car has a 3 bar FPR with -0.7 bar of vacuum you get 2.3 bar of pressure so that proves the pressure reg is working OK. Will be interesting to see what it reads when I fit the 4 bar FPR. Hopefully the pump will be happy.
Not sure if I have a bit of a duff gauge or not but the voltage display is very difficult to read in bright sunlight, the pressure and temp can be read OK.
This picture was taken around 7pm when it was going a bit darker.


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## 1781cc

Somehow I missed this thread when you started it, but just seen it now and read the whole thing - some interesting approaches in there and some food for thought on my track car project.

Have you actually been on track with this yet? you seem to have put a lot of work in but I haven't seen any pics of it in anger burning the tarmac up. There are a bunch of us in the track and motorsport section and loads of info on there about weight saving, tyres, track days we go on, etc... you may already know this, but thought I would mention it as sometimes people head straight for the MK1 section of the forum.

Anyway, will be keeping an eye on this build.


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## desertstorm

No it's not been on track yet. I wouldn't want to with the 15 year old original suspension. Hopefully venture out later this year after I have got the remap sorted which will be at Unicorn on Thursday and the suspension sorted. 
Bought some second hand Cookbot rear arms off a member on here , Stu . Going to order some Silver Project camber plates to sort the front end out. The Gaz Gold suspension is being made up at the moment. Need to replace a few more bushes on the rear and change the Haldex oil and filter as well as well as fitting the powertrack insert. 
I have some tatty 17 inch TT Comps that I was going to polish but have since decided against that, as with all the brake dust and crud from racing brake pads they won't last too long. So will get them powder coated, probably black.
After the suspension is on I can start losing some weight off the car as it looks a bit 4x4 at the moment.
Lots of things to do and not enough time.

I already venture out at the odd track day, sprint etc in my daily driver a 3.0 TDI Avant. 380bhp 750Nm










Picked up the fastest diesel trophy at GTI International the last 3 years. Best time on the quarter 13.1 at 109 mph . 
Be good if I can get the TT to be as quick  .


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## desertstorm

Changed the plugs in readiness for the remap tomorrow with Rick at Unicorn, went for the NGK iridium plugs on a 7 heat range which seem to be recommended.
Did a bit of logging today to see what the effect of the exhaust downpipe was. I know it feels quicker especially after 4K it seems to pick up better. This is seen in the increase in MAF readings . Did a few second and third gear runs and all had MAF readings of between 199 and 202 at 6000 RPM and there are noticeable increases throughout the RPM range from about 4K RPM up.
Lastly changed out the 3 bar FPR for the 4 bar item. Quite surprised how the car seemed to compensate really quickly for the change, Drove it around for a few miles and seemed to run fine . Checked the fuel trim and it had gone out to -5.5% from a previous -0.5% reading. I presume it will keep leaning it off on the trip up to Stockport tomorrow.
The fuel pump doesn't seem to have any issue delivering 5 bar of pressure when the boost is up at 1 bar.
Depo are going to send me another gauge to replace the one I have as they agree the display is dim, Good job it's fairly simple to replace the gauge.

View attachment 09-08-17 2nd gear accell run.intercooler-downpipe-ramair-and exhaust-run 2 .pdf


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## desertstorm

Well the car has been mapped this morning. The day didn't start off too well as just as I was driving past Manchester airport on the motorway there was a loud bang and a fault light popped up on the dash. I kind of worked out within about 10-20 seconds that it was boost pipe coming off or splitting :wtf:
Anyway carried onto Ricks at much reduced pace and fortunately I had take a few tools with me.
A quick inspection determined that a boost pipe on the drivers side just under the headlight had popped off. Fortunately able to get at it by just putting the car on full lock and pulling back the wheel arch liner. Seems I never put a big enough bead on that pipe or never tightened the clip enough.










Will whip the front bumper off and make sure all the pipes have a nice lip on them and the clips are good and tight.
Car was loaded on the dyno










And Rick set to work.
A while later after a few different maps to get it just right ended up with this.










A good start with the various add on bits and straight through decat pipe giving 235bhp.

And after Rick had waved his wand, 274bhp and 295Lb/ft of torque, bang on where I was hoping it would be. Just around 300Lb/ft of torque with no peaks to bother the rods and 270 + bhp. This has pretty much maxed out the injectors even with a 4 bar FPR .
The car is making 260bhp or more between 4400 rpm and 6500rpm so it's very noticeably quicker.
Just need to get the suspension sorted now and lose some weight off the car and think it will be time to hit the track.


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## 1781cc

Good work on the mapping, thats a great figure, a little higher than mine on the hp and a little lower on the tq but same ballpark. That hose is a pain, mine popped off on the way to Bedford autodrome at the end of last month, I had never had anything like that before and expected to see a pile of oil on the A43 and a hole in the engine.

Thankfully, if you disconnect the maf you can drive it normally with the hose hanging off.

Part of the reason I swapped all my hoses and clips recently.


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## desertstorm

Thanks for the info about the MAF I never knew that. Drove the car about 5 miles after the hose popped off just babying it as I didn't want to overspeed the turbo.
When the car was being mapped the torque was up around 320Lb/ft but Rick backed that off too around 305 and then asked me if I wanted it a little flatter which is what we did, So ended up at 295Lb/ft with a pretty flat curve. 
In the scheme of things reducing the peak torque at that point doesn't make much difference to the car on track as you aren't driving in that rev range much.
Having a decent peak power number but having the power curve quite flat gives you more area under the curve which is sometimes more important than a headline number. 
In other news some more suspension bits came the other day. Some Cookbot rear arms off Stu from the parts for sale pages.
very impressed with the quality and construction of these, pity Audi didn't make the OE parts as well.


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## 3TT3

Unusual certainly . n v nice 
Can you do a pdf file, now its mapped with the same parameters in 3rd/4th thx.


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## desertstorm

I will probably do some logging to see whats going on. Be interesting to see what the EGT is doing and what MAF readings are now.
Do you want me to download a copy of the map and post it ?  .


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## 3TT3

Yeh thatd be good thx,similar to the log results in 2nd gear, but in 3rd or 4th,old bill permitting, now that its been remapped .
edit 
qwikpic in 3rd just to 6900 or so peaks more around 7000
rpm gm/s throttle/load and ign timing


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## FJ1000

Great updates!

Get the suspension on get it out on track already!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

More bits arrived today from sunny Poland. Camber and castor plates.


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## 1781cc

Whose the supplier of these mate?


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## desertstorm

They are off a company called the Silver Project. https://silverproject.eu/en/
I bought them off Fleabay. They come in several different colors

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camber-Plates ... 2597468103?

They are good quality and seem to last well I first saw them a few years ago on Audi-Sport.net where I am am a moderator. A guy called Nick Vaughn or most people call him Prawn has used them for several years on his very potent A3 track car.
Only 226 pages  
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/pr ... st-3068404


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## 1781cc

Thanks for the links and info - the price is really good and they look solid, this is definitely something I need to look into more.

Did you order the ones from the link? A3 ones? will they fit the same on the TT?

EDIT - just seen the listing in more detail, yes they do!


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## chisharpe

Good job. That's not a bad increase from a tip induction 3" pipe and fpr


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## desertstorm

Thanks for that Chris, It's not just the peak numbers that look reasonable the fact it is making 260bhp or more between 4400 rpm and 6500rpm makes a big difference to the way it pulls .
Another parcel landed this afternoon.
Oil cooler arrived today, Don't think you strictly need one of these at this level of tune but it certainly can't hurt especially if it happens to be a hot day as it was this Bank Holiday Monday when I did a Club GTI event with the A4 at Curbrough.
Best price I could find for a full Mocal set up was £167 from Matt Lewis Motorsport, that was with the thermostatic option and a 19 row oil cooler. So hopefully got all the bases covered with this.










Having a look at a baffled sump. The Forge one looks like a reasonable choice but I believe they have quality issues with these as they start off with a cheaper aftermarket sump that's inferior in quality to the OE part.
TSR do a baffle plate that's half the price and I get to use my OE sump. Also handy if the sump ever gets damaged you can move it onto a new sump. 
http://www.tsr-performance.com/webshop/ ... le-insert/

Anybody used one of these ?.
Then there is the AKS tuning item at nearly £300 which looks the bees Knees.
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/aks/237-aks ... -sump.html?
I think if I was going to spend £200 on a Forge item I would probably spend the extra £100 on the AKS item as the quality and fit is supposed to be perfect.


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## chisharpe

desertstorm said:


> Thanks for that Chris, It's not just the peak numbers that look reasonable the fact it is making 260bhp or more between 4400 rpm and 6500rpm makes a big difference to the way it pulls .
> Another parcel landed this afternoon.
> Oil cooler arrived today, Don't think you strictly need one of these at this level of tune but it certainly can't hurt especially if it happens to be a hot day as it was this Bank Holiday Monday when I did a Club GTI event with the A4 at Curbrough.
> Best price I could find for a full Mocal set up was £167 from Matt Lewis Motorsport, that was with the thermostatic option and a 19 row oil cooler. So hopefully got all the bases covered with this.
> 
> 
> 
> Having a look at a baffled sump. The Forge one looks like a reasonable choice but I believe they have quality issues with these as they start off with a cheaper aftermarket sump that's inferior in quality to the OE part.
> TSR do a baffle plate that's half the price and I get to use my OE sump. Also handy if the sump ever gets damaged you can move it onto a new sump.
> http://www.tsr-performance.com/webshop/ ... le-insert/
> 
> Anybody used one of these ?.
> Then there is the AKS tuning item at nearly £300 which looks the bees Knees.
> https://www.akstuning.co.uk/aks/237-aks ... -sump.html?
> I think if I was going to spend £200 on a Forge item I would probably spend the extra £100 on the AKS item as the quality and fit is supposed to be perfect.


I read your thread on your other car wow just wow


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## 1781cc

I have the Forge one, never had any issues with it or leaks and it's been on the car for over a year already, I'd recommend it.

Good you've got the oil cooler, guarantee you'll need it if you know what your doing on track, even if you were running standard 225 tune, it's a great addition if you pair it with a K&N high flow filter and some millers nanodrive!


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## desertstorm

Suspension kit arrived yesterday, unfortunately they didn't send any helper springs for the front struts so these are in the post.



















Ordered some new strut top bearings and some Powerflex black rear swinging arm front bushes as I have a feeling these are past there best the way the car currently handles.
Making a nice collection of parts to add just wish I had more time .
Some Redstuff rear pads.


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## 1781cc

wow, I am surprised at Red Stuff as being your pad choice!

Suspension looks good tho, nicely made


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## Madmax199

1781cc said:


> wow, I am surprised at Red Stuff as being your pad choice!


Second that, not anywhere near a track worthy pad. I would strongly recommend something better as the rest of the build so far is pretty good.


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## desertstorm

They are only the rear pads. From my experience of driving the car as it is now the rear pads don't get that much of a workout. If they aren't upto it I will upgrade them but I use red stuff front and back in my daily driver and it works well.


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## 3TT3

Ive seen gaz gold mentioned on here before..adjustable damping eh..and with gold in the name not cheap  ?
Any little logging runs after the remap,gm/s timing, boost n so on ?


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## desertstorm

Gaz Gold suspension stuff actually used to be anodised a gold color. I think they are difficult to beat on a performance per pound basis if you are looking for something that will perform well and give you the ability to set the car up to make the most out of it.
I ordered them through Larkspeed which seemed to be the cheapest supplier. You order through a dealer but I have been having E-mail exchanges with the people at GAZ directly to specify what I wanted in terms of spring rates etc.
They do a cheaper range of coilovers aimed more for the road but you can track them and they do have the same facility to specify springs rates etc.Ignore the 1998-2001 these fit any 8N TT. At £667 they offer good performance at a very reasonable price.
http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?a=i&p ... Coilovers#

The Gold setup is aimed more at serious track work with better build quality and a load of different features to make them more suitable for motorsport use. I actually paid under £900 as they look to have put the price up to £920 now.
http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?a=i&p ... -Coilovers

Compared to other offerings from the likes of KW and [email protected] I think these are reasonable in price I think. Because these are made in the UK they can be sent back and rebuilt if required for around £25 I believe.

As far as logging goes I did some and was very impressed with the performance of the intercooler, Along with the performace of the car . I haven't really stripped anything out of it yet interior wise so it's carrying a lot of weight.
Ambient was 18 degrees .
55-67 seconds was a 3rd gear acceleration run .
I let it cool down a little and did a 3rd gear max rpm into 4th and kept going till my private road started to run out. That is 
154 to 164 seconds.

I also discovered the other day that Rick had mapped in launch control. If you rev it normally in neutral it's like a normal car.
When you press the clutch in and rev it , it goes to 3500 RPM and sits there as if on a rev limiter which builds boost. Also makes for a very quick get away. I used to have this on my Passat PD130, found it useful at Santa Pod.

View attachment 23-07-17 3rd gear accell run.after ricks remap11-08-2017.pdf


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## 3TT3

Thats great ta,
r/r dyno are few n far between here and your logs show (to me at least)there is no hard and fast correlation between g/s maf reading and power produced.I mean the divided by 0.8 thing.
Within reason of course dependent on other factors such as boost ign timing af and so on.
Must do some more logs on my 0.5 sec lag readings 
Ill check out Gaz and larkspeed also.


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## desertstorm

All you need to use Nefmoto logging is a £5 cheap KKL VCDS lead and download the program.
It's slightly fiddly to set up but there are several guides on the net. Essentially you read the map from your car using the lead and then the software scans the map to identify the memory locations of the various values.
When it's logging the software talks to the ECU and asks for the values of the particular memory locations related to what you want to measure. If you only want to read one variable it can do that 50 times a second easily. I limit it to polling 10 times a second as it's more than enough data.
As for the MAF readings I can see that it's more of a pointer, as you say adding more fuel reducing the Lambda value and advancing the timing will all use the same amount of air but result in more power.
It is interesting to note there are large differences in the midrange MAF values compared to before and also the EGT temps are lower than a standard car. Keeping on it to near enough 100mph EGT's never went above 880 degrees where as on a standard 3rd gear pull you could see over 900 degrees easily.


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## desertstorm

Helper springs arrived, posted next day delivery by GAZ.


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## desertstorm

Been looking on Fleabay for a while for some seats. Most of the secondhand seats I have seen have been quite tatty and some still quite expensive. If they have looked ok they have been collection only the other end of the country.
Spotted these last night and snapped them up. Just 6 months old pretty much as new , just down the road from me ,with the side mount brackets less than half the cheapest price I could see them for new. An FIA approved seat so got to be reasonably strong.



















They fit very well and seem to be pretty comfortable, At least they were for the 15 minutes I sat on the floor watching the telly  .
Anybody fitted seats into a TT with any tips on the best way to do this. I know OMP/ Sparco etc make seat bases for these. Don't really need the passenger seat moving back and forward so that can be fixed. May explore the possibility of mounting them on the OE base if it's not to heavy or difficult to do.


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## 1781cc

Nice seats!

Fitting depends on how tall you are, I am 6' [email protected] so decided on a passenger seat on runners and a drivers seat that is fixed. both of my seats are sparcos, mounted to an OMP subframe (tailored fit for the TT), then demon tweeks universal runner on the the passenger side and their fitted one on the drivers side (so I can get as far back as possible) and on the passenger side a sabelt side mount on the universal runner.

This is how the drivers side looks:










There is also a fitting thread in the Track & Motorsport knowledge base - sadly the photo bucket links have broken but the info is still there:

viewtopic.php?f=250&t=1251225&p=6877897#p6877897


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## NickG

Nice set of seats! As 1781c says, mounting is down to preference and usage. I designed some very simple mounts that work for a fixed position only, into the existing seat mount points, however OMP have their subframe which offers much more options for mounting and fixes using the existing seat mount points too!

I also have a pair of OMP subframes for Sale if you're interested 8)


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## NickG

Great choice on the GAZ too, they're simply unbeatable for performance vs pennies! Get plenty of lithium grease on the adjuster area to keep them free for the foreseeable, I did and they are still as free as when I installed over 2 years ago.

Looking like the start of another good project here, keep up the good work! 8)


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## desertstorm

Not updated this for a while been busy doing other stuff unfortunately. Anyway I am now the owner of a pair of OMP seat bases thanks to Nick G so that will make the installation of the seats a lot easier. Ordered a single slider that I will put on the drivers seat. Passenger will be fixed and as far back as possible. If I am carrying extra weight in the passenger seat they can at least do the courtesy of sitting as far back as possible.
The car went in for it's MOT today, Apparently aliens are not an issue if they don't work. Only cars newer than 2011 have to have working headlight washers if they were originally fitted. So I think I may rejig the pipes on the FMIC when I have the bumper off to fit the oil cooler.Probably get a slightly better run on the pipes.
It was always potentially going to fail if I didn't do anything with the exhaust as it not longer has a cat. So decided to kill 2 birds with one stones and made my own cat as well as taking the opportunity to correct the dip in the centre of the exhaust under the car.
Ordered some 3 inch flanges off Flea bay and got busy with the angle grinder and welder.



















Cut up one of the original cats from the car and added some 3 inch flanges each end. Took the existing decat pipe and chopped the front part off the same length as my new cat. With some fiddling around I fixed a new flange on the decat pipe and created a replacement pipe for the decat.
End result is that in about 15 minutes I can drop the cat into the exhaust and get a 100% legal car. Passed the MOT with no issues, The tester actually commented that the CO levels, Lambda etc were all spot on. It doesn't actually seem to make much difference to the performance. But losing 10 or 15bhp in 275 isn't going to be too noticeable.

Just been shopping on Fleabay and bought some 8.5x18 Team dynamics wheels for the car. Had been looking at Porsche staggered setups but with the adaptors they were a bit pricey and complicated.
Looking like 235/40/18 tyres on the front and either 255 or 265/35 on the rear. 265 would be the best as they have the same rolling radius at the 235/40 but they would ideally fit on a 9 inch rim. A 265/35/18 tyre is an approved tyre for an 8.5 inch rim though.Might just put 235/40 front and back though as I can swap them around and there are no issues with rolling radius etc.

http://toyotires.com.au/images/tyres/fa ... esr888.pdf


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## Delta4

Like that idea for the cat pipe, that was time well spent.


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## Gullers

A great read and a great project.
Reading posts like this makes me realise how un technical I am!

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## desertstorm

Nice to meet Gullers (Andrew) yesterday, He has a very clean and nice V6 TT . He has swapped the Team Dynamics Jade R alloys on it for some very smart OE looking alloys.
I spotted the alloys for sale so have picked them up. Been looking for a while for some cheap light 8.5 inch alloys .
Come to the conclusion that 235/40/18 tyres all round would probably be a good size to go for and an 8.5 inch rim will allow the tyre to give the maximum contact patch.
The Alloys are supposed to weigh 11.1Kg which seems about right as an alloy with 6mm of tread on a 225/40/18 tyre weighs in at 20.5Kg. Something like a Pro race 1.3 in 18x8.5 weighs I believe 10.2Kg. That puts these alloys around 1Kg heavier per wheel. Not that much really.









The wheels are ET35 so on 2 accounts I have had to space the fronts out as they did fit on a standard TT but on mine with the LCR calipers they catch the caliper, and when the Gaz Gold suspension is fitted the struts are a larger diameter than the OE items and they would be very close if not touching.
I packed 6mm of washers on 3 studs to see what it looked like with a 6mm spacer.










Now clears the caliper just. So have ordered some 10mm spacers front and rear to move the rears out as well.










The rear looking very 4x4 as the car hasn't been driven after I have lowered it off the jack.


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## ady117

Great thread... keep up the good work


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## Gullers

Good to see you too Karl.
Looking forward to seeing the progress of your MK1. 
Mind you guys you should see Karl's A4, that's a piece of work and it sounded awesome, best sounding diesel I've ever heard!

Mine is 225 with a V6 spoiler just FYI. Thanks for your kind words 

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## FJ1000

Just re-read this whole thread - great info in here, keep it coming!

I'll be following your lead on the LCR brembos and 323mm discs at some point. Did you see cookbot do a cheap adapter so you can fit 300mm S4 discs on the rear, with the OEM caliper? Seems a good idea to keep the braking balanced

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## desertstorm

I have been looking at the possibility of increasing the rear brake size to try and keep the braking balanced. TBH don't think I need to go as far as 300mm just adding a lot of extra weight and rotational weight as well.
A lot of the weight reduction off the car will be coming at the rear so having too much brake effort is likely to kick the ABS in.
As a compromise you can get a kit that uses the 280mmx22mm front disc off a MK4 golf.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A3-TT-Go ... 3162545741?
£85 for the adaptors and bolts and about £65 for a pair of ATE coated performance discs. As the pads won't sweep the full surface of the disc think it's good to go with a coated disc.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-MK4-0 ... 1669905211?

My A4 3.0 TDI originally had 300 x22 rear discs on it and that's an 1850Kg car.Think I will get the car sorted and see how it goes before upgrading the rears. It's a quick and easy job to do.


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## 1781cc

I have to say I'm not sure that the TT needs bigger brakes, maybe better pads, I was significantly later on the brakes then most porsches, both Golf Rs, a few Catherhams and a couple of GTRs yesterday at Silverstone - and on DS3000s, not aggressive pads like Carbotechs or Carbone Lorraine's


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## chisharpe

Not the best looking wheels I've seen but function over form how much weight have you saved?


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## chisharpe

desertstorm said:


> Not updated this for a while been busy doing other stuff unfortunately. Anyway I am now the owner of a pair of OMP seat bases thanks to Nick G so that will make the installation of the seats a lot easier. Ordered a single slider that I will put on the drivers seat. Passenger will be fixed and as far back as possible. If I am carrying extra weight in the passenger seat they can at least do the courtesy of sitting as far back as possible.
> The car went in for it's MOT today, Apparently aliens are not an issue if they don't work. Only cars newer than 2011 have to have working headlight washers if they were originally fitted. So I think I may rejig the pipes on the FMIC when I have the bumper off to fit the oil cooler.Probably get a slightly better run on the pipes.
> It was always potentially going to fail if I didn't do anything with the exhaust as it not longer has a cat. So decided to kill 2 birds with one stones and made my own cat as well as taking the opportunity to correct the dip in the centre of the exhaust under the car.
> Ordered some 3 inch flanges off Flea bay and got busy with the angle grinder and welder.
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cut up one of the original cats from the car and added some 3 inch flanges each end. Took the existing decat pipe and chopped the front part off the same length as my new cat. With some fiddling around I fixed a new flange on the decat pipe and created a replacement pipe for the decat.
> End result is that in about 15 minutes I can drop the cat into the exhaust and get a 100% legal car. Passed the MOT with no issues, The tester actually commented that the CO levels, Lambda etc were all spot on. It doesn't actually seem to make much difference to the performance. But losing 10 or 15bhp in 275 isn't going to be too noticeable.
> 
> Just been shopping on Fleabay and bought some 8.5x18 Team dynamics wheels for the car. Had been looking at Porsche staggered setups but with the adaptors they were a bit pricey and complicated.
> Looking like 235/40/18 tyres on the front and either 255 or 265/35 on the rear. 265 would be the best as they have the same rolling radius at the 235/40 but they would ideally fit on a 9 inch rim. A 265/35/18 tyre is an approved tyre for an 8.5 inch rim though.Might just put 235/40 front and back though as I can swap them around and there are no issues with rolling radius etc.
> 
> http://toyotires.com.au/images/tyres/fa ... esr888.pdf


Genius


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## Gullers

chisharpe said:


> Not the best looking wheels I've seen but function over form how much weight have you saved?


Looks are subjective but I think they look pretty good!



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## desertstorm

Did a few jobs on the car today. Removed the cat and refitted the cat bypass. Only a 15 minute job including getting the car on the ramps.










Fitted a new handbrake cable on the passenger side. The old one was sticking despite vast amounts of lube squirted down the cable. Not too expensive only £18 for a new old stock genuine item off the bay. Very impressed with how easy it was to change Audi certainly think about these things. New one works fine, I was thinking that it was potentially the caliper sticking but the old cable was definitely tight and sticking. Handbrake should be a lot more effective now.

Harnesses came. Again off Flea-bay. Most people have motorsport stickers on the car like EBC, Sparco etc. I should put an Ebay one on there  .
These are 6 point TRS Magnum harnesses manufactured for Turn One. I looked at second hand cheaper harnesses and decided to spend a bit more and buy some quality items. For the same reason I bought better spec seats.










The 10mm spacers arrived for the wheels so fitted them on the car to see what they looked like. Looks like I will nearly be able to change the brake pads without removing the wheels they are so open.










Will hopefully start on fitting the coilovers and some suspension bushes this weekend.


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## chisharpe

Great progress. Bet after the first track day you go nuts on losing weight from the car and start saving for a hybrid :lol:


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## desertstorm

There will be much weight saving before it visits a track. Haven't done much uptil now as the car looks a bit 4x4 already being a pre facelift. Taking a load of weight off it will just make that a lot more obvious. Started fitting the coilovers this weekend.
Started by changing the rear trailing arm front bushes. These had seen much better days and were all split around the centre as well as being quite squidgy compared to the Black Powerflex items I replaced them with.
A bit of a ball ache job trying to undo some of the bolts that hadn't been undone in 15 years and drilling these bushes out is always a pain. Got there in the end though. Fitted the rear springs and adjusters and the shockers.
The original shock absorbers are past there best.










Fitted the coilover on the front on the one side, just need to do the other side and have a go at setting the height so something reasonable. Thinking 340mm front 345mm rear.


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## NickG

Nice progress! Did you manage to keep the trailing arm in place when changing the bush?

I've got a pair to go on, but really don't want to remove the brake lines at the minute as I've just fixed them (I hope) seemed to test them before messing around with them again!


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## desertstorm

Yes you can leave the arm in place. Unclip the brake line from the plastic clips on the trailing arm and undo the small 10mm bolt that holds the bracket on the arm at the end of the brake flexi.
This is the procedure from Elsa Win.

View attachment TT Rear trailing buish replacements.pdf


I undid the rear shocker lower bolt to allow the arm to drop. I didn't have all the cups and screws to press the bush out so just chain drilled around the edge and knocked the centre out. Then cut through the edge of the bush. Usually I have found this to be metal, on the TT it was plastic.
Clean the bore up where the new bush is to be pressed into with a file as the powerflex black items I had were quite a tight fit and there was a build up of surface rust.
I did remove the plastic liners from the hole where the bush fits as I read somewhere this gives you a little more room for adjustment. Be a shame to have to dismantle it all again to take them out.


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## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Yes you can leave the arm in place. Unclip the brake line from the plastic clips on the trailing arm and undo the small 10mm bolt that holds the bracket on the arm at the end of the brake flexi.
> This is the procedure from Elsa Win.
> 
> 
> 
> I undid the rear shocker lower bolt to allow the arm to drop. I didn't have all the cups and screws to press the bush out so just chain drilled around the edge and knocked the centre out. Then cut through the edge of the bush. Usually I have found this to be metal, on the TT it was plastic.
> Clean the bore up where the new bush is to be pressed into with a file as the powerflex black items I had were quite a tight fit and there was a build up of surface rust.
> I did remove the plastic liners from the hole where the bush fits as I read somewhere this gives you a little more room for adjustment. Be a shame to have to dismantle it all again to take them out.


Brilliant thanks! What about getting the poly one in??


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## desertstorm

Just greased the hole where the bush goes into and the new item comes in two halves which are slightly different thicknesses, so you have to make sure they go in the right place otherwise the toe will be out.
I just used some pieces of wood and a very large G clamp I have to squeeze the new bushes in. If you remove the rust from the bore they press in fairly easily.
The reason I know that is because when I did the first one I didn't take too much time cleaning the rust up, Consequently it was pretty tight. The second one I did I used a file and a rotary rasp to clean the bore and it went in a lot easier.


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## NickG

Oh great, that's great news too then!! I wouldn't have bothered as I thought it would be a faff, but I think you've just changed my mind! Cheers! 8)


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## desertstorm

Well coilovers fitted. Not very happy with Gaz though.
The springs they have supplied may be the Lb/In values I requested but they aren't the right length. The rears in particular.
My car is pre facelift so its around 370mm at the front and 375 at the rear.
With the adjuster on the rear set at the minimum height the car is 380mm high at the rear.










Remove the adjuster and this drops to 360mm. I was aiming for around 340-345 mm so the spring is just way too long. 
The supplied spring is 5.5 inch uncompressed length add the perch adjuster on minimum thats 17mm, and the OE one is 7.5 inch and it's a much lower spring rating. Doing some maths I have calculated the rear spring needs to be more like 4 inches not 5.5. Without an adjuster I couldn't corner weight the car.
The front spring on the lowest setting gives a ride height around 360mm, If I took the helper out I could probably get the ride height where I want it but there is a lot of weight to come out of the car yet. And I would rather not have the adjuster rings right at the bottom of the strut as it could potentially foul on the tyre.
The front spring is a 7 inch it should really have been a 6 inch item.
I have fired an E-mail off to GAZ and am awaiting a reply.
This is what the car looks like ATM. Fronts as low as they will go with helpers in and rears with no adjuster.


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## 1781cc

This is good to know... I am talking to Warren at the moment about buying the same for mine... its also pre-facelight.

Will follow with interest, good luck!


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## NickG

That's odd, my fronts sit just about perfect, however i did order a shorter set of rear springs iirc they supplied 5" and i later ordered 4", however ran without adjusters for a year first which happened to be a good height (But as you mention, wouldn't allow corner weighting!). They cant go any lower then 4" apparently though!


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## desertstorm

Hi Nick, I have slightly higher rated springs than most people I think as I went for 550 front 850 rear. I think several people have 500/ 800 . So the extra resistance in the spring means it rides higher. Another reason why they should have supplied a 6 inch spring in the front and a 5.5 inch rear was never going to work.
I thought the ride would be more harsh than it is. I had set the shockers full soft and you could tell every now and then it was a bit floaty. Tried them on 6 clicks all round tonight on the way into work and it's firmer but still OK.
I now have to track down some of the other bits of suspension that are noisy. The ARB links have play in the ball joints so will be replacing them. Ordered some inboard bushes for the rear arms from Strongflex, Will take the top arms off and rebush them and clean them up. I have some Cookbot arms for the bottom so will fit them. My car has the rose joint type bush on the outer end so will check those out and make sure they are not seized/worn.
Ordered some MK2 TT lower ball joints for the front to get a bit more front camber. The items in there at the moment are the originals I think and have seen better days.


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## 3TT3

http://www.meyle.com/fileadmin/user_upl ... 009_en.pdf

Pity they dont do any hd strut mount for mk 4
http://www.meyle.com/fileadmin/user_upl ... .04_EN.pdf
For those that like to stick to rubber  .


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## desertstorm

There is a heavy duty rubber strut top mount that will fit the TT. The item fitted to the Seat Leon Cupra R is made from a harder rubber. Not as hard as a poly version but better than the standard item.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/ne ... de.164954/


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## 3TT3

Eh  yes there is part no 1ML412331
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1654362
and ecs tuning sell one slightly harder I think , but was really just linking the HD arm bush, no use to you now I guess and bemoaning Meyle didnt make a tuff strut mount for the mk4/TT .


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## CALLAKN

1781cc said:


> Somehow I missed this thread when you started it, but just seen it now and read the whole thing - some interesting approaches in there and some food for thought on my track car project.
> 
> Have you actually been on track with this yet? you seem to have put a lot of work in but I haven't seen any pics of it in anger burning the tarmac up. There are a bunch of us in the track and motorsport section and loads of info on there about weight saving, tyres, track days we go on, etc... you may already know this, but thought I would mention it as sometimes people head straight for the MK1 section of the forum.
> 
> Anyway, will be keeping an eye on this build.


Get me in on this matey!! I've just got back from the burg, want more TT track friends!


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## 1781cc

Join us on the MK1 track TT Facebook group as well


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## desertstorm

Good news from Gaz about my enquiry with the spring lengths being incorrect. Can't really fault there customer service as they are sending me a pair of 6 inch 550 Lb/In springs today and ordering a shorter pair for the rear . The rear springs are not stock items so will need to be made so will have to wait a bit for those.


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## 1781cc

desertstorm said:


> Good news from Gaz about my enquiry with the spring lengths being incorrect. Can't really fault there customer service as they are sending me a pair of 6 inch 550 Lb/In springs today and ordering a shorter pair for the rear . The rear springs are not stock items so will need to be made so will have to wait a bit for those.


I pretty much had the same conversation with them today as well, they do seem to be on the ball with things, he was saying that 4" rears can be custom ordered. I'm planning on ordering 850lbs front and 1300lbs rear, quite a difference to you rate wise, but I'm glad i've read of your experiences with the heights before I ordered. If its not putting you out of pocket, thats excellent customer service.


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## desertstorm

Thats going to be one firm ride in your car with those spring rates, I have no doubt it will handle well but keep away from the kerbs  .
Had a few hours this afternoon so thought I would start removing some weight. So went for the easiest quick win the nice lump of cast iron under the rear bumper.
Hadn't had the rear bumper off before so was keen to see if it looked ok under there, sometimes you find signs of previous accident damage or other issues. When I was looking for the two 10mm bolts either side in the rear wheelarch I noticed that there was only 1 fitted on each side. So looks like the rear bumper has been off at sometime in the past. I was preparing to find the lump already missing. But upon removing the bumper it was still there.










With the two steel backing plates from behind the bumper a total of 17kg.










And got the bucket out and cleaned up everything removing another 10g of mud  .










MK2 TT bottom ball joints arrived today so hopefully fit those the weekend. Along with a few other jobs.


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## desertstorm

Taking advantage of this unseasonal warm weather to do a few more jobs on the car. 
Fitting the Cookbot adjustable arms I bought from the parts sale area. The plan was to take the existing top arms off clean them up and replace the bushes.
Unfortunately when I cleaned them up a bit found the one had quite a bit of rust on it at the end which had turned into a hole.










Didn't fancy running this on the car as the rest of the metal around that hole was quite thin. My car is pre Facelift so the upper and lower arms are different lengths. What I didn't know but discovered off here is that facelift cars have the longer arms top and bottom to try and counter the increased camber from the drop. So decided to use the bottom arms in the top and set up the adjustable ones the same length. Thus mimicking a facelift car till I get the ride height sorted so I can get the suspension properly set up.
Replaced the well knackered bushes with the sport Strongflex items. And cleaned the arms up and gave them a coat of black hammerite. Fortunately the outer ball joints on the end of these arms all appear to be OK.










Painted the trailing arms and driveshaft as well whilst I had the paint out as with these 5 spoke wheels everything is on show.

Moving on decided to change the haldex oil and filter and fit the powertrack in the Haldex controller.
Wow what a faff this job turned out to be. Despite what appears to be an extensive service history the haldex filter has never been changed as it's the original metal one. The metal filter seems to be fractionally bigger than the plastic item as it didn't want to come out. The plastic one went straight in.










The oil that came out of the haldex was quite dark .
Removed the Haldex controller which in itself is tricky enough , had to cut down a 4mm Allen key to get one short enough to undo the pins. This is the controller and the Powertrack insert along with a new gasket. 









There isn't much difference between the two inserts, That little bit of extra brass keeps the haldex enabled all the time.









Came to reinsert the insert and when I was putting the circlip back in it snapped. Fortunately I am a bit of a magpie and collect stuff and over 20 years ago I was given this RS assorted box of circlips. Never used any of them till today. But fortunately there was a packet of them the size I needed.


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## chisharpe

Let us know how you get on with the insert and will you be running a switch to turn the haldex on and off?


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## 1781cc

My understanding of the insert is that it's still a front wheel drive car until it detects slip, then when the Haldex kicks in its at a 50:50 ratio not an undefined split, the insert doesn't turn the car into a permanent 4WD car.

Case in point being when I severed the lateral acceleration sensor wires, the car reverted to FWD, had no Haldex and no ABS. If the insert made it a mechanical 4WD it wouldn't have been an issue.


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## Allspeed

Crikey that rusty arms scary. Anybody else had one go to holes like that ?


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## desertstorm

It surprised me too slightly, TBH I was more expecting one or more of the outer balljoints to be seized up as this seems to be common which is why they ditched them and went to a rubber bush solution. When the balljoints seize up the ends of the arm snap off. They don't have to be rusty to fail.









It's my understanding that the powertrack insert pretty much makes the car full time 50/50 AWD.
https://auditttuning.org/2013/09/19/the ... -traction/
The insert basically blocks the port in the regulator that allows the return of hydraulic pressure to release the clutch pack. 
So the clutch is fully engaged.
The standard haldex instantly disengages when you brake , with an insert you will get engine braking from all 4 wheels. 
These have been around for several years and there are many people using them that have done tens of tousands of miles with no issues including lots of track mileage.


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## NickG

Nope the Haldex insert doesn't lock it to permanently AWD, it just means whenever the ECU requests any assistance from the rear wheels it is instantly 50/50 and maintains that, rather then a percentage in between. The advantage of Powertrack on track is really consistancy... in the wet on track the standard setup has been known to actually cause a few moments as it's not 100% sure what it wants, so varies the split giving... and inconsistent drive!

Under standard cruising mode, the car will still be 100/0 as per the standard system.


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## 1781cc

NickG said:


> Nope the Haldex insert doesn't lock it to permanently AWD, it just means whenever the ECU requests any assistance from the rear wheels it is instantly 50/50 and maintains that, rather then a percentage in between. The advantage of Powertrack on track is really consistancy... in the wet on track the standard setup has been known to actually cause a few moments as it's not 100% sure what it wants, so varies the split giving... and inconsistent drive!
> 
> Under standard cruising mode, the car will still be 100/0 as per the standard system.


That tally's with what I said earlier about the sensors and ABS/Haldex

I have a genuine Quattro in the S8 and the car feels massively different to the TT, the TT even with Haldex engaged at 50/50 is QuattroLite


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## Madmax199

NickG said:


> Nope the Haldex insert doesn't lock it to permanently AWD, it just means whenever the ECU requests any assistance from the rear wheels it is instantly 50/50 and maintains that, rather then a percentage in between. The advantage of Powertrack on track is really consistancy... in the wet on track the standard setup has been known to actually cause a few moments as it's not 100% sure what it wants, so varies the split giving... and inconsistent drive!
> 
> Under standard cruising mode, the car will still be 100/0 as per the standard system.


I agree 100%! I ran and tested one of the first few inserts sold by powertrack. It's not always fully engaged, but whenever the controller calls for engagement, it goes to 50/50. I didn't like it one bit vs a remapped performance controller since it basically canceled all the intelligence of the system. Many don't realize, but having 50/50 lock up all the time is not advantageous. Yes, it helps in certain phases, but also is a drawback in other phases (going in straight line for example don't need to be carrying all the extra parasitic drag - low speed hairpins also become a nightmare to negotiate in dumb/constant 50/50 split).

BTW Nick, in standard cruising mode, the car almost never is 100/0. I have said and argued this for years, but it only became apparent to many recently after the release of the HPA touchmotion with the split displayed in realtime on a screen. Even in standard stock mode, there is always some split being detected. There is almost always at least a good 10% sent to the back at all time while driving. You only see 100/0 standing still, under braking, with the parking brake engaged, or heavy coasting. Never in normal driving/cruising. The whole "it's primarily FWD" thing is nothing but another wild misconception.


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## 1781cc

Madmax199 said:


> low speed hairpins also become a nightmare to negotiate in dumb/constant 50/50 split


This is revealing for me, when I was at Silverstone there was a really tight hairpin and I always found it to be a pain to navigate, its almost like the car didn't want to go into lower gears at higher revs whilst negotiating the hairpin, which seemed to create a push/pull effect that was destabilising to the car. I had my suspicions but squared it up to the geometry/camber conversation we were having elsewhere...


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## NickG

That is interesting! I hear you regarding it doesn't compare to a proper Haldex controller remap, but if your choice was powertrack or stock which side would you lean towards?

I haven't experienced the Haldex attempting to kill me in the wet yet, but I don't fancy waiting for it to happen!


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## FJ1000

I've tried wet track time with and without the powertrak insert, and you really feel the benefit of the 50:50 split when getting power down out of a corner.

Without the insert, I had the haldex feeling like it was "spazzing out" (excuse the technical terminology), and once (actually in the dry) eject me from the track in the middle of a big slide which I was holding until it changed its mind on the split.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

I know there are downsides to the powertrack, Something so simple is never going to be able to perform well in all circumstances. Seeing this video 




and reading comments like the previous one makes me think that the OE haldex can be a liability on track in that it's not consistent. Modified versions such as the orange and HPA are more tuned towards track driving so will be more consistent.
I went to a VAG track day at Castle Combe in my A4 and one car crashed that day on the same corner and it was a TT.


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## desertstorm

Been driving the TT the last few days and it definitely seems to be better with the insert. Hoofing the car off a roundabout by me always used to get the ESP light flashing especially if the road was wet/ greasy. Now it just grips and goes. Don't seem to have any of the low speed crabbing/ groaning noises that some people have complained about. I have deliberately tried to provoke it by full lock driving at various speeds in the local Tesco car park.Also driving slowly with full lock which causes a groaning on my A4. Not in the TT though. Probably helps that I have the same size wheels/ tyres on the front and back.
My Daily car is a B8 A4 3.0 TDI which uses the same 40/60 split quattro system that was brought in with the B7 RS4. Can send upto 80% of the power to the rear if it wants and with 750Nm of torque you can get the back end to rotate quite nicely out of corners so as said previously the quattro system on the TT will never be in the same league as my A4. Bearing in mind the A4 quattro system is completely mechanical I think it does a good job.
I have read through many threads on this including this one 
http://forums.kilometermagazine.com/sho ... ert-Review 
and there are downsides to the insert but for £50 I will see how it goes.
Looking at the HPA solution and some of the graphs posted on there it's interesting to look at the extra losses seen when running more rear end power transfer.
http://www.hpamotorsports.com/images/tmapoverlayall.jpg 
By measuring front and rear power at the wheels and combining them you can see that the best solution for reduced power losses through the transmission also happens to be the one with maximum power to the front wheels. Which is what you would expect. But having the maximum engagement and maximum power to the rear seems to result in a 2-3% penalty in power loss. Actually not as much as I thought it might be. But as the prop and driveshafts and a lot of the diff is rotating regardless of how much power is going to the rear I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising.
The only fluid I haven't changed on the car yet is the rear diff. So will look into that next, maybe I can claw some of those transmission losses back.


----------



## desertstorm

Received a few more bits for the car.
GAZ sent the shorter 6 inch front springs.










About 0.5Kg lighter for the pair but it's reduced unsprung weight as well. Hopefully be able to get the car to the right height now and also get the tyres in I want on the front as the spring adjusters should be out of the way further up the shock body.
More shopping on Fleabay. SPA 3 stage shift light. Easily configureable shift points and it records the maximum RPM seen on the engine. Several years old but never used. Appears to work fine.










Whilst I had the front end of the car off on Sunday had a look at possible placements for the oil cooler. Unfortunately with the fittings on it's a little taller than I anticipated.










After looking for a possible solution it seems that it's OK to mount the oil cooler upside down. This would work as the pipes and fittings will fit in the gap between the FMIC and radiator. I was concerned that this might result in air being trapped but it seems with the high pressure seen in the system any air is quickly removed. Some manufacturers actually fit the oil coolers upside down so if it works for them.

Also figured out how I was going to sort out some brake cooling, bought 2m of this ducting hose. Quite reasonable price compared to similar products.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APS-Single-La ... 1118543555?


----------



## Beunhaas

That's exactly the reason i went with a 16 row oil cooler. It was the maximum i could fit on top of the FMIC without sticking above the slampanel :lol:

Pressure has nothing to do with taking air out of the oil cooler. Maybe flow takes the oil out when cold and thick but it's too low volume i think. Why not put it in place of the old SMIC?

If you want brake cooling, you could ad the TT RS ducts on the wishbones. Pretty cheap and works quite ok.


----------



## desertstorm

I looked at locating the cooler where the SMIC'S used to be but with the boost pipes location and the planned brake cooling duct space would be a little tight. The upside down cooler will get good airflow and should work fine.
There are plenty of people with high power cars running upside down oil cooleers with no apparent issues.
I looked at the TTRS brake cooling flaps. A little expensive for what they are, I have something similar on my A4 which are fitted on a Porsche Macan And I bought from our local Porsche dealer that only cost £14 for the pair.

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/ka ... st-2699716


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## 1781cc

I run a 19 row mocal cooler above the forge FMIC with no issues on space, it's mounted to a setrab bracket, flow is good and it doesn't foul the number at the top, in fact the shape works well with it


----------



## desertstorm

Think my FMIC is mounted slightly higher probably by 30-40mm and this makes the difference. I did make a few measurements before ordering the oil cooler but never considered that the fittings on the top added quite as much height to the cooler as they do.


----------



## 1781cc

Yeah, for as good as engineering is on these things the couplers aren't a great design, makes a huge difference having the cooler though.

Incidentally on your earlier post about the power track, have you coded out the ESP in vagcom? I didn't at first but kept feeling it subtly intrude with the button pushed, cutting power and not letting the 4WD do its thang


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## desertstorm

No I haven't coded it out yet. On my list of to do things and as it's only a minute to do I suppose I should get around to it. 
Ordered some oil for the diff this morning. Went for some Fuchs Titan Race GL5.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fuchs-Titan-R ... 1133108382? 
Another job to do. 
Wife says she wants the bedroom decorating so I told her Christmas. Didn't say it would be Christmas 2020 :lol: .


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## NickG

You lot and your fancy 19 rows :lol:


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## 1781cc

Wow Nick, that looks like an oil cooler... but smaller lol


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## NickG

1781cc said:


> Wow Nick, that looks like an oil cooler... but smaller lol


 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Haha to be fair, if it's not quite performing adequately it's only a 5 min job and a few quid to swap it for a bigger one really! It'll definitely be better then the no oil cooler i ran before! :lol:


----------



## desertstorm

I suspect a 19 row cooler is over the top for anything other than a big turbo install but I would rather have something over specified and the difference in price between a 13 row and a 19 row cooler was fairly negligeable. Puts a bit more oil in the system as well which is always a bonus.Nick is obviously matching the cooler capacity with the engine spec to avoid carrying excess weight.


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## NickG

desertstorm said:


> I suspect a 19 row cooler is over the top for anything other than a big turbo install but I would rather have something over specified and the difference in price between a 13 row and a 19 row cooler was fairly negligeable. Puts a bit more oil in the system as well which is always a bonus.Nick is obviously matching the cooler capacity with the engine spec to avoid carrying excess weight.


 :lol: :lol: Nick is just knabbing what came off the car i'm breaking! I wish i could claim that i had a technical reason, but i'm just not that cleverer :lol:


----------



## 1781cc

Love the way this thread is going... looool


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## desertstorm

NickG said:


> :lol: :lol: Nick is just knabbing what came off the car i'm breaking! I wish i could claim that i had a technical reason, but i'm just not that cleverer :lol:


 :lol: :lol: I would do the same, recycle and reuse when possible.


----------



## desertstorm

A while ago I bought a set some TT competition alloys with some bald tyres from Fleabay. The plan was to polish them on the front as I have seen some and they look quite good. After spending many hours just trying to do the one I have admitted defeat.
Was recommended a wheel refurb place in Dudley where they will do a 3 day turn around on a set of wheels for £100. Full checmical strip, bead blasted to remove the last of paint and corrosion, kerb marks cleaned up then they are painted.
Very impressed with the finish. Went for a light gunmetal color, they have a good selection of standard colors. These wheels will be the set I use when I don't have the track day tyres on.
http://wheelfurb.com/










Decided to fit the oil cooler this weekend.
Anybody know why part of the front grille is blanked off on the TT. I can see no reason why one side is partially blanked off, unfortunately it was right over part of the oil cooler so it had to be modified.
Before










After 5 minutes with the angle grinder and nice thin metal cutting disc.










Fitted the oil cooler upside down as this was the only way it was going to fit in sitting on top of the oil cooler. Quite happy in the end with the way it's fitted.



















I couldn't keep the larger oil filter though. There is no way that I could screw it on with the front cross bar in place. If I had cut maybe 1/4 inch off the thread on the oil cooler where the filter spins on it would have probably been enough to refit the larger filter. Not a major issue though I just used a standard size filter.
There is more than enough oil in the cooler and pipes.
Disconnected all the coils from the plugs so I could turn the engine over to prime the system. No leaks and oil cooler appears to be working fine.


----------



## desertstorm

Whilst I had the bumper off had a look at the brake cooling ducts I had planned. Bought some 2.5 inch duct hose off Fleabay and recycled part of the SMIC ducting that is now surplus to requirements. With a bit of silicon sealer I have been able to seal around the hose so hopefully all the air that goes in the duct will end up delivered to the brakes.



















I need to modify the brake backing plates now to provide a connection point . Worked out where the ducting hose will run to keep it out the way of everything.
Took the car for a run and the oil cooler seems to work well. 10 minute drive and engine upto 90 degrees on 49C with oil showing 75 degrees. Normally it would be quite close to the coolant temp. It has an 80 degree thermostat on so all the oil will flow through the cooler above about 80 degrees.


----------



## desertstorm

Finished off the brake cooling pipes over the weekend. All hooked up, will have to see how the pipes fair if they need a little rerouting. All seems to be OK at the moment. I may revisit the backing plates on the back of the discs as I used the original ones and added a piece of 2.5 inch intercooler pipe to connect the pipes to . Probably make a better job of it by making my own back plates.



















Just ordered the roll cage. As it's liable to take a few weeks hopefully I can get it in the car with the seats etc over christmas.
Spoke to GAZ and the shorter rear springs should be here this week so I can finally get the suspension sorted and start stripping some weight from the car.


----------



## desertstorm

Changed the diff oil this afternoon, last of the fluids in the car that haven't been changed. Decided to go for a decent spec gear oil as it's only 1L and the difference between run of the mill 75W/90 and the best you can get is about £5.
Went for the Titan Race SYN 5 75W/90, this is a very high spec oil and is used by Quaife in all there racing transmissions that use a 75w90 oil. http://quaife.co.uk/customer-service/technical-support/
Less than £15 off Fleabay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fuchs-Titan- ... 1133108382?










Easy job to do. Fortunately my drive slopes a little so when the car is on ramps it's actually level. You need to get the diff level to fill it to the correct amount. But it's just 1L that comes out and 1L to go back in so as long as you get the whole bottle in you are good. The drain and fill plugs are 17mm hex, I use a Laser 14/17 mm drain key with a 19mm ring spanner to undo the fill first and then the drain plugs.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LASER-TOOLS-1 ... 1284845316?

Only a small amount of swarf on the drain plug magnet










Audi don't make it really easy to get the oil back in to the diff, Fortunately the bottle this oil comes in has quite a long filling pipe so managed to squeeze in about 600ml underneath. Then had to fit a pipe onto the bottle and squeeze the rest in. Having done this kind of thing before I drop the new oil container in some really hot water whilst I am jacking the car and getting the old stuff out. This thins it down and makes it a lot easier to squeeze through smallish pipes. Rested the filling pipe on the top arm of the rear suspension it means the pipe has a steady fall all the way to the filling hole.



















The old oil was fairly smelly and black, also didn't feel anywhere near as "slippery" as the new stuff.










Karl.


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## NickG

Nice bit of progress recently 8)

The diff oil is something I keep neglecting, done the gearbox ages ago and the Haldex fluid but at the time didn't realise the diff oil needed changing too. I'm swapping the rear subframe over very soon... easy to do the diff oil while it's on bench I guess!


----------



## desertstorm

Yes be daft not to change the oil when it's out on the bench. Tackled another little job this afternoon and changed the rocker cover gasket. Seems like another one of those common issues that you get on these engines . The gearbox end of the engine has always had a bit of a weep from the half round rubber block that is part of the rocker cover gasket. And when I changed the plugs I noticed a very small amount of oil in some of the spark plug tubes, so before it gets any worse decided to sort it.
Bought a new Elring gasket from my favourite store and just needed a little of the Dirko sump sealer to stop any possible leaks in the corners of the gasket.
All looks OK with the cams and the wear on the timing adjuster seems OK.




























Took longer to clean up the rocker cover than it did to remove it and replace it. Used a rotary wire brush to remove some of the corrosion on the outside and make it a bit smarter. Removed some of the baked on gunk from the inside of the rocker cover.


----------



## desertstorm

Changing over the front springs to the shorter 6 inch items supplied by GAZ. 
Weight saving of 0.3Kg per side and it's unsprung weight. Don't think I am really going to notice it though. Main thing I will be able to do is get it down to the height I want also the spring base should not now get in the way of the tyre hopefully when I fit the track day tyres on the rims.This is what the 225 tyres on the wheels look like at the moment. The adjuster has moved up the coilover body by around 15-20mm so should now be out of the way of a wider tyre. If it needs to go up any more I can get rid of the helper springs.



















Started fitting the MK2 balljoints, was already for a titanic struggle to get the old ones out as they looked original and was very surprised that the one I have changed so far came out pretty easily. maybe the one that's left will be the nightmare one. The old ball joint I have removed on the one side wasn't that bad really.
Used a carbide burr to remove the material required to fit the new ball joint. Takes just a minute with one of these in a drill they are a very useful tool.
Will have to do some serious adjustment on the tracking as it looks like there will be a serious amount of toe out.The ball joints don't come with bolts so got some 8mm 12.9 cap head screws from my local nut and bolt supplier.


----------



## desertstorm

Been outside today finished off fitting the MK2 TT ball joints. Really surprised how easily the old ball joints came out . What really caught me out was how tight the locknuts were on the track rod ends . Luckily I have pretty hefty 24mm spanner.
After the ball joints are fitted the tracking is a mile out, probably be off the scale of many measuring devices. Fortunately my next door neighbour who is doing up an MGF bought a nice piece of kit that I have borrowed for a few weeks till I get all the suspension sorted. Set the tracking by eye and then wheeled out the laser. Managed to get it to 30 minutes total toe just by guesstimate before I tried to track it with the laser.

Went from about 25 degrees toe out to 10 minutes total toe .


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## 1781cc

I really need to get my arse outside and do these, I keep procrastinating and not getting my finger out, simple mod eh? Glad to hear it's easy tho

What are you aiming for geo wise?


----------



## desertstorm

Going for 2.5-3 degrees camber on the front with as much caster as I can get out of the camber plates. No toe on the front.
1.5 degrees of camber on the rear with 0.25 degrees of toe in.
Been out this evening and the car feels like it's got a lot more front end, definitely a step in the right direction.


----------



## TT Tom TT

desertstorm said:


> Going for 2.5-3 degrees camber on the front with as much caster as I can get out of the camber plates. No toe on the front.
> 1.5 degrees of camber on the rear with 0.25 degrees of toe in.
> Been out this evening and the car feels like it's got a lot more front end, definitely a step in the right direction.


Hi Max :lol:


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## desertstorm

I am never going to be as extreme as Max, If I was I would be running 850Lb springs on the front and 1300Kg springs on the rear. But it's common practice to run more camber on track cars than a road set up. And having any kind of meaningful toe with that much camber will probably result in a good amount of tyre wear.
As for the rear seems anywhere between 1 and 1.5 degrees of camber is good and a small amount of toe in to help stability.


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## desertstorm

Shorter rear springs turned up today. Should be able to get the car down as low as I want it now. The spring is very small  .
Rated at 850Lb/in and just 4 in high.










Hopefully get these fitted on the back this weekend and have a go at setting up the suspension with a few bits of string a spirit level and the digital angle gauge I bought.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-Beve ... 2480183659?

The roll cage is due to be delivered 15/12 so can start stripping some stuff out of the car to fit the seats harnesses and cage.

Upgraded the lighting in the garage as well to make it a little brighter in there. I can strongly recommend these LED Batten lights. They are IP65 rated so are wired in the ends to achieve that waterproof rating. Not a problem in the garage.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-twin-led ... -4ft/6481v


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## intott

Do you add your weight to the drivers seat when setting up suspension? I guess it would make a difference....


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## desertstorm

On such a stiffly sprung car the difference in ride height between me sitting in the car or not is pretty small. I weigh 80Kg which is 176Lbs. if all that weight was concentrated on top of one spring which are rated 550/lb/in that would result in the spring compressing around 8mm. As it's distributed around the car I would say there would be no more than a 3mm drop in the height of any corner which isn't going to make any appreciable change to the static suspension geometry.


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## NickG

desertstorm said:


> On such a stiffly sprung car the difference in ride height between me sitting in the car or not is pretty small. I weigh 80Kg which is 176Lbs. if all that weight was concentrated on top of one spring which are rated 550/lb/in that would result in the spring compressing around 8mm. As it's distributed around the car I would say there would be no more than a 3mm drop in the height of any corner which isn't going to make any appreciable change to the static suspension geometry.


No no no!!! If you are going to all the effort just stick somevweight on the seat mate!!!


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## desertstorm

Looking at the changes that occur to camber in the rear a 5mm drop at around 335mm ride height results in a camber change of around 0.16 degrees so a 3mm change would only be 0.1 degree camber and there won't be any change in toe or caster so 
it's not really worth going to the trouble. Plus what do I do with fuel levels. When a car is checked on a hunter set up they don't have people sitting in the car.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=466802
New rear springs fitted today and set ride height all round to 335mm. Took some time to do this, then set maximum caster on the front then front camber to 3 degrees . Tweaked the toe to get the front wheels parallel.
Measured the rear camber at 2.7 degrees which is what it should be according to the height/ camber chart so will set that to 1.5 degrees tomorrow and sort the rear toe.
Hopefully get it all checked on a Hunter set up soon to see how close my measurements are


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## NickG

It depends where you take it, but it surprises me the effort that you have put into your car so far, that you wouldn't just set it up as accurately as possible. Fuel should be even side to side, most align with half a tank so that you are never more then half a tank away from optimum!


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## NickG

On the same topic, kind of, when you do get it aligned, make sure you are hard on them... my friend managed to get this on his mini a few weeks back:










Perfection! 8)


----------



## desertstorm

The plan is to be able to set up and measure reasonably accurately the suspension settings so that I have confidence in my ability to do this. As I said before there seems little point in trying to get a perfect set up as it can change as soon as the weight changes in the car. The rear toe setting is probably the most difficult to get correct due to the way it's adjusted and the small angles involved.
I was looking at the front ARB the other day and it crossed my mind how difficult it looked to remove. Checked on Elsa Win and you have to drop the front subframe  . As it's difficult to get it back exactly to where it was I could end up spending another £50-£60 to get the car set up again every time I tweak something. Plus I am setting it up now as a baseline , I will probably be changing camber , toe settings in search of a better set up so be good if I can do that myself. It's only £10 for an alignment check at A-line in Dudley who I used a few years ago for my A4 after I changed all the suspension on that. They have a full Hunter set up.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> The plan is to be able to set up and measure reasonably accurately the suspension settings so that I have confidence in my ability to do this. As I said before there seems little point in trying to get a perfect set up as it can change as soon as the weight changes in the car. The rear toe setting is probably the most difficult to get correct due to the way it's adjusted and the small angles involved.
> I was looking at the front ARB the other day and it crossed my mind how difficult it looked to remove. Checked on Elsa Win and you have to drop the front subframe  . As it's difficult to get it back exactly to where it was I could end up spending another £50-£60 to get the car set up again every time I tweak something. Plus I am setting it up now as a baseline , I will probably be changing camber , toe settings in search of a better set up so be good if I can do that myself. It's only £10 for an alignment check at A-line in Dudley who I used a few years ago for my A4 after I changed all the suspension on that. They have a full Hunter set up.


So assuming your joining the front ARB delete crew, are you going to get it over and done with Now or revisit?

It's not too big of a job to drop the subframe enough to get the ARB out... and it is winter


----------



## desertstorm

I will just disconnect the drop links and see how it goes. If I like it then the angle grinder may be coming out and I will just remove it in pieces  .


----------



## desertstorm

Well the TT spit it's dummy out tonight and decided to make a mess on the drive. Fortunately only popped out down the road but when I came back walked around the front of the car and noticed an oil trail on the drive. Quick look under the car and there was a good pool of oil under there. Popped the bonnet only to be greeted with oil everywhere, on the underside of the bonnet, all over the front of the engine , and a nice puddle on the undertray.
Pushed it over some newspaper to catch the dripping oil and spent 10 minutes cleaning the drive.
Checked the oil level and fortunately it was only half way down the dip stick.
Next job get the undertray off and locate the leak. Nothing obvious till the engine is started then a steady flow of oil from one of the oil cooler hoses. A small split in the one hose, looks to be about 5mm long about 3-4 inches from the connections on the engine end. I cannot work out what's caused it.
The hose was supplied with the oil cooler and is Aeroquip FC598 spec. The only thing I can think is that the engine is moving a lot more than I thought and has strained the hose, and it would have to move several inches to do that. I replaced the dog bone mount with a powerflex yellow item so it doesn't move very much.
Other than that it's some kind of manufacturing issue . Ordered 3m of new hose so will make the pipes several inches longer just in case that is the issue.
Any body else had any similar problems like this. Good job it happened now and not on a track.


----------



## J4CKO

desertstorm said:


> Well the TT spit it's dummy out tonight and decided to make a mess on the drive. Fortunately only popped out down the road but when I came back walked around the front of the car and noticed an oil trail on the drive. Quick look under the car and there was a good pool of oil under there. Popped the bonnet only to be greeted with oil everywhere, on the underside of the bonnet, all over the front of the engine , and a nice puddle on the undertray.
> Pushed it over some newspaper to catch the dripping oil and spent 10 minutes cleaning the drive.
> Checked the oil level and fortunately it was only half way down the dip stick.
> Next job get the undertray off and locate the leak. Nothing obvious till the engine is started then a steady flow of oil from one of the oil cooler hoses. A small split in the one hose, looks to be about 5mm long about 3-4 inches from the connections on the engine end. I cannot work out what's caused it.
> The hose was supplied with the oil cooler and is Aeroquip FC598 spec. The only thing I can think is that the engine is moving a lot more than I thought and has strained the hose, and it would have to move several inches to do that. I replaced the dog bone mount with a powerflex yellow item so it doesn't move very much.
> Other than that it's some kind of manufacturing issue . Ordered 3m of new hose so will make the pipes several inches longer just in case that is the issue.
> Any body else had any similar problems like this. Good job it happened now and not on a track.


Annoying, messy but at least you know what it was and no other damage done.


----------



## 1781cc

I had a leak on mine when it first went on the car, it was the connector hose to cooler seal that worked its way lose, I was on track at Rockingham filling in for Nick G at the time, messed my day right up - I later had an alternator belt failure as well.

It seems an oil cooler related leak on a TT track car is a right of passage, welcome to the club


----------



## desertstorm

Cheers Lee, Hopefully this will be the last issue with this.
Took some photos on the car on the drive over the weekend looking a little less 4x4 now I have the springs sorted.










Bit of camber on the front wheels.










Karl.


----------



## NickG

1781cc said:


> I had a leak on mine when it first went on the car, it was the connector hose to cooler seal that worked its way lose, I was on track at Rockingham filling in for Nick G at the time, messed my day right up - I later had an alternator belt failure as well.
> 
> It seems an oil cooler related leak on a TT track car is a right of passage, welcome to the club


The cursed trackday!! :evil:


----------



## rocker tt.

Hi there desert storm, very impressive build thread, do you buy any chance have a link to the multiple boost gauge that your using I could certainly use one of those, thanking you in advance.


----------



## desertstorm

Hi,
I bought my gauge off Amazon, The supplier car lab had a shop on there. They don't seem to stock the gauge on Amazon now.
It is available from the manufacturer direct from Thailand. 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEPO-Racing-6 ... 1934348983


----------



## desertstorm

Bit of an update. Did some logging on injector duration a few weeks ago and monitored the fuel pump pressure under load.
Did a video of the Boost gauge with the pressure sensor switched to the fuel rail. Third gear acceleration run.
3500 rpm









4000 rpm









5000 rpm









6000 rpm









6500 rpm









The fuel pressure should track the boost and at 3500rpm seems to be keeping up about 0.15 bar low. As the rpm increases though and flow increases the pressure cannot keep up. At 4K it's about 0.2 bar low. 5K down to 0.4 bar low and at 6k still around 0.4 bar low. 6500rpm down by nearly 0.5 bar.
The injection duration is running around 95-97% from 5700 to 6500. Rick did say it was maxed out on the fuelling.










Checking the fuel trims -0.6% at idle and 4% partial so it's correcting the pressure drop I believe as the pressure drops being seen work out about 4-5% less fuel.

So purchased what appears to be the best option for pumps a DW65V from part box in the black Friday sale they had. Just under £200 delivered, which for what it is I think it's expensive. An external pump would be cheaper but means two pumps to run and more weight. Just need to wait till the tanks run down and I can change it out.
Hopefully will get me away from running the injectors maxed out. May even be worth a little more power.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to get the suspension set up properly today. Took it to A line in Dudley used them a few years ago to set up my A4 after I changed the suspension . 
http://www.alineyourcar.co.uk/
They have a Hunter set up and thats pretty much all they do so they are good with it.
They have loads of race and track cars there along with a lot of pretty expensive fast cars. 
They asked me what I wanted it set upto so told them front parallel toe, 3.5 degree camber, rear 24 minutes total toe, around 1.5 degree camber .
I also got them to check and give me the print outs for the chassis dimensions wheelbase and track so if I do some checks in the future with the string and tapes I might be able to do it a bit more accurately.

Here's the car on the lift in the workshop.










These are the dimensions recorded for the track and wheelbase. They were the same pre and post










The actual offsets recorded by the machine, Quite surprised there is only 1mm difference front to rear after removing and replacing almost everything suspension related on the car.

Pre alignment










Post alignment










And the pre and post setup sheet that you usually see. He said I had done quite a good job to get it as close to what I wanted and it wasn't a million miles off except the rear NSR camber which it seems I set well wrong. Think I ended up setting it at 2.5 degrees camber and not 1.5. But that was what I went there for.
He loaded all the values I asked for into a specific set up which has been saved on the machine. So if I go back there again and tell him the set up name they could load it in a few seconds.
When I checked it with strings I came to the conclusion rear to was 23 minutes toe in on NSR and 6 minutes OSR. with a total of 29 minutes total to in.
It was actually 19 and 9 for a total of 28 minutes toe. The amounts of movement are really small , 4 minutes of toe is around 0.5mm across the width of an 18 inch rim so you are never going to get it bang on and I bet if I drove the car off the ramps and round the block to measure it again things would have changed by a few minutes.










I actually got to give it a bit of a drive since disconnecting the front ARB and I am liking it. The car hardly rolls at all due to the spring stiffness. TBH I can hardly detect any more roll than when it was connected.
Despite the small changes on the setup it did seem to track noticeably straighter and by the time I got back home I had a big smile on my face. Compared to how it handled when I bought it the difference is more than night and day.
Just need to get some decent rubber on it, with the quite worn 225/40/18 infinity tyres the alloys came with I am sliding around on the seat hanging on around roundabouts so the bucket seats will come in handy when it's running 255/35 18 NS2R tyres.
Front caster is up on standard values with the use of the camber plates and the TT bottom ball joint along with the camber plates have front camber around 3.5 degrees each side.


----------



## Andywill

Impressive, I had no idea a car could be set so so accurately!


----------



## Van Well

Awesome work 8)

My favourite thread ATM :idea:


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## NickG

Very nice! I'm glad you have somewhere that are happy to do a proper alignment and spend time on it, not just get it 'within acceptable tolerance' like most places.

The ARB delete should make a nice difference in lower speed bends. Like tight roundabouts, have you had a chance to chuck it around something like that yet and notice any more grip/less understeer?


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## desertstorm

Yes it's a definite improvement, don't think you could remove the front ARB on a car with more normal front spring rates. The change in the car handling is similar to upgrading the rear ARB on a normal TT. The balance of grip has changed and the front end definitely turns in and grips more, the car just feels more agile and responsive.
Definitely more go kart like now 
One of the reasons I want to keep the car as road legal and drive it regularly is that you get used to how the car feels and handles on very familiar roads. That way I think I can gauge more accurately the effect of a change.


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## Takahashi

will keep my eyes out for this. I'm only in stafford, and usually on motorbikes as my tt has been off the road a year now!


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## desertstorm

Well the cage came this morning, well wrapped on a pallet. I was a bit peeved when I bought it at the cost of postage for the cage from GSM but it seems It's standard as it is quite a bulky thing I suppose.










The feet pack seem to fit reasonably well to the profiles of the sill.










I have noticed all over the car that there are a lot of nuts and bolts marked with yellow pen. Is this normal.










Seats and carpet removed, couldn't get over the weight of the carpet, I am not surprised why these cars are so lardy. The steel bracket for the foot rest by the clutch could support the weight of the car  .










Car has had some broken glass at some time, maybe had the side window put through as I found glass by the CD changer as well.










Quite impressed with the quality of the cage welding and finish.



















Spent some time trying to work out how to mount the base and runners to the seats. Got there eventually. Only the driver gets an adjustable seat the passenger gets to sit as far back as possible.



















And the cage in the car just sitting on the feet. Fits in fairly easily through the passenger door.










The fire extinguisher I ordered came today as well. Will be on standby whilst I am welding just in case. Then fitted in the car, I know it's extra weight and if it was a diesel probably be OK , But I have seen a few under bonnet fires on the 1.8T engine.










Karl.


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## desertstorm

Should be out the garage sorting this cage out but I have come down with the flu so unfortunately playing with the car is on hold for a while. Typical as I finish work tomorrow and was looking to get this all in over the XMAS break.
some numbers as regards the weight of the cage if anybodys interested it comes in at around 23Kg with the feet pack.
The front seats are right hefty things around 24Kg each The replacement seats with the seat base and the slider on the drivers seat comes in at just under 17Kg.

Some more parts came yesterday, bought a baffled sump in the black Friday sale and I suppose as it's a hand made item they don't keep them on the shelf as it's taken several weeks to come.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Should be out the garage sorting this cage out but I have come down with the flu so unfortunately playing with the car is on hold for a while. Typical as I finish work tomorrow and was looking to get this all in over the XMAS break.
> some numbers as regards the weight of the cage if anybodys interested it comes in at around 23Kg with the feet pack.
> The front seats are right hefty things around 24Kg each The replacement seats with the seat base and the slider on the drivers seat comes in at just under 17Kg.
> 
> Some more parts came yesterday, bought a baffled sump in the black Friday sale and I suppose as it's a hand made item they don't keep them on the shelf as it's taken several weeks to come.


There's a nasty one going around, lets hope it's not deadly Man Flu!!

Interesting to know the cage weight, i guess with the front it would be around 50kg! The standard seats are damn heavy, i hope you aren't too tall as you might struggle for head room with a helmet on, with the sliders in place, i'm 6'3" and struggled when i had a seat with sliders.

The sump is interesting, i'd say they do them in batches as they turned a replacement around for me in a couple of days. Good choice anyway, they leak test them all now so you know you have got a decent product. 8)


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## NickG

Oh and yes, there are loads of yellow markings on my car too, some around the dash tube as well iirc! No idea what they would have needed them for mind you!


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## desertstorm

Hi Nick, fortunately I am only 5' 9'' so plenty of height to the roof. Although getting in and out is a bit more tricky, especially when it's parked in the garage and you can't fully open the door.


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## 1781cc

Dukes of hazard style I think!

The cage looks like a good bit of kit, in this instance your height and the cage are a good match, I'm just shy of 6' 4" and 108kg so could only ever get a half cage or a different car

That sump is a good buy, you'll never know it's there but it's money well spent


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## desertstorm

I am a real lightweight in comparison only around 78Kg so that's nearly 30Kg lighter. 
The postman must be getting a bit sick of me as another parcel arrived late this afternoon.
With the car having a BOSE system in and me not having the code for the radio and removing all the amps , wiring speakers etc I still wanted some music in the car.
Had a search around on my favorite performance parts website EBAY.CO.UK and found this.










https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-MEX-N60 ... 1439455758?

Just £80 for a refurbished all singing all dancing Radio / CD / DAB /Bluetooth setup. Comes with a DAB aerial as well which is worth £15. So I can use it to make and receive calls in the car, play stuff from the phone etc.

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/supp ... ex-n6002bd

The button color and display color are customiseable to any color you like to match the car.
If the car ends up going to the ring maybe next year some time then will deffo need some tunes  .


----------



## 1781cc

Creature comforts in a track car? What is this sorcery?

You've added about 1.5kg and added 0.005second of laptime, shame on you! Lol


----------



## Baldydaz

Glad to hear the cage is looking good. Mine is due to arrive mid January.


----------



## GARAGE HERMIT

NickG said:


> Oh and yes, there are loads of yellow markings on my car too, some around the dash tube as well iirc! No idea what they would have needed them for mind you!


think they are just check paint dab's, to say that particular bolt/nut has been tightened & checked,


----------



## desertstorm

Haven't posted anything for a while. Been busy welding the roll cage plates in and removing some of the weight.
Considering most of the car is held together with a few spot welds I don't think the cage plates I welded in are going to go anywhere fast. The plate on the drivers side by the B pillar is very close to the fuel filter and fuel lines . The underseal under there caught fire, good job I was keeping an eye on it. With some paint over the welds they will look reasonable. I looked at a lot of cars at Autosport International and think my welding rates about average.



















Looking around at ideas for easier removal of the sound proofing I managed to get a pub size CO2 cylinder for £15 and it was less than 2 miles up the road . Bargain .
Made my own dry ice by fitting a pipe to the cylinder and then inverting it so I got liquid CO2 out into my old helmet bag.
Make sure you wear gloves if doing this and goggles just in case.Although this worked really well it was taking a long time to make the dry ice and then waiting for it to cool . Then chipping it off with a small chisel and Mallet.



















I decided to see what it was like just using the chisel and mallet without the CO2 and was quite surprised how eay it came up. I suspect that the fact that it's only a few degrees certainly helps. I used white spirit to get rid of the remaining tar spots and that seems to work well.

Currently removed all the sound damping from the floor in the front and under the seat. Sill have the gearbox tunnel to do, that seems tricky compared to the floor stuff as it's not as thick.

I have been using the angle grinder to remove all the surplus studs and bought some spot weld cutters so I can remove some of the excess brackets and stuff.










Fitted the seatbelt fixings this afternoon. I have 6 point belts so need 2 mounts under the seat and needed another for the lap belt by the tunnel. Bent the plates I bought to fit the tunnel shape and secured them with a rivet.




























Taking the sound deadening in the boot next and will probably end up using a hot air paint stripper to do the tunnel and remove the black strips of sound deadening.Along with removing more brackets and stuff.
Then need to sort the wiring out. Decided to strip all the airbag wiring out and remove that, also have a few other ideas on possibly relocating the CCM. I would like to keep the locking functionality.


----------



## desertstorm

The weight reduction continues. Removed all the sound deadening I can find on the panels including the stuff behind the rear lights. Haven't tackled the inside of the door panels yet, leaving that for another day.
Started to strip out the spare wiring, Bose sound system , Airbag system,Heated seats, CCM is being relocated. Taking out the AC unit to remove the evaporator and whilst I have it all apart am taking the opportunity to trim off bits here and there that aren't needed.
I just hope I can remember how it all goes back together, :lol:


----------



## Jools TT

desertstorm said:


> The weight reduction continues. Removed all the sound deadening I can find on the panels including the stuff behind the rear lights. Haven't tackled the inside of the door panels yet, leaving that for another day.
> Started to strip out the spare wiring, Bose sound system , Airbag system,Heated seats, CCM is being relocated. Taking out the AC unit to remove the evaporator and whilst I have it all apart am taking the opportunity to trim off bits here and there that aren't needed.
> I just hope I can remember how it all goes back together, :lol:
> 
> View attachment 1


Great thread this one , enjoyed reading it . I know what you mean by remembering how to put it all back again , was looking at my engine bay last night thinking the same thing :wink:


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## NickG

desertstorm said:


> The weight reduction continues. Removed all the sound deadening I can find on the panels including the stuff behind the rear lights. Haven't tackled the inside of the door panels yet, leaving that for another day.
> Started to strip out the spare wiring, Bose sound system , Airbag system,Heated seats, CCM is being relocated. Taking out the AC unit to remove the evaporator and whilst I have it all apart am taking the opportunity to trim off bits here and there that aren't needed.
> I just hope I can remember how it all goes back together, :lol:
> 
> View attachment 1


Uh oh.... dash tube out! I can feel your pain already putting that back in! :lol:

The pic in the boot has reminded me of a few bits i need to spot weld cut out too


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## desertstorm

Surprisingly I found the dash tube reasonably easy to get back in, thought it was going to be a real nightmare.
Took the AC unit out of the car to remove the evaporator.









Not that difficult to get the AC out after I removed the bar which of course meant I had to take out the wiper mechanism.
Found the connector on the recirc flap on the AC was disconnected, seemed strange as they are a pain to pull out , only when I put it all back together and turned the ignition on I found why it was pulled out. Very loud clanking noise, so the actuator is duff. But it explains why the car tends to steam up as the recirc flap was shut all the time.
Got the flap open and just disconnected the actuator. So hopefully the car will be less likely to steam up now. Result.
Whilst the bar was out i removed the air bag brackets and trimmed a few of the others.
Whilst the bar was out it made sense to prune all the wiring out of the car that I didn't want at this time.
Looking at the Central locking module it didn't makes sense to me to mount it at the back. Nearly all the wires bar 4 or 5 run forward and contribute to the really thick harness on the passenger door side.










So I have moved the module to the front of the car it will be mounted under the glove box.
Along with the headlight height adjuster module. This has really reduced the amount of wiring in that bundle.
Rewrapped in some of the cloth tape used for harnesses.










Removed the complete air bag wiring along with the module crash sensors etc etc. Only 1 wire left and that was the wire that goes to the dash module. If you put this to ground than the airbag light doesn't light at all.
Also stripped all the BOSE wiring out except what I need to put my new radio in. Installed the DAB aerial and stripped out the old aerial from the rear window along with the amplifier etc.
Stripped out the heated seat harness as well.
I now have 4Kg of spaghetti if I need any wire  .


----------



## desertstorm

Attacked the dash the other day to see what I could trim off that. As I have a boost gauge in the drivers side vent I figured that it didn't need any air and the passenger didn't need any either on the outside vent. So removed the cross pipe that feeds air to the outer vents and won't be putting the passenger side vent back in. Trimmed some of the excess plastic off around the passenger side airbag. My angle grinder has never seem so much action  .


















Removed the last of the Brackets under the rear seat, Lots of spot welds and a few longer welds. 1.5Kg with the bolts for the large bracket. With a few other small bits.










Battery arrived with the carrier. I was mulling over a PC680 or PC625. Either would do the job fine, many people use a PC680. Strangely the PC625 is only 6Kg and about 10% more capacity and rated output than the 7Kg PC680 .
The cage for a PC680 was slightly more expensive than a PC625 so that offset the price difference a little with the PC625 working out around £15 more than a PC680.










And where I intend to put the battery.










When I was hacking brackets and stuff I converted the one bracket on the handbrake to mount the central locking switch.



















The only real amount of rust I have found on the chassis. Quite amazing for a 16 year old car.










I knew that smooth silver hammerite would be a good match for the paint as I used to use it on my Passat which was pretty much the same color. So have painted all the areas where I have removed sound deadening and where the brackets/ screws etc have been removed.










Need to start screwing it back together now. Will have to adjust the rear ride height as it's come up about 10mm, good job I have those silly short rear springs.


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## JorgeTTCQ

I have really enjoyed reading all your thread, great work, congratulations.

Cheers


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## NickG

Nice work on the CCM Relocation! And loads more brackets removed... Was the silver hammerite brushed on or sprayed? Looks brilliant so i might copy you there!


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## desertstorm

Cheers Nick and Jorge, the silver hammerite was brushed on. it is a little matt compared with the normal paint but the color is a pretty good match. Just make sure you stir it really well before you use it.
Make sure you get smooth one and not the normal hammered finish.
I am a little miffed I forgot to remove the bracket that the airbag module sits on whilst I had the aircon unit out but I will get that in the future.
This is what I used for taking out the spot welds.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Wurt ... 2173651960?


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## NickG

Oh cool! I have some POR15 in silver that will probably do the same job then!

I've seen them, but don't trust myself to not go right through!! I've been using a cutter version with a spring loaded depth setting pin, however it's not brilliant, takes ages!!


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## desertstorm

I managed to drill right through once, however that was one of the first holes I drilled out. Not a problem really it's a little less weight on the car.With a bit of experience they work well.
The large bracket in the centre under the rear seats was the most difficult to get out, took about 20 minutes of drilling and grinding. It's nearly 1.5Kg though.
Por15 is great stuff, a little expensive but probably the best paint for things like brake disc centres and stuff you really don't want to rust.


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## NickG

Yeah i ordered 500ml, i think it was £20, to paint both of my trailing arms after cleaning them up. I think i've used about 50-100ml to do that... a little goes a long way.

Good call on the brake discs, i might clean my rears up and do that, they're brand new but look shabby because of surface rust on the bells!


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## hoody

Love the weighing ! have you totted up how much you've saved so far ?


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## chisharpe

great work. my only question is how do you counter removing all this weight and balance the car?


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## NickG

chisharpe said:


> great work. my only question is how do you counter removing all this weight and balance the car?


In short, corner weighting.


----------



## desertstorm

I haven't weighed every thing that's come off the car just some stuff. I really don't know how much weight I have taken off and I don't know how much the car weighed before I started.I have left some stuff on the car that others would have taken out such as a radio and some speakers in the front doors, The roof lining is still in as are the A pillar trims at the moment.
Removal of all the soft surfaces means you are sitting in a tin can . And it's likely to be quite a bit noisier.
Most of the weight removal is from the rear and I have pretty much taken as much from the left side as the right so the main change in bias is the F-R weight distribution. 
Some of the best handling track day cars are things like the Renault Clio and they are something like 65-35 F-R and with the rear diff and haldex the TT isn't going to be that bad.From what I have seen where people have weighed the cars on corner scales the balance is quite good from the factory in cross weights and side to side balance.
When I have finished removing all the weight I want to I will get it checked to see what it looks like, but the main thing then will be setting up the dampers, ride height and tyre pressures and learning to drive it.


----------



## desertstorm

More work the weekend. Fitted most of the stuff back in the car that's going in. Including the radio.
Relocated the CCM to the back of the glovebox, I have removed anything off the glovebox that didn't need to be there, that includes the useless shelf bit at the bottom of the glovebox.










Fitted the roll cage back in the car, the seats and the harnesses. Added some padding around the roll cage where it could come into contact with the driver / passenger. Which is the head area and the bracket that would normally connect to the front section of the roll cage is fully covered with a very good thickness of padding.




























Installed the shift light controller where the ash tray used to be . Fits well and seems to work well. I connected the sense wire to the ECU on one of the trigger wires that goes to the coils on the engine.










set the device up for a 4 cylinder engine and for some reason it was only recording the RPM at 1/4 of what the engine was doing. Fortunately the unit can be set from a 1 to 16 cylinder engine and works upto 40K RPM so covers pretty much any engine. Changing it to 1 cylinder it works perfect.
The only thing I can think is possibly having the sense wire so close to the other wires in the ECU it's picking up the pulses for the other coils, or all the coils are fired at the same time. That wouldn't make sense though.










Haven't decided where to put the actual shift lights, waiting on the new steering wheel as it's smaller than the existing one.


----------



## desertstorm

New steering wheel arrived today. I was undecided on Suede or leather, read so many posts from people saying suede was nice but unless you paid a lot for a decent wheel it doesn't last, especially if you don't wear gloves.
And it's one thing I don't do when driving is wear gloves, so decided to go leather.
Didn't want to buy some cheap make steering wheel and find it flexed a lot or the finish wasn't very good so having searched on my favourite site found this for £80 delivered. 
Brand new genuine OMP wheel, Possibly not everyones taste but I am quite impressed with the quality and feel of it. Bit easier to get into the car as well with the flat bottom as the sides of the seats are so much higher than the OE seats.










The steering wheel with attached boss comes in at 1Kg lighter than the OE wheel with the airbag.
The actual wheel is pretty light, the boss kit I bought is pretty heavy, But that's not a bad thing when it comes to things like steering wheels.



















Fitted in the car, I need to find a permanent place for the shift lights now. Where I was going to put them at the top of the cluster over that small grille is now directly behind the rim .










Also had a play with the radio I bought. Very impressed with it,DAB + , Bluetooth streaming audio, Handsfree phone, voice dialling etc etc. You can set the display and buttons any color so being boring I just set them both as red.
Checked the standby current that the actual radio takes as I am moving to the smaller battery. A massive 1.5mA , I knew it wasn't going to be much.


----------



## desertstorm

Had a reasonable day today and got a few jobs done.
Started off by installing the battery, weighed the new one and the old one just to get an idea of what was being saved.
New battery, with the cage it was 6.5Kg.










Old battery with the battery carrier screws and battery box.










With the cable to run the new battery in it was around 7Kg so saving around 9Kg ,but the main thing that 9Kg is not stuck right at the front of the car high in the air. I used just under 3m of 25mm2 multi strand battery cable.
Fairly easy to get the cable into the car after the glove box was removed feeding the cable from the engine compartment into the car. The cable appears just at the back of the heater unit and drops into the footwell.










There was a little too much movement of the battery in the cage so I cut down some of the grey foam that used to be in the car just by where the battery is now mounted. This stops the battery rattling around in the cage too much.










In the engine bay I cut down the top part of the battery that holds the fuses to make it a more manageable size and found it fitted quite well against the side of the headlight. So mounted it there, keeps the fuses out of anywhere that may be wet
and you can still easily get the flap open to check them.
Cut the battery terminal lug off the positive battery lead as no longer needed and connected the positive feed to the bolt on the battery lug which supplies the feed to the car.










Debating whether to insulate this point or leave it open as it is. It's not really able to move anywhere and is a good distance from any bodywork. Comes in handy if I needed to jump start the car.
I recycled the old earth lead as it had a nice big flat tag on it and drilled that so that one of the bolts for the roll cage could be used as an earth point.
Also knocked up a bit of a plastic cover over the positive terminal just in case anything should find it's way onto the top of the battery.










Did a few tests whilst I was connecting the battery to see what the standby current was for the car. I know the radio takes just 1.5mA but I was interested to see what the car took when locked with the alarm on.
Just over 20mA , I decided to disconnect the microwave sensor for the alarm to see if that made much difference. That was about 1-2 mA so not a lot, so connected it back up.
Anyway connected the battery up and fired the car up. Started just like it was on the original battery no problem.


----------



## desertstorm

As I had plenty of time left after fitting the battery decided to tackle a few other jobs.
The relay box that houses the Motronic relay is wasted really. Takes up space when the relay could easily be moved into the trunking.










I removed the strut bar to get better access to the box, just remove the top and pull the box off the bracket after flicking the catch at the top of the bracket.
Undo the 2 clips that hold the relay base into the plate that mounts in the box. Cut the large rubber seal off and the relay fits neatly next to the large connector in the trunking.










I looked at the wiring diagram and that connector is a strange thing as it appears to be there only because of a change in the thickness of wire at that point. It would also be a good place to disable a car if you wanted to as if you pull the connector apart the ECU gets no power.
Anyway it looked a little to heavy and large to me and as I had the soldering iron out doing another job I cut it out and joined the cables. There goes another 35g  .

I was holding the box in my hand just about to consign it to the recycling when I remembered reading about somebody who had moved the dump valve solenoid off the top of the engine into that box.
So as it really gets in the way in the stock location and I want to keep it, decided to see if I could move it.
Started off with this,










Found the vacuum reservoir fitted well attached to the bottom of the bracket , and the box could still be fitted.










Jiggled the pipes and connections around a bit to get them pointing in the right direction and the complete solenoid and valves fitted in the box well.










Extended the wiring for the solenoid and also added a piece of silicon vacuum line to take the vacuum to the solenoid and even managed to keep the OE pipes that connect to the vacuum reservoir and the dump valve.










Now ended up with this, a lot tidier and probably better airflow to the turbo on the back as well as getting rid of that silly bracket on the top of the rocker cover.










And because I still has a bit of time left I repurposed part of the battery surround I took off earlier and used it to make a shield where the battery used to be blocking hot air getting to the air intake.


----------



## Jools TT

Steering wheel looks very nice , I'm in the same situation as to getting leather or suede .
Did you get the boss from omp too ?


----------



## desertstorm

The boss is off Fleabay. Has no manufacturers name on so I suspect it's a copy from China. Mind you the wheel is made in China and that's genuine OMP.
The Item I bought 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STEERING-WHE ... 1994441823?

Which appears to be a copy of a Momo item

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-Momo ... 2118722259?

The hub has 2 sets of holes in the face for the 2 PCD's of steering wheel available so it's universal. 
If you search on Ebay for 8017 steering boss on Ebay that part number seems to bring up a lot of compatible parts.
The steering wheel is an OMP Cromo.


----------



## Jools TT

Did the boss come with the horn ring and airbag resistor ?


----------



## desertstorm

The boss came with a ring that appears to be used to provide a ground to the wheel, I don't need this though as the horn button is a switch and just connects to the two wires that come from the slip ring. It came with what looks like a low value fuse. Looking at the airbag resistors they seem to be around 2 ohms which is pretty much a short circuit.
It does look very similar to this.
http://www.momo-uk.co.uk/MOMO-air-bag-resistor-racing


----------



## Jools TT

desertstorm said:


> The boss came with a ring that appears to be used to provide a ground to the wheel, I don't need this though as the horn button is a switch and just connects to the two wires that come from the slip ring. It came with what looks like a low value fuse. Looking at the airbag resistors they seem to be around 2 ohms which is pretty much a short circuit.
> It does look very similar to this.
> http://www.momo-uk.co.uk/MOMO-air-bag-resistor-racing


 many thanks for the info


----------



## Kang

I've just read your whole build. Excellent work and great to read one that doesn't end with "I crashed the car and it's written off!" Or "I've sold the car." Looking forward to hearing how you get on when you finally hit the track.


----------



## desertstorm

Thanks for that Kang.
After moving the battery the other weekend this has left a nice big hole where it used to be. So decided to fill it with boost pipe.
The standard intercooler pipe has to wind it's way past the battery and is not the best run of pipe with restrictions and 90 degrees bends. As the battery is no longer in place I can remove straight line the pipe. Also decided to add the facility for a cold side dump pipe.
Looked on Fleabay for a pipe I could use to mount the MAP sensor and a pipe to use for the cold side dump.would have cost around £35-£40 for the pair. As I had a section of steel boost pipe the right size, cut from the end of the intercooler front cross pipe I decided to make my own MAP sensor pipe.
Recycled one of the original boost hoses along with some 63mm straight boost pipe I already had and ordered some 25mm silicone pipe from Fleabay for the boost dump.
The source of the steel boost pipe, I don't throw things away.










A closer look at the plastic pipe that house the MAP sensor and has to find it's way around the battery housing.



















The original pipe run and my new pipe .










New pipe installed, I haven't yet received the 25mm silicone for the boost dump so need to fit that. Just blocked off the 25mm pipe for the moment.










Shouldn't be a problem with movement of the engine as the lengthy of pipe is quite long and there is potential for a lot of movement at both ends of the pipe run. Probably not make much difference but it all helps. Got rid of two 90 degree bends and the plastic MAP pipe that is all over the place.


----------



## desertstorm

Got my baffled sump on today. Fairly straightforward job and it fitted like a dream, slightly concerned as the Forge sump is an aftermarket item but all the holes were where they needed to be and it appears not to be leaking.
The sump plug that came with the forge sump is not being used. It only half as long as the OE item. Audi have done a good job of putting a lot of thread in the sump plug hole so you shouldn't ever have an issue , but using a sump plug only half the length is a waste.
I bought a new seal for the oil sender but I suspect It would have been OK to use the original one,Definitely needed a new seal for the oil return from the turbo.










Also finished off my mod for the headlamp levelling sensors. When I fitted the rear suspension arms the plastic arm on the rear sensor broke at the end, seems like a common issue.
As a temporary measure I removed the link and applied silicon to the arm to hold it in approximately the correct place.
Whilst pondering what to do about this and considering that the front sensor gets in the way of my brake cooling pipes I decided a bit of radical modification was required.
So I have removed the rear sensor, stripped all the wiring out back to the headlight control module ( which is now located under the glovebox and removed the bracket on the rear subframe.
The sender is wired to the module and since doing that I discovered that the rear sender was actually faulty. Checking on VCDS in the measuring blocks you can see the signal returned from the sensor. It should vary from about 0.6v to 4.5v as you rotate the arm. My rear sender is stuck at 4.2v regardless of it's position.
So I removed the front sensor and most of the wiring and the mounting bracket and linkage. 
I have wired the front sensor up to headlight range module, cut down the arm to just a circle and mounted it in the glovebox where the air bag switch used to be.



















The headlight adjustment is performed when the ignition is turned on. The module checks the sensors and adjusts the levelling if it requires to be done. Thus I have found that by turning the sensor in the glovebox and cycling the ignition I can
alter the headlight level, not by a huge amount but it is adjustable. It's no worse than what is was before as the rear sender wasn't even working correctly.
I did find that when you disconnect a sensor and turn the ignition on the headlight will drive all the way to the bottom meaning you will have about 10Ft lit up in front of you.


----------



## desertstorm

New tyres I was going to put on the 18 inch wheels as my preferred track day tyre are on hold due to an Ebay cock up. They may or may not get sorted so I could be back searching again.
In the mean time put the TT comps I bought on the car, Think the gunmetal finish looks quite good against the silver. These wheels were going to be the wet set . These TT comps are 3Kg a wheel lighter than the standard 6 spoke 17's.










The 25mm silicon hose and some clips arrived today along with a plug for the existing outlet for the dump valve.
I recycled the existing hose on the dump valve and used a 25mm alloy connector to get a better fit for the hose between the cold side and the Forge 007. Pretty much all the jubilee clips are now JCS HI grip clips which are the best jubilee clips I have come across.



















Took the car for a drive, Didn't really expect to notice much difference, Not any louder when it dumps boost but it feels like the turbo is spooling quicker when I accelerate. I need to do some logging on this back to back . It only takes a matter of a minute to swap between the OE connection and the way it is now.
Will have to have a look at the logger and see what to log. The Forge 007 is a lot cooler, it would pretty much be one of the hottest things under the bonnet after the exhaust . If that's the only advantage I have only spent about £20 doing this mod so not an issue.

Lastly added some weight back in the car, Mounted the fire extinguisher behind the drivers seat. Hopefully it will never be used but it's always there just in case.


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## NickG

desertstorm said:


> I did find that when you disconnect a sensor and turn the ignition on the headlight will drive all the way to the bottom meaning you will have about 10Ft lit up in front of you.


That's good to know, 10ft in front will be plenty for the track... time to delete those silly little arms!!


----------



## desertstorm

Changed the rear pads today to some red stuff items, I was going to upgrade the rear brakes to some larger items but with the reduction in weight at the rear end combined with the reduction in overall mass i feel that the rear brakes are probably going to be fine. To give them just a bit of help I have changed the pads to red stuff and removed the rear brake dust shields.
The dust shields were pretty rotten anyway and that gets rid of another 0.5Kg and it's unsprung weight too.










I have been trying to decide on a tyre selection for the track for a while now. Initially was going to be 255/35/18 NS2R , They would fit on the 8.5 x18's fine but I am pretty sure I would have to do do something to fit the outside edge of the tyre inside the arch. They would also be very close to the strut as the Gaz Gold strut is a lot thicker than the OE one which has a flat on it.
Going to a 245 would give up a small amount of grip but make fitment easier, slightly lighter smaller tyres but they don't do an NS2R in that size damm.
They do a Federal RSR 595 which I have used before and they are OK but would I want to run around on a wet track with those on, I was trying to avoid having 2 sets of tyres.
Looking at tyres on high performance cars the Michelin Pilot Supersport looked good. The 245/35/18 is fitted as standard to a lot of M cars and other high performance cars. The TT is a lot lighter now than these and doesn't run as much power as an M240i which uses these on the rear.
Looking at reviews people seemed to get good on track performance with them.
Came across an auction on Ebay from the BMW store for brand new 2 X 245/35/18 92Y MPSS for £147 delivered, less than £75 a tyre. Bargain I thought. Ordered 2 lots , so 4 tyres in total for just under £300 . Later decided that I would buy another pair as at this price I could sell them on if I didn't use them and still make some money.
They arrived on Monday , All 3 of them :evil: :evil:










After looking on Fleabay the original ad had been changed to 1 x 245/35/18 .
After several E-mail exchanges with the BMW store they are going to honor the original ad, seems it was human error , which is what it usually is 95% of the time when this sort of thing happens. So another 3 tyres should be winging there way to me.
These tyres are close to the best road tyre you can get and in tests I have seen aren't that far off the ultimate pace of an NS2R. I can't believe how hard the sidewalls/ bead are on these , I bet the tyre fitters are going to be cursing me.
As new they only come with just over 6mm of tread in the outer groves and 7mm on the inner grooves so another nod to performance and handling. And at 10.1Kg they are light for this size of tyre, a 245/35/18 RSR weighs in at 11.8Kg when new.



















Hopefully get them fitted next week , 1 more thing ticked off the list.


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## desertstorm

Had a look through the Nefmoto forum to see if it's possible to log the N249 valve output to see when it's open and how long it's open for. You can't do it with VCDS but you can do it with ME7.5 logger.
The variable you log is B_ldsua, this shows as 0 when the valve is closed and 1 when it's open.
I was interested in seeing if the valve opened at part throttle as I have read a few descriptions of it's activity whereby the valve opens under cruise conditions to let air into the engine bypassing the turbo when the pressure in the manifold is less than atmospheric.
At the same time I found a very interesting document that describes the operation of the N249 using extracts from the functional diagrams.
View attachment DV FUNCTION- N249.pdf


I did a lot of driving around at slow part throttle speeds and found the N249 never opens, Indeed it states in the previous PDF that this functionality is available but will never work as the MAP sensor never sees a vacuum and the functionality is effectively disabled.
So onto what happens when your accelerating and you lift to change gear.
Here is some mapping I did of a 3rd gear into 4th gear run, I logged the variables at 20 times a second so there's lots of data.Done on a private road.
Air temp was around 4 degrees so I think the intercooler is showing that it's working well. This was also a run to get some data before I change the fuel pump over, also interested to see if the change on the intercooler piping has made any difference.
Change up at around 40.65 seconds into 4th and keep going. You can see the N249 actuates as soon as you lift and the MAF readings quickly fall to 0 as all the pressurised air fills the TIP, There is reverse flow through the MAF which is the woosh you hear. At 40.9 seconds the MAF is showing zero and fuelling is cut back as still off the throttle.
Back on the gas at 41 seconds and the valve immediately closes but it takes another 0.4 seconds for boost and fuelling to pick back up. 
Then the real funny thing happens, I have felt this occasionally before and was never quite sure what it was but now know.
At 44.45 seconds I lifted fractionally and the pedal reading dropped to 95%, the dump valve opened immediately and stopped open regardless of the fact that I still had my foot planted. 
You can see the boost drops off , the fuelling goes rich and the MAF readings drop as well.
It felt like I was suddenly driving up a steep hill the lack of acceleration was very noticeable.
Looking at the description of how the N249 works in the other PDF it's doing what it's supposed to do.

"If delta boost error * PIDLDSUA + current boost error is greater than ( > ) output of KFSDLDSUA then condition = true
(current[actual boost - requested boost] - previous[actual boost - request boost]) * 3 + current[actual boost - requested boost] > 200hPa
Even if you keep actual boost constant, a decreasing request boost (letting o gas) with cause this condition to be true."

At high revs, this was over 6000 rpm the requested boost is falling and boost levels continue to drop as RPM increases.
So am going to try disconnecting the N249 and do some logging, I would like to see what kind of pressures occur in the system and if gear changes are possibly quicker with faster recovery.

View attachment 22-02-18 drive around accel runs to log n249 activity edit.pdf


Karl.


----------



## chisharpe

I'm gonna say I'm disappointed with this post Karl as you have given more questions than answers :lol:


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## desertstorm

Sorry, a bit more logging and doing some back to back tests with and without N249 I will be deciding whether to keep it or not.


----------



## Gtturbo

Have you corrected the maf vs throttle map or is it still stock in the file?

If you correct this the car might run better during gear change as ecu knows roughly how much air is actually present as stock settings are way too low after a certain rpm

Pretty easy to setup, make a pull, adjust table to make maf vs throttle line the same as your real maf line.


----------



## desertstorm

Thanks for that, I haven't really looked at the map TBH, Rick remapped it for me and I haven't really had a need to look into it. I have a freebie version of Winols with the checksum corrector modules so could have a look with that. I have an MPPS lead I used to use mapping EDC15 diesels.
I can download and upload with the NEFmoto tools as well using my cheap VCDS lead. The map that is on there is not your modified stock map it has the facility to swap between multiple maps and has launch control etc on, although only one map is currently on the car.
I think I will spend looking into this. There seems to be a program called Tuner Pro that looks a little easier to use than Winols will have a look into this as well.


----------



## desertstorm

In other news after seeing a post the other day on short shifters I decided to buy one as it's something that should really help on the car.Just search on Fleabay for Audi 6 speed short shifter, around £30 and give upto 40% reduction in shift length.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-TT-Mk1- ... 2845417583?

Compared to the other offerings the casting is not the best quality.










But it's not going to brake and it fitted well. My car has the older type socket and ball linkage ends so to get the cable end off the arm required the use of a thin 17mm open end spanner under the head of the end of the linkage to prise it off the ball.
Had to use a small puller to get the old one off the shaft but it wasn't too stuck.

Set the pin on the new short shifter to give a 33% reduction in throw. Found this video which is the actual part I bought off Fleabay.
























It works well and definitely feels like it achieves the desired result.


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## desertstorm

The rest of the tyres arrived today from Ebay. Good job the wife doesn't read through this. She may object to piles of tyres in the kitchen, but they are new. 
£442 delivered for 6 new Michelin Pilot Supersport 245/35/18 XL tyres is a reasonable price.










Loaded up the 18 inch wheels off the TT and 4 of the tyres in my car to get them fitted. I am always glad I drive around in an estate car when these kind of things come up. No chance of getting a spare set of wheels in the back of the TT now with the scaffolding in there. It's even less practical than it was before.










If I took out the passenger seat I could possibly get a wheel or two between the seats and the roll cage. But you can only get two wheels in the boot.


----------



## NickG

I'm pretty sure 1781cc manages to get a full set in with the same cage! Maybe worth a message to him


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## desertstorm

I am not too bothered TBH about getting 4 wheels and tyres in the car, I think I would have to take the one seat out to get some in between the seats and the cage. These tyres won't have the ultimate pace of something like an NS2R but I don't think there will be that much in it. 
With the weather as it is at the moment can't even put the new wheels and tyres on the car to check if the fronts are OK.
Hopefully they will fit OK and I won't need to look into wheel arch flaring.
Fixed the alarm siren on the car today.
Whilst I had all the interior apart and the wiring in pieces I had the siren disconnected for quite a while. I decided to connect it back up, as without the metal bracket it only weighs just under 200g, Think I can spare that.
It didn't work :evil: .
Took it apart and found the internal batteries were well past there best. And the one battery connection was pretty corroded.










This seems very common and the fix is quite well documented. So got on the Bay and ordered some batteries to replace the existing ones.










After soldering them together and wrapping with some tape and wiring to the connections.










Put it back in the car and tried it. It didn't work but I could hear a very very quiet noise coming from it when it should be working. It sounded like the siren sound but you could barely hear it.
After some investigation I discovered the output transformer for the piezeo siren was open circuit on the secondary windings. Removing the Transformer and looking closely with a high power magnifying glass you could see the wire had rotted due to the corrosive stuff put out by the batteries leaking.
Not to be beaten back on the bay and found a transformer for a reasonable price that would do the job. Whilst googling the transformer part number EPCOS PRC MN F005 V1 0109 I found a thread on here where somebody had a similar issue and was looking for a transformer. These high power piezo sounders typically need 150-200v to work correctly.
I used an Eagle LT700 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eagle-LT700- ... 2309705836?

Not being sure of the winding ratio on the original transformer I just tried initially using half of the secondary winding on the LT700 as it's a centre tapped secondary. If it wasn't loud enough then I would use the full voltage available on the secondary. Anyway it worked very well, If anything it's louder than it was before. Result.
A total cost of £12 to fix it.


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## desertstorm

After doing some digging into the best option with the N249 decided to connect the Forge 007 to the inlet manifold so the piston sees the pressure / vacuum in the intake.
I could then delete all the associated spaghetti to tidy up the engine bay a bit more.
This would mean the dump valve would open pretty much as soon as the throttle was closed stopping boost spikes and turbo issues. But also under normal running when the manifold is under a vacuum the dump valve will possibly be open allowing air to pass straight from the TIP to the intake bypassing the turbo intercooler etc.
Will be doing some more logging and trying it out when the weather improves.


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## desertstorm

Gtturbo said:


> Have you corrected the maf vs throttle map or is it still stock in the file?
> 
> If you correct this the car might run better during gear change as ecu knows roughly how much air is actually present as stock settings are way too low after a certain rpm
> 
> Pretty easy to setup, make a pull, adjust table to make maf vs throttle line the same as your real maf line.


Which map is this, I have been playing with WINOLS and Tuner pro over the weekend, as not a lot else to do and am getting an understanding of how these engines work. So much more complicated than an EDC15 diesel.
I have a map pack for the file that was mapped onto the car by Rick so can identify any map and the WINOLS version I have has the checksum calculators.
Also found and modified an XDK file for Tuner Pro that works well . A little easier to work than WINOLS and I can now add new maps to the XDF as well as editing some of the original ones which were incorrect .
I wouldn't be surprised if the map has already been tweaked as Rick is pretty thorough.


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## desertstorm

Unbelieveable change in the weather today, really nice so decided to paint the brakes and fit the track wheels to see how they look and if the tyres fit OK.
I bought this temperature sensitive paint a few years ago, not used it before so be good to see what it does. I don't expect the rears to get too hot but the fronts will. The paint blobs turn white or yellow after 10 minutes at specific temperatures,
450 , 550 and 630 degrees C.


















Fitted the 18 inch wheels, dropped them on the scale to see what they come in at. 21.2 Kg isn't bad, Could probably save 1-2Kg a wheel with some really light weight wheels however these would cost a lot more than I paid for these. Also be a shame to ruin expensive wheels as I have read the brake dust from the DS1.11 pads is pretty evil stuff.










Changing the wheels is a lot easier now as with the cage in the car and a lighter rear end the front and rear wheels come off the ground together when the car is jacked up. The cage definitely makes the car a lot stiffer.










The fronts stick out a little bit, but looking into the legality of wheels and tyres sticking out from the bodywork it seems a bit vague. The construction and use rules seem to state that the wheel and tyre need to be covered by a wing to catch any water / debris thrown up by the tyre. Well the do cover 98% of the tyre so hopefully they will be OK. I know I have seen a lot worse on 4x4'S and even some cars.



















I have just enough clearance I think between the strut and the inside of the tyre a good 5mm. The part thats really close is the rim protector bead, so this isn't going to move far.










And the shorter 6 inch front springs mean the lower spring platform clears the top of the tyre.


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## Jools TT

Poke on the fronts look about the same as mine , I have poke on both front and rears .
Gonna fit mk2 balljoints to mine and run a bit more neg camber to cure


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## desertstorm

You certainly can get lots of camber with the MK2 balljoints. My balljoints were the original ones and were probably not the best so I count that mod as a zero cost as they really needed changing anyway.
Unfortunately the fuel pump change today isn't a zero cost mod, uprated fuel pumps are not really common and the goto solution is the DW65V if you want to stick with an in tank pump.
I was going to take some pictures but having fuel all over my marigolds I thought better of it.
The wife wasn't happy I pinched her washing up gloves but I bought her a new pair, I changed a fuel pump once before and used some latex gloves and they just disintegrated in the petrol.
Having no interior makes life slightly easier, just removed the front drivers seat, Takes about 2 minutes to undo the 4 bolts.
The top of the pump. Cleaned the dust off the top so none ended up in the tank. Tapped the lock ring around with a hammer and large screwdriver. Came off with no issues.









Original pump removed after disconnecting the pipes and connector that run to the other side of the tank. Really surprised how much fuel was in the tank despite it saying the range was 0 and the fuel tank was empty.
The old and new pump together.Not really a lot in it.You would almost think they just too original pumps and added a sticker.










The hardest thing about replacing the pump was getting the old pipe off the pump outlet. They are hard plastic and are pretty firm. After making sure all the petrol was removed I used an electric heat gun to warm the pipe a little and it came off easily then.

Did a check of the fuel trims and then cleared the faults on the ECU to reset them, hopefully get the partial one a bit closer to 0. I have a permanent fault on the ECU with the crash sensor wire being disconnected from the airbag.


----------



## Jools TT

well done in doing the DW65 yourself , I let my mechanic do mine as I had 1/2 tank of fuel left in .
Whats the score regarding the fault on the steering/airbag , did you not use a resistor ?


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## desertstorm

I have completely removed the airbag system, there is one wire left which is the one that connects to the display cluster and puts the airbag light on. If you earth this the airbag light never comes on at all.
There is a crash signal wire that connects from the airbag ECU to several other modules and in the event of a crash being detected the engine and fuel pump are cut, the hazard lights come on and all the doors automatically open. I have just cut the wire to the ECU and it's flagged a fault regarding this. Not a problem as it doesn't affect the car at all.


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## chisharpe

Why did u upgrade the fuel pump?


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## desertstorm

With a 4 bar FPR the standard pump cannot keep up with the pressure/ flow demands. 
viewtopic.php?p=8595625#p8595625
Injectors running at near 100% is not a very good thing to have. Lean mixtures mean higher EGT's and potentially more issues.
Will do a bit of driving to let the ECU adapt a bit and then do some more logging.
The DW65V pump will service anything else I decide to put on the car in the future as well. Good for 500bhp installs


----------



## desertstorm

Well been doing some logging on the fuel pump pressure and the DW65V is doing a much better job of keeping the fuel pressure up.
With the original pump the fuel pressure was falling off over about 4500 RPM . Now it holds up much better upto 0.3 bar more pressure than before.
I have logged the injection timing and comparing it with before you can see the big difference in injection duration.










Instead of running upto 95%, the injection durations peak more around 85% and as you can see the main difference is in the top half of the rev range.There is a bit of an issue in that the peak MAF readings appear to have dropped and the boost is fractionally down. I suspect the map needs some tweaking to resolve this.
I am happier that this pump will be a lot more reliable than the original one , As it wouldn't be good if the original pump started delivering even less pressure.


----------



## chisharpe

Had you fitted a new pump?


----------



## desertstorm

The orange line is the original OE pump from the car so 15 years old. The yellow line being the DW65V . As I have a 4 bar FPR the OE pump struggles to provide the pressure and flow required at the top end.


----------



## desertstorm

Fitting an oil catch can as this seems to be a bit of a requirement for the 1.8T engine when it's run hard on a track, they seem to breathe a bit heavily. Better to keep the oil out of the intercooler.
Looked around for a suitable can, didn't want something too big I can empty it regularly plus it's bound to weigh more. Needed to be 19mm connections to keep with 19mm hose.
Found what I wanted on Fleabay, where else.
Has 19mm connectors , very well made from machined alloy and anodised black. Comes with a dip stick so you can quickly check the oil level. Has Two baffles that should result in the oil ending up in the bottom of the container and the vapour passing through to the engine.
It comes with a filter if you wanted to vent to atmosphere, But I am happy it will catch nearly all the oil so little will get through to the intake.










As I am no longer using the N249 valve or associated parts,the Forge 008 is connected to one of the vacuum points on the intake manifold. The original box that held the ECU relay, then the N249 relay has been repurposed again to hold the oil catch can.










Takes a few seconds to dip the can and if it needs emptying I can quickly unclip it from the bulkhead and empty it. That's the plan anyway.










19mm rubber pipe, 90 degree bend and some clips on the way so can finish this off quickly some time in the week.

All in for the catch can, pipe, 90 degree bend and some clips £40 . A substantial reduction on the cost of something like the Forge catch can £250????? .

Also ordered a shelf for the back of the car, I can use it in the garage to store stuff. Been looking for a while and several cars on the Facebook TT Track page seems to use these or very similar items. Some cars have much bigger wings or wings mounted higher up which I am aware is better. I think this will generate a good bit more downforce than something like the V6 spoiler as this is a wing and is a lot bigger than a V6 spoiler. It's adjustable to, only having 275bhp don't want to put a monster whale tail on the back of the car, It's not a time attack machine  .

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291981606079 £170 delivered.


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## Madmax199

The problem with a wing like the one you posted is the height. Placing a wing so low in the dirty (slow moving) air considerably reduces its effectiveness and also increase the drag/downforce coefficient for the worst. I wouldn't be totally against a generic wing like this, but I would strongly strongly suggest that you make taller mounts or risers to place the 3-d airfoil main center section closer to the clean-air stream.

Also, be careful with it being adjustable, 3-d wings are meant to be used with the center section as close as possible to zero AoA. Adding more angle than that surely stalls the more-cambered sides ... negating the whole point of a 3-D airfoil.


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## Madmax199

Here is some flow visualization I have done with a home-made wind tunnel on a scale model of the coupe body. As you can see, the clean air stream is at about roof height on the coupe (and slightly higher than roof height on a roadster). A low deck wing places the airfoil in the meat of the turbulent downsloping wake of the silhouette. So drag will be very high and downforce efficiency very low. The inner boundary layers are very bad toward the rear of the car, I have seen flow reversal at several point over the hatch and trunk of the coupe, so it's really dirty close to the body. At that point, you might as well consider a raised spoiler like the ABT 2 in terms of efficiency.


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## Madmax199

And just how bad is it in the rear below the clean-air stream? Very bad according to the CFD and flow visualization in the tunnel.










Video below showing what the CFD revealed in real life:


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## desertstorm

Thanks for the feedback Max. I was aware of the potential issues with these, I don't think it will ever work well if raised too high as I believe the idea with these kinds of wings is that the air coming towards the centre of the wing is coming down from the roof where as the edges are seeing more air coming straight at them. Raised too high that would not be as true.
I don't plan to go too mad with the adjustment and may try a few experiments with some string and a video camera to see at what angle and speed the flow detaches from the underside.
Already spotted these longer legs if I decide to move it up a bit, cheap enough and they have the same bolt spacing on the boot I think.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-10inch-GT ... 2072374423?

Max ever tried playing with vortex generators to reduce rear lift and promote better flow at the rear ?.


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## Madmax199

Actually 3-D airfoils like the one you showed are designed to have the center section seeing cleaner/straight air flowing in a more laminar fashion -- and the more angled sides with a higher AoA designed to deal with dirtier turbulent Flow downsloping around the side. There was a technical magazine that did a very good article on 3-D wings in car applications. They went in details with all of this (I believe it was Racecar Engineering), worth looking for IMO.

Never meesed with vortex generators as I have a roadster, but have mentioned several times in the track page on Facebook that they would be very beneficial for a coupe. Even if they were only able to downslope the clean-air just a couple inches, the result would have great implications on a car with a wing. You should build some!!!


----------



## desertstorm

Well the new garage shelf (wing) arrived today, pretty quick as I only ordered it Saturday and it's Come today. They come from Germany with UPS.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291981606079
Didn't look too good when the parcel arrived it had a few holes in the box but fortunately the wing is very well wrapped and protected so not a mark on it.
Quality looks very good and considering it was only £170 delivered I think it's quite reasonable value for what it is.
Going to get some stainless screws and nuts though tomorrow as the hardware supplied looks OK, I think long term stainless stuff will be better.
Just propped it on the car to get an idea for the size and proportions. It is pretty stiff and quite light.




























Weight comes in at 3.75Kg for the wing complete with all the brackets and fixings.










I have ordered some carbon fiber vortex generators so will have a play with them before I put the wing on.


----------



## Jools TT

Its not my thing but can appreciate what your trying to achieve


----------



## desertstorm

I know what you mean. normally I wouldn't put anything like this on the back of a normal road car. However rear wings on track TT's are almost a given if you want good handling at high speed. Will be sorting out some plywood for the splitter next.


----------



## Madmax199

desertstorm said:


> I have ordered some carbon fiber vortex generators so will have a play with them before I put the wing on.


Nice, document everything and take some pics/video if you can. On my side I am going to attempt to add some VG to my coupe model and run it in the tunnel. The only issue is that it's really hard (harder than you' think) to make small bits like that on such a small scale. We'll see if I can get close enough to allow some good flow visualization of the difference with/without.


----------



## desertstorm

I have seen some videos on line on other cars and they seem to have a very positive effect. Fitted the wing today, it won't really have an effect on what happens on the rear screen with and without VG's .
I can easily take the wing off as it's only 4 bolts.
Quite easy to fit just 4 holes but took some measuring to try and get them just in the right place . You don't want to drill a hole and then find it's in the wrong place.
I was going to replace all the bolts with stainless items but the place I get all my hardware from carries very little in the way of stainless so just got some better quality bolts . They only had 12.9 so the spoiler shouldn't be going anywhere.
The weak point of the fixing for this I think is the brackets that secure to the wing. 
They supply pozi drive screws which I replaced with cap head bolts and also fitted some 3m tape to provide a better fixing.
There appears to be a metal plate bonded into the wing and this looks to have been drilled and tapped . It's stainless for some reason as it is non magnetic.
original fitting









3M tape added with 12.9 bolts which can be tightened more positively.










Marked the centre line on the boot and the centres for the holes. Offered up the wing with the bolts fitted just to make sure the bolts lined up with the holes to be drilled.Much easier to do this rather than try and fill a hole if you drill wrongly.










The bolts came through in just the right place. Just where the skin is doubled so it's nice and strong.










I think it looks OK. Adjusted it too 7 degrees just to try it out and make sure it's still attached to the car. It's actually very sturdy.


----------



## desertstorm

I must stop looking at the classified ads. Spotted one the other week for what I think was a reasonable price.
They have covered about 4k miles since they were installed. 
On Audi-sport.net some RS3 /TTRS calipers with nearly new Red stuff pads and 334mm R32 discs.They use an Epytec adaptor .
The original owner added all the details here.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/th ... st-2457539










The brake pads on these calipers are about 40% bigger than a standard 312mm caliper on the left or a Brembo Cupra R DS1.11 pad on the right.









This pad profile is also the same as used by EVO's and Subarus so the pad choice is immense and the prices are not too bad.
Hopefully I won't need such a hardy pad with the very much bigger pad area and improved disc size.

Weighed a few bits and pieces just to see how much weight this would add compared to a standard 312mm system.
Weighed a 312mm caliper, carrier , nearly new pads and a well used disc . 13.6Kg










The 334mm discs have no wear on them, there is no lip unlike the 312mm items. The complete caliper . carriers , pads and hose come in at 16.4Kg










The RS3 caliper weighs 5.1Kg complete with pads , carrier and hose, where as the standard 312mm caliper comes in at 5.7Kg for the same. so the difference in weight is with the discs, which is what you would expect when comparing them.










The 334mm discs are handed as well so the vents are directional.










The 334mm disc is 11.3Kg and the quite worn 312mm disc 7.9Kg, I would assume a newer 312mm disc would come in a bit heavier but there is 3.4Kg difference between them. Which is quite a lot, but as the weight is located close to the centre of the hub rather than a lot further out as it is with heavier wheels and tyres the effect isn't as great.

The Red stuff pads will be going on my A4 as they are the same Pad and the existing red stuff ones are due for replacement shortly. Now need to decide what pads to fit, been looking at possibly CL RC5+ , Mintex M1155 ??.


----------



## desertstorm

Well got around to fitting the new brakes and doing a few other jobs with this nice weather we have been having.
After pondering on brake pad choice and looking at what was available, being such a popular pad size there is much choice.
I didn't want a full race pad as I drive the car on the road as well, I found that the Aston Martin DB9 vantage uses the same size pad on it's front brakes, Indeed the TTRS caliper is pretty much the same as the Aston Martin item, they are Interchangeable .
Bearing in mind the Aston weighs about 500Kg more than my TT and has 500bhp out of it's V12 running to 190mph I had a look at it's OE pads.
The pads from the factory are Pagid RS4-2-2 compund, quite similar to RS4-2 racing pads but designed to run on the road. They give up some of the high temperature capability to be less noisy and work from cold. Reading some of the Aston forums owners had tracked their cars with these pads although for serious work the pads in these cars needed to be upgraded. But as I have nearly 500Kg less weight and 200Bhp less I suspect they will work well.
OE pads make a lot of dust and I can believe that looking at them in the box.There is loads of black dust all over the pads and in the box and these are new.










The Aston Martin Part number










The caliper and disc fitted on the car.



















Took the car out this afternoon to bed the brakes in. Wow, very impressed with them. Very solid pedal and very strong brakes.
Whilst the car was in the air fitting the brakes I decided to remove the front ARB. Not had it connected for several weeks now and car handles no differently without it. The very much uprated springs seem to control roll just fine.
As you need to drop the subframe to remove the ARB I decided to remove it using my angle grinder. Fifteen minutes and no messing around to reset the suspension settings. Cut off each end and the rest just pulled straight out with some wiggling.
4.2Kg less weight on the car.










Also connected up the oil catch can, decided to keep the puck so essentially vents the same as OE but through the catch can.


----------



## Jools TT

Looking good, always a good upgrade brakes , nice choice of pads . Whats the squeal like if any ?


----------



## NickG

I'm amazed at the weight of the front ARB!! I'd guessed at 2kg and for some reason never bothered to weigh mine.


----------



## desertstorm

The ARB is a solid piece of steel bar and the bar ends that connect to the strut are not light either. The pads don't squeal at all, they are designed to go on a DB9 and people who drive those wouldn't be interested in having a car sound like the pads are worn out and rubbing on the discs. They have a thin a rubber anti squeal pad then the steel shim that is covered with another rubber anti squeal pad, so Pagid are doing their best to make them quiet. I also used some Mintex Ceratec when I put the pads in.


----------



## desertstorm

Car started to play up the last few days intermittently cutting out as you were driving along. Fortunately I have a fuel pressure gauge so spotted that fuel pressure was dropping very low when the car was cutting out.The rest of the time it was perfect.
As it's recently had a DW65V pump suspicions were that may be duff or I had installed it incorrectly.
Rather than pulling the pump thought I would check the relay and fuse first. The fuse looked fine, The fuel pump relay confused me as the fuel pump wiring shown on ElsaWIN for a BAM seems to indicate that an 8 pin 409 relay is used. However on my car it's a 167 4 pin relay.
Had a quick look at the relay and it looked slightly second hand, and as this relay supplies not only the fuel pump but several other sensors and actuators on the engine. I swapped it out for a souped up version I found in my squirrel store.
I found a 202 relay which is used for glow plugs on a 1.9 TDI and is rated at 70A, coil resistance is very similar 60 ohms on the 167, 50 on the 202 so that's not an issue.


















Took the car for a spin and just when I thought it might be fixed it cut out again. So wasn't the relay causing the problem.
whipped the cover off the fuel pump hatch and opened up the cover, fortunately there is only about 20 miles worth of fuel in the tank. Straight away noticed the one electrical connection to the pump was very loose, couldn't believe that I wouldn't have noticed that when I put it in but that very much looked like it might be the issue. Crimped the connector to tighten it up and confidently put the cover back on.
Took it for a run and never even got a mile before it cut for a few seconds. Damm.
Back home again took the cover off the other side of the tank that doesn't have the pump in. Just to see if it was being scavenged to the main tank, It was virtually bone dry so that was working.
Decided that Google might be a good idea and quickly discovered that if the pump is not installed 100% correctly you can get issues with fuel pick up when the tank is low.
Out came the pump and it looked OK to me when I dismantled it. Using the original pump I soon found that it was sitting about 8-10mm lower in the pot than the DW65V.
Greasing the O rings and being careful not to break anything I eventually managed to seat the new pump correctly, It was very tight to get it in the correct position compared with the old pump.
Put it all back together and took it for a run, success it seems. Ran it up and down hills flat out and never cut out once.
So if you fit a DW65V make sure it's fully seated in the pot.


----------



## desertstorm

Modified the brackets on the rear wing as I had noticed it was adjusting itself after any kind of high speed running.
The problem was due to the angle the front connecting link was at. It was virtually horizontal so any decent amount of load on the wing was tilting the front down giving a much higher angle.










To solve this I made some longer rear links and modified the front ones so that they are fixed permanently and at a much better angle. I can now set the wing anywhere between 0 and 17 degrees and it will stay there. It has also lifted the wing about 15mm higher so it's hopefully in a slightly better position.


----------



## desertstorm

Weight saving was the order of the day last weekend. Looking at the passenger seat base I figured it wasn't to hard to remove the OMP seat base and modify the seat mountings to bolt directly to the car floor. 
Took about 2 hours measuring , cutting and drilling and I now have a spare OMP seat base and am happy with the seat mounting. The Drivers side I have an adjustable slide so it's a bit more fiddly to do that side .
Took off the rear tow point box section. Some of the bolts put up a fight but some plus gas sorted them out. Whilst I had the rear bumper off I took off the rear crash bar. Really only useful in a low speed bump, anything more than 5mph it would probably be flattened.
Also as I had the rear wheels off and already undone some of the rear wheel arch liner bolts decided to undo the rest and see what the car looked like without these fitted.
Decided to keep the rear most section of the wheel arch liner which connects the rear bumper to the body but also helps to stop air from finding it's way to the rear bumper. So trimmed this off the rear liners.
Ended up with this pile of bits that weighs 10.1Kg


----------



## desertstorm

First track event booked. One I have done the last few years with the Club GTI guys at Curbrough.Always been the fastest diesel  .
A short sprint track it's just down the road from where I live. Currently 2 other TT's running an MTM tuned TTRS and a very rapid 450 + BHP TTS. I will just be happy to get around quicker than my A4 diesel estate that I have run the last few years.

https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?th ... 18.286795/

https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?th ... ts.287513/


----------



## StuartDB

Those are amazing callipers Karl, how did the wheels fit? Do you need 15mm spacers?


----------



## desertstorm

The 18 inch wheels just clear the caliper with a 15mm spacer which is what I already had on the car to get the clearance between the alloy and the suspension strut.The shape of the spokes on the alloy is really the thing that decides whether a wheel would fit or not.
I have a set of TT comps and they fit fine with a lot more clearance between the caliper and the spokes of the wheel.


----------



## desertstorm

Doing a few more jobs on the car. Pruned some weight out of the car by removing the OMP seat bases I bought off NickG . These are 2.5Kg each so a total of 5kg. A lot easier and quicker to put seats in using these bases but I could see that they could be removed with some modifications.
On the passenger side I have no sliders on the seat, so by reversing the one seat mount and drilling the mounts I have bolted the seat directly to the floor using the OE mounting points. 
On the drivers side I use a slider so it's a bit more tricky.
Made up some bases out of some steel plate I had that was almost already preformed to the size and shape I needed . very handy. These came in at 1Kg so saves 1.5Kg off the drivers side,4Kg in total.










After removing the rear tow eye point and saving roughly 2.5Kg I was wondering how to add a rear tow point and keep it light.
Looking in the boot of my B8 A4 daily I found the towing eye and it's substantially longer than the TT item and fits the same. 
So gave me an idea.

I cut the tube from the bottom of the towing point with an angle grinder and trimmed it right down. Here's the A4 B8 towing eye, the TT one which I tweaked with an angle grinder so it fitted better in the front and the tube cut from the bottom of the existing rear tow point.










The tube part weighs 350g and the difference between a TT tow hook and the B8 is around 150g.
Welded the tube to the remaining box section where the original rear tow hook box bolted and cut a small hole in the rear bumper. Now have a solid rear tow point and saved 2Kg of weight overall.



















The front tow point looks better with the black tow hook.










Getting the rest of the exhaust sorted next Saturday. Going for a longlife fastflow exhaust system 3 inch back with a resonator to a rear box that splits to two 2.5 inch pipes and I asked them to recycle the OE tails. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the OE tailpipes and will save some money. Should save a shed load of weight over the OE system and maybe add a few bhp to the engine.
The rear box is the same one they used on a Nissan GTR that they were doing when I was there . The Nissan made 540bhp after it had been mapped so the exhaust box seems to flow OK. The standard of welding looks to be amazing. Nitrogen back purged TIG welding. No sign of a MIG in this garage.

https://www.facebook.com/TRPtuning/


----------



## desertstorm

Added some interior storage to the car by fitting a Motamec helmet hammock. Will stop the helmet rolling around in the car when I am not using it and also provides a place for stashing other stuff.
Easy to fit and not overly heavy.










https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motamec-Raci ... 1595034358?


----------



## desertstorm

Hopefully finishing off a rear brake upgrade tomorrow.Trying to restore some of the balance between front and rear brake force.


----------



## NickG

Nice work mate as ever!

I hadn't realised you've not put this around a track yet! Good luck for the day, are you prepared already or do you have any last minute jobs to get done?


----------



## desertstorm

Just a few jobs to do nothing major.
Finished the rear brake upgrade today. After fitting the very much larger brakes on the front found that the F-R bias wasn't right, the car nose dived quite a bit when braking heavily. The car stood on it's nose a bit with the LCR caplipers on but not like it does now.
So not wanting to add extra weight to the rear brakes by fitting 300mm discs as most people do fitted some calipers with larger pistons.
The standard caliper on the TT has a 38mm piston, increasing the piston size results in more force being applied to the pad for any given amount of pressure also results in a small increase in pedal travel.
A 43mm caliper creates ((43x43) / (38x38)) = 1.28 times as much force so 28% increase. To get that much extra rear brake force you would need to fit a 256 x 1.28 = 328mm disc. 
The rear brakes have never got that hot at all even when I was doing some serious braking to test out the front pads.
The rear caliper I used is off the Audi A6 c5 4.2 V8 cars, also used on a few other cars I believe. On these cars it was used with a 269mm x 22 vented disc.
Part numbers are 4B0615423 and 4B0615424
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/oenumb ... 15423.html
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/ridex-8099711.html

The Flexi hoses I got from ECP or you can get them from Carpartsforless https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/search/135440508 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pagid-70327- ... 2639488320?
They are rear brake hoses off an Audi A6 c4 or some models of the Audi V8 and Audi 100.










I removed the original handbrake brackets from the new caliper and fitted the original items. The handbrake mechanism on the new caliper uses a slightly different handbrake cable and the levers are a little longer, probably to give a better handbrake on a much bigger heavier car. I drilled a new hole in the original handbrake backplate to move the handbrake mechanism around a little. This meant I had to replace the OE torx screw with a 6mm set pin and file the lever a little .

I found some use for my 100cc Kart sprocket tool I used to use on my Senior Britain kart many years ago. Works great for removing the arm off the caliper.



















I secured the original brake pipe to the caliper body using some tie wraps and some rubber fuel hose. I noticed the pipe was a little close to the caliper body so fitted a longer piece of hose. The picture below was before I changed the hose and fitted a longer one.


----------



## desertstorm

Out in the car the other day and accelerating reasonably briskly to pass another car when the engine hesitated quite noticeably, like a big misfire. Seemed to carry on with no issue after that but just as I got home the engine management light came on.
Connected VCDS and got a P0102 fault code. Low readings off the MAF sensor.
Looking at the measuring blocks and the highest reading I could get for the MAF was 0.5 when revving the engine on the drive.
So the MAF is duff. Tried a reseat on the plug no difference. Took it out and had a look, couldn't see anything wrong. Seems like it's just failed completely so ordered a service exchange item from ECP, £69 with the current discount after the surcharge for the old one is deducted.










Checked on VCDS and MAF now reading as expected. Fault codes cleared and took it out to do a little logging. All seems to have returned to normal.
It was the original MAF so 16 years and 90K miles isn't so bad.


----------



## HOGG

Good to know. Mines on 146k :?


----------



## desertstorm

Bought myself a new lid finally. I decided that a full face helmet wasn't what I wanted ,looked around for an open face helmet.
As I have no intention of ever racing the car I don't need a helmet to any particular spec but I always buy decent helmets as you only need to use it once and I would rather it worked the one time as with helmets you don't get a second chance.
Have had a few AGV and Shoei helmets over the years for karting. 
Found a Shoei dealer fairly close to me who could get the helmet I wanted in stock for me to try. Great prices as well, Speak to Paul who owns the shop he may be able to discount the price. I went for a Shoei RJ Platinum R in light silver. Just happens to be the same color as the car.

https://www.bikerstoreuk.com/










Also got around to doing a few things with the car. Spent a few hours playing with the castor, camber and toe on the front in an attempt to improve the handling. It was pretty good before but I think the camber was just a little excessive and not balanced side to side.
With a lot of camber you get camber thrust and on a road that's not perfectly smooth the car is always moving around and feels very nervous.I have reduced the camber down to around 3 degrees either side and balanced it as best as I can and it's a lot better. Still turns in well and you have to really push on to get some understeer but the car is pretty balanced now.
Found reducing the front tyre pressures helps a lot. Just a few PSI made a big difference.
Had a play with the Vortex generators I bought from Fleabay. Used on EVO's Subarus and Type R's they seem to offer a cheap and easy way to get a small improvement in the way air is handled at the rear of the car. I have seen a few videos of people using wool tufts on the back of the car to see whats going on so raided the mother in laws Wool collection.
The sound quality is very poor on this as the camera is in a plastic box and it seems to be rattling around in the box which is what most of the noise is.
I had to make a mount for the camera off the roll cage. Used some plastic pipe and a jubilee clip.



















No Vortex generators





With Vortex generators





With the vortex generators there is a definite straightening of the wool tufts and especially in the centre of the screen and also to the bottom the tufts are not lifting as much and are floating around less. The two runs were done to the same speed accelerating through the gears.










https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-10 ... 2786371347?


----------



## desertstorm

Had a problem changing the rear flexi on the drivers side. The brake pipe nut on the pipe running to the front of the car was seized and the brake pipe kinked. Unfortunately this is the longest brake pipe on the car and runs over the fuel tank. After looking for ideas to resolve this quickly settled on replacement of a small section of brake pipe.
After identifying the parts I needed popped over to Bromsgrove to pick up a kit from an Ebay seller.

stores.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Warehouse-65?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-3-5-7 ... 2194400509?

The proprietor Mark was very helpful and the kit did exactly what I needed.
Will be able to repair brake lines and make my own up now. It really is very simple to use.

Here is the contents of the kit, there is a video on line that shows how easy it is to use, comes with full instructions. There are 2 of these tools available, the other does SAE flares which is a different type to what the TT requires which is a DIN bubble flare.










Had a quick practice on a piece of pipe in the garage, really easy to do and seems to do a great job.










There wasn't loads of pipe left showing to work with but as this is so small it makes life really easy.You have to strip back the plastic coating off the existing pipe so the tool can grip the pipe. Will wipe some grease over the exposed section.










This is the short length of pipe I made up to replace the rotten section.










And all fitted in place with the new flexi. Pipe run is pretty much the same as OE but with the joiner in place. I went for Kunifer pipe just a little more expensive than copper but a lot better.










The old flexi with the rusted up joint that caused the issues in the first place. They really did need changing.No longer very flexible at all.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to get the exhaust sorted on Friday at TRP Performance in Walsall Wood.
https://www.facebook.com/TRPtuning/
They are a Longlife exhaust franchise and looking at the web site I had been impressed with the work as well as when I went over to discuss what I wanted.
Not many places use TIG welders let alone welding up the completed system using nitrogen back purgeing.
This results in some very nice looking welds.










I had originally asked for a small resonator where the stock resonator box was located. However after much effort it was concluded that with a 3 inch pipe the size of the box that could be fitted in the available space wasn't worth it, also it would have made the pipe run hang too low.
Thus the exhaust became a continuation of the 3 inch decat pipe to the back box which was a 3 inch in item with 2.5 inch outlets. The box is straight through from the inlet to the outlets.
This is the 3 inch inlet.










A shot of the rear box after it had been welded up .










And the complete system before it was fitted to the car and the stainless mounting points were welded on.










How it runs under the car,










It should have cost me £480 but the rear box that was ordered was incorrect. But fortunately had a correct box that had been removed from a Nissan GTR that had only done 200 miles. Still looked like new but got some discount.
On the GTR with this exhaust the car made 540bhp and 620Lb/ft of torque so I know the exhaust will be good for anything I want to do. The GTR owner had the box removed because his car wasn't loud enough, so it silences reasonably well.
On my car at idle it's not much louder than the standard car. On the move it is of course a lot more noticeable but it's not excessive and will easily pass any noise tests at a track. It's substantially lighter than the OE exhaust as well. Probably a good 10Kg at least.


----------



## Madmax199

desertstorm said:


> Bought myself a new lid finally. I decided that a full face helmet wasn't what I wanted ,looked around for an open face helmet.
> As I have no intention of ever racing the car I don't need a helmet to any particular spec but I always buy decent helmets as you only need to use it once and I would rather it worked the one time as with helmets you don't get a second chance.
> Have had a few AGV and Shoei helmets over the years for karting.
> Found a Shoei dealer fairly close to me who could get the helmet I wanted in stock for me to try. Great prices as well, Speak to Paul who owns the shop he may be able to discount the price. I went for a Shoei RJ Platinum R in light silver. Just happens to be the same color as the car.
> 
> https://www.bikerstoreuk.com/
> 
> View attachment 3
> 
> 
> Also got around to doing a few things with the car. Spent a few hours playing with the castor, camber and toe on the front in an attempt to improve the handling. It was pretty good before but I think the camber was just a little excessive and not balanced side to side.
> With a lot of camber you get camber thrust and on a road that's not perfectly smooth the car is always moving around and feels very nervous.I have reduced the camber down to around 3 degrees either side and balanced it as best as I can and it's a lot better. Still turns in well and you have to really push on to get some understeer but the car is pretty balanced now.
> Found reducing the front tyre pressures helps a lot. Just a few PSI made a big difference.
> Had a play with the Vortex generators I bought from Fleabay. Used on EVO's Subarus and Type R's they seem to offer a cheap and easy way to get a small improvement in the way air is handled at the rear of the car. I have seen a few videos of people using wool tufts on the back of the car to see whats going on so raided the mother in laws Wool collection.
> The sound quality is very poor on this as the camera is in a plastic box and it seems to be rattling around in the box which is what most of the noise is.
> I had to make a mount for the camera off the roll cage. Used some plastic pipe and a jubilee clip.
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> No Vortex generators
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With Vortex generators
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the vortex generators there is a definite straightening of the wool tufts and especially in the centre of the screen and also to the bottom the tufts are not lifting as much and are floating around less. The two runs were done to the same speed accelerating through the gears.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-10x-ABS-Carbon-Fiber-Roof-Shark-Fins-Spoiler-Wing-Kit-Vortex-Generator/112786371347?


Nice job on the VG!!! Maybe late to say, but you would have had even better results if the VG were not all placed longitudinally with zero angle of attack. Here is the proven ballpark recommendation for roof-end VG attack angles (in case you want to revise/improve it at some point).


----------



## Madmax199

^^^

And a random YouTube video showing the effect of adding some angle of attack to the VGs. The effect of the AoA is almost as drastic of a change as no VG vs VG with zero AoA.


----------



## HOGG

Nice nice


----------



## desertstorm

Nice job on the VG!!! Maybe late to say, but you would have had even better results if the VG were not all placed longitudinally with zero angle of attack. Here is the proven ballpark recommendation for roof-end VG attack angles (in case you want to revise/improve it at some point).








[/quote]

Thanks for that Max, I did consider a further test doing pretty much what you have detailed in that diagram but never got round to it, that's really spooky. As it's proven to give better results I will reattach some of the central VG's at angles of 10 and 15 degrees as in that diagram.


----------



## desertstorm

Removed some of the centre VG's and angled them similar to the diagram Max provided. Did it slightly differently as couldn't be bothered to redo the outside one at 5 degrees so mine go 0,0,10,15,15,15,15,10,0,0 .


----------



## desertstorm

First track day event completed last weekend at Curbrough with the Club GTI forum. It's only a small sprint track located just down the road from me so easy to get too and I have been round this track several times in my A4 road car.
I set myself a time of 28.5 seconds to beat as that was around 0.5s faster than I had managed in the A4 which I thought was doable and explains the silly laugh when Harrys lap timer told me I had done a 28.5s lap.

some pictures




























Seeing the amount of air I was getting in some of these pictures and the fact that the handling isn't quite where I want it I have ordered a slightly larger rear ARB. Gone for the 16mm 4-motion item. I have seen the mod that's sometimes possible on ARB's to stiffen them up but on my ARB the flat mounting point area on the ARB is not that long at all so you couldn't get it much stiffer.

Here are some videos, they are of the same run , one is Harrys lap timer on my phone, the other on a cheap action camera I bought, only £38 and it's every bit as good as the more expensive ones, indeed I think better because you can change the battery easily.
The guy at the end of the video got a bit of a shock when I rev the engine and the car is stationary it goes into launch control and will start popping and banging, very loudly with the new exhaust on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik-YprE ... e=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6X7GmD ... e=youtu.be


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> First track day event completed last weekend at Curbrough with the Club GTI forum. It's only a small sprint track located just down the road from me so easy to get too and I have been round this track several times in my A4 road car.
> I set myself a time of 28.5 seconds to beat as that was around 0.5s faster than I had managed in the A4 which I thought was doable and explains the silly laugh when Harrys lap timer told me I had done a 28.5s lap.
> 
> some pictures
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seeing the amount of air I was getting in some of these pictures and the fact that the handling isn't quite where I want it I have ordered a slightly larger rear ARB. Gone for the 16mm 4-motion item.


Nice one!!

Not sure why a bigger ARB though... that'll only pick the inside rear up even more! I forget, have you deleted the front ARB yet?

Where you on the same day as Prawn in his black and orange A3?


----------



## desertstorm

Nick (Prawn) was there, I had a word with him and he had a sit in the car, quite funny seeing him trying to get in and out as he is tall. He seemed to think that we were running similar times on the track which I was happy with, He has been doing this for many years and has a very capable car.
They hand out small trophies for the three fastest people and I was only 0.15s off third place so happy with that.
The fastest car there was Rob in a MK3 TTS. A very quick machine indeed with a very capable driver.
I was under the impression that an ARB transferred load from the outside wheel to the unloaded inside wheel so would result in the inside wheel not coming off the ground as much . And the car not rolling as much meaning again the inside wheel shouldn't be hanging around as much.

Added some videos to my previous post.


----------



## NickG

Nope, the complete opposite in fact! Allowing the body to roll keeps the wheel on the floor for longer. If you think about it, the ARB almost works against the shock and spring... you have the same or slightly higher spring rates then me iirc, try disconnecting the front droplinks next time out and I promise you'll go home and remove the things entirely!! Transforms the car, turn in is soooo much better.

I've seen a bit of footage, I think nick was struggling with bad tyres and awful alignment... from what I gather he forgot to sort the alignment and ride height out before he went :lol:

Oooo video time 8)


----------



## desertstorm

On the track tomorrow at Rockingham National cct for it's first proper run out. 
Was there today in my A4 and picked up another fastest diesel trophy, 4th in 4 years. And a new fastest 0-60 time 4.77 seconds, which I am happy with. Not bad for an 1800Kg manual diesel estate car. Because it's a diesel only runs to around 50mph in second so 0-60 times don't look as good because you have to get 2 gear changes in. Where as most petrols will pull 60 in second gear. I may give the TT a run on the sprint and see what it does.


----------



## desertstorm

Front ARB has been removed. Attacked it with an angle grinder a few weeks ago, It's still in the garage in 3 pieces. A lot easier to remove it this way than drop the front subframe.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Front ARB has been removed. Attacked it with an angle grinder a few weeks ago, It's still in the garage in 3 pieces. A lot easier to remove it this way than drop the front subframe.


Ahhh yeah I remember now, definitely the easy way! How did you like it then? Another written review would be good to nullify the many nay-sayers!

I love Rockingham, let me know if you beat 92mph round turn 1  (not a TT!!)


----------



## desertstorm

Well I was very pleased with how the TT went on Sunday afternoon. I spent quite a bit of time watching the cars in the morning sessions trying to spot the quick ones and time them to see what kind of lap times they were running. Not that I am competitive at all  . The fastest cars I could see out there were a Clubsport S Golf and a Bronze coloured TTRS.
They seemed to be running 1:27-1:28 laps. 
My first session at 2pm so ready for the drivers briefing at 13:40. In the briefing we were told that they had some issues in the morning session and had put some cones on the track on turn 3 just after the chicane, because a few cars had gone in the gravel ,and somebody had managed to roll an R32 in the gravel that then had a small fire.

https://www.facebook.com/VWEnterprises/ ... 494687925/

This didn't fill me with confidence but these things happen. As it was my first session on the track I decided to go somewhere near the back of the queue for the two sighting laps.
In future I will remember to get somewhere nearer the front. I had a few issues with people not moving over when I was very clearly quicker than them. Not wanting to incur the wrath of the organisers or more importantly have an accident I was waiting for people to move to the right and indicate before I passed.
I had a guy in a red GTI in front of me for a while who was braking so early I nearly ran into him. At the beginning of this video I decided to flash my lights at him to let him know I was there and moved well to the left of him and just outbraked him. Then immediately got stuck behind someone in a Polo who was dawdling in the middle of the track. 
Got past him after he moved over and most people after that were very good.
I soon discovered that the TT was very good at cornering and braking, And gives a bit away to some of the other cars on the straights. I was very impressed with the sheer amount of grip the car had.
Heres a video for the first half of the first session.






Must have been doing something right as I never got overtaken by a faster car in the three sessions I did and I overtook lots of other people. The second half of the first session. I did get slightly distracted passing another car around 3:30 and took a small trip across the grass having carried too much speed into the corner.






I have Harrys Lap timer but forgot to enable the video in the first and second sessions [smiley=bigcry.gif] but it was giving me lap times which were very encouraging.










In the second session at 3PM ,There were hardly any cars on the track at all, meant I could concentrate on trying to work out how to go a bit faster. I did get to see how my TT compared to the nice TTRS I had seen out in the morning. Managed to catch up with him and pass him.
























Third session I noticed that no videos had been recorded on Harrys and enabled the camera and also recorded my fastest lap of the day. Which was just after the out lap, It was around 25 degrees c and the tyres were struggling a bit after the first few laps, also engine temps were a little on the hot side.
Heres my fastest lap of the day.


----------



## desertstorm

The car ran really well, brakes stopped strong on all three sessions with no sign of fade or a soft pedal so am well happy with them.
Looking at the pads and the discs when I got back home they have been hot around 550 degrees C, going by the heat sensitive paint on the fronts but there was remarkably little brake dust on the wheels considering what I had been doing.





































Rear brakes looked slightly blue so had been working but the heat sensitive paint was unchanged.

Coolant temps hit a max of around 102 degrees on the diagnostic 49 on the climate control and the highest oil temp I saw was 109 degrees, which I am happy with bearing in mind the 24-25 degree temperature. And how hard I was working the engine. Looking at possible cooling upgrades to bring the temps down a few degrees on both of these readings I have found that the V6 radiator is a good deal thicker than the normal one fitted. 34mm against 24mm so I have ordered a Nissens V6 radiator to fit to the car. Will add a small amount of weight but will hopefully keep temps in check.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissens-Radi ... 2303633337?

I found this rad through this site offering it as an upgrade.
https://www.urotuning.com/Radiator-Mk4- ... 21253s.htm 
Nissens make OE rads so they are good quality and not your cheap Chinese stuff.

The car looked to be fine when leaving the track I checked it over. But somewhere along the 85 mile drive home the passenger side front CV joint boot developed a split. It looks like an original so with 90K miles on it I suppose it's done reasonably. There feels like some play in the CV joint anyway so have ordered a new CV joint and boot kit. Might as well replace the whole thing whilst I have it apart. If it was going to be tracked I suspect most people would have just replaced the boot.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Well I was very pleased with how the TT went on Sunday afternoon. I spent quite a bit of time watching the cars in the morning sessions trying to spot the quick ones and time them to see what kind of lap times they were running. Not that I am competitive at all  . The fastest cars I could see out there were a Clubsport S Golf and a Bronze coloured TTRS.
> They seemed to be running 1:27-1:28 laps.
> My first session at 2pm so ready for the drivers briefing at 13:40. In the briefing we were told that they had some issues in the morning session and had put some cones on the track on turn 3 just after the chicane, because a few cars had gone in the gravel ,and somebody had managed to roll an R32 in the gravel that then had a small fire.
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/VWEnterprises/ ... 494687925/
> 
> This didn't fill me with confidence but these things happen. As it was my first session on the track I decided to go somewhere near the back of the queue for the two sighting laps.
> In future I will remember to get somewhere nearer the front. I had a few issues with people not moving over when I was very clearly quicker than them. Not wanting to incur the wrath of the organisers or more importantly have an accident I was waiting for people to move to the right and indicate before I passed.
> I had a guy in a red GTI in front of me for a while who was braking so early I nearly ran into him. At the beginning of this video I decided to flash my lights at him to let him know I was there and moved well to the left of him and just outbraked him. Then immediately got stuck behind someone in a Polo who was dawdling in the middle of the track.
> Got past him after he moved over and most people after that were very good.
> I soon discovered that the TT was very good at cornering and braking, And gives a bit away to some of the other cars on the straights. I was very impressed with the sheer amount of grip the car had.
> Heres a video for the first half of the first session.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Must have been doing something right as I never got overtaken by a faster car in the three sessions I did and I overtook lots of other people. The second half of the first session. I did get slightly distracted passing another car around 3:30 and took a small trip across the grass having carried too much speed into the corner.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have Harrys Lap timer but forgot to enable the video in the first and second sessions [smiley=bigcry.gif] but it was giving me lap times which were very encouraging.
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> In the second session at 3PM ,There were hardly any cars on the track at all, meant I could concentrate on trying to work out how to go a bit faster. I did get to see how my TT compared to the nice TTRS I had seen out in the morning. Managed to catch up with him and pass him.
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Third session I noticed that no videos had been recorded on Harrys and enabled the camera and also recorded my fastest lap of the day. Which was just after the out lap, It was around 25 degrees c and the tyres were struggling a bit after the first few laps, also engine temps were a little on the hot side.
> Heres my fastest lap of the day.


Ahhhh you met Mark aka Fossman! Absolute top guy so friendly, enjoyed a good chat on the couple of days I've met him. Not been on track with him in the RS only when he had the TTS.

Just about to watch the footage. 8)


----------



## NickG

Nice footage mate, you certainly improved between sessions!

The off round gracelands was fun, definitely got distracted and forgot to settle the car before turning in :lol: it's unnerving but it's a really late turn-in at gracelands, compared to what feels natural, because the corner is more then 90 degrees. It looks to me like you could carry more speed through there generally though, as you have a lot of exit apex to explore if you want it (appreciate it's a trackday and our dodging one session wonders mind you!!)

Generally the car looked a little Understeery, is that what you felt? what tyres are you running?

Love a decent track chat, at last! 8)


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## NickG

Oh and you met JennyH I believe in the white RS, again an absolute legend and pleasure to share a track with!


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## desertstorm

Tyres are 245/35/18 Michelin Pilot Supersport. They did pretty well I thought considering what I was subjecting them too. After about 5-6 laps though you could feel they had gone past there best and the car was sliding more. It could do with a little more front end and hopefully when the rear ARB is changed to a 16mm item it will have a little less push from the rear. 
Think I will invest in some proper track day tyres and wheels and keep the Michelins for normal road use or wet/ intermediate track days. Need to find some more 8.5 x18 wheels at a reasonable price. I have used Federal RSR tyres before and they worked OK. Suspect the Nankang NS2R might be a better bet though.
What do you think ?
I was really surprised how well it went and TBH wasn't fully exploring all the width of the track. I could have carried more speed through turn three as well but need to get some more time getting used to the car. I did speak to the lady driving the white TTRS, so that was Jenny, also spoke to the driver of the Bronze TTRS. They were telling me about the VAG Tuner live event at Donnington and there will be quite a few TTOC cars there. As it's about the closest track to where I live It's on my list of tracks to go to. A 2 hour open pit session is £75 so think I will be going there on 8th July.
Down side is that it's the British GP weekend.


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## NickG

I think you'd feel the difference with a set of NS-2R definitely! If I can add some constructive criticism (tell me to p*** off if you want!), I'd say when it starts to understeer you're actually turning even more rather then straightening out, you'll find if you straighten up a tad you'll regain grip and ultimately lose less speed... it'll probably help with the tyres too as my initial thoughts were that it appeared the tyres were overheating after a few laps, which you've just confirmed. Looks like you have plenty of cojones to carry good speed though, which is always a bonus!

If you fancy a proper trackday out, I think a few of us are aiming for a day in July, either Rocky/Blyton/Cadwell/Bedford so you'd be welcome to join!


----------



## desertstorm

Nick I welcome any kind of help from experienced people who know what they are talking about. I think you are spot on. 
I have found that applying too much lock in certain situations results in the slip angle being exceeded ,and that a small lift and straightening up the steering a little results in the car responding to the steering input and rolling more freely. I need to get more time at the track so this becomes more instinctive and I don't need to think about it as much.
Be good to meet up on a track day, although out of those listed Cadwell would be my least favourite as it's a good trip to get there and it's so narrow. It's a great motorbike track, not so good for cars.


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## desertstorm

Forgot to mention that if anybody wants a really good cheap action camera the one I bought and used to do the in car video cost £33.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/yi-act ... on-2940127

Great video quality and you control everything on the camera from an app on your phone


----------



## 777HAM

It was great to meet you on Sunday and to have a detailed look at your car!

Enjoyed watching you on track during the afternoon. Sorry I didn't say goodbye at the end of the day as you went back out on track again as we were packing up the forum stand.

John


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## desertstorm

Good to meet you as well John. Hopefully meet up with yourself and other forum members at other events in the future.


----------



## chisharpe

Great clips. Car looks like it handles pretty well. Who needs a front arb.


----------



## desertstorm

Shopping on Ebay again. Decided that the Michelins Pilot Supersports were great and really gave the car loads of grip but on a 
hot day like Sunday and on a faster track they would probably get ripped up quite quickly. So decided to get some proper track day tyres and put the Michelins on another set of wheels for tracks where it's either wet or cold.
Found some barely worn Medium Hard Yokahama A048's in a 235/40/18 size that were from the last batch of road legal tyres they made. Despite being a 235 tyre they have virtually the same width of tread as the 245 Michelins.
They are directional but unlike most directional tyres you can turn them on the rim so if the outside edge wears a lot you basically get two tyres out of one.
They normally come with 4.7mm of tread as new, 4 out of the 5 tyres have between 4.5 and 4.7mm of tread and the 5th 4.3-4.6mm they have only done one track session apparently.
Reviews on these are pretty good and they feel suitably sticky with very stiff side walls on the tyres, almost like a run flat.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Shopping on Ebay again. Decided that the Michelins Pilot Supersports were great and really gave the car loads of grip but on a
> hot day like Sunday and on a faster track they would probably get ripped up quite quickly. So decided to get some proper track day tyres and put the Michelins on another set of wheels for tracks where it's either wet or cold.
> Found some barely worn Medium Hard Yokahama A048's in a 235/40/18 size that were from the last batch of road legal tyres they made. Despite being a 235 tyre they have virtually the same width of tread as the 245 Michelins.
> They are directional but unlike most directional tyres you can turn them on the rim so if the outside edge wears a lot you basically get two tyres out of one.
> They normally come with 4.7mm of tread as new, 4 out of the 5 tyres have between 4.5 and 4.7mm of tread and the 5th 4.3-4.6mm they have only done one track session apparently.
> Reviews on these are pretty good and they feel suitably sticky with very stiff side walls on the tyres, almost like a run flat.


They'll see you right!! Good price on them?


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## desertstorm

The tyres were up for £550 on Fleabay I offered him £500. These tyres were something like £250 each when they were new and I got them for £100 a piece. I could have bought brand new Federal RSR's for £400 or probably 4 Nankang NS2R's for £500.
Handy having 5 tyres just in case one picks up a puncture or some damage as you can't get these now.
Quite handy only being about 8 miles up the road to pick them up as well.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> The tyres were up for £550 on Fleabay I offered him £500. These tyres were something like £250 each when they were new and I got them for £100 a piece. I could have bought brand new Federal RSR's for £400 or probably 4 Nankang NS2R's for £500.
> Handy having 5 tyres just in case one picks up a puncture or some damage as you can't get these now.
> Quite handy only being about 8 miles up the road to pick them up as well.


Yeah that's a real mate! Good find! 8)


----------



## desertstorm

Got busy over the weekend doing a few jobs on the car. Changed the Passenger side outer CV joint for a new SKF item with a new boot. The new boots seem to be made of what appears to be plastic and not rubber. The Drivers side already appears to have been changed at some point in the past.
The Nissens 65011 radiator arrived, this is the one used in the V6 and is also specified as an upgrade for the 1.8 in hot climates or if the engine is modified. I got the new rad off Fleabay (where else) only £58 delivered. Ordered some new O ring seals and a seal for the coolant switch separately.
Came in a nice big box ,










Removing the old one wasn't that difficult. once I had it off I was really surprised how thin the original item was, only 25mm against the new one at 34mm.










The original uses a thin channel to carry the coolant across the rad, where as the Nissen item uses two circular pipes on each layer.










Whilst I had the rad pack out I added a few holes to encourage flow through the rad, before










And after










Initial tests seem to indicate cooler running with the new rad, which is what I would expect. Be interesting to see how mich difference it makes to coolant temps on the track. Got to 102 degrees at Rockingham, be good if this can keep it more like mid to high 90's.

And lastly the upgraded rear ARB arrived. Gone for a 16mm rear ARB off the 4 motion Golf. Ordered some Super Pro 16mm bushes. Fortunately all the original bolts came undone on the brackets. Reasonably easy to change for me as I have removed the alloy heat shield from the rear exhaust. Otherwise I would have had to drop the exhaust then remove the heat shield to get at the brackets.










Quite amazing the difference just 2mm on the rear ARB makes to the handling. Car now turns in much better, the rear is a little harder when going over potholes drains etc, and feels a little more nervous compared to before. 
Will see how it goes, need to do some more miles before I am fully happy but this is definitely a step in the right direction.


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## NickG

That's a great find on the rad, looks like it could be another big step in keeping the temps down on track, will have to add this to my winter list 8)


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## desertstorm

Surprised you never looked for an uprated radiator to resolve possible cooling issues. It certainly seems to work well, I have the lower temp thermostat in my car , 82 degrees I think, I may change it out to the higher temp item as I have been watching the temp on the 49c climate display and you can actually see when the stat starts opening the engine gets flooded with cold coolant from the rad and the temp drops quite rapidly. Recovers within about 15-20 seconds but coolant temp never went over 81 degrees this morning on the way home. Typically it use to sit around 85 degrees.


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## NickG

I did briefly, but could only find a Direnza one which isn't supposed to be amazing fitment. Plus the rad is an easy thing to change retrospectively, unlike the rest of the cooling system.


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## silkman

Read the thread from the beginning, all I can say is wow 

*[rant mode on]*
I have been trying to solve an engine (slightly) overheating issue for the past 5 years which has costed me €€€€€€€ having replaced the entire system. Everything. And now I realize my 225 has the small radiator from factory.

The problem first surfaced in 2007 for #$%@# sake

*After all those years in the bloody forum*, I had never heard or read that you could fit the V6 radiator on the 225. Or that it was bigger. Or that it was an upgrade for warmer climates. And given that I live in Greece with temps up to 40C+ in the summer *AND ALSO GIVEN * that I changed my radiator last summer (with the old one being fine but still the small one) with the nissens small part I now am really *really *furious with myself and my useless mechanic that didnt know that simple fact :evil: [smiley=bigcry.gif] [smiley=bigcry.gif] [smiley=bigcry.gif]

When ordering radiator I had noticed that the S part (2003 onwards) was more expensive but I thought it had different fitments or just a plug or screw hole would be in a different place [smiley=argue.gif]

*[rant mode off]*

Now I really apologize for this post above.

For reference

"old" 225 radiator 1J0121253AD (nissens 652011)
"new" 225/V6 radiator 1J0121253S (nissens 65011) - about double price than the one above


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## desertstorm

Happy to help , I think. I would think the larger radiator would definitely help your car in 40 degree heat.


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## silkman

desertstorm said:


> Happy to help , I think. I would think the larger radiator would definitely help your car in 40 degree heat.


And you did help indeed.

You can't imagine the frustration this thing has caused me. Essentially, only in summer weather and only after spirited driving -or in very bad city traffic with 40C- the temp would fluctuate from 90C to 3/4 line, worst I've seen in aircon code 49 is 112C last summer with 43C outside :? But most usually the temp will rise when you stop the car after driving with high engine load and not when you actually work the engine.

Not wanting to hijack your thread, on ETKA still the big radiator is shown only for the V6 and the std one for the 225. Fan parts are the same. Will the big one fit without modification? [smiley=book2.gif]

My 225 is a german import and as its a 2001 model it has the small rad from factory. To close this issue conclusively, I will have to find a someone with a locally bought 225 (ideally after 2003) to check the radiator it is fitted with...


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## desertstorm

No modification at all. I just removed the old one and replaced with the new one. I would recommend you get new O ring seals for the top and bottom hoses and a new seal for the temperature sensor. The rad I bought wasn't that expensive something like £58 delivered on Ebay. I expect it will be more expensive for you but not too much. 
An oil cooler would help as well if you like driving the car enthusiastically in those kind of temps. With coolant temps that high, oil temps would be very high. The oil goes very thin at high temperatures and the pump the struggles to make decent pressure.

My old rad was a 1J0 121 253 AD.


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## desertstorm

Next track day arranged at Donnington on the National circuit at the VAG tuner live event on the 8th July. Looking at some of the you tube videos there are some pretty quick cars on track so should be interesting. I suspect I will be lacking down some of the straights with only 275bhp but should be fun.
Sorted some small jobs the other day, Noticed I had a coolant leak from the engine temperature sensor, ordered some new seals and clips from Fleabay to replace the rubber O ring which I suspect has probably gone hard.










Contemplated draining the system, but I changed one of these on my Passat many years ago and the amount of coolant lost was tiny when the sensor was removed, so decided to remove it and see how much was lost.
Fortunately it was the same again, released any pressure in the system by removing the coolant overflow bottle filler and then doing back up again. When the sensor was removed I would say less than 20-30ml of coolant came out. The original O ring was more like plastic than rubber and was pretty hard. A new O ring has resolved this issue.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/X3-O-RING-CL ... 2801999694?

Added some USB charging points for the action camera in the car and the bluetooth GPS dongle I use with Harrys lap timer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Hard-Wir ... 3010100967?

Looking for an ignition switched feed to connect it too in the rear decided to connect it to the fuel pump motor feed. Only gets powered when the car is running so hopefully won't get any flat batteries. Just have the 2 USB plugs showing inside the car so it looks fairly tidy.


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## chisharpe

Any chance of borrowing your pipe swag tool?


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## desertstorm

Sorry, Unfortunately I have had issues in the past lending tools to people. I just don't do it now.
You can buy the actual tool on it's own if you have the pipe and fittings already.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-Held-Br ... SwyjBW2b1g


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## desertstorm

New Autec Wizard 8x18 ET35 alloys arrived today from Tyre Leader. Very well packaged.
Tried them on the car just to make sure they clear the caliper which was my only concern really.
And as they are a Motorsport type design there is a lot of clearance between the caliper and the spokes on the wheel.



















I have 15mm spacers on the car all around so ET20, The Gaz Gold shocks are thicker than the standard items .










I have some Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 8 x18 ET35 alloys on my A4 and they weigh in at 9.5Kg each. The Autecs are 9.7Kg so pretty much the same as a Pro Race 1.2 would be.










I would have gone for the Pro Race wheels if they were a more reasonable price, but the cheaper Black Gloss alloys are around £650 where as silver is more like £720 for a set.
I think these will look quite good on the car in the satin Gunmetal color.


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## chisharpe

I meant the one that adds the lips to the intercooler pipes but I understand thanks


----------



## Madmax199

chisharpe said:


> I meant the one that adds the lips to the intercooler pipes but I understand thanks


Real easy to make tool. Make your own out of an old cutting plier.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to Track Toys racing last week which is a local company by me that do all kinds of race car prep and track car builds and setup for people.
https://www.tracktoys.co.uk
Really wanted to see what kind of weight the car was running and how that was distributed so popped over to get that done and see what they could do to help with the car handling.
First thing was to weigh the car. I left the heavier Team dynamics wheels on with the Yokahama A048 tyres which are heavy as well compared to the Michelin Pilot Supersport. Nearly 12Kg total heavier than the Autecs.
18x8 Autec Wizard with 245/35/18 MPSS tyre 19.6Kg
18x8.5 Team dynamics Jade alloy with 235/40/18 A048 tyre 22.5kg
Car had 5/8 of a tank of fuel, Not sure what most people weigh there cars with but probably more like 1/4 tank with a roughly 60L tank and 0.75Kg a litre for fuel 3/8 of a tank weighs around 17Kg so with a quarter tank and the lighter wheels car would have been 28-29Kg lighter.
Came in at 1310Kg with a LF-RR split of 44.5% , when I sat in the car that stayed pretty much the same.










They measured the ride heights with out me in the car and with me in it, those changed quite a lot especially the right rear.
They checked the camber without me in it and they were pretty much set at 3 degrees front ,1.5 degrees rear give or take 0.1 degrees.
I am taking it back there next week and they are going to set the corner weights and try and get those closer to 50% LF-RR.
I moved the fire extinguisher after to help a little from behind my seat to in front of the Passenger seat. It's in a better place there anyway as you can get it from the drivers seat if needed.


----------



## desertstorm

Had a good day out at VAG Tuner live at Donnington. Parked on the TT Forum stand when I wasn't on track . Went out in the morning session 11:00 til 12:30 and the afternoon late session 15:00-17:00. It really was pretty hot in the afternoon session the car temperature gauge was saying 29.5 degrees.
The car ran well oil temps never topped 110 degrees despite the temperatures although I did see 115 degree coolant temps in the afternoon sessions despite short shifting around 6300 to try and help the engine a bit. But with nearly 30 degree temps it's not surprising.
Looks like some cooling vents in the bonnet maybe the next mod just to cover this.
Brakes were great, really strong all day, no sign of fade at all and I seemed to be braking deeper and later than most cars, indeed this was how I was managing to keep up with some of the faster cars. Only one run off the track at McLeans I put the outside 2 wheels through the gravel trap. Trying to leave the braking later and later as it's braking up hill and I left it a little too late. Picked up some gravel rash on the sill and the passenger rear wheel. Good job it's not a show car  .
A great track really liked running down the Craner curvers at 100mph+ and some of the corners a good challenge as they are blind or have more than 1 apex. Managed a 1 minute 26.88 fastest late in the afternoon session when it was it's hottest.
Hard to find a clear lap without having to overtake somebody, there were loads of red flags too which limited the amount of laps you could do.This lap was following one of the Darkside cars, Think I could have gone a little quicker as he brakes in the middle of the Craners, I could take that flat through the kink.
The sync between the data logged and the video is not quite correct, This seems to happen after you have done a few laps.
The video is a few seconds in front of the lap speeds.






A video from the action camera in the car, set the exposure incorrectly unfortunately, looked OK in the pits when I set it up in the morning.






Got overtaken near the end by one a tuners RS3. Very rapid on the straights but I was catching him under braking and in the corners, pity the session got red flagged.


----------



## desertstorm

Car made it to this months copy of Audi driver magazine  . Neil Birkett came along to the Curbrough event to take photos and compile an article.


----------



## desertstorm

Haven't updated the thread for a while. So catching up a bit, took the car to Tracktoys https://www.tracktoys.co.uk and got it corner weighted and the Geo reset with the corrected ride heights and with the drivers weight in the car.
Really good job Matt did, measuring and remeasuring as things were changed. 
I weighed in at 81Kg so 83Kg of brake discs found their way into the seat to simulate my weight. With half a tank of fuel the car weighed in at 1385Kg so the car is just on 1300Kg with half a tank of fuel.
After establishing the ride heights and rake I wanted on the car it was tweaked and adjusted till it is running a 50/50 split on the LF/RR weight split.










Then onto the Geo set up. Went for 3.5 degrees of camber, max castor parallel front track. 1.5 degree rear camber .
No lasers here though, strings and lots of careful measurements with vernier calipers.










Very happy with the resultant handling , the car does feel like it corners better and I am looking forward to the next trip out on the track at Curbrough on the Bank Holiday Monday coming. Hopefully I will see an improvement in lap time with all the tweaks I have made since the last time I was there.

https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?th ... 18.287991/


----------



## desertstorm

Also started collecting parts to give the engine a little more oomph on the straight bits. After spending time looking at what the options are against the costs I came to the conclusion that any meaningful improvement from the current performance level is going to be expensive, Rods, manifold, turbo, injectors, clutch, remap, exhaust valves etc etc.
So decided to push the boat out a bit and do this once hopefully. Rather than going to a hybrid and at some later time end up upgradeing parts why not just put a big turbo on it in the first place ?.
As BTN Performance the UK importer for Garrett are offering a 10% dIscount on Garrett ATM I have ordered a G25-660 turbo.

https://www.btnperformance.com/871389-5 ... 2-g25-660/

Won't quite get the spool of a K04 but looking at various build threads using these turbos they do pick up very well and provide large amounts of air with good efficiency.

On Back order ATM so may be a few weeks before it lands but I am in no great hurry. Still have lots more shopping to do  .


----------



## Jay-225

pretty sure you can get the 660 a bit cheaper than that : https://www.boostunited.net/turbocharge ... 1389-5010s

Very interested to see what you can get out of the 660 on the 1.8 , if i decided to change turbo at a later date then will be looking at either the 550 or 660 tbh ...

This is a megane 2.0ltr 16v running a G25-550 , making the same power as the GTX3071 gen 1 that it replaced , spools 600rpm earlier than the gtx but matches power level


----------



## desertstorm

Had a look at that site and sure enough they are cheaper. It appears that Boostunited site is run by the official German importers of Garret turbos.
https://www.turbo-total.com/turbolader/ ... t-g-serie/

If you convert the euro price on this site it's exactly the same as I am paying. Which is a little strange. But they can give a small discount if the turbo is bought in the UK. Maybe some kind of price fixing that Garrett imposes on them.
Anyway just in case there is any issue I will be dealing with a UK company rather than somebody in Germany.

These turbos do seem to give very good results for there size, spool isn't so much of an issue as it's on a track car but I can't imagine it will be much worse on a 660 compared to a 550. As they have identical turbines and the compressor wheel is just 7mm bigger 67 vs 60.

Car is already for Curbrough today, fitted the front splitter. I need to sort some black plastic to make an air dam so I can lower the splitter about another 40mm. BYC sell a kit that I think looks quite good.


----------



## desertstorm

Had some fun at Curbrough on bank holiday Monday. Managed 2 off track excursions in the morning as the A048 tyres were not getting any heat in them with the low ambient temp and the very short run on the track. Fortunately no damage and it kept the crowd happy.
Took the car back home during the half time break as I only live just down the road and put the Alutec wheels on with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, This was a much more stable set up in the afternoon.
Getting noise checked in the morning.










Managed the second fastest time of the day and picked up a small trophy.










The quickest car of the day was an MTM tuned TTRS which was about 0.3s quicker than me on a 28.5s lap. The car was not quite as quick as it had been earlier in the year. I put that down to the cooler temps meaning traction and grip were compromised . But also the car was not as stable which I suspect may be down to the rear ARB I upgraded. So will be putting the original back on the car for the next time.


----------



## desertstorm

Making some mods to hopefully improve cooling on track with the planned power upgrade. Ventilated the Bumper bar and created a decent size hole behind the number plate. This should encourage a lot more air through the top of the intercooler and the middle of the radiator. Vents in the front of the bonnet to follow.
I wanted to keep the bumper bar as I hang the supports for the splitter off it and it really doesn't weigh that much.










Cut some pieces of high density foam to fit into the bumper, stops air running along the bumper.










Some black spray paint on the bumper bar and some alloy mesh fixed to the rear of the bumper with hot melt glue completes the mod. Takes a Minute to remove the number plate at the track.


----------



## NickG

Very nice! Check you with your stealth mode cooling... I prefer In your face go faster holes!! :lol:


----------



## desertstorm

Well the UPS courier arrived this afternoon with a parcel from Germany.
Boost united UK Ltd appears to be STK Turbo Technik https://en.turbolader.net/ as this is where the turbo has come from.
I some how had it in my head a turbo supposedly good for 660bhp would be a little bigger. 
Can't get over the size of the turbine wheel, looks quite small and fragile all the better to spool I suppose.
Better get on and start ordering/ finding all the other bits I need to make this work. The plan is to get the engine / gearbox out over Christmas and then build it up.



















Lots of paint on the turbine wheel.


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## desertstorm

Well the car passed the MOT. Just spent 15minutes changing the cat out and putting the cat delete pipe back in.
Only one advisory .
Passenger seat(s) missing at the time of the test Rear(All) .
Think I can live with that :lol:


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## desertstorm

Haven't done many updates to this lately. Been really busy but most of my time been surfing on the net finding information and bargains for this engine build. Can't really fault Ebay for it's bargains. Going Big turbo is expensive even doing it yourself and trying to shop for the best deal.
Most of the big stuff ( read expensive) ordered for the engine rebuild. Nortech tubular manifold and downpipe from Badger along with an Ignitron ecu. Will be doing a lot of the base mapping myself hopefully.
Bosch 1000cc injectors , Rosten valve springs, Supertech Inconel exhaust valves, Continental cam belt kit, Bosch 4 bar map sensor , R32 throttle body, Kolbenschmidt main and sputter rod bearings. An LUK Clutch kit , Still need to sort the rods and a Sachs SRE paddle clutch plate. Not in much of a hurry really so seeing if Black Friday has any bargains .
Plus a million other things such as headgasket kits, head bolts,mains, heat wrap cambelt damper, etc etc.





































Going to fit the Ignitron on the TT as it is at the moment and have a go at mapping it in speed density so MAF less. To do this need to get a MAP sensor on the intake manifold. As I already had a 4 bar MAP that I never used on my 3.0 TDI I have knocked up an adaptor plate out of some 10mm ally that I had in the garage. Will get this welded to the intake manifold and also decided to make up one of these adaptor plates so I can fit an R32 throttle body.



















Somewhere down the road I will probably fit a larger manifold so I can recycle the throttle body and MAP sensor.


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## NickG

Some bargains there! Another big turbo build coming along then, interesting! One day i'll feel insignificant with my measly 300bhp :lol:

Looking forward to seeing the progress 8)


----------



## HOGG

Don't buy a contitech cambelt PLEASE

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## Beunhaas

HOGG said:


> Don't buy a contitech cambelt PLEASE
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


Why?


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## desertstorm

Not sure whats wrong with Contitech cambelts. There are plenty of people using them AFAIK they are one of the best brands to buy.


----------



## desertstorm

Out in the TT again on Wednesday at Donnington. Great weather for it ,dry all day but a little chilly around 10 degrees max. Dad came along and had a drive, we attracted a bit of a queue behind us at one point. Had a possie of Renaults trying to pass.He wasn't going quite as fast as I do but the TT is a good deal faster than the Austin 7 ulster which he usually races.
He did struggle to get in the car a bit  


















Some nice cars out on track not often you see a 150K Ferrari 458 but there was a black one out on track with us when I gave dad a passenger ride. Let him past as he was a little faster  . But then caught him up in traffic and passed him back.
Saw this in the paddock and the carbon ceramic brakes on the front were massive. Probably a pair of discs would be more than my TT.





Some laps later on in the afternoon when there was less traffic on the track.Going dark and a little cooler. With all the engine mods planned power should be going from 275bhp to hopefully 450bhp so lots more straight line speed.





I can throughly recommend Opentrack (https://www.opentrack.co.uk/ ) They had 2 ARDS instructors who you could book with to get a 30 minutes session and this was free along with all the High quality photos available in a FLICKR album to download. https://www.flickr.com/photos/opentrack ... 9802110342
I have about 35 pictures of my car. And had around 20 minutes with Martin Sismey due to a red flag and found that very interesting. If I can just put into practice what he was telling me I know it will help a lot.


----------



## desertstorm

Another you tube video with some more in car footage. 




The White car that overtakes me is a 12 plate M3 BMW , Just 420 bhp. 
Learned a few things on the day.
1. I have a lot to learn about circuit driving and lines, need to turn in later and be smoother. Probably as much lap time gained as adding a good chunk of power. Get the line out of Coppice corner onto the back straight right and you gain 4-5mph at the end of it.
2. The TT does not like running with much less than 3/8 of a tank of fuel, After that long right hand corner at Coppice coming onto the straight the car would intermittently back fire and miss. Looking at the fuel pressure gauge I could see it was low. Certainly when it was down to a 1/4 of a tank it was quite bad. Fill the tank back to 3/4 and instantly fixed. Need to investigate a seperate swirl pot possibly. 
3. Oil temps seem well under control never topped 100 degrees all day. Most of the time around 97 degrees. Coolant max seen was 105 which I still think is too high bearing in mind the 10 degree ambient, so looks like the bonnet will be getting some venting.


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## NickG

Nice footage bud (ignoring the horrid audio!) car looks to be going well, what tyres were you on that day? Still looking a bit understeery from the footage, in particular through Coppice it looked bad in the last video you posted (although I appreciate it was very cold on track, but I watched most of the video and it looked the same each lap).

Tuition is invaluable, I like that opentrack chuck it in for free, is it hard to get your name on the list though? I do think when you consider the free photos and tuition, opentrack offer a very good value day in general.


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## desertstorm

Tyres were the A048 I have.They are a Medium Hard compound. They are a few years old even though they have little use. They hardly show any wear after Wednesday, It was coldish I think it peaked around 11 degrees. If you felt the tyres straight after you came off the track they were just warm to the touch, not hot at all. 
Had a lot more grip in August when it was nearly 30 degrees but I was quicker on the average on Wednesday than in August.
Higher speeds on the straights from more engine power compensates for the reduced cornering speed. The understeer is partially my fault at Coppice If I approach at the correct speed and drive the right line it's perfect. Problem is most of the time I tend to arrive a little to quickly and I have a tendancy to turn in early, results in lots of tyre squealing and a slower exit speed. Need to have more confidence that the car will make the corner and try and use the full width of the track.
When I get it right it's like the car is on rails.
All this was explained by Martin the ARDs instructor. I just need to apply this. The instructors slots are allocated on a first come basis. I got to signing on at 07:45, they opened at 07:30 and there was only 1 slot taken for the 2 instructors, So if you want to get an instructor slot get signed on early.
I am not sure if the powertrack insert may actually be generating some of the understeer. By locking the axles together all the time this probably doesn't help the handling in all situations. Hopefully there is a possibility that control of the Haldex will be possible via the Ignitron ECU.


----------



## desertstorm

Had a go at fitting the Bi Xenon projectors I bought off Ali-express the other week. 
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-AL- ... 91575.html?
For AL Headlight Replace Bi-xenon Projector Lens D2S For BMW E46
These are made by Sinolyn and I have used there stuff before, It seems good quality.
They were £46.50 delivered, you get £3 off if you register a new account.
Came quite quickly just over a week to deliver not bad for Aliexpress stuff.
Started off by parking the car in front of the garage door and marking the beam pattern with some masking tape. This way I can reset the headlights correctly to get the beam height correct and the left right position correct.










Whipped the bumper off and removed the off side headlight first. There are several places where you can find out how to remove the bumper and headlights, It's not that tricky especially if you have a 10mm nut driver to undo the 10mm nuts that secure the bumper.

looking in the back of the headlight I could see that the existing projector could be removed by undoing the 3 screws which are 6 point security Torx.










Putting the new and old one together to see how much of a challenge this will be 




























Well the new one is bigger in a few dimensions, the lens is 75mm across compared to 65mm on the original. They are much the same length and some of the screw fitting centres look not too far apart in dimension so looks promising.

Tried to fit the new projector in the light in the vain hope it might actually fit and I wouldn't have to split the headlight. Well it didn't so I put the oven on it's lowest setting about 120 degrees , removed the HID electronics which is held on by three phillips screws and put the headlight in to bake for 10 minutes. Put the Kettle on and made a cup of tea.
I have some plastic trim removal tools that I used to split the headlight, and use a pair of gloves as well as makes holding the light easier.

The headlight came apart reasonably easy, don't forget to remove the 4 clips before putting it in the oven.
I had bought some new butyl tape to reseal the headlight. It's good to use this as if you stick it together with something like silicon you won't get it apart again. The butyl goes quite soft in the oven . Some people just stick the unit back together using the original butyl but it's more likely to leak I would of thought.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUTYL-SNAKE- ... 2706251076?

I removed a lot of the original butyl sealer whilst it was still warm.










You need to remove the indicator reflector at the bottom of the headlight, there are 2 small Torx screws securing it at either end.



















You then need to remove the main beam headlight and plastic surround that the projector screws too. This is a bit fiddly but by using the two white hex adjusters on the top of the headlight you wind the adjusters to move the main beam reflector out of the headlight casing. Don't forget to unclip the height adjustor from the bottom of the assembly.
You end up with this.










After making some measurements and looking at the location of the mountings on the new light I determined that I could use 1 of the original mounting points . I had to use a dremel and junior hacksaw to trim the plastic mounting plate as the 4 arms that support the lens have a larger diameter so fouled the mounting. Also the flap that opens for the Bi Xenon effect was catching on the sides.
Points 1 and 4 need trimming to stop the Bi xenon flap from catching. Points 2 and 3 are trimmed to allow the bottom arms that mount the lens to fit.










And after



















Time to mount the new projector, The screw in the top left of the projector goes into the original mounting hole. 
The bottom two holes need drilling. If you use a 4mm drill you can re use the original mounting screws as they self tap into the plastic. If you look closely at the picture you can see a nut as well as the original red rubber mounting. This nut is needed as the one original mounting sits on a raised pad about 4mm deep. So to keep the projector square you need something 4mm thick . i used some thin nuts.










Should Look something like this










Before you put the headlight back together you need to trim a piece of plastic from just above the ballast for the bulb.
The wires from the bulb are held on a brass clip secured to a piece of plastic. This clip needs removing and the plastic tab cutting back. Otherwise this fouls with the solenoid on the new projector. be careful cutting the plastic tab as the black box under the tab is the ballast for the bulb. Marked "Here" in the following photo.



















Next you need to connect the wires from the solenoid black and white to the main beam connections brown and red/white.
This will activate the solenoid and lower the shutter on the projector giving you main beam.
I connected black to brown and white to red/white. Don't think it makes any difference which way you do it as I don't think there is a diode snubber on the solenoid.










Just need to put the front back on now. So check there is no dust , or bits of plastic around. Clean you finger prints off the projector lens (I didn't) and get the oven back on. I let it pre heat for 10 minutes or so. If you are just reusing the original butyl then mount the front part on the headlight and put it in the oven for 10 minutes to soften the butyl.
I removed most of the original and applied some new butyl. It's like a 7mm string thats soft and sticky. You can stretch it to make it a little thinner if you want, but starting in the middle on the bottom of the headlight put a continuous run all around the headlight back to the bottom.

When the headlight comes out the oven it's just a matter of reseating the front of the headlight and fitting the 4 clips.
Refit the ignitor unit with the three screws and put the bulbs back in and rear cover back on.

Now time to refit and admire your handywork.
You will notice that it's a tad darker than when I started and I have just done the one side. I recon it will take me an hour or so to do the other side now I don't have to take piccies and I know what to do.

The right side is the new lens the left the old one just in case you can't work it out.

On dipped. The cutoff is sharper than it looks on the photo as the camera has exposed for the dimmer parts of the picture. You can see there is a lot more light on the RHS.










Main beam is where you can really see the difference, a serious amount of light being thrown out. Not sure why they didn't fit these in the first place.










And a small video,






Hopefully will change the other one tomorrow and get to try them out. I am sure they are going to be a good deal better.
Looks completely standard looking at the headlight.


----------



## silkman

Great write up re. lights.

So as I understand it, you got the bi-xenon kit for the E46 (this is for lights made by ZKW, not the Bosch/AL ones) and put it on which requires *somewhat* modding the oem light to fit.

Also up to now I didnt know that bi-xenons essentially is moving the metal plate that produces the cut-off line of the low beams out of the way for high beam. And you also kept the original H7 for the high beam so now both the H7 and D2s light up, correct?


----------



## desertstorm

That's correct. The H7 main beam is fairly redundant now in terms of it's light output as the projector puts out so much more light. Still useful only when wanting to flash the main beam.I did the other headlight yesterday and it was an AL headlight.
I think at some time the car may have had a bump on the passenger corner and the headlight I did yesterday an AL item is date coded 2008.
The one I did the write up on was an original fit item. There was no difference in the process they were the same internally.


----------



## desertstorm

Parcel arrived today from Badger 5. More bits for the engine rebuild.










Put the manifold and downpipe on the turbo just to make sure it all fits together, and it does very nicely.










The quality of the welding and finish on the manifold and downpipe is excellent. No cheap Chinese stuff here. Unfortunately not cheap Chinese prices either, But I decided to try and do this right the first time. I went for the 45mm wastegate flanges.



















Need to download the Ignitron software and start having a look at what it does.


----------



## desertstorm

Been out in the garage this afternoon making an adaptor plate for the R32 throttle body. Badger 5 supply them I think and there is a picture on the net of one so as I have some 10mm aluminium plate I thought I would make one. Think it came out quite good compared to the CNC machined item. Mine was made with a hand drill, hacksaw, carbide cutter, 63mm hole saw and a small bench pillar drill.
Supertech Inconel exhaust valves finally arrived this morning so pretty much got most of the big bits for the engine build.

Badger 5 throttle body adaptor










My attempt,


----------



## desertstorm

Another small mod this weekend. Seeing an advert quoting horsepower gains from reduced parasitic losses on the alternator / power steering by fitting lightweight pulleys and underdrive pulleys thought I would look into this.
Didn't want to spend a lot of money and I remember reading that Prawn had changed his alternator for a 70 A item I thought I would look into this. Changing the engine crank pulley is a no no for me as people have had issues with these and that pulley performs a very important function. 
An alternator typically runs upto around 15K RPM but most are designed to run to 18K RPM. Did a quick calculation on the pulley sizes 138mm and 57mm so the alternator runs at around 2.42 times engine speed. So 7500 RPM would be 18150 rpm.
So anything over 7500RPM is really over the design speed for the alternator.
As I have a much reduced electrical load with no heated seats, air con , surround sound stereo etc a smaller capacity alternator shouldn't be an issue. It should be lighter and I would expect the stator (rotating winding) to be smaller.
Surfed around on the net looking for suitable 70A alternators and came up with a few part part numbers. 
028903028C 
030903023H
06A903026B- I bought this one off a 1.6 2005 Beetle.
The one I bought is a Bosch Item as opposed to some of the others being Valeo items. The advantage being that the voltage regulators on the 70/90/120/140A alternators in this range are all interchangeable. So if I bought one with a duff voltage reg I could swap it. It actually turned out the brushes on the one I bought were quite worn so I swapped my 120A voltage reg into the 70A alternator.
Here are some pictures.
The 70A alternator on the right. These smaller alternators don't need a one way clutch as the rotating mass is smaller the alternator is more easily slowed when the engine speed changes.










Put them on the scales the original 120A alternator weighs 6.8Kg and the 70 A alternator 5.5Kg . Only 1.3Kg hardly worth changing it out to save just over 1Kg.
They are quite similar in size but I could see the 70A alternator rotor was smaller and shorter than the 120A item. So took the alternators apart to have a look. They come apart quite easily and separated the two halves of each alternator to leave the pulley and rotor assembly with the front part of the case.
Measured the size of the Iron rotor mass in each alternator.
70A 93.5mm diameter by 53mm long.
120A 103mm diameter by 58mm long.
The front part of the case on each alternator was very similar in size and weight so the difference in weight between the two would be the reduction in weight of the rotating mass.
A picture of the two together.










The 120A alternator rotor on the scales










The 70A alternator rotor on the scales.









There is 900g 0.9Kg difference in the rotating mass. Thats quite a bit considering the speed that this runs at and a lot more than is saved by changing an alternator pulley or PAS steering pulley. The amount of energy stored in a rotating mass is proportional to the rotational speed squared. So as the alternator spins at 2.42 times engine speed that's nearly 6 times the amount of energy required to spin up the mass on the alternator compared to having it on the crank pulley.
If you underdrive the alternator it may not charge the battery enough at idle speed. This should hopefully maintain a decent voltage at idle speed.


----------



## NickG

desertstorm said:


> Another small mod this weekend. Seeing an advert quoting horsepower gains from reduced parasitic losses on the alternator / power steering by fitting lightweight pulleys and underdrive pulleys thought I would look into this.
> Didn't want to spend a lot of money and I remember reading that Prawn had changed his alternator for a 70 A item I thought I would look into this. Changing the engine crank pulley is a no no for me as people have had issues with these and that pulley performs a very important function.
> An alternator typically runs upto around 15K RPM but most are designed to run to 18K RPM. Did a quick calculation on the pulley sizes 138mm and 57mm so the alternator runs at around 2.42 times engine speed. So 7500 RPM would be 18150 rpm.
> So anything over 7500RPM is really over the design speed for the alternator.
> As I have a much reduced electrical load with no heated seats, air con , surround sound stereo etc a smaller capacity alternator shouldn't be an issue. It should be lighter and I would expect the stator (rotating winding) to be smaller.
> Surfed around on the net looking for suitable 70A alternators and came up with a few part part numbers.
> 028903028C
> 030903023H
> 06A903026B- I bought this one off a 1.6 2005 Beetle.
> The one I bought is a Bosch Item as opposed to some of the others being Valeo items. The advantage being that the voltage regulators on the 70/90/120/140A alternators in this range are all interchangeable. So if I bought one with a duff voltage reg I could swap it. It actually turned out the brushes on the one I bought were quite worn so I swapped my 120A voltage reg into the 70A alternator.
> Here are some pictures.
> The 70A alternator on the right. These smaller alternators don't need a one way clutch as the rotating mass is smaller the alternator is more easily slowed when the engine speed changes.
> 
> View attachment 3
> 
> 
> Put them on the scales the original 120A alternator weighs 6.8Kg and the 70 A alternator 5.5Kg . Only 1.3Kg hardly worth changing it out to save just over 1Kg.
> They are quite similar in size but I could see the 70A alternator rotor was smaller and shorter than the 120A item. So took the alternators apart to have a look. They come apart quite easily and separated the two halves of each alternator to leave the pulley and rotor assembly with the front part of the case.
> Measured the size of the Iron rotor mass in each alternator.
> 70A 93.5mm diameter by 53mm long.
> 120A 103mm diameter by 58mm long.
> The front part of the case on each alternator was very similar in size and weight so the difference in weight between the two would be the reduction in weight of the rotating mass.
> A picture of the two together.
> 
> 
> 
> The 120A alternator rotor on the scales
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> The 70A alternator rotor on the scales.
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> There is 900g 0.9Kg difference in the rotating mass. Thats quite a bit considering the speed that this runs at and a lot more than is saved by changing an alternator pulley or PAS steering pulley. The amount of energy stored in a rotating mass is proportional to the rotational speed squared. So as the alternator spins at 2.42 times engine speed that's nearly 6 times the amount of energy required to spin up the mass on the alternator compared to having it on the crank pulley.
> If you underdrive the alternator it may not charge the battery enough at idle speed. This should hopefully maintain a decent voltage at idle speed.


Well over my head, i like the idea but no idea about the maths, 1kg is quite a decent weight saving considering its so far forward to be fair.

Have a conversation with Prawn if you can, i'm sure i read a recent thread where he may have been struggling with battery power after his change, again, i'm not sure what was going on, but it seemed like there was a potential issue, linked to the change.


----------



## Amulet banana

Hi Karl, fancy seeing you on here, it's ryan AKA burnzybubbles from UKP, I couldn't believe it when I seen this post as I've also recently bought a TT for a track car, looks like your up to your old tricks as usual  how much power you looking for?

I'm just in the process of getting mine snag free, I've gone for V6 brakes and yellow stuff pads and RBF600 fluid, I know their heavier but they'll handle the heat better in my opinion, I'll see how I get on as I'm committed now, then look at cupra brakes or the one piece brembo junior GT's at a later date if they don't perform very well.

How's the A4? Last time I looked you was over 300bhp iirc.

I'm happy I chose the TT puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, still quite amazed I fit in it being 6'6" I've tried it with my helmet on and I still JUST fit albeit I think the way forward will have to be bucket seats for a bit of extra height, hopefully see you at donno at some point soon.


----------



## desertstorm

Hi Ryan, The A4 is currently running 385bhp and 750Nm (550Lb/ft) with it's hybrid turbo.
I run plain EBC V6 discs on the front of the TT with some TTRS calipers and this works pretty well. Using standard Aston Martin DB9 road pads. If they are good enough for a 1800Kg 500bhp 190mph car then they should do OK on the TT. You need to ditch as much weight out of the car as you can as the TT is quite lardy and this doesn't help matters. The Brembo junior set up is pretty much the same as the Cupra brakes in terms of performance.
A lot of people go from the standard K04 to a hybrid and then onto a big turbo to get even more power. I have just skipped the hybrid bit. The G25-660 I have bought has the capability to do over 500bhp with the right spec. If it comes out around 460-470 bhp I will be happy. 
Have a look through the build thread and hopefully you may find some useful info. There are a few other build threads for track cars on the forum and loads of information. Quite a good Facebook site as well "Audi TT MK1 track car" if you use FB.
Hopefully will be at Donnington again in the future, great track with lots of elevation changes and good run off and only about 40 minutes away from home.


----------



## desertstorm

Small update on the car, These big turbo upgrades are complex and expensive. So many parts and bits to find.
Been shopping around in the sales and got a few more bits and pieces cheaper than you would normally.
The alternator seems to work fine on the car.

Got a MAP sensor boss welded onto the inlet manifold and the Adaptor plate finished and matched to the manifold so I can fit the R32 throttle body.










Hopefully will have a go at connecting the Ignitron ECU and make sure that all works correctly. Try running the car MAF less using the new MAP sensor and see what it drives like. Plan is to get the engine/ gearbox out over Christmas and get it all rebuilt with the new turbo .


----------



## Amulet banana

desertstorm said:


> Hi Ryan, The A4 is currently running 385bhp and 750Nm (550Lb/ft) with it's hybrid turbo.
> I run plain EBC V6 discs on the front of the TT with some TTRS calipers and this works pretty well. Using standard Aston Martin DB9 road pads. If they are good enough for a 1800Kg 500bhp 190mph car then they should do OK on the TT. You need to ditch as much weight out of the car as you can as the TT is quite lardy and this doesn't help matters. The Brembo junior set up is pretty much the same as the Cupra brakes in terms of performance.
> A lot of people go from the standard K04 to a hybrid and then onto a big turbo to get even more power. I have just skipped the hybrid bit. The G25-660 I have bought has the capability to do over 500bhp with the right spec. If it comes out around 460-470 bhp I will be happy.
> Have a look through the build thread and hopefully you may find some useful info. There are a few other build threads for track cars on the forum and loads of information. Quite a good Facebook site as well "Audi TT MK1 track car" if you use FB.
> Hopefully will be at Donnington again in the future, great track with lots of elevation changes and good run off and only about 40 minutes away from home.


As always your running some good figures mate 

I'll try and get some time to trawl through your build thread and the site, I took mine on it's first track day last Sunday and it was awesome, far way off a proper track car but I had a brilliant time all the same  the yellow stuff pads and v6 brakes stayed on form all day even after 20 minutes on track, I did melt my hubcaps out though :lol:


----------



## desertstorm

Getting ready for the new turbo. Fitted a Wideband AFR gauge , going to mount the Lambda sensor where the rear cat sensor is ATM. Just need to work out a way of getting the lambda sensor connector back to the gauge.


----------



## desertstorm

Todays job was to fit the Ignitron ECU and make sure it works OK. Hopefully some of this may help somebody using one of these. Also going to hopefully get used to playing with it a bit before I swap the engine over.Never got going on this till late this afternoon as had to do some Xmas shopping in Telford.
The Ignitron ECU is a PNP solution that replaces the existing ME7.5 ECU. http://www.ignitronecu.com/?page=home&lang=en
The Ignitron is available in the UK via Bill at Badger5.
The advantage of the Ignitron over other similar ECU's is this is a direct PNP item. There are no other harnesses to connect and the ECU pretty much replicates all the functionality of the standard item without it's limitations. Has 8Mb of built in memory so has great logging capability. Changes to maps can be entered within seconds and it has configureable inputs/ outputs so you can interface sensors for oil pressure / oil temp etc to it.
The ECU is very well constructed in a very solid aluminium case. It has a connection to the rear for the USB lead that is used to talk to the ECU.










First job remove the old ECU, Not so difficult after pulling the wiper arms off and removing the scuttle panel. To feed the USB into the car I used the blanked hole at the back of the pollen filter. This is visible at the back of the glovebox when that is removed. This means there is a good length of cable in the car to put the laptop /tablet where you like. In my case I am using a windows 10 laptop ATM.










I had to undo the locating nut on the ECU mounting frame to get the Ignitron in as it's a little deeper than the OE item. No big problem really.

The Ignitron comes with a base file wizard that makes getting the engine running and useable hopefully quite simple. Dependent on what engine code you enter it configures the sensors, The MAF calibration is set dependent on the part number you select, the same with the MAP sensor. Options such as EVAP system, VVT etc are set and things such as the gear ratios allow gear dependent boost limiting , traction etc.
Instead of 386cc for the injector size I specified mine as 445cc as I have a 4 bar FPR on the car.
The wizard has 3 boost maps in it for a K03/K03S, K04 hybrid and a "big turbo" . These are purely to get you going as are reasonably easy to alter. The whole package is quite intuitive and well organised once you have played with it a bit.










From the logging I did on the car before it was mapped I had a guesstimate at a standard 225 map. Just to get used to what the ECU does.










So following the extensive provided instructions. There is a very good on line translated manual. There isn't an English manual available yet but apparently that is OTW.










Switched on the ignition, The CEL and ESP light came on and I heard the in tank pump start. Well that was a plus point.
Next connect the ECU to the laptop and see what's going on. The laptop pinged up and said it was installing the drivers and after a few seconds declared that the device was ready.
Opened up Ignitron and tried to connect to the ECU. Spent 10 minutes messing around turning the laptop off and on to get the ECU to connect. Did some more checking and the driver install had failed :roll: .
I was at step 4 on the list, I noticed that step 13 was start the engine, Good job I am not too superstitious.
Driver failed to install as they are unsigned. Windows 10 doesn't like unsigned drivers. You can however disable this by following this process . When the laptop reboots it will allow unsigned drivers to be loaded.

https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers ... nforcement

I could now connect to the ECU, Connection was immediate and I could see that the the ECU had unknown firmware.
It appears that a copy of the latest firmware is packaged as part of the install so followed the process and loaded "Toxic Fumes which appears to be the name of the latest firmware level.
Took a minute or less to update the firmware and I could then upload my base map which only takes 10 seconds or so.
Next onto the throttle body adaption and clearing the fault codes.
Then start the engine.
the Engine turned over and busrt into life, unfortunately a little too much life. Revved upto around 3300 RPM and sat there. Switched it off after a few seconds and checked over what I had done. [smiley=book2.gif] [smiley=book2.gif]

Quickly realised that in my enthusiasm I had missed out step 9 set min and max settings for the throttle. 

Checked the TPS all appeared to be working OK, showed 0 with no foot on the pedal and 100% flat to the floor.

Restarted engine and it started more like I would expect, idling at around 1200 RPM. It works.

Spent the next 30 minutes or so playing on the drive. Tweaked the warm up Lambda map which seems quite rich to me, think the idle speed is a little high too when the engine is cold but things like this are all easily tweakble.
I discovered that the reset option for the ECU is right next to the check fault codes.










The engine stumbled quite a bit but it never stopped.
Think I have worked my round a lot of the menu options and hopefully I will get some driving in tomorrow and play with it a bit more after I have put the wiper blades back on the car. Unfortunately it is raining a lot lately.


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## Amulet banana

That looks awesome, can things like flat shift and launch be coded with that ecu? What kind of price does that kit cost?


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## desertstorm

Yes it does pretty much anything you would want to do.And a lot of other things that you might not want.
Unfortunately not cheap as most good things are. Comparable price to something like an Emerald or a cheaper DTA system but it does a lot more . You can configure spare inputs and outputs to add extra sensors, or power a nice bright LED for a shift light. Or configure the EPC and CEL to flash together when you want to change gear.
You can download the ECU program from Ignitron without the drivers and look around all the options.
Hopefully in the long term it will reduce the cost of mapping which on big turbo set ups can be high. I can get this running with the big turbo, uprated injectors, bigger throttle body etc and sort a lot of the mapping myself. Plan is to have a sensible map for the track that isn't flat out and a push to pass button for that extra 50-60 bhp with a gob more torque when I want to go a bit faster.The ECU supports upto 4 maps selectable on the fly.
Also in development is Haldex controller fuctionality.
The ECU recieves some info over the CAN network and knows the wheel speeds from the ABS and with the other information it has it should be able to transmit signals to the Haldex. AFAIK to do this a dongle needs to be inserted on the haldex connector, this effectively changes the Haldex device number and it ignores information from the ABS etc and will see information provided by the ECU. This should hopefully give you great control of the haldex functionality.

Race mode










Traction control










Launch control










shift light










Anti lag










Me messing with the Warm up Lambda map. The yellow blob is the current values being used. It does this on nearly all the maps live so you can see whats happening .






Yours for £899 [smiley=bigcry.gif]

https://badger5.co.uk/ecu-management/ig ... dalone-ecu


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## desertstorm

Anybody wanting to download the software and have a look. A usefult tip is the default language is Hungarian, To change to English select the English option from the drop down.


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## StuartDB

Good job Karl.. You make so many of these things look simple. 
Is the anti-lag the way tuffty set it up by leaving the throttle open between gear changes to simply circulate the residual boost pressure without fuel or spark to keep the turbine spinning? Some of these tools absolutely amaze me - incredible kit.

Have you decided on your big turbo already? You may have mentioned it, I just remember you waiting for Bill to post his review on the g25-660 turbo recently.


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## desertstorm

Continued playing with the ECU this afternoon. The Guy who is the main driving force behind this ECU posts on Audi Sport.Net and noticed that the Firmware and software I was using was not the latest version.
I hadn't picked the newest version as it looked like it might have been a Beta version, But it seems there have been major improvements with the new software.
Thus installed the latest software version and created a new map. Apparently there have been a lot of improvements with the base file wizard and also a lot more functionality added.
Using the base file wizard and altering the boost map took about 15 minutes to create a new map. When I connected it to the car it detected the Firmware on the car was out of date, A 2 minute job to upgrade to the latest version. Loaded my new map on the car and started it up.
Straight away I could tell this was an improvement over what the car was doing yesterday. I made changes to the warm up Lambda map yesterday as it looked pretty rich to me, Seems I was right as on the new software a lot of the maps have been tweaked.
The car to drive is pretty much like it was with the OE ECU. Very smooth and pretty much spot on straight away. I was mighty impressed.
Some of the new features in this software include more integration with the existing modules. The ECU uses the CAN bus to talk to the ABS and other modules like the dash.
You can see the oil temp reading outside air temp fuel level etc and the trip computer now works as the ECU is supplying fuel use info to the dash. The ECU can even see the current ODO value 
The fule consumption accuracy can be tweaked with a correction factor.










There is a lot more settings on the limp mode protection screen. You can add an oil pressure sensor and configure a map such that the car will go into limp mode if the oil pressure drops below a certain range. Indeed there are about 9 different things that can be monitored that will put the car into limp mode.
If you wait till an oil pressure light comes on then it's probably well knackered already.










Another obvious addition is a tell tale trace that follows the current setting that's been used when looking at live values.
The trace draws a black line behind it which persists for a few seconds and then thins out and fades away.
This shot was on the ignition timing screen. I was just revving the engine and letting the revs drop. You can follow the path of the actual value being used .










I also noticed that the ECU now does a calculation to work out power and torque. I have set up the boost and Fuelling based on a standard 225 map from logs I took before it was mapped. So it was interesting to see it recorded 243bhp peak output and 340Nm peak torque. When I ran it on Ricks dyno with the standard map and similar hardware to what it has now it made 234 bhp and 320Nm of torque. The car has a few extra teaks such as a straight through 3 inch exhaust, and a few other bits so the readings I got seemed pretty reasonable.
The logging facilities are very good and you can export all the info as a CSV if you want to do more crunching on the numbers.


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## desertstorm

Hi Stuart, I have had a G25-660 since 19th September when it arrived. It was ordered back in August so I made my mind up on that mainly based on the compressor maps and information provided by Garrett. Compared to other turbos available it looked really good. Of course time will tell if it is reliable but from the results Bill has had and Prawn has seen with his car I think I made a good decision.
The Turbosmart actuator and IE rods arrived this afternoon from Badger 5. 
So checked the actuator fitted OK on the turbo/ manifold / down pipe set up. Also interested to see how much movement was available to move the downpipe. Don't want to end up in the position that you are.
Another reason for going V-band is it gives you some freedom to move stuff. And with everything being V-band mounted I have plenty of adjustment in the positioning of the downpipe.










I have had an EGT boss welded on the manifold so can fit the OE EGT pre turbo. Also tried out a drain pipe for the turbo oil drain. This is fully adjustable to place it where you need it and will probably be the hardest thing to run in. Fortunately everything seems to fit really well, I suppose I should expect that but you never know.
Will be wrapping the manifold and downpipe in heat wrap to try and reduce under bonnet temps.










The IE rods also arrived with the actuator. Great service from Bill and Alex at Badger 5. This pretty much completes all the big parts spending.


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## StuartDB

Argh that looks great, didn't realise prawn had one, he must have had his nearly a year then? It'll be interesting to see whether you manage a little more torque on a Quattro?

Did prawn make his own manifold? Or just make some alterations to get the screamer pipe routed to the downpipe?


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## desertstorm

No Prawn has just fitted his G25 in the last 10 days or so. His 3076 made good power but the G25 does the same power with much better spool and response, so much more useful on the track .
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3345065 ... 039415269/


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## desertstorm

Spent a few hours looking around on Fleabay for a suitable tablet to use in the car for programming the ECU and also using as a display. A few people are using a Linx 8 inch tablet, You can get these new for around £80 or even less. I widened the search and included second hand items. 
I like Lenovo stuff and every one in the house has a Lenovo laptop, My work laptop is a Lenovo item and has been for many years. So they are pretty well built and reliable. I found the Lenovo Yoga 2. 
This comes in an 8 and 10 inch size and found a second hand barely used 10 inch Yoga 2 for £100. Came with all the original packaging, the keyboard was unused and the tablet had only been used a dozen times or so according to the elderly seller.
The tablet had been upgraded to W10 by a family friend and they hadn't used it since. I got the idea they weren't that PC literate.

https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/table ... ch-windows

These have a great battery life of 12 hours plus and a bright full HD screen 1920 x 1200 . 32Gb memory with a micro SD slot that will take upto 64Gb . The quad core processor is pretty much the same speed as the Linx tablets so it has no problem doing what I want. the big advantage is the fold out metal stand that I figured would make a great mounting point.

Tried it out for size tonight in the TT.










I Just wedged the stand under the bottom of the radio to take the picture and it sat there fine. Will make some brackets up 
and use the screws at either side of the radio to attach the screen. This should mount it pretty solidly. The screen will just lie flat if I want to get at anything behind it.


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## StuartDB

desertstorm said:


> No Prawn has just fitted his G25 in the last 10 days or so. His 3076 made good power but the G25 does the same power with much better spool and response, so much more useful on the track .
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/3345065 ... 039415269/


Blimey, maybe some distant relative left him some cash. Just when he pretends he's nearly finished...


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## desertstorm

I think he decided the the G25 was going to be the weapon of choice and a used 3076 wouldn't be worth as much going forward. Which I think is probably going to be true.His 3076 is up for sale so swapping to the G25 won't be as expensive as it looks.


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## desertstorm

Not done much over the holiday, connected the Fuel pressure sensor and Oil pressure sensor into the Ignitron and set up the calibration for the gauges. Can Now log FRP and Oil pressure and implement some protection if the oil pressure drops below defined limits. Hopefully never need it but I would rather get an indication when oil pressure is below 3 bar rather than 3 PSI when the oil pressure light comes on.










Also changed the car over to speed/ density mapping to see how it runs there and make sure all that works before I start thinking about taking the engine out.


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## desertstorm

Decided I was happy with the ECU so started taking out the engine this afternoon. Fortunately my next door neighbour has an engine crane and engine stand which I can borrow for a few weeks, top man.
Got the front off , rad, intercooler headlights etc, drained the oil and coolant and disconnected all the electrics, fuel , gearchange , MAF, air filter , TIP and a few other bits.
Need to disconnect the prop shaft , clutch, drive shafts, exhaust and a few other bits then the engine mounts , dog bone etc and hopefully it will be out. Taking the engine and gearbox out together is the plan.


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## desertstorm

Good day today, Started a bit late this afternoon but got the engine and box out. Not quite sure if it will go back in as easy as it came out. Just got to get the gearbox off and then work out how to get it on the engine stand. Then the fun can start.


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## Beunhaas

Nice work mate. Following with intrest, about time someone started a good build again 8)


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## McLovin999

Awesome work Karl! Following with great interest too !!!


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## desertstorm

A few more hours in the garage and removed the gearbox , exhaust manifold with turbo and got it on the engine stand. How on earth you are supposed to remove the standard turbo when the engine is in the car I am not sure.
It was hard enough doing it when I have full and easy access to the back of the engine, to remove it when the engine is in the car must be a nightmare.
Gearbox came off fairly easy after I discovered the extra bolt that comes from the transfer box side and hides well out the way, Thank god for ElsaWin.
Not in any great rush to get this done so taking my time not trying to break anything or strip bolts/ threads. Refitting bolts a lot of the time where I can back to where they came from so hopefully I won't be spending a lot of time working out what goes where.
Clutch seems to have a fair bit left in it, the DMF also seems pretty good, compared to the nearly new one I have, there's not a lot in it.With only 90K on the clock I suppose it's what you should expect.
More dismantling tomorrow, may even fit the turbo and manifold and work out how I am going to run the oil and coolant for the turbo so I can order some bits. The G25 isn't that much bigger than the standard turbo in physical size terms, there is a marked difference in compressor and turbine size though.


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## silkman

Great progress. Do you have any power figures that you are aiming at?

I would personally get a used engine and work on that on the garage until its ready to go in. That way you get to work with no time constraints and have a usable car in the meantime.


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## desertstorm

Hi, The TT is a second car so not a problem if it takes a few weeks to sort. I will be happy if it makes 460-470 bhp. 
It's capable of more than that with the right hardware but I am more interested in having a reliable car that I can run round a track for 20 minutes at a time flat out. The peak numbers are only part of the story, the area under the curve is what makes a good track car in my opinion. A really wide power band that pulls strong all the way through to the red line.


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## FJ1000

Blimey! You've been busy!

Hadn't checked this thread for a few weeks and now we've got aftermarket ECU, custom tablet install, engine removed etc! Great effort!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

Well the engine dismantling is coming along well. Everything looking OK at the moment, Engine has done 90K.
Keeping the standard pistons as they look fine, no marks on the bores at all and no wear ridges that I can feel in the bore. There is still some signs of the original hone but to me look like it definitely needs deglazing.








































I have some new standard size Kolbenschmidt rings on the way.
I have looked around for honing tools and they aren't expensive but wondering what grade stone would be the best. It seems standard stones are 180 and you can get 220 and 280 grit stones. I believe the rings on the 225 are different to the lower power 1.8t engines in that they are chrome on the top rings so possibly need a finer hone, more like 280 than 180.
Anybody have an idea on the best ring gaps to aim for bearing in mind I will be running 450bhp plus hopefully.
The engine has great oil pressure, around 1.8 bar idle even when the oil temp is well over 100 degrees. So I am not planning on changing the main bearings, I did buy some plastigauge and have a set of TDI main bolts so am going to check all appears OK and fit the uprated bolts.

This is what I have found on Elsa Win.








Obviously it probably won't be within the original clearances but I would of thought a little looser than new is better from a performance point of view.
Think I am going to have some fun trying to get the cotters back in for the valves on the head. The inlets were fiddly enough to get out let alone get back in.


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## desertstorm

Think I have got the ring gaps sorted, there seems to be quite a consensus on the net about the kind of gaps required, very unusual.
Ordered a 3 Draper egged hone from Fleabay and a set of 280 grit stones as the normal 180 ones are too aggressive because of the chrome/moly rings.
Checked the gap on the main bearings and it all looks good, only 0.05mm across all 5 journals with no signs of wear or any other issues. As the initial build tolerance is 0.02- 0.04mm and the wear limit is 0.15mm the wear looks very good to me for a 90k mile engine.
It seems some people seem to think a slightly larger gap is preferable especially on higher power engines due to distortion and twisting that can occur when you get to 400bhp plus. Either way the engine has very good oil pressure so will be leaving the mains alone.
I bought some ARL TDI main bolts to replace to originals which are single use only stretch items. The OE items are 10.9 , the TDI items 12.9.
Apparently the TFSI bolts also fit and are 12.9.









The car last had a new cambelt fitted 15K miles ago. It looks like they changed the water pump and hydraulic tensioner. I didn't know this before I took it apart so bought new items anyway, they aren't that expensive.
The water pump fitted looks like it wouldn't pump as well as the Febi item I bought. The original has a pretty agricultural metal impellor where as the Febi has the more OE design of impellor. Looking at the water pump location the top of the pump impellor runs very closely to the opening and pulls water through and pushes it out to the side. You can see the end of the thermostat in the picture .
Hopefully the Febi will move more water than the cheap looking metal impellor pump, maybe the car will run a little cooler.



















Picking up the cylinder head tomorrow, acid dipped with new Mahle exhaust valve guides and refaced. So going to be having lots of fun trying to get the inlet valve cotters back in.


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## cryptopsy

desertstorm said:


> In other news after seeing a post the other day on short shifters I decided to buy one as it's something that should really help on the car.Just search on Fleabay for Audi 6 speed short shifter, around £30 and give upto 40% reduction in shift length.


Can that be combined with one of these for even shorter shifting? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Short-Thro...AOSw3bZcEGU7:rk:2:pf:1&vxp=mtr&frcectupt=true


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## desertstorm

That Ebay ad is for a Honda short shifter. I can't imagine it would fit on a TT. I Suspect there is an error in the listing.


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## cryptopsy

desertstorm said:


> That Ebay ad is for a Honda short shifter. I can't imagine it would fit on a TT. I Suspect there is an error in the listing.


It says it works for tt mk1 when choosing that in the drop down menu but not for tt mk1 quattro. 1.781 engine. I thought they were all using the same shifters. I was not able to find pics of our TT shifters disassembled as far as the ball bearing, to see if it matches.


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## desertstorm

They are trying to make out it will fit a million and 1 different cars.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Short-Throw-Sh ... 3273489120?


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## StuartDB

What ring gaps did you decide to go with for the top and second ring?

Did you get IE rods?


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## desertstorm

I have rifle drilled IE rods from Bill. 
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 1#p9093121 
The standard clearance is 5 to 10 thou middle and top with a wear limit at 20 thou.
Of course things are getting hotter and the last thing you want is the ring ends to meet so a little more clearance is better than less. And I think the perceived wisdom is that a larger second ring gap reduces the pressure below the top ring as the ring sealing is dependent upon the pressure differential across the ring.
Some seem to go with slightly higher values for the top and second ring gap but the gaps will open a small amount when the rings bed in and the engine has done a few miles.
So I have decided on 16 thou top, 18 thou middle and 16 for the oil control.


----------



## desertstorm

Bit of an update on things with the engine rebuild. 
After some discussions on line and some wisdom imparted from Prawn I decided to bin the idea of keeping the standard pistons and get some aftermarket forged items. Although I believe the standard pistons would work in the short term they have already done 90K miles and the bore etc is not exactly factory fresh.
So bought some Wossner 9.5:1 82.5mm pistons. These are the same as what Prawn uses in his car and that's currently making over 500bhp so they can't be all that bad. At least until they wear out .
With this size piston capacity increases from 1780cc to 1850cc so another 70cc capacity which all helps.


















Found a place to do the rebore work I thought. Dropped the block and pistons off last Monday and was hoping to pick it up last Friday. Rang on Thursday last week and told that machinist had been busy and had not had time to do the work. He was not going to be in this week so work wouldn't be done till next week at the earliest.
Slightly annoyed as I could do with putting the engine back together . Anyway rang on Friday just to check something and got transferred to the main office. I am now told that the place I took the engine too which is part of a larger group of companies is being closed down???.
They are still going to honor the work but I am not entirely sure I am happy with that, however I can't find anybody else locally who I think could do a better job than them.
So hopefully awaiting to get the block back next week sometime so I can start rebuilding the engine.

Head is all built up, ready to go on. Rosten uprated springs, new exhaust valve guides, supertech Inconel exhaust valves.










Did a very small amount of porting just cleaning up some of the rough casing marks at the back of the valves and removing a bit here and there that was obviously in the way.
Wrapped the manifold and down pipe to try and reduce the underbonnet temps a bit.



















Filled the engine mounts with liquid polyeurethane. Went for the slightly softer 60 shore stuff. Not completely solid it allows a very small amount of movement.



















Bought a tool as well so I could get the crank bolt undone. Jeez that's tight. I really would hate to try and tighten or undo an ARP item.










Bought one of the diamond coated washers as used on the 2.0 TFSI engines for when I put it back together.


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## silkman

Loving the progress


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## desertstorm

Well a day I was wondering if I would ever see. The engine back in one piece with the gearbox and ready to put back in the car. I 









Unfortunately the weather looks to be really poor tomorrow so probably start putting it back in Sunday.
A few pictures of the build.
IE H beam rifled drilled rods










Wossner 82.5mm pistons










Bosch 1000cc injectors










Manifold doing a mummy impression.










Made up my own coolant and oil lines. Braided stainless lines with PTFE inners from Torques. Bit more heat protection from some high temperature sleeving.










Bit of heat shielding to try and keep the coolant and oil drain a little less toasty.










Oil drain was made up using a few bits I already had. A spare oil drain pipe for a B8 3.0 TDI , A piece of 20mm conduit and the original oil drain pipe. Welded it all up and gave it a coat of paint. Have wrapped it in exhaust heat wrap so hopefully it should be OK.


__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










New air filter arrived today. Gone for a K & N item RG-1002RD , Intake will be 4" down to 3" at the turbo intake.


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## desertstorm

She's alive !!!.
Just seem to have 1 small issue with the coolant after run pump not working. But other than that it's running and idling fine with no fault codes, noises or issues.


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## Amulet banana

Congrats mate, you've really got it done quickly, I've still got my s4 motor on a stand waiting to get stripped down [smiley=bigcry.gif]

When's mapping happening? The afterrun pump will just be ecu configuring won't it? Do you have a haldex controller too?


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## Delta4

Excellent, you must be well chuffed


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## miTTzee

HidiHi - my Hats off to you sir - well done on getting this far.

Wishing you well for your future work. Nice One [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Good Luck - miTTzee :wink:

.


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## silkman

Excellent!! Looking forward tfor more.

How you plan to run her in?


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## desertstorm

Thanks for the positive comments guys, I am happy it's all back in and running and appears to be OK.

Got a few things to finish off before taking it for a run, some heat shielding and the catch can along with finishing the intake off. The after run coolant pump runs off the rad fan module. There doesn't seem to be any power from the module to the pump. Checked fuse 5 which is a 7.5A fuse for the after run pump and that's OK. Could be the actual module, will do some more faulting tomorrow.
Not going to baby it too much as it seems that boost is required to bed the rings in properly and avoid bore glazing.
With the Ignitron you can do a lot of mapping yourself using the great logging facilities and tweaking timing and boost . I do intend to take it to Bills at some time, he has given me a running in map for the car, it's running on actuator pressure while running in. There are 14Lb springs in the turbosmart actuator.
Car has one of the powertrack inserts in the Haldex so permanent 50/50 4WD. The latest version of the software on the Ignitron has a Haldex control facility but you have to disable the ABS to get it to work.
Don't fancy doing that, will be doing some testing to see if I can do a work around.


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## BrianB

desertstorm said:


> She's alive !!!.
> Just seem to have 1 small issue with the coolant after run pump not working. But other than that it's running and idling fine with no fault codes, noises or issues.


Excellent work...you must be very happy.


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## StuartDB

Good work Karl, exciting stuff.

What does a 14lb spring equate to in psi? Those turbo smart actuators are pretty expensive aren't they? Are they part of AET?


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## desertstorm

Hi Stuart not sure how much boost a 14lb spring makes hopefully will find out soon and let you know  . You can get cheaper actuators there are plenty on Ebay £70 up Tial and Turbosmart copies. Some better quality than others , I spent a while looking around for a cheaper alternative. In the end I bought the actuator from Bill, he was the cheapest I could find anywhere. That was a Gen 4 actuator , just under £300. They are now gen 5 and come with a full set of springs so are more expensive.
Like anything with a build like this the best parts are not cheap. By looking around you can get them cheaper and doing the work yourself saves a load of money as you know.


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## StuartDB

I assume the 'run in' procedure still follows tuffty advice 50+200+500 ?

I just chucked wilko oil in for first 50 then got a deal for 10 litres of millers oil, not sure what filters you use but GSF MANN filters delivered with a code at about 3 quid each is pretty good, and unlike the halfords filters at last those filter 'cap style' socket tools fit them properly.

This is an exciting nervous period, it's gonna be amazing.


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## desertstorm

I am going to do 50 miles then another 450 then fill with Millers Nano .
I looked around for some cheap mineral oil and daft as it seems you don't really get cheap mineral oil these days. Nobody uses it. 5l of mineral oil is usually around £15-£16 the Millers 10/40 CRO worked out at £45 of 10L delivered.
I bought Mann filters from Fleabay, ECP have a store on their £12 for 3 Mann filters. 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-1-6- ... 3211402393?
Found out what was wrong with the after run coolant pump, seems that after sitting around for many weeks it decided to have a rest. When I checked the motor with a DVM I was seeing around 80 ohms. Which was miles too high. I thought the issue might have been the rad fan module. as this supplies the after run coolant pump and I wasn't seeing 12V on the pump or coming from the module.
It seems that the module is more than a simple relay switch as I was only seeing 0.3v coming from it. I suspect the output is an electronic driver and it's not putting the 12V out until it sees a valid load.
I put a battery across the motor on the pump and tapped the body a few times and it burst into life. After that it worked fine running off the module. I suspect the brushes are close to worn out, it is getting on a bit. Will look for a possible replacement.


----------



## StuartDB

I got my replacement afterrun pump for about £35, it's been fine running for 10 minutes after every switch off.
I got in touch with the 'turbo rebuilds' who will look over the chra after getting some screeching but also a bit of smoke on restarts after a hot run. I put back in a totally different housing, chra and hotside and there's no smoke or screeching - but reckon some of the issues are related to the Chinese hotside the lump and ports look great but the wastegate doesn't seem right, its stiff and loose if you know what I mean. The arm is stiff but the plate is loose I can rotate it when tight closed. .
#junk but not sure that explains the smoke or metal screeching.

I suppose your posh g25 /g35 has an external wastegate?


----------



## desertstorm

Had a look and they have Bosch pumps on Autodoc for around £50 with the postage.
The G25 does have a Turbosmart 45mm external gate. Chinese stuff can be very hit and miss in quality. Even when they are machined well the material is not as good as a genuine part. OE turbo housings crack after a few years hard service , Chinese parts tend not to last anywhere near as long .
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/downloa ... &mode=view


----------



## desertstorm

Got the car all back together and took it for a spin. Surprised the handbrake came straight off with no issues, car has been sitting on the drive on axle stands for many weeks now. Brakes were pretty rusty as well although they have cleared up ok.
The poly filled engine mounts are definitely noticeable at idle. There is a bit of a buzz throughout the car at idle. Fine when driving. The clutch started off fine but when it bedded in a bit it became more grippy so I stalled it twice at junctions. It's not as bad as I thought it might be.When I get used to it should be fine.
Have a boost leak somewhere that I need to find. Had a very similar noise on my Passat when I fitted an intercooler high pitched farting noise when the turbo comes on boost.
4 inch intake pipe tapering to 3 inch at the turbo. No MAF to get in the way. Will be putting some shielding around the filter so it isn't pulling in hot air from the rad. If you look at the calculated correction values for power on a dyno with a 10 degree increase it's worth near enough 10bhp at 450bhp level.
http://www.bigdynodatabase.com/DynoCF.php 
Plug in 400Lb/ft 450bhp 20 degrees c and 1000mb on the SAE standard and you get 391Lb/ft and 440 bhp change the temp to 30 degrees C and you now get 399Lb/ft and 449 Bhp. The heated air off the back of the rad is probably going to be more than 10 degrees warmer than ambient. 
Oil catch tank breather and dump valve will probably get changed around. As will the pipe across the top of the engine. Just recycling a few bits , set up for the moment so I can drive it.
Tried to keep a bit of a tunnel free for air from the rad to move through the engine bay, may divert some of the flow to the back of the engine to cool the wastegate and manifiold.



















Added some ally sheeting here and there to try and minimise the heating effects of a turbo. Hopefully heat wrap has finished smoking now .


----------



## desertstorm

Having some fun today putting some miles on the car running it in. Still haven't located the boost leak yet. 
When driving it was looking at the boost gauge and the ignitron trying to see what the wastegate was opening at. It didn't seem to be opening to limit the boost, I was expecting something between 1 and 1.4 bar of boost. Just before I set off back home I thought I would run it upto 6K and see what it was doing.










I had omitted to connect the wastegate up to the boost connection. Car accelerated at a ridiculous rate and I figured that something was not quite right. 2.4bar of boost will give you some decent acceleration.
After getting the car home I had a look around and connected the bottom port up to the boost port.
Done another 40 miles today with a more sedate 1.2 bar of boost peak, very impressed with the way it drives. Will change the oil and filter tomorrow and hopefully get some more miles on the car.


----------



## desertstorm

Oil and filter change completed. Spent some time looking for my boost leak. Pressure tested all the intake hoses and found one very small leak. Got the wife to rev the car whilst I poked around under the bonnet looking for the whistle. Then had a light bulb moment and retired to the computer.

First turbo I have owned with a ported shroud. Listened to a few dyno videos of these turbos in action and sure enough they have the same whistle.

Upgraded the firmware on the ECU and setup a boost limit of 1.3 bar. Also defined a soft rev limit of 6000 rpm to stop myself from getting carried away.

Updated the VE map and reset the trims as per the excellent Tuning checklist document.


----------



## StuartDB

Were you expecting to get zero load boost on the drive? Or do the g25 turbos create boost just revving when stationary?

It all looks very clean and neat, I assume you have totally dropped the cross chassis brace,


----------



## desertstorm

The car will make a small amount of boost just by revving it. I could have enabled launch control on the Ignitron and it would definitely make boost then but the neighbours probably wouldn't thank me. Plus it's still only done 50 miles.
Still have the chassis brace. I hadn't fitted it for those photos. But it is on the car now.


----------



## desertstorm

Few more jobs done whilst I add some miles on running the engine in. 
Sorted the one headlight that has been bugging me for a while, I have tried polishing it twice but withing a few weeks it starts going dull again. So bought a secondhand good headlight off Fleabay. A stripped headlight shell with a very good lens on from the TTshop. Dropped it in the oven and popped the front off then swapped it over with my modified headlight.
New and old together.










Changed out the after run pump as it looks like it's gone intermittent. Quick enough job to do, just drill rivets on original bracket and re rivet on new pump. Didn't even lose any coolant as you can lift the pump higher then the coolant bottle .










Made up a shield on the air filter to try and keep the hot air in the bay away from the intake, opened up the OE air feed hole in the wing a bit.










And the brake upgrade arrived today courtesy of Herpes couriers. Some second hand very light use Pagid RS29 pads. These are a silly price new but are one of the best pads for track day use. These have had very little use and were near enough half price, look in pretty good condition.


----------



## HOGG

You can buy a great heat shield from badger5

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

Bill does a nice heatshield, unfortunately it won't fit in my application the filter is a lot bigger and fits differently.
https://badger5.co.uk/induction/induction-heat-shieldv2
The one I have made cost about £1 in tape to cover hollow plastic soffit board. It sits just under the bonnet line and hopefully will mean most of the air entering the engine will be ambient temperature air from the front bumper.


----------



## desertstorm

Few more bits and pieces on the car whilst I continue to run it in and get some miles on the clock.
Checking the compressor wheel on the turbo for any play and make sure it's spinning nice and freely. Easy to do with a 4 inch intake just drop off the air filter and put your arm down the intake. All was well with the turbo.










I moved the bracket mounting for the Ignitron screen to the bottom of the stereo mounting hole so I can alter the stereo controls easily just by dropping the screen down. Also now exposes the top half of the centre vents so I can get some fresh air.










Lost another 5Kg off the weight by removing the side impact reinforcement bars and plates. I have a rear roll cage so they are a little redundant.










Revamped the boost dump and catch can piping, It looks a lot more tidy now with less joins and clips. Ditched the curly BAM specific PCV pipe on the rocker cover and bought some stuff off Fleabay . Fits really well. Catch can is virtually empty after nearly 300 miles. Just 1-2mm of oil in the bottom. Removed the oil filler cap adaptor as well to save a small amount of weight.










Had a slight issue doing some logging just to see what the engine was doing. Ignitron is great for catching stuff as it logs everything. Too busy looking at the screen in the centre rather than concentrating and went from 2nd to 1st instead of 2nd to 3rd. Just over 8600 RPM . [smiley=bigcry.gif] 
Fortunately all appears to be OK done another 50 miles since with no issues. Timing hasn't slipped at all which I thought might be an issue. Must pay more attention.


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## StuartDB

blimey 8600 RPM  that's mental.

I dont like or understand your charge pipe-> DV-> PCV pipework - It doesn't feel right to my stupid brain, but I am sure it is.

when the DV operates it's going to throw 2bar down the pipe, will some of that go back through the puck into catch can into the oil filter and cam cover? also _like it or not _ even with a catch can, there's still going to be some gloop in the pipe after the puck - then your 30psi blast is going to spray that into the TIP.

regarding the oil filler extension, I didn't have one on my S3 but kept it on the TT - does it do anything apart from help putting oil in. I wasn't sure if the strainer had any other role?


----------



## GARAGE HERMIT

8600 rpm  , is there no rev limiter on the TT's,


----------



## StuartDB

yeah of course, it is set as a default to 6800rpm - most simple maps raise it to 7200rpm pretty pointless as a stock K04 and engine will be screaming trying to get over 7000rpm, but Karl has some sweet components, a mighty turbo and IE forged rods with ARP2000 bolts rated at 8500rpm.

pretty sure this was on a run down anyway as he dipped into the wrong gear.

it's all good fun..


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## desertstorm

When the dump valve opens there is little of the boost pressure that will find it's way into the catch can, The air is heading for the intake pipe and it's not going to do a 90 degree right turn into a smaller pipe. The Tee I have used has different pipe sizes on it. It's called a reducing Tee. The dump valve and stub on the intake pipe are 25mm .
The crankcase breather is 19mm. Air passing through to the intake pipe at high speed in a 25mm pipe won't want to turn at 90 degrees into a 19mm pipe.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hose-Joiner- ... 2309159150?
The limiter on the engine is currently set at 6000 rpm as I am trying to avoid getting carried away with the performance whilst running it in. Changing down a gear instead of up when you are running at 6K RPM will over rev any engine regardless of a limiter. The engine build should be good for 8k and the turbo will pull to that easily if I wanted to. I intend to limit it to around 7500 rpm as that should be plenty of performance, and noise.
A small amount of oil vapour will find it's way through to the intake but it will be a lot less with the trap.


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## StuartDB

thanks for the technical description of the (magical) T piece, like I say. it must work else you wouldn't have done it. won't the boost travelling past the t-piece draw out more air from the PCV like blowing over a tube creates a vacuum or whatever?

it'll be interesting to see how it progresses 

is this for or against the T piece?

https://woodgears.ca/physics/venturi.html


----------



## desertstorm

It may actually create a temporary suction effect as the boost is dumped but this will be a short duration event as the dump valve isn't open long. There may be 2 bar of pressure in the turbo pipe but when the dump valve opens the pressure in the pipe won't be more than a few PSI if that as it is free to expand and there is a nice large empty space in the turbo intake pipe.


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## StuartDB

Hi Karl,

I wonder if you can give me some advice?

I have fitted my dw65v (655) but it's not really aligned? I'm fitting into my hass pump case but it's identical concerning what I assume is the PRV?

Was your alignment the same?

Thanks


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## desertstorm

Hi Stuart sorry not responded earlier been away for a few weeks. My pump went back in as the original pump was fitted. Did have an issue with the pump not being fitted 100% correctly as the rubber O ring seals were a very tight fit. You need to use the rubber grease that comes with the pump to lube the seals well and make sure it's seated fully. It is fiddly getting it in the case correctly.


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## StuartDB

I took the lower filter off in the end and it actually could be rotated those 15 degrees to get straight.

I did get a 4 bar fpr too, to try and combat my ignition retard on high boost, but have struggled to get it mapped properly. It runs perfectly well but takes 2 ignition primes otherwise it takes a few seconds to start. Instead I just changed my lamfa map to 0.80 in the upper load and revs.

Still need to put my hybrid turbo back in after the chra was rebuilt maybe this weekend.


----------



## desertstorm

Engine run completed with 475 miles done on mineral oil. Changed the oil for Millers Nano drive and connected the oil cooler back up. Engine oil that came out looked good and had no visible metal flakes or debris. Also took the opportunity to change the thermostat which was opening a little to early so the engine temp was only running around 75 degrees.

Connected up the MAC valve to control the boost, decided to ditch the factory N75 as the MAC valves are supposed to be more reliable at higher boost settings.Tie wrapped temporarily till I decide where to put it.










Tweaked the Ignitron map for 1.6 bar of boost. and did some logging. Tweaked a few more things and a bit more logging. Car drives very well and pulls well. ECU is calculating 430bhp at 7200 rpm and 450Nm which seems plausible. It certainly doesn't hang around. Need to tweak the PID controller and make a few more mods to get the boost more stable . It spikes to 1.8 bar when it's spooling and holds that for a few hundred RPM before settling at a steady 1.6 bar.


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## HOGG

Some good figures there. Can one fit a Mac value to a standard ish car?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

You could fit a Mac valve to a standard car but you need to tweak the PID controller settings in the map to get it working 100%. With the Ignitron ECU it's fairly straightforward. Once I have got it fully sorted out at 1.6 bar will be upping to 1.8bar which is where I plan to leave it for normal day to day stuff. Need to get the button wired on the wheel then for race mode , which will be 2 bar boost, hopefully around 500bhp.The Ignitron supports upto 4 different boost maps adjustable on the fly.
Will need to look at the boost limiting by gear and the Anti lag in race mode. 
Not going to be enabling any of the pops and bangs though, It's loud enough already.


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## desertstorm

More mapping and some checks made to see if all is running OK.
Started using some more of the functionality of the Ignitron ECU. It does so many things.
Added a switch to enable race mode. In race mode this will enable the highest boost I want to run along with anti lag and launch control. Will probably be 2 to 2.1 bar of boost.Certainly don't need anti lag in normal driving.
Ran the car with 1.6 bar of boost and sorted the PID controller settings to get the boost response I wanted. Quite easy really. Tweaked the ignition to lose a small amount of knock I was getting in 4th or 5th gear flat out pulls.
Configured the SET switch on the cruise control stalk to also the turbo map settings. So can run 4 different boost settings and alter them on the fly. Currently running 1.6, 1.8 and 1.9 bar maps. With the 1.9 bar map selected by the Race mode switch.
Have to say car is pretty quick at 1.8 bar, Haven't yet tried the 1.9 bar map. Need to review the logs on the 1.8 bar runs.
Selecting maps, only 2 configured maps when I shot this. The CEL flashes depending on which map selected. If you turn the cruise switch off it stops the SET button from working so you can't accidentally change the setting. 





The Race mode selector switch. The red push button on the right is activates race mode when pressed and held. The switch on the left locks if you want to enable it for more than 10 seconds or so. The red LED on switch comes on when enabled.










Car does get through some fuel, although the MPG has reduced the smiles per gallon have very much increased.










Decided to check the compression across all the cylinders and check the plugs out, compression check is a base line as I know what it is now going forward if I need to check it again I can spot any changes.
With all the plugs removed and the engine at around 40 degrees I checked all 4 cylinders.
They all came out at between 210 and 215 PSI. This seems a little excessive to me compared to a normal BAM which is I believe around 8.5-9.0 to 1.
The Wossner pistons come in 8.5 and 9.5 to 1 compression, the lower compression items may ultimately result in more performance but off boost they can make the engine quite lazy. I went for the 9.5 to 1 items.
As it is ATM I am happy even off boost it's quite peppy.
I suspect that I may have to reduce timing a little to avoid knock at higher RPM which I am seeing a small amount of, but it's a good compromise.










I think the actual plugs look reasonable. They are NGK BKR7EIX , they managed in the engine before and the EGT's were much hotter than they are in this set up.










A shot of a small part of the info you get when logging. A 3rd gear acceleration run. Makes 1.8 bar of boost around 4350 RPM. Peak EGT was 780 degrees on that run.


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## StuartDB

what does ignitron offer in way of showing a reasonable MPG and Miles left in DIS? is it just a matter of adding the constant for the size of injectors? I still have difficulties it seems to think I am doing 32 MPG even though I set the sizing to 550?


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## desertstorm

Ignitron provides the correct fuel consumption info to the DIS as long as the injector size is set up correctly. If you find it's not right then there is a correction factor that you can alter to get it reading correctly. Ignitron calculates fuel flow in l/100 km and this is logged. Flat out 7000 rpm plus with 1.8 bar boost it's showing around 115l/100km which is around 2.5mpg .


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## silkman

desertstorm said:


> Flat out 7000 rpm plus with 1.8 bar boost it's showing around 115l/100km which is around 2.5mpg .


You ve built a thirsty monster  Most I've seen in my bog standard TT is 55 l/100km.

Congrats on the build again.


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## desertstorm

Had a play with some of the many options Ignitron has. Happy that 1.9 bar seems OK I enabled launch control and anti lag in race mode.
I tried the aggressive version of anti lag first and it certainly does what it says on the tin. Holds around 1.3 bar of boost when changing gear which makes the gear change pretty seemless compared to a normal one. However the banging out the exhaust is pretty biblical and I can't imagine it's that good for the turbo or exhaust system. Thus trying out the mild option to see what that's like.
A section of the log showing 3rd,4th,5th gear accel run.









you can adjust the launch RPM by pressing the clutch and then using the adjusting the launch rpm with the accelerator.


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## Delta4

I don't fully understand what the graph mean but i do know that you've built a bloody monster


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## StuartDB

so near on 475BHP is something to write home about - are you maf-less now? how does it estimate the g/s ? is this all controlled by lambda now or do you have a map sensor?

I hope you are keeping your eyes front on this airstrip 

is the launch control from ignitron a posh way of configuring the 2 step launch control for a standard me7.5?


----------



## desertstorm

The car has been MAF less for a while , I got a MAP sensor fitted on the intake manifold so I could try out the speed density mapping on the engine before I took it out to rebuild it.
The airflow is estimated by the ECU as it knows the cylinder size, RPM , Boost and the volumetric efficiency. The ECU does a calculation to estimate power and torque and it's saying around 460bhp but I am only revving it to just over 7000 rpm. The intention is to run the car to 7500rpm which it's built to do and the turbo will supply over 2 bar to over 8K rpm.
So race mode will be 2-2.1 bar hopefully dependent on EGT and where the turbo is on the compressor map. I have a 3.2V6 throttle body to fit which will hopefully help a little. Will probably drag the car to Santa Pod and do a RWYB when I have sorted the mapping as it would be interesting to see what it does.


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## desertstorm

Ran Anti lag in it's Mild configuration and whilst it's not quite as seamless as the full version the banging out the exhaust is a lot more restrained and it still holds 0.6 bar of boost and recovers very quickly back to 1.9 bar. With this setting the throttle minimum opening whilst changing gear is only 20% whilst the aggressive setting is 50%.
Of course it's very easy to alter the settings and go anywhere in between these two pre loaded settings.


----------



## desertstorm

Last big performance mods to be added to the car, Fitted the R32 throttle body I have had around for a while, straight forward with the Ignitron. Just needed to do a throttle body alignment and it was good to go. I have noticed a few percentage point gains on the VE map so it must be doing something.










The cooling upgrade arrived this afternoon. Pretty quick service from CSF. Slightly apprehensive when I saw the side of the box, Made in Indonesia?? . Not your normal made in china intercooler or rad though. Very well packaged, Sony or Panasonic would have been happy to pack a flat screen LCD TV like this. But then it costs as much as a small flat screen TV.



















Quality of the welds and hardware on the rad is excellent, It does look very well made.And it seems to do a good job keeping engine temps under control .




























Tried the car at 2.0 bar of boost with antilag. Hopefully won't be having any more trouble from those pesky M3's on the track.Won't be running this all the time more of a push to pass on longer straights.










Great thing about the logs is the number of measurements taken every second. Looking at the timestamps car accelerated from 50-75 mph in third gear in 1.9 seconds and covered the 60-120 mph sprint in 7.4 seconds. 
The 60-120 time could be quicker if I had changed at 7500 instead of 3-4th 7200 and 4th-5th 6800. 
Bit more tweaking and hopefully it will be going to Badger 5 for a bit of dyno tweaking.


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## StuartDB

Hi karl is there any chance you can upload a comprehensive log? I would love to view the onset and impact on ignition retard. I'm having some real challenges after accidentally running a map for my stock turbo back on my 'home made hybrid' where I'm getting knock at low power, I have bought an AET 370 but don't want to fit it if the car is struggling with a little extra power. I'm going to change the plugs tomorrow and get some shell power instead of the local 97 BP stuff, to see if that is slowing the progress.

This ignitron solution is just crazy, it's like a toy created by the child instead of the toy maker.


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## desertstorm

A log from my car wouldn't really help you at all. If you have knock then the ignition is too advanced or the mixture too weak.
No point at all in trying to tune a car for performance on anything other than something like Tesco momentum. If you download the ignitron software you can configure a map using the wizard and then you would be able to see all the ignition maps, fuelling maps etc.


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## StuartDB

Oh that's interesting, thanks I'll take a look.

I'm just concerned I've damaged something internally after swapping the turbo and forgetting to rollback the map.

I'm trying to get my head around air volume versus psi, for example a big turbo must provide more air but at less pressure even through the same pipework.

The AFRs are always meeting my requested. I'm hoping the difference is ambient temperature as AITs are around 30 now and were 18 a few weeks ago, but wonder if more blow-by is polluting the air intake?

By the way did you swap over your cams?


----------



## desertstorm

Car is running standard cams. 
I doubt you would have damaged anything. One of the reasons I did a compression check on my car after it was run in and before I started to get serious tuning it. I hopefully have some reference values to look back on to get an idea on the state of the engine.
The advantage of a big turbo over a hybrid is the flow you get on the exhaust side. The turbine on an AET380 is still small in comparison to something like a G25-660. The manifold runners are larger and efficiency of a Nortech manifold is much better than any ported Chinafold. When the exhaust valve opens up it would like to see as low a pressure as possible for exhaust to flow from the cylinder. With a big turbo thats more likely, on a hybrid exhaust back pressures in the manifold will be a lot less for any given flow through the engine.The flow is through the whole engine it doesn't stop when the air finds it's way into the cylinder.
Typically something like 1.5 bar boost (22PSI) on a K04 setup will have close to 50PSI of back pressure in the manifold. This is why EGT's go very high also why AIT temps are high because typically you are running the turbo at very high speeds so the compressor efficiency isn't high. Imagine how difficult it is for exhaust gas to get through the turbine on a turbo when it's turning at close to 200K RPM.
When I was trying to decide on a hybrid or big turbo I looked into all the various options and fortunately for me the G25 range had just become available.
The G25-550 and G25-660 are pretty much identical except for the compressor wheel and intake sizes. A 550 has a 48mm inducer, 60mm exducer, the 660 54mm inducer 67mm exducer. So the actual compressor wheel is only 7mm bigger in diameter. Not sure how big the compressor wheel is on an AET turbo but I bet it's probably similar in size to a G25-550.

It's not just about having a lot of flow into the engine it's just as important to have it out of the engine. The exhaust manifold / turbine is the big hold up and the main difference between a big K04 hybrid and a big turbo. You obviously lose some response with the big turbo, the extra weight of the larger turbine means slower spool but the G25 is a significant step in reducing spool but keeping flow.


----------



## StuartDB

What they have done on the 370 (and probably improved for the 380) is clip the turbine wheel to combat back pressure, I'm just a little concerned I'm struggling with this turbo rebuilds hybrid chra setup I refitted, where I could happily max out the stock turbo with very little knock. I think I will just fit the decent aet turbo, there's a reason they are a thousand quid instead of creating a turbo out of scrap and an improved chra.

With virtually 100% shell v-power and low boost 18psi 770 egt 33ait I'm stil seeing -3 on 1 cylinder from 5500 and on 2 cylinders from 6000 this is with stock timing and limited to 35% wgdc max, the good thing is the pid is pretty close, I think anyway as the actual boost is within 100 mbar of desired.


----------



## desertstorm

Do you still have the stock pistons and stock compression. I was seeing knock on some cylinders in higher gears around 5500 - 6000 so have used the gear selective retard maps on Ignitron to reduce advance by 1-2 degrees in 4-6th gear. The Wossner pistons I used are 9.5-1 compression so a lot higher than OE.
As you increase boost you won't be able to run as much advance as you do at lower boost pressures.
I would reduce the timimg by a few degrees to stop the knock and you can increase the boost. I would be happy with EGT's up to 900 degrees tops but high 800's would be better.


----------



## StuartDB

yeah, I was thinking about pro-actively reducing the timing a bit at top end - as if I remember rightly any "retard degrees" in the log against individual cylinders are because the knock sensor has detected a knock event? I have reduced some load at top end and managed to move the -3 to one cylinder after 6500. on nefarious the general advice I received for the K04 setup was to increase the load lower down and tail off eg 1.6bar tappering down to 1.1

yes stock pistons the decent rings and big end bearings from b5 and gapped according to higher powered setup, I can't remember the exact sizes.

the ignitron setup is just mental.


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## desertstorm

Yes you need to taper the boost as the turbo will not supply that much boost all the way through the rev range. You are better off giving away a little bit of performance by not pushing the engine into knock at all. It's not a race car so you don't need every bhp.


----------



## StuartDB

I'm considering the "frowned upon" approach of setting the BTS really low it will suit the data from ignitron demo.

you might not remember but the LAMFA map on standard ME7 has the axis of "desired torque %" / RPM - which is derived from pedal position, so you need to try and work out what desired torque means in your own setup. I start from about 70% as 60% pedal position is not much different in Load than WOT. but the ignitron fueling wizard map is based on LOAD % like the BTS fueling map is in tunerpro - but then of course you lose that fall back - but considering I am already down to 0.80 target LAMDBA - there's not much further down to go 0.75 BTS - as long as the EGT sensor is good that is 

example

ignitron lamdba settings from wizard










tunerpro LAMFA (note axis)










tunerpro BTS lamfa (note axis)


----------



## StuartDB

Thanks Karl for the encouragement and advice over "borrowing" ignitron's initial guesstimates for some maps especially lamfa. Essentially, I guessed that the desired 50% torque is about 100% load and 100% torque is about 190% load so used those figures in lamfa and sort of got the better of the knock - I do need to add a few extra tables to the XDF surrounding knock recognition as I have no idea what it is planning to do with the knock events when they eventually occur. I also updated a parameter which is the timeout before a lamfa value is used from 1 tenth of a second to 0ms.

This is still the same old 2 steps forward one back - but I am a little releived that the internals of the engines seem to be holding together, so just need to try and make some gaskets for the AET vt262c (370) hybrid (I got this because it fits a B5 V3 TIP) but the hotside has been ported to large than a gasket and the chinafold has not been machined to run gasket-less.


----------



## desertstorm

Well took the car over to Bill at Badger 5 to see what it was doing and maybe get the car tweaked a bit. I asked him to run 2 maps the first at 1.8 bar which will be the normal running boost and 2.1 bar which will be what I would use for a short sprint or push to pass on a longer straight. I was hoping for something around 480 bhp and 370 Lb/ft (500Nm ) and ended up with 460bhp and 370 Lb/ft (500Nm) , So hit one of the targets. Bills dyno isn't one of those that gives away horses easily.
Suppose I was hoping for a little too much running a small port head, standard BAM manifold and standard cams in terms of flow at higher RPM. With no WMI as a lot of cars seem to run.
Bill hit the button on the Ignitron dash to fully log the runs which has given me some interesting information.
The first two runs are 1.8 bar and the second 2 are 2.1 bar race mode.



















The ECU calculates power and torque from various parameters and when I had been testing the car had seen 480-490 bhp readings in race mode 3rd gear quite often. So was expecting to see over inflated readings when I looked at the logs. I was quite surprised to see the following.

FIRST 1.8 BAR RUN
415 BHP 7140 346 LB/FT 470 Nm 4800

Ignitron logged
408BHP 437 Nm

SECOND 1.8 BAR RUN
427 BHP 6900 350 LB/FT 475 Nm 4800

Ignitron logged 
399 BHP 429 Nm

FIRST 2.1 BAR RUN
460 BHP 7200 369 LB/FT 500 Nm 6000

Ignitron logged
449 BHP 479 Nm

SECOND 2.1 BAR RUN
459 BHP 7250 369 LB/FT 500Nm 6000

Ignitron logged
440 BHP 479 Nm

The Ignitron logged values are what the ECU was calculating at the same RPM as the dyno readings. So ball park readings from the Ignitron always lower than what the dyno had measured for both torque and power.
So looking into why that might be given I have seen calculated readings of 480-490bhp one thing I could see was the intake temps were creeping over 40 degrees, At this point it starts pulling boost and timing on the maps. With a 22 degree ambient that's only 18 degrees higher but on the road it rarely goes much more than 13-14 degrees over and the ambient is lower there was about 1.0 degree of timing pulled on the one Hi boost run at the top end.
I then had a look at the timing correction by gear as I could see some timing being pulled there.










I have found that there is a small amount of knock detected around 5200-5800 rpm in 4th and 5th gears but not in lower gears so populated some of the fields in this table to try and counter this issue. I seemed to have cocked up a little in the 5th gear as I have entered 2.3 degrees at 5500 rpm for no obvious reason and added a degree at 6500 and 7000 RPM because I suspected it may need this although I have never driven the car that fast to find out, and there was no sign of knock on the runs over 6500 rpm, 7500 RPM in 5th is about 150mph. All the dyno runs are in 5th gear, so that wouldn't have helped actual power output.
I think the mapping needs some more tweaking and after speaking to Bill I may have a look at the cams and possibly changing the inlet cam to improve the top end breathing a little. Fairly easy to do without removing the head apparently.


----------



## StuartDB

That's amazing, you must really be chuffed.. you are 5% off your target.

I notice you're a 2001? Does that mean you do have VVT? I saw something in the ignitron software about using the VVT for performance, I recall Bill hassling Prawn to start using that? Not sure whether it made much difference, maybe on spool rather than top end, but I remember Tuffty saying updating cams on a big turbo can add 100bhp.

If you get new cams will you need an adjustable cam pulley?


----------



## desertstorm

Yes mine is a BAM so has VVT and on the Ignitron it's very easy to alter the VVT settings.
Mine closes at 4700rpm so essentially when the turbo is fully spooled.









In the log it records the position of the VVT and when activated mine sits around -18 degrees , then switches to around +4 degrees giving around 22 degrees of movement on the cam phasing.


----------



## StuartDB

It would be interesting to see which of the many timing tables is used for VVT in standard me7 I was thinking maybe the (variant) table, but I'm miles away from that still  I am getting good and swapping over turbos though


----------



## badger5

StuartDB said:


> It would be interesting to see which of the many timing tables is used for VVT in standard me7 I was thinking maybe the (variant) table, but I'm miles away from that still  I am getting good and swapping over turbos though


KFZW2 is vvt on ign table, KFZW is vvt off


----------



## badger5

Some G25 comparisons, for readers of your thread Karl to look over..
RED plot your TT, BLUE beetle g25-550, YELLOW Badgerwagen, cam'd uber ported largeport G25-660
smallports, std cams, G25-550 the smaller cousin.


----------



## StuartDB

badger5 said:


> StuartDB said:
> 
> 
> 
> It would be interesting to see which of the many timing tables is used for VVT in standard me7 I was thinking maybe the (variant) table, but I'm miles away from that still  I am getting good and swapping over turbos though
> 
> 
> 
> KFZW2 is vvt on ign table, KFZW is vvt off
Click to expand...

Thanks Bill


----------



## desertstorm

Been enjoying the car out on the road in this nice weather. I am sure it's taken a few people by surprise with just how quick it is, still surprises me a bit. Getting ready for the Performance German Day at Castle Combe so sorted the front splitter out with my lawn edging in place looks quite good I think. Think it's just about the right height to be useable on the road . I have tried it across some of the larger speed bumps we have around here and seems OK.




























Upgraded the brakes a bit. Bought some Pagid RS29 pads and a new set of ATE brake discs from the R32 golf, v6 TT . Plan was to swap between these discs and pads and the DB9 pads, EBC discs I have been running so I wouldn't need to have to keep bedding in different pads. Also wasn't entirely sure what the RS29 pads would be like on the road. Having bedded the pads in this afternoon they seem to be fine on the road which is good as I will be driving to track days with them on. Not had chance to get them really hot yet .


----------



## StuartDB

I love your posh calipers! Have you put anything on the underside of the car? I was thinking about some kind of slam plate as I keep hitting the road at speed if not flat, or scraping the road in multi-story car parks or even worse speed bumps in traffic, I might try and adjust the exhaust. Unless suspension is the answer here?


----------



## desertstorm

The car doesn't ground out as it's not running that low and the suspension is pretty firm and well damped so even on a pretty rough road it's OK. The calipers are off a mk1 RS3 / TTRS.


----------



## desertstorm

Favourite place to be on a sunny day. In a scrap yard dismantling things. Not what most people would say, but been looking into possibly changing the cams in the engine to improve the top end breathing a little. Not wanting to spend too much I spent some time surfing the net and fleabay and decided the cams from a late AGN AGP NA engine would be the best for me. 
Found a complete engine on Fleabay with the gearbox for £150 but only really wanted the cams. Rang the seller and he said £80 for the head only, so 75 minutes later I am standing over the engine taking the head off. Took me 25 minutes to remove it and I was off back home. Cams look fine and I think initially I will just be changing the inlet cam and see what that brings.




























An oft quoted list of cams . The late AGN APG model engines have the same opening point on the intake cam as the standard turbo intake cam but more lift and duration so hopefully this will just mean wins all around.

inlet:

058109021 = ADR und AFY 8,78mm, 210Â°, 4Â° n.OT
058109021.B = APX, ANB, AEB,APU, AJL, AGU, AQA, ARZ, AJQ, APP, APY, AUL 7,67mm, 190Â°, 18Â° n.OT
058109021.K = ADR, APT, ARG, AVV 8,41mm, 202Â°, 16Â° n.OT
058109021.M = AWT, AUM, ARX, ARY, AUQ, AMK, BAM, AUL, APP 7,67mm, 190Â°, 18Â° n.OT
*058109021.F = AGN, APG 8,41mm, 202Â°, 18Â° n. OT*
058109021.E = AWB 8,6mm, 207Â°, 9Â° n.OT
058109021.D = ADR, AGN 8,41mm, 202Â°, 12Â° n. OT

esxaust:

058109022.B = AQA, ARZ, AJQ, APP, APY, AEB, APU, ANB, AJL, AWT, AGU, AUM, ARX, ARY, AUQ, AMK, BAM 9,3mm, 210Â°, 10Â° v.OT
058109022.C = ADR, AFY, APT, ARG, AVV 10,25mm, 210Â°, 8Â° v.OT
*058109022.D = AGN, APG 10,4mm, 210Â°, 8Â° v.OT*

v.OT = vor dem Oberen Totpunkt = before Top Dead Centre
n.OT = nach dem oberen Totpunkt = after Top Dead Centre


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to the Castle Combe Performance German day on Saturday. met up with some of the guys from Audi-sport.net and parked on the stand in the morning.










Main reason I had gone to the day was to try the car out on track. Having been round the track in my A4 I wanted to see what the TT would do. Not on till the afternoon session I had some time to watch other people out on track and with only 12 cars at a time out on the track it meant a much less congested track than I had been on before.
First session out and I just wanted to make sure everything worked OK and the brakes were bedded in. Managed to do about 3 laps just picking up the pace and I over ran one of the chicanes and ended up slowing right down to negotiate the tyres they put there. Just after the car went into limp mode, with very little traffic on track I could check the fault codes on Ignitron and it was a low oil pressure event. With the oil being at around 100 degrees and slowing for the chicane it had dropped 0.1 bar below the minimum 2.5 bar at 2000 rpm I had set in the map. Reset it and was off again. Picking up speed and learning the track for the next few laps then car went into limp mode again. So this time decided to cool down for a lap and leave the track.
This time car had gone over the 920 degree EGT limit I had set in limp mode. Not really sure what is safe for EGT on this, Mar M turbine on the G660 good for 1050 degrees apparently. With Supertech Inconel exhaust valves the EGT limit must be better than OE which I thought was around 920 degrees. Really surprised how quick the car was in limp mode running just 1 bar of boost.
I tweaked the low oil pressure limp mode map and upped the EGT limit to 940. Looking at the logs EGT is fine under power but when you lift off to brake it increases without the cooling effect of fuel. Second time out ran 1.6 bar on the map and car seemed to be going well until the EPC light came on and car went into limp mode again. Looking at all the temps and pressures everything seemed OK, so did a few more laps and car appeared fine.
Coming in off the track after a cool down lap and driving into the pits the engine was revving itself. without touching the throttle the engine was revving between idle and about 2.5K all on it's own in a very repetitive way. Pulled over and stopped, checked the fault codes and 2 codes appeared to point to the throttle pedal or throttle body. Cleared the codes and did a throttle body alignment started the engine and it revved upto 2.5k straight away and then started revving higher. Turned engine off played for the next 15 minutes with it and eventually managed to get it idling and driving OK.
Decided at that point to call it a day as far as the track was concerned. Managed to drive car home OK and on Sunday found the cause of the problem the throttle body is broken, the throttle should shut on it's own with quite a strong spring, looks like it's broken on mine.










So highlights of the day.
CSF rad is a fantastic bit of kit, coolant temps never went above 90 degrees when on track, oil temps peaked at 110 degrees maximum so really happy with that. Pagid RS29 pads and new discs really work well, very little wear on either and no sign of any fade. They feel a bit grabby compared to what I am used to and caught me out a few times when I braked a little too enthusiatically.
Car handling was OK, still don't think the front end turns in well enough but didn't have time to adjust or play with tyre pressures , dampers etc.
Going forward think I will be moving the Water meth system off the A4 which I only ever use very infrequently and putting it on the TT. Maybe uprating the front springs to 650-700Lb/in from the 550 they are now, to kill some of the roll. I removed the front ARB as this seemed to actually improve things but looking at the pictures on track it should be sitting flatter I think.
Tyres are the 235/40/18 Yokahama A052 I used before and they seemed to be quite good. I should have looked at some of the on line videos on driving the track as my lines were not where they should be for a quick lap.

Some pictures and videos.




























From the Harrys lap timer app I was using my fastest lap was 1.20.3 on which I completely cocked up the last corner, and that lap would have been more like a 1.18.5 which was my fastest virtual lap. That included 2 out of the 3 sectors from the 1.20.3 lap. Half way around my fastest lap coming out of Quarry was when the EPC light came on so half that lap was in limp mode.










You can see how the lap times dropped with the car in limp mode after the 120.3










Fastest lap of the day , this was only 1.6 bar boost down the straight and still managed 132mph , with water meth and everything working right think closer to 140 would be possible. Car went into limp mode somewhere around Quarry.






Some laps in the car after my fast lap above with the car in limp mode, overtaken by several BMW's at the end the white one I noticed was an M2 competition car.


----------



## silkman

Nothing like a track day to get any problems surface and sorted 

In the vid you managed 1.3g at some point, not at all bad.


----------



## desertstorm

Indeed I knew the first track day would probably show up some weaknesses in the car. Hopefully I have sorted some of them.
Went shopping on Flea bay looking for a new throttle body, didn't want another R32 item as although cheap enough they are 15 years old and more likely to fail. Found a 75mm throttle body as used on the RS4,RS5,RS3 and TTRS and looking at the connector it seemed the same as the original and the R32 item so went for that.
I dismantled the original throttle body to see what the problem was and the spring that shuts the valve had broken, right in the middle of the spring though not at the end which is where I would of thought it would break.









Small problem with the new throttle body, although it has a 75mm throttle butterfly the spacing of the mounting holes is smaller on the RS3 item , only 70mm on the RS3 as opposed to 75mm on the R32. So looks like I had to find some way to make it fit. Either drilling some offset holes in the adaptor plate or remaking the plate. I decided on the easy option and slotted the mounting holes in the new throttle body. So after making sure the TB worked OK with the Ignitron ECU ( which it does) I slotted the holes out 2.5mm on each corner to get the 75mm hole centres.


----------



## chisharpe

Hi Karl.

Sorry to hijack your thread but I know you have an a4 with a CAPA engine like my new to
Me A5. Do you by chance know where the thermostat is located on the front of the engine?

I need some Elsa in my life.

Thanks again

Chi


----------



## desertstorm

Hi Chi,
I changed the thermostat on mine shortly after i had it when it went cold in the winter. The car didn't appear to be warming up very quickly. Didn't make any difference to my car and it still doesn't warm up that fast when it's really cold. It's a big old lump of metal and it's a diesel, doesn't help most of my trips to work are 40-50 mph tops.
Hope this helps, the thermostat is located on the front of the engine in the roughly in the centre , The high pressure injection pump belt cover hides it when looking from the top. Don't remember it being too difficult to change.

View attachment A5 CAPA DRAIN COOLANT.pdf


View attachment A5 CAPA EGR COOLER PUMP.pdf


View attachment A5 CAPA POLY BELT REMOVAL.pdf


View attachment A5 CAPA THERMOSTAT REMOVAL.pdf


----------



## chisharpe

desertstorm said:


> Hi Chi,
> I changed the thermostat on mine shortly after i had it when it went cold in the winter. The car didn't appear to be warming up very quickly. Didn't make any difference to my car and it still doesn't warm up that fast when it's really cold. It's a big old lump of metal and it's a diesel, doesn't help most of my trips to work are 40-50 mph tops.
> Hope this helps, the thermostat is located on the front of the engine in the roughly in the centre , The high pressure injection pump belt cover hides it when looking from the top. Don't remember it being too difficult to change.
> 
> View attachment 3
> 
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> View attachment 1


Thank you Karl,

Mine is going from 70-90 but wont stick at 90 so something definitely not right. looks very tight in there!


----------



## desertstorm

Small update, fitted the Water injection system. Took the WMI system off my A4 that has had very little use.










I am going to use this to inject water only as I am really just after reducing EGT and hopefully some knock that occurs around 5500-6500 RPM at high boost. On the A4 I used a pressure switch that turned the pump on at anything over 20PSI . Fortunately on the TT I have the Ignitron and there are better ways of enabling progressive injection. You can buy a fancy progressive controller from Devils own or several other manufacturers or use some of the Ignitrons functionality to implement a fully adjustable progressive controller for the cost of a Solid State Relay.
Using the Fuel Rail Pressure controller option on Ignitron, which isn't used normally, I can control the SSR to switch it's output from 0-100% . The output from the controller can be routed to any unused output on the Ignitron ECU. So I used the Evap solenoid output. Extended the wires from the EVAP solenoid to the input connections of the SSR.










The output of these SSR's is a Mosfet and the particular one I chose will switch 20A. I initially bought a 40A cheap Chinese clone SSR40DD off Fleabay and it did work but the heatsink on the back wasn't isolated and was connected to the 12V input. Not very good so bought a used Crydom D1D20 off fleabay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sensata-Cryd ... 3168323379?
This works fine and should be more reliable than the cheap Clone. The heatsink is also isolated as it should be.

After some measurements of flow at various percentage outputs I came up with this map to try first.










This will start injecting water when RPM is above 4500Rpm and more than 1.2 bar of boost . I discovered when testing that even with only a 5% output you would get 75% of the output that you get at 100%.
The jet used was a Devils Own number 5 . The atomisation was still good at 5% 
5 % 260 mL / minute
8% 290
10% 300
40% 320
60% 330
100% 350

Mounted the pump and tank in the car low and in the centre.










The water injector jet is pre TB










Initial tests seem to show this works well to reduce EGT , took about 80 degrees EGT off a back to back 2 bar 3rd gear acceleration run. And also got rid of the 2 degree timing pull that was showing on cylinders 2 and 3. Intake air temps reduced by 4-5 degrees as well . Currently I am using deionised water as had 5L of it in the garage and it's fairly cheap compared to methanol anyway.
Unfortunately when looking at the logs I also noticed that the fuel pressure when running at high revs was not where it should be 3.3 bar instead of 5 bar and 99% injector duty cycle.
Ignitron was doing it's best to hold the Lambda to the specified level but looks like it was close to going into the limp mode 
I have configured.
So looks like the DW65v is not happy so it's out to go back to Part-box and the original pump is back in. I have ordered a Bosch 044 and this will be fitted shortly. Hopefully this will mean I can get back to using the car on track again.


----------



## StuartDB

isn't the dw65v new?

are you swapping out to use stock and an inline?

btw what size injectors do you have 750cc?


----------



## desertstorm

The DW65 is nearly 2 years old and TBH I think it's out of it's depth not really capable of fully supplying all the fuel required. I have put the original pump back in for now to keep the car mobile. I had to drain some fuel from the car to get the pump out. I measured the flow rate of the DW65V just pumping fuel to an open ended pipe so no pressure. The DW65V managed 5.1L of fuel in 90 seconds and the 17 year old TT pump did 4.3L .
The DW65V worked out at just over 200LPH the old TT pump 172LPH so the TT pump managed 85% of what the DW65 is doing. The DW65 should be up at closer to 280LPH so to me shows it's not doing what it's supposed to.
I have ordered a Bosch 044 and the tails from Badger 5 so it will run the Bosch in line where the fuel filter currently is and move the filter to the engine bay. I have Bosch 1000cc injectors.


----------



## StuartDB

3 bar fpr? Do you reckon dw65 was just overworked?


----------



## desertstorm

Yes I have a 3 Bar FPR. The pump would have been working pretty much flat out with 2 bar boost. I fitted the DW65V initially as the OE pump wasn't coping with the stage 2 275 bhp map and injector duty cylces were getting close to 100%. Fitting a Bosch in line works out about the same price as a DW65V but will perform better on a big turbo setup. The DW65 seems to be good for about 400-450bhp.


----------



## chisharpe

Thank you Karl!

Removing the aux belt wasn't necessary.


----------



## desertstorm

Booked some track time for the car. Out at Curbrough on Bank Holiday Monday the 26th with the Chequered Flag group, Looks like a mix of cars, be interesting to see how the TT goes since the power upgrade.
https://www.the-chequered-flag.com/
Booked the 4th September at Donnington for the day with Javelin. Hopefully have the water injection fully dialled in for then so can get the full use out of the engine .
Looking to take it for a run out at Santa Pod for a laugh to see what it will do. Probably the GTI Action event in October after I have sorted the cam out and done a bit more tweaking.


----------



## desertstorm

Fitted a Bosch 044 pump to the TT to help out the DW65V. Fairly easy change over if you get the fuel fittings for the end of the pump from Badger 5 as the Bosch 044 isn't much bigger than the OE filter. The fuel filter is moved into the engine bay and by using an OE LCR item it fits nicely. I got some fuel rail connectors off a scrap MK4 Golf that made fitting the new filter easier and also allows a quick change over if it needs replacing.
New Bosch Pump and Filter. The pumps are around £150 from Fleabay, make sure you get from an accredited seller as there are many cheaper fakes around. This one is genuine as I checked the barcode against the Bosch Protect site. Also comes with all the blurb and paperwork you would expect. Filter part number 503440627 £5.41 delivered for a Bosch filter from CP4L.










The OE filter against the pump,










I had some thick neoprene type rubber that I wrapped around the pump and secured the pump with two substantial tie wraps.

The LCR filter in the engine bay, I secured with a clip That I had just happened to be the right size. You can see the fuel pressure sensor just before the filter.










Not as practical to refit the OE filter in the engine bay it's a bit large.










I added extra wiring and a relay for the pump. Ran a fused 30A supply to the fuel pump access hatch and then tapped into the in tank pump feed to power the relay so when the in tank pump is active the 044 is working as well. Also added another earth point for the 044 so it doesn't share the same one as the in tank pump.
The power feed wires to the pump then just route easily across the top of the tank to where the 044 is located.










When I first powered up the 044 with the original TT pump in the tank the noise was pretty loud. Looking at the Ignitron logs they were doing the job fine but at idle the noise was pretty intrusive. This is due to cavitation in the 044 pump as the in tank pump cannot supply enough fuel to the Bosch 044. Fuel vapourises in a partial vacuum and this makes the pump noisy. It wasn't so bad when the car was running and it went really quiet when you were on it as the amount of fuel the in tank pump has to deliver drops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHg9mjw ... e=youtu.be

With the new DW65V pump fitted that was exchanged by Coordsport (Part Box) it was a lot quieter and in a car with carpets etc probably not hardly audible in the car.






Do have a slight issue with the new DW65v and Bosch together they are putting so much fuel through the pressure at idle should be around 2.5 bar, it's more like 3.1 bar as the OE regulator looks like it can't handle that much fuel being thrown at it. The Ignitron works around this and has resulted in changes to the VE map. I may use one of the auxilliary outputs on the Ignitron and drive another SSR to regulate the Bosch pump at idle.


----------



## desertstorm

Did a sprint event at Curbrough on the Bank Holiday Monday. Had some fun and the car came back in one piece so that was a plus. Wasn't sure what tyres to run as done Curbrough before and they were only 30 second runs so didn't have enough time to get any heat in the tyres. Different format on this event with a much longer lap and it was well warm in the afternoon, should really have put the track tyres on.
Had a few issues with the Boost pipe popping of the throttle body so most of the time running 1.8 bar with the odd lap in the afternoon at 2 bar but it well hot then .Will be getting some ally beads welded on the TB. Temporarily fixed with tie wraps.
Water injection worked fine, EGT's never went over 910 degrees ,and intake temps were sometimes lower than ambient and they were starting off around 60 degrees in the afternoon as the car was sitting in queues, CSF rad is a great piece of kit coolant temps never went over 95 degrees despite all the time sitting in queues and the slow average speed around the track.
There were a good mix of cars there from a 3 wheel Morgan, Peugeot 206 GTI, M3 BMW, Nissan Skyline, Golf track cars etc.
Fastest car of the day was a Kit car that looked like a small Caterham / Severn. Apparently 500Kg and a 200bhp FJ1200 bike engine in it, I was 0.4 seconds slower on my fastest lap and that was a 127.8.




























An in car video off my phone using the Harrys lap timer app.


----------



## Amulet banana

That looks rapid :mrgreen: it's so quick through the gears now, must be loads of fun to drive.


----------



## StuartDB

get yourself registered for "hyperdrive" on Netflix - Karl...

They subtitled "whacky racers" hippy from Birmingham, England - but left the other internationals speaking in English after the rounds with no subtitles 

HyperDrive is like "kick-start" junior for rich drifters, poor drifters etc and people turning an old bedford van into 560 BHP.

very good daily binge watching entertainment, and "The Leveler" separated the men from the women, as women just seemed to be able to do it and men were shite.


----------



## desertstorm

It is fun to drive on the road, loads of smiles per gallon. The look on the guys face in a John Cooper Works mini cabriolet when I over took him like he wasn't moving was quite funny.
In that video I used the race mode with anti lag just on the last straight where you accelerate to the finish line and you can hear the pops and bangs as you change gear it's almost seemless and not far off DSG speed. Around 1.31 on.
Tried to do a full lap with the anti lag on and the boost hose popped off on that attempt so limited the anti lag to just that last run to the line.

Next mod may actually be fitting a DSG gearbox, great thing about the Ignitron ECU is that it will happily run a DSG gearbox from a 3.2 V6 TT or an 8P S3, and the next software update on the ECU will probably allow the latest gearboxes to be used as well.


----------



## StuartDB

this is so cool, but you are moving on now to - the next upgrade is £2K  why do you need a DSG when you have ALS and LC?


----------



## desertstorm

Even with ALS and no lift shift systems you still have to take your hands off the wheel and they aren't quite as fast. I just fancy flicking up and down with paddles on the back of the wheel. A DSG conversion is a lot cheaper than a sequential box and it won't cost £2k to do. Great thing about modding older cars parts are cheaper.


----------



## StuartDB

It would be excellent to see this done, you're a completer, with great project focus.


----------



## StuartDB

Hi Karl,

I wonder if you know if the Ignitron software adjusts the timing based on Lamda (desired or actual)?

Essentially, standard ME7.5 Wideband (BAM/AMK) has a map table which adjusts the timing based on LAMBDA for example the timing is adjusted by 
-3 if the mixture is 0.85 
-2.25 if the mixture is 0.9

The reasoning behind this, is that 0.85 is the "fastest flame speed" - but I ask this, as I played with the "Ignitron" estimates for timing for 191% load and wonder whether these are absolute in Ignitron and therefore too low when used as part of the algorithm for stock ME7 ECU.










http://nefariousmotorsports.com/forum/i ... c=10992.15


----------



## desertstorm

The Lambda correction map is below. Some of the maps are not deirectly comptible with the ME7.5 because of the differences in the way things are calculated. Essentially as far as I understand it this is a protection map that retards ignition at high rpm and high Lambda settings to stop knock .


----------



## StuartDB

Thanks I did see that map, that's more like trying to keep the mixture rich if leaning out.

The me7 map is assuming the car is supposed to be 1 lambda stoich, and if it sees enrichment; it is reacting to a component protection, rather than someone adding fuel on purpose.

It led to a 3rd gear run for a log going from 25 degree advanced at 2500rpm, down to -0.75 (retarded timing) then increasing to 12btdc.

What I have done now is increased the timing map and reduced the load, then start again. I think I ended up previously with a timing map trying to compensate the undiagnosed N75 fault, which was essentially only controlling boost up to about 5% wgdc. Now I can stay under the 24psi starting with 85% up to 2500rpm tapering to about 30% at 6500rpm which keeps the actual afr pretty much desired.


----------



## desertstorm

Did a track day at Donnington last week. Despite the weather forecast saying just a 5-10% chance of rain it was raining all the way there and only stopped around 09:00. It was a Javelin track day and there was a very good mix of cars. They also have a resident photographer on these Javelin track days now so got a few decent photos.










Didn't record anything in the first session as it was still a drying track car was going very well though overtook 2 of the Nissan GTR's that were out on track at that time.
Second session was a dry track, I let some air out of the tyres as I expected higher temps but should of let some more out though as the rear was getting skittish on the later laps.






Last lap on that session thinking about coming in and I had a bit of a trip through the gravel at Schwantz / Mcleans.






Unfortunately several pieces of gravel broke the passenger side window and the drivers side mirror along with a nice crack on the windscreen.










Good job these are old cars, A replacement mirror cost me £17 delivered and picked up a complete window winder mech with glass for £30 from a VAG breakers just down the road. Really love how easy it is to change out things like the mirror, A 10 minute job to replace the complete item without having to remove door cards etc.










The screen I will do through the insurance as it's MOT is due next month. The one on the car is the original and is going around the top edge anyway.
Captured the spin on Ignitron as I was logging the session.










You can see the two unloaded inside wheels partially lock up as I braked and kicked the ABS in. I look to have braked a little earlier than previous laps when still on the corner so Rookie mistake 1. 
Good news is I can run full boost all the time when on track with the water injection. Brakes are great, Engine and coolant temps well under control, coolant temps never went over 90 degrees and oil temps hit 110 max. just need some more practice to improve the driver.


----------



## desertstorm

Changed the intake cam several weeks ago now. Fairly easy job to do as you don't have to retime the engine. The cam belt connecting to the exhaust cam.
Just get a new gasket for the VVT tensioner and I reused the rocker cover gaskets as they are fairly recent.
I bought a complete cylinder head for £80 from a scrap yard off a 1.8 NA A3 with an APG engine.
This is the later engine with VVT . I only wanted an intake cam as I am not sure an exhaust cam change as well would make that much difference. And not changing the exhaust cam means an easier swap.
From Cat Cams site both fast road and ultra fast road have same exhaust cam 217 degree 9.95mm standard turbo exhaust 210 degree 9.3mm NA exhaust cam 210 degree 10.4mm . The CAT cam exhaust cam has only 7 degrees more duration and 0.7mm more lift than a BAM exhaust cam.
The AGP NA cam actually has more lift again than the CAT cam item with only 7 degrees less opening.

There are several threads around with the details of various cams and the timing of them .

inlet:

058109021 = ADR und AFY 8,78mm, 210Â°, 4Â° n.OT
058109021.B = APX, ANB, AEB,APU, AJL, AGU, AQA, ARZ, AJQ, APP, APY, AUL 7,67mm, 190Â°, 18Â° n.OT
058109021.K = ADR, APT, ARG, AVV 8,41mm, 202Â°, 16Â° n.OT
058109021.M = AWT, AUM, ARX, ARY, AUQ, AMK, BAM, AUL, APP 7,67mm, 190Â°, 18Â° n.OT
058109021.F = AGN, APG 8,41mm, 202Â°, 18Â° n. OT
058109021.E = AWB 8,6mm, 207Â°, 9Â° n.OT
058109021.D = ADR, AGN 8,41mm, 202Â°, 12Â° n. OT

esxaust:

058109022.B = AQA, ARZ, AJQ, APP, APY, AEB, APU, ANB, AJL, AWT, AGU, AUM, ARX, ARY, AUQ, AMK, BAM 9,3mm, 210Â°, 10Â° v.OT
058109022.C = ADR, AFY, APT, ARG, AVV 10,25mm, 210Â°, 8Â° v.OT
058109022.D = AGN, APG 10,4mm, 210Â°, 8Â° v.OT

v.OT = vor dem Oberen Totpunkt = before Top Dead Centre
n.OT = nach dem oberen Totpunkt = after Top Dead Centre

Had to undo the V bands on the turbo and swing the compressor back a little as the outlet was stopping the rocker cover coming off. Got to love these V-Band turbos so easy to work on.










Set the cam timing marks to the correct place and marked the chain links with the 16 link spacing .










Remove all the cam caps carefully noting location, they are all marked anyway, and remove original cam.



















Looking at the cams you cannot see any difference. The original BAM cam marked with an L the new APG cam marked AC .
I did take some measurements with a vernier on the cam lobe maximum height and the base circle diameter.

Measured height of lobes on both cams.

BAM original cam marked with an L
Maximum height lobe width
43.62 36 outer lobes of each threesome
35.4 centre lobe

APG cam marked ac
Maximum height lobe width
44.35 36 outer lobes of each threesome
35.4 centre lobe
Calculated extra lift 44.35 - 43.62 = 0.73mm from specs above 8.41-7.67 = 0.74mm

So seems to me specs above seem correct as regards the extra lift.

Engine definitely pulls stronger at the top end and is keener to rev than it was before. Virtual dyno third gear pulls seem to show 30-40bhp more at the top end so hopefully this will show up on the dyno next time it runs.


----------



## desertstorm

Well took the car to Badger 5 today for a run on the dyno to see what it was now making. 
Seems I have lost some spool from a combination of the intake cam extra overlap and also a richer mixture I mapped in when it was spooling. My bum dyno and virtual dyno results seemed to indicate it was slighly better but will have a bit more of a play with this part of the map.Water injection didn't improve power but it did reduce EGT's which is why I put it on there. This plot is without water injection.
Really happy it made more than 500bhp as I had a target of 500Nm and 500BHP which it has hit.



















On track car will be running 1.8 bar most of the time which only makes 460 odd bhp. Just a press of the race mode button on the steering wheel takes you to the top boost map.


----------



## StuartDB

Jesus.... are going to start re-focusing on stopping? Or push on for the time being, any hints from Bill? You must be considering going for 600+ now and get yourself on 'living life fast' YouTube channel?


----------



## desertstorm

I am happy with 500bhp and 500Nm that was the target. It's plenty fast enough now , not really any point in adding more power , the power to weight ratio is very competitive compared to most cars. 500bhp and 1280 Kg .


----------



## StuartDB

Happy today.... I can't believe you are stopping your project? Get yourself a sad story and get onto the next 'Fastest Car' on Netflix.


----------



## Amulet banana

Congratulations Karl I bet that does drive really well.

And I don't think anyone need worry, Karl has a huge history of making epic build threads, he'll most likely start another one once he's bored [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## desertstorm

I will still be adding stuff to this thread and updating it . Engine really doesn't need any more power, just a bit of tweaking. If I was to come across a cheap SEM / IE inlet manifold I might fit that. A DSG gearbox might be nice, The DQ250 fits without too many issues and the Ignitron ECU works fine with it. 
Hopefully going to Santa Pod on Sunday for the last RWYB of the season . See what it will do on the 1/4 mile.


----------



## StuartDB

> santa pod


 that'll be great. then 10 minutes later you'll be searching for a bigger turbo..  

sadly, his sob story was great and his car awesome - but his car failed on the final race test run, under 8 seconds - 187MPH 1/4 mile in a AWD civic (did they even sell them in the UK)


----------



## Delta4

Cracking thread, it's incredible how far these small but clearly mighty 1.8T engines can pushed, at what point does the gearbox say no thanks :?:


----------



## silkman

Awesome result!


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## desertstorm

It's torque that kills gearboxes not so much power. I believe the 02m gearbox design limit is 350Nm . I am running around 500Nm so only 40% more than the design limit. Performance diesels running a lot less power will probably have more issues because of the torque they are putting out. 
http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_205.pdf


----------



## Delta4

The volkspage link was a good and interesting read  so the 02 M box can put up a good amount pressure which is a good thing, have fun at santa pod  would like to go but got a busy weekend on the tools.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to Santa pod on Sunday. All the Saturday running for a big show the previous day had been cancelled due to rain. So it was absolutely rammed with people wanting to get on the track. So only got 3 runs in all day. It was cold, tyres were stone cold and the 3 degrees of camber on the front wheels don't help traction.
Was hoping for something around 11.5-11.8 as that should be doable with the spec of the car. Fastest run was my first with loads of wheelspin and no anti lag managed 12.15 at 122mph.
60ft times are pretty poor and should be more like 1.8-1.9s or better.
Second and third runs I used the race mode switch with launch and anti lag. The anti lag works great you can here the shifts are almost seemless in power delivery. I am nowhere near aggressive enough with the launch control settings as on the second and third run the car bogged quite a bit. So I think the car definitely has an 11.7-11.8 in it on a warmer day with some warm tyres and a decent launch setup. I plan to reduce the front camber a little as traction on the road is an issue quite often when accelerating quickly. On the second run I kept accelerating after the finish to see how quick it keeps going  .

Removed the rear wing as it just creates drag at a 1/4 mile strip, also added a switch so I can turn on the fans to full speed at any time to cool the intercooler and engine down a bit.










Timeslip










1st run No launch control or anti lag just give it some welly with stone cold tyres, cold track = monster wheelspin.





2nd run using launch control and anti lag. I didn't really play with launch control much to set it up. It was nowhere near aggressive enough. Kept my foot in after the line to see how it kept pulling.





3rd run tweaked launch control a bit but still nowhere near aggressive enough. And the track was very cold now.





I plan to take some of the camber out of the fronts as wheelspin is an issue regularly when accelerating hard,may also go back to Santa Pod nect year when it's a good bit warmer and I have worked out some better settings for the launch control and boost by gear set up on Ignitron.

Some other stuff there, an RS V8 powered shed, I have seen this before it's based on a 2.8v6 Passat originally. Managed a 2.6S 60ft and 17.1 at 84mph.



















and a nutter on a jet powered shopping trolley.


----------



## Delta4

The second run i watched twice just to take it all in and whatever was in the right hand lane for the third run you was reeling in, surely your well happy with the performance considering the low temps


----------



## desertstorm

Yes I am happy, how could I not be considering how quick the car is. It wasn't built as a 1/4 mile car, if it was I wouldn't have bothered with big brakes and certainly wouldn't have put as much camber into the front and rear tyre setup .
I am going to lose some of the front camber as the car does struggle in lower gears to get the power down when accelerating.
May go back next year when it's a bit warmer and I have had some time to play with the launch control and boost by gear settings. 
The second run was up against a 2018 Golf R estate . Probably standard but I left him standing after the initial slow get away.It was a newr 310bhp model.
I took a picture of his car in the background of a picture I took so you can see the number plate and work out what model it is.
The third run was a V8 supercharged monster, you can hear him doing a burn out in the background of the video. He was slowing down half way up the track I think which is why I caught him. That thing would have been long gone normally I searched against his number and he ran a 11.1 at 115mph earlier in the day, Still not as fast as I would of thought.










You can now get all the full time slips electronically off the ETslips.co.uk website.


----------



## StuartDB

So.... what big turbo do you need to get 11s?  

No worries about driveshafts? I think it was s3stacy how used to break them all the time.

I'm loving the number plate of the leased golf r... I bet lings will drop their residual value to zero, as not allowed to drag race or modify lease cars. I think a BMW m4 youtuber got charged the entire value of the car after modifying the map.


----------



## desertstorm

Don't need any bigger turbo just a better launch. Car should be doing the 60ft in 1.8 seconds or better.The best 60ft I did was 2.25s, that's nearly 0.5 second given away. I used to do 1.9 60ft times in my A4 diesel estate. The track was not very grippy at all due to all the rain recently and the fact it was so cold. With 3 degrees of camber on the front tyres wheel spin is very easy to provoke in second or third gear. Quattro does help but when you have 500bhp that's a lot of power to share out.
First run had loads of wheelspin . 2nd run has a big pregnant pause at the start as I was miles too cautious with the launch and boost limiting in gear. 3rd run was only a little better .
Will be taking some camber off the front wheels which will help all round for traction and braking. Maybe just a tad slower on corners.
If I had tried to do the same run when it was 20 degrees or so and I got the launch right it would have been 11.7-11.8 easily.


----------



## StuartDB

but wasn't your 1st run the fastest 1/4 mile? just with a slower Reaction Time?


----------



## desertstorm

Makes no difference to your overall time if you sit there for 10 seconds and then go.
The easiest way to gain time on a quarter mile is at the start, A good launch makes all the difference. The 60ft times at 2.2-2.3 seconds are really slow . I was surprised on the first run by the lack of traction and the wheelspin I got. You basically have to lift and have another go to gain traction.
On the second run the launch control settings I mapped in were no where near aggressive enough in terms of RPM and the Boost limiter I set in 1st and 2nd gear was too low, Hence what looks like a really bad stumble at the start, On the third run it was better but still not any where near right. The third run was nearly as quick as the first but the track was a lot less grippy as it was 5 o clock and cold and dark.
Main issue is traction which is badly compromised by front camber. Despite me reducing tyre pressures the best way is to have zero camber on a drag car.


----------



## desertstorm

Few cheap mods to the car. Bought a replacement intake pipe to lose the silencer part of the standard intake. Not going to make a great deal of difference to ultimate power but probably worth a few bhp at the top end. It's nearly 1Kg lighter as well.





































Just under £30 delivered (they have offers on just watch the item) , and a straight swap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINIUM-AL ... 2816388533?

Changed out the rear pads to replace the EBC red stuff one I had been using. The rear brakes don't do that much normally but since changing the rear caliper to a larger piston size they definitely do more work when braking. The red stuff pads not really done that much mileage. The outer pads look to have got a bit warm.


----------



## Amulet banana

Although it's fairly irrelevant for us mere mortals, did you notice much of an increase in noise with the un-silenced pipe?


----------



## desertstorm

Can't say as if I did notice any difference in the noise produced from the engine. TBH it's fairly noisy in the car already so I wouldn't notice a bit more induction noise.


----------



## torqueit

desertstorm said:


> Just a few jobs to do nothing major.
> Finished the rear brake upgrade today. After fitting the very much larger brakes on the front found that the F-R bias wasn't right, the car nose dived quite a bit when braking heavily. The car stood on it's nose a bit with the LCR caplipers on but not like it does now.
> So not wanting to add extra weight to the rear brakes by fitting 300mm discs as most people do fitted some calipers with larger pistons.
> The standard caliper on the TT has a 38mm piston, increasing the piston size results in more force being applied to the pad for any given amount of pressure also results in a small increase in pedal travel.
> A 43mm caliper creates ((43x43) / (38x38)) = 1.28 times as much force so 28% increase. To get that much extra rear brake force you would need to fit a 256 x 1.28 = 328mm disc.
> The rear brakes have never got that hot at all even when I was doing some serious braking to test out the front pads.
> The rear caliper I used is off the Audi A6 c5 4.2 V8 cars, also used on a few other cars I believe. On these cars it was used with a 269mm x 22 vented disc.
> Part numbers are 4B0615423 and 4B0615424
> https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/oenumb ... 15423.html
> https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/ridex-8099711.html
> 
> The Flexi hoses I got from ECP or you can get them from Carpartsforless https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/search/135440508
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pagid-70327- ... 2639488320?
> They are rear brake hoses off an Audi A6 c4 or some models of the Audi V8 and Audi 100.
> 
> View attachment 3
> 
> 
> I removed the original handbrake brackets from the new caliper and fitted the original items. The handbrake mechanism on the new caliper uses a slightly different handbrake cable and the levers are a little longer, probably to give a better handbrake on a much bigger heavier car. I drilled a new hole in the original handbrake backplate to move the handbrake mechanism around a little. This meant I had to replace the OE torx screw with a 6mm set pin and file the lever a little .
> 
> I found some use for my 100cc Kart sprocket tool I used to use on my Senior Britain kart many years ago. Works great for removing the arm off the caliper.
> 
> View attachment 2
> 
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> I secured the original brake pipe to the caliper body using some tie wraps and some rubber fuel hose. I noticed the pipe was a little close to the caliper body so fitted a longer piece of hose. The picture below was before I changed the hose and fitted a longer one.


How is this working out, and are you still running these with the TTRS calipers in the front? Are you using the original 256mm x 22mm vented discs? And if I'm following, these bolt right on, and the only modifications were on the handbrake cable assembly and a little plumbing adaptation? As you've probably figured from my other posts, I'm looking at brake grade options on a V6. This sounds like a very nice approach. I'm also thinking I should be able to fit this under my 17" OE rims. Thanks.


----------



## desertstorm

Still running the TTRS calipers up front and rear calipers as described in the build thread with the standard rear discs. Rear calipers just need a slightly modded handbrake and an extra hose to get the hydraulics to reach as described in the build thread. They work very well but of course there is always room for improvement, unfortunately the improvement always comes at a cost.


----------



## torqueit

Thanks for the quick reply. You're right, it's all a compromise with potential to spend big money, and at some point, "good enough" needs to be recognized. I'm having a hard time coming up with another approach that even begins to come in at this price point for the rear, and the small amount of customization adds to the fun of it in my book. Really nice to hear they are working out with the TTRS calipers on the front. Appreciate your hands on feedback. Great job on the whole thing here! Looks like you've put together a very nice track car.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to Silverstone on Saturday for a track day with the Circuit Days people. Never been on the National circuit before so that would be a bit of a challenge. Weather this time of the year also a challenge and it looked like it was going to rain in the morning and be sunny in the afternoon. So kept the normal road tyres on and loaded the boot and car with stuff. The TT is not really a practical car, I am used to estates. With the roll cage it's even less practical so 2 tyres in the rear, take the passenger seat out and put 1 tyre behind the seats and 1 tyre in the passenger seat.



















Put the 25L jerry can of fuel, Trolley jack, tools and various other stuff and ready to go. I booked a garage as I figured the weather would be dodgy. I just wished my garage was this big.Nice polished ceramic tiles which were fairly slippy when wet. There was mine and one other car in this garage.










My Dad came down and had some passenger rides as well as one of my other mates who works just down the road at Racing point. Also a friend who has tracked an S3 for many years to get his opinion, It was very wet in the morning when the track opened. I left it for 15 minutes to let the rush die down and just as I was going to go out the track was red flagged. A pretty new 911 had aquaplaned on the pit straight and spun a few times before coming to rest in the wall at copse. 
Ambulance was out with the recovery trucks etc.

The Circuit days people organise a photographer to take pictures that you can download for free. Essentially it's free advertising for them as they will get posted all over social media. The car was pretty epic straight off, the suspension and geo tweaks I have done recently really paid off. Car is more neutral handling, less roll and more straightline grip for breaking and traction.



















Took a few laps to get past this LP560 Gallardo , 560bhp 202mph supercar, Eventually he made a mistake a copse and I out dragged him to the next corner. My car doesn't have ESP on it's coded out as it gets in the way too much on track. Looking at the way his car was moving around I suspect that his ESP was doing it's best to keep him on the track.










I did have 2 spins myself, If your not spinning you aren't trying hard enough  . The first was caught by the photographer, I was trying to outdrift the BMW's but it didn't work.The second I was chasing down a Lotus Exige and got a little carried away into copse corner and spun. Caught him up a bit later and passed him outdragging it down the wellington straight.










One of the boost hoses popped off on the drivers side by the tow hook point when I went to use the push to pass button for the first time, this puts it on the top map. Reasonably easy fix to get the hose back on and just left it on the lower 1.8 bar map for the rest of the day. This is what it runs 95% of the time on track about 460bhp .
Winter project is to replace all the odd sections and hoses with some one piece ally pipes.
Over took various M3, M4 BMW's GT3 , 911 porsches etc and only got passed by one other car which looked like a race spec GT3 with Michelin wet race tyres. And he wasn't that much quicker than me.

Some videos I uploaded to you tube.





This one is an amalgamation of several runs with the good bits at normal speed, spins, passes etc and passing everything else 5x speed .





When it dried in the afternoon I put the road legal semi slicks on and tried to do some fast laps. The track had a dry line around most of the circuit but off line was still a bit greasy and it was only about 3 degrees. Using Harrys lap timer did a 1.09 lap but just as I was getting into the groove had to come in for some fuel. And just as I went to go out the track was closed as the light was fading.

Packed up and because my normal road wheels and tyres are slightly smaller only 8 inch wheels as opposed to 8.5 got 3 wheels in the boot and one in the passenger seat. Result.










Set off home happy that the car was in one piece and nothing broke and managed to get up the M1 as far as the junction with the M6 and the car started missing and losing power. Looking at the Ignitron display I could see fuel pressure was low and within 10 seconds the car had cut out. Coasted to the side of the motorway right where the exit lanes are for the M6.
I have a cut out switch for the fuel pump and went to check this and burnt my finger, so figured I had found the problem. The toggle just flopped around the switch was knackered.



















Fortunately only took about 15-20 minutes or so to find the tools, torch and get the switch out so I could short the connections . When I went to start the car the battery had gone flat due to the lights and hazzards being on. So had to call AA out to jump start the car. The AA man was happy it was an easy job and after I had moved the car off the motorway we spent 15 minutes talking about track cars as the car idled to charge the battery, he has a 172 clio track car, LOL.


----------



## Tuscan12

Excellent thread Karl, I always enjoy reading about what you guys get up to on the track,I take my hat off to you! Nice pass on the Lambo, I drove one around Goodwood Circuit for a few laps a couple of years ago and was thoroughly underwhelmed by it! Keep up the good work.


----------



## sukhiranu

Just watch the video , a humble TT ripping past super cars :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .. absolutely fantastic!


----------



## StuartDB

Great post as usual Karl, and great roadside fix ( I assume you're gonna spend 40 quid on a battery jump start/torch/usb charger?

Do you find it difficult to stay within speed limits after spending hours flat out?


----------



## desertstorm

I have actually been looking for a Lithium start pack tonight. I might buy one in the sales at xmas. I find it hard to keep below the speed limit at all times regardless if I have just been on the track. Especially in the TT it's just ridiculously easy to go faster.


----------



## silkman

Great job, many of us only dream to go into silverstone (no half decent tracks in Greece exist). Not to mention the awesome TT build.

Careful with that fuel switch, it looks like it wasnt rated for the amperage the circuit was pulling, get a good one with proper thick cables.


----------



## desertstorm

Fuel pump only takes around 15A .Switch is rated 25A, Think the problem was more than likely due to poor quality switch.


----------



## silkman

desertstorm said:


> Fuel pump only takes around 15A .Switch is rated 25A, Think the problem was more than likely due to poor quality switch.


Then maybe it was compromised due to vibration... Was the switch mounted somewhere or you had it hanging about like the Pic? Stupid, but I had to ask...


----------



## desertstorm

Making a few upgrades to the car for this year. Started by buying a new coffee table for the living room.










The wife said she didn't like it so decided to fit it to the back of the car, Minus the Revo stickers as I mapped it myself.


----------



## StuartDB

oh my... I'm not sure what I feel about that.. just dont hit a motor-cyclist that will only end in one way, is it adjustable?


----------



## desertstorm

Not quite sure how I am going to hit a motor cyclist with it. It's not as wide as the car, It does sit back a little further than the rear bumper so if I was to reverse to a wall the wing would hit first.
It is very adjustable the main wing blade has turnbuckle adjustment for pitch and the secondary plane has 4 different adjustment positions. Several people running these on TT track cars with no issues. It was specifically designed for a MK1 TT
The mounts leave room for the existing boot spoiler.


----------



## StuartDB

Does it make your car "faster" or does it make it "quicker"?

Im going pretend "faster" means faster top speed in a straight line and "quicker" means quicker round corners?

Is it possible; if not set-up right, it'll make your car slower?


----------



## desertstorm

A wing will always make your car slower as it produces drag, On most tracks it will be quicker as it allows you to corner quicker. And it is possible to set the wing up so it will adversely affect performance. By setting the Angle Of Attack (AOA) to high the wing produces a lot more drag but not much more downforce.
This wing has quite a narrow sweet spot around 6-8 degrees on the main wing plane.
https://bycdesigns.co.uk/your-track-car ... duct_id=78

If you look at some of the time attack cars they have huge wings front and rear as well as may other aero devices all set to create downforce so they can corner as quickly as possible. And a 1000bhp engine to get down the straights as quick as possible. I will be making some other aero changes to the car hopefully to improve the handling / cornering speed.


----------



## desertstorm

Few more aero upgrades added over the two weeks. 
Modified the front wings so they vent at the rear. This allows the high pressure air in the rear of the wheelarch to be released . This excessive air pressure causes lift and also increases drag. Best thing about this mod is it's free.
Remove the wing and trim the rear of the wing to remove the large return edge and the lower bracket. The wing is held in at the bottom to the sill by a bolt.










Modify the top mounting points by slotting the mounting holes , You can leave the front mounting bolts alone. You need to remove the thin plastic liner behind the main arch liner if you want any air flow through there.
I modified the arch liner by cutting the top part out so air could flow through there. I tried removing the liner completely but all the rubbish off the roads just ends up filling up the door shut and making a mess. So put the liner back. Also cut a small piece out the top of the wing at the back and removed the black plastic moulding at the rear of the bonnet . This allows air to flow from under the bonnet out the slot to help vent the pressure under the bonnet.










Hammerite smooth silver is a very close color to the car so use this for painting over cut edges.




























Onto the bonnet and fitted a FORD part to the car. A genuine bonnet vent off a 2010-2014 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 .

Ordered off Fleabay from America. The actual part was only about £90, with postage and import duty came to around £130.
Which for what it is I think is still quite good.



















It could have been made for the TT as the curve across it is the same as the bonnet . Just a matter of making a template and deciding where to fit it. Then making a small incision in the bonnet.
Found this video on making a template to fit this.






Mark out template onto bonnet and apply masking tape around it, I used 2 inch normal white painters masking tape then overlaid some gaffer tape which is a lot thicker and stronger. Don't try sticking gaffer tape direct to the bonnet it's difficult to get off.










15 minutes with a 4.5 inch angle grinder with a nice thin metal cutting disc. fortunately the bonnet is aluminium so easy to cut and no sparks so put a towel over the engine bay under the bonnet.




























I cut the two plastic tabs off at the rear of the vent and made provision for a small hole for the single mounting stud on the rear. On the Mustang there are 3 location grooves on the front edge mounting with corresponding mouldings on the vent. I removed these small bits of moulding from the front mounting groove with a dremel.

Removed the thin rubber sealing strip from all around the edge as this would make the grille stand up off the bonnet a little more. The bonnet vent has fixing tape at the rear which I used along with some tiger seal around the sides and across the two clips I had removed and under the area where the bolt is. Trying to make the area watertight so rain running down the bonnet will run around the vent.


----------



## Damob9k

Nice job Karl.
I've been thinking about doing the same on my TT,it would be really interesting to get you feedback on how much of a difference it makes to temperatures.

I'm wondering if this alone will be enough on my car with an OEM radiator to handle 10 laps round Coombe.

Cheers
Damian


----------



## Delta4

Time well spent with those mods, in particular the bonnet vent


----------



## StuartDB

is the vent to push air into the engine bay or draw air out? I assume it's placement is to ram air in? Shouldn't there be a way to try and help the turbo and manifold heat exit safely? or maybe boil a kettle with it  it doesn't feel like the safest place for the turbo heat is up and over the windscreen - I wonder if that could lead to cracking?

if it is to RAM air in, would you benefit with one for the air filter too?


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## desertstorm

All the theory and practical stuff regarding bonnet vennet is covered in this post here.
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... &t=1480945 
Basically there is more pressure in the engine bay than on top of the bonnet, especially at speed. So air won't flow in from a scoop. It will however be sucked out through the vent. The shape of the vent also encourages extraction.
Max Clesca fitted this same bonnet vent to both his TT race and Time attack cars.
It's also fitted to loads of other different track and race cars of all kinds of makes.
I removed the rear rubber seal from the rear of the bonnet area but this only helps venting at low speeds. As speed increases the pressure at the base of the windscreen increases , and will probably be higher than the the under bonnet pressure so air won't come out the bonnet. This is why the intake for the heater/ ventilation is where it is. Even with no fan running you will still get forced ventilation/ airflow when at speed because of the high pressure area at the bottom of the screen.
If you want to stop a manifold cracking reduce the EGT's or get a decent manifold.


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## StuartDB

I was talking about trying to draw the heat from the turbo and manifold up in front of the windscreen and fearing that the glass may crack.


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## desertstorm

You don't have to worry about heat cracking the screen or damaging anything else. The radiant heat from the turbo will only cook stuff within a few inches.


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## desertstorm

Haven't updated this thread for a while. Have a few things coming up in the next few days. Got to do something to keep amused.
Radiator fan change out on the TT the other day. Decided to have a look for a possible upgrade / weight reduction. Looked at some aftermarket fans Spal , Revotec etc and they looked good but a decent one was over £100. And I would have to fabricate a mounting. Not a fan of the pins through the core to secure it. Looking at what was available OE and cheap ordered a second hand fan off a Skoda Fabia 1.4TDI. 6Q0121207L
Only £20 delivered. Having looked at drawings of the OE fan and this one It looked very close in fitting. This car has only one fan but is larger than the large fan on the 1.8T .










Unfortunately the internal resistor on this fan was open circuit. I spent £3 on a 0.5 ohm 100W resistor and mounted the resistor externally cooled by the fan. Fairly easy to take the motor apart and bridge out the internal resistor. The Skoda fan shifts a lot more air than the large TT one, and the OE small fan on full speed is fairly anemic.
Did some current measurements using a 12v booster battery pack.
OE large fan 345mm 250/60 w 1j0959455F 5A low speed 10A high speed

OE small fan 290mm 100/60w 1J0959455K 3A low speed 5A high speed

Fabia fan 385mm 250 / 60w 6Q0959455N 7A low speed 14A high speed.
The Fabia fan is taking virtually as much current as both the others combined and does shift some air.The fan is as wide as the rad and the cowl is the same width as the OE fans. To fit it just had to make some flat alloy extensions as this fan is 10mm narrower than OE.









The mounting point widths are spot on. There are two mounting points for the fan and had to rotate it to the second point to stop the top fan support arm interfering with the top rad hose.That meant making a small bracket. Didn't take long to do and looks a lot tidier . The OE plug for the big fan connects directly and the fan works really well.
And how much weight did this save. Well just about 1Kg which is just about what you lose if you remove the small fan off the OE setup. But this single fan probably moves as much if not more than both the OE fans.


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## desertstorm

Been busy over the last few weeks tatting with the car and upgrading / modifying stuff. 
One of the things I wanted to do was change the intake manifold over from the standard BAM small port item with the RS3 throttle body to something more in line with the power output. I really wanted an SEM Motorsport item as they are just about the best manifold you can get for this engine. They haven't made them for the last few years and they are like rocking horse poo.
Spotted one several weeks ago on one of the FB forums and picked it up. In a previous life it had at some time had nitrous injectors in each runner which had been replaced with bolts that were siliconed in. Not really what I wanted so got the holes welded up and ordered an 034 large to small port transition spacer. Most of the SEM manifolds are large port.
Not just the plenum volume that makes the difference but more so the flow is very compromised in the OE manifolds where the injector boss protudes into the runner a lot causing a real restriction. Had to rearrange the vacuum pipes a little and some of the wiring as well as raise the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler as the intake / fuel rail and injectors sit up higher.
Took the opportunity to revisit the boost hose arrangement I had used which was a bit of a codge job with stuff I had available at the time.

Old and new manifold.










New manifold fitted with original boost hose










The original boost hose arrangement, used one of the original hoses a stainless exhaust adaptor and a straight piece of silicon pipe.










The new hose is a 63-83mm 45 degree hose which does the job much better and fits a lot better on the throttle body.As well as saving 50% of the extra weight the manifold added.










And the net result after doing some limited testing in the car is about a 5% increase in fuel flow at higher rpm over 6K Rpm, with no change in boost there is more air flow . Should add around 20-30bhp at the top end so making around 535bhp with a good torque increase as well. The car does feel like it picks up better from 5.5K onwards.


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## StuartDB

will you go the water/meth route at any point or with a big turbo is there really not the need? (I still dont really understand how s big turbo creates less heat for so much extra air and the same pressure?)

it's magic to me


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## desertstorm

That's fairly simple back pressure. Small turbos are pretty restrictive on the turbine side. If you measure the exhaust back pressure in the manifold you could be seeing well over 50PSI. The exhaust gas cannot get out, also the compressor on a big turbo tends to be more efficient. If you look at a compressor map the efficiency islands correspond to how how hot the air is getting. One of the reasons I chose the 660 over a 550 is it is not being pushed to make 500bhp plus. It's well within it's capability. A turbo run flat out is no good for a track car.
I don't intend to run WMI the EGT's only get out of hand when running full boost on a track after a lap or so. Fine for a 1/4 mile run or some dyno pulls. Hopefully car will be running quite close to 500bhp at 1.8bar boost.


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## desertstorm

Another job done a few weeks ago fitted a second hand HPA haldex controller. Having had a powertrack insert in for most of the time I have had the car had to take the haldex controller off the car to put the original insert back in. Apart from having to remove and refit the haldex controller installing the HPA controller itself is very simple. Pretty much plug and play.
Original insert next to the powertrack.










So many options on the HPA, Not had chance to fully try everything out, leave it in Competition mode most of the time which seems to work well for me. Should hopefully improve fuel economy a little on a run as it's not now almost permanent 4WD.










For a bit of a laugh and to see how a TT copes with 500bhp with only FWD, I started the Ignitron logging and accelerated flat out in 2nd gear. It was completely dry around 20 degrees C .
First with haldex in competition mode










Then shortly after turned the haldex off. Repeated the same run on the same piece of road. Well tried too, it was wheel spin city. trying to modulate the throttle to reduce wheel spin. Logs show fronts are both spinning quite nicely around 60mph whilst the car is only doing around 40mph. I have pretty decent road tyres 245/35/18 Michelin pilot supersports so no lack of traction there. 4WD FTW.


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## HOGG

I'd say the bonnet vent is in the wrong place. It needs to be inset 26.5cm in from the rear edge of the bonnet. Other than that, good job on the aeros. Especially the front wings

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

Vent is in exactly the right place. Mounting it further back makes it less efficient due to the pressure increasing on the bonnet as you move further back. On the original car this is fitted on the Mustang GT500 the vent is mounted at the front of the bonnet just to the rear of the radiator. Lots of info on this thread.
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... &t=1480945


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## desertstorm

Made some other aero changes to the car recently to try and reduce drag and improve down force. At the rear of the car got busy with the angle grinder and removed a section of the rear apron and the diffuser. Removed the rest of the rear arch liners that I had left in that stopped air finding it's way into the bumper.










With the rear bumper remounted I made an aluminium plate that runs across the top of the opening and stops air from running up behind the bumper. Not shown fitted in this photo.










And the view from the rear now shows off the nice shiny exhaust system. Saved about 4Kg in weight, that rear apron is crazy heavy.










On the front decided I needed some more downforce to balance out the rear wing. The original splitter I made, version 1, had no air dam which really helps to make the splitter work. So Version 2 splitter I added the air dam.
Moving onto version 3 I have made it bigger and lower as well as making some other mods.
Original splitter was 3.5 inches deep this one is 5-5.5 inches deep and 25mm lower . I have also made it to work with the original undertray and provided cut outs for the NACA ducts that cool the gearbox.Previously didn't run any undertray under the engine and this adds drag. Also the original splitter blocks the gearbox cooling intakes.
Added some skid blocks as well just in case it rubs a little.

NACA cutouts for the gearbox cooling,










Extended the end fence which is beneficial to reduce drag and consequent lift generated by the front tyre. Also put some small spoilers underneath in front of where the tyre is. These are fitted on the OE car to push air down in front of the tyre so it doesn't produce drag. Also creates a small amount of lift but worth it.Splitter is 12mm ply. And it will take my 85Kg standing on it so quite happy to have it on the car at 140+ mph.


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## Amulet banana

Looking good as always  how do you find the HPA over the insert for handling?

Also a quick question, as the TT runs open diffs and you've disabled the ABS, does that mean you now no longer have any EDL working? Surely that's a downside of disabling the ABS system? It came to me one day when I was messing about researching for my VRS 4wd conversion, and just wondered if it does effect the guys with it disabled on track?


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## silkman

Do you keep track of cost so far?


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## StuartDB

Oh come on silkman ;/ .. lets not be vulgar.

Although, remember Karl jumped over k04 framed hybrid..


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## 0h4ttquattro

I'll be curious to see what your experience is with the HPA tablet itself after you have it for a little while.


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## desertstorm

I don't keep track of cost. I try to buy things cheaper and do as much as I can myself but there is a fair bit of money in the car. It's my hobby .
HPA definitely the best haldex controller solution you can get but also the most expensive. I got mine second hand from a breaker car. Seems in competition mode does pretty much the same as a powertrack insert. Haldex stays engaged when braking which helps stability and balances out braking forces.
I haven't disabled the ABS , That is still working . The ESP is coded out though. Even when you turn the ESP off on the switch it is still active, although no longer as sensitive.
EDL only really works at slow speed, good in the winter on a FWD car to get traction on snow, not so much use on a quattro.


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## silkman

Re. cost question: I only asked since I suspect the whole project has so far come cheaper than having a "proper" track car eg a Sylvia or an older GT-R or a track oriented 911, and the result is probably as good as or better :roll:

Of course its a hobby before anything else so money is irrelevant.


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## CMcKenzie2810

desertstorm said:


> I have completely removed the airbag system, there is one wire left which is the one that connects to the display cluster and puts the airbag light on. If you earth this the airbag light never comes on at all.
> There is a crash signal wire that connects from the airbag ECU to several other modules and in the event of a crash being detected the engine and fuel pump are cut, the hazard lights come on and all the doors automatically open. I have just cut the wire to the ECU and it's flagged a fault regarding this. Not a problem as it doesn't affect the car at all.


Sorry for going so far back, but I'm in the middle of turning my s3 8l into a track car and have already removed a lot of the internal wiring for lights, stereo, airbags etc. I'm left with these two wires from the airbag control module, can you remember which goes to the dials for the light and needs grounding and which just needs terminating.
Thank you.









Sent from my I3113 using Tapatalk


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## desertstorm

Hi, What year is your S3?. I had a look at both the AMK and BAM engine models of the S3 and I can't find a yellow/green or yellow/blue wire on the airbag controller. The wire that goes from the controller to the cluster on the TT and on the S3 is brown/green .


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## CMcKenzie2810

It's a 2000 APY, this is the plug for the air bag module, as you can see I got a bit carried away with the snips..
I cannot change it now with vcds either as there's no air bag ecu for it to talk to so i just get the fault code for air bags and vcds saying it cannot connect to the module
















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## CMcKenzie2810

I also have a fault now where i dont have rear lights, but all other lights work, indicators, brakes, fog, reverse. I never touched any of the wiring for the lights so god knows what I've done there

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## CMcKenzie2810

But they're the only two wires i had left from removing the air bags, I've tried grounding both individually, but it doesn't seem to make any difference and I'm struggling to find any diagrams online for the interior wiring

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## desertstorm

Those two wires are from the airbag controller and connect to the side airbag on the driver side N199. The airbag is built into the side of the seat.










You can see a brown/green wire on the connector you cut. This is the wire that goes to the airbag light on the cluster.
This brown /green wire connects to the clocks on T32 pin 6. Thats the 32 way blue connector.
If you look at the back of the clocks on this connector you should be able to see the wire in the loom if you unpick it a little.
Ground this wire and it will stop the airbag light from illuminating.


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## CMcKenzie2810

That's awesome, thank you so much, I would have been scratching my head for weeks trying to figure it out before eventually dismantling the clocks to remove the bulb 
Thank you again

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## desertstorm

After checking the state of the ignition wiring I was quite shocked to find it in a pretty poor state. Lots of cracked insulation on wires due to the heat from the engine/turbo. I have done my best to guard the wiring but it is nearly 20 years old.
I replaced a few pieces of wiring and added insulation here and there to avoid any issues in the future. Also decided to upgrade the coils as the ones on the car are several years old and there are better ones available. 
Bought a set of NGK U5014 R8/TFSI coils , quite reasonable at just over £26 each.
I did read several articles about how good they were in comparison to the OE items fitted. They do take a lot more current than standard coils and the standard dwell on the Ignitron map is a little high for these coils.
Going more than 2.5ms dwell does nothing to get anymore power from the coil, at this duration it is saturated and pulling over 13A. 
I have set my dwell up so typical dwell is 2ms going upto 2.3ms at high boost.
Crispy coil wiring










Old and new, the new ones are a little longer.



















Did some testing myself of the current taken vs Dwell on the NGK u5014 coils. Dug out my old Tektronix scope, must be over 30 years old but still chugs on. Found some 0.1ohm 2.5% power resistors and put two in parallel to make a 0.05ohm burden resistor. Put this in the power feed to the Motronic relay so measuring current for just the coils.Altered the dwell map so it varies dwell from 1.5ms at idle upto 3ms at 4K. Set up some nice big gauges on the Ignitron tablet and made some measurements.
TBH found pretty much the same as seen on other threads on the net but nice to verify it myself.
1.5ms = 8A
1.7ms = 9A
2.0mS = 10.5A
2.5mS = 13A
2.75mS =14A
You can see on the video that after 2.5ms the "knee bend" occurs and increase in current changes and is no longer linear. Coil is saturated so any further increase in dwell just heats the coil up more. 
It seems recommended dwell around 14V is 1.7-2.0ms which seems good to me. I think I will run them around 2.1-2.2ms when the engine is in boost. Running them at 2.5ms will probably get the most out of them but they are liable to not last as long.


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## silkman

Awesome post about red R8 coils [smiley=thumbsup.gif] . What adaptors did you use (and from where?)

On my std TT I had coils replaced -mostly free from Audi- 2 or 3 times. Since then, I have been carrying a spare one in the trunk and it hasnt seen any use (knock wood). The spare is probably broken from banging around next to the spare wheel :lol:


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## StuartDB

Yeah I was lucky to just trust other peoples reviews.. 

AwesomeGTI sell OEM R8 coils and plastic adapters and delivery for about £110 ( really not in stock anymore) --- i was tempted to buy 5 and 4 adapters to have a spare one , but luckily no failures in over a year.

The next step for adapters is about another £100 - crazy


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## desertstorm

I did buy the adaptors from Awesome GTI. TBH you don't really need them the rubber on the coil body firmly locates the coil pack .

https://www.awesomegti.com/shop-by-car/ ... -fit-only/ 
I am not sure what make the coils are that Awesome sell. I bought the NGK u5014 items as they have proved reliable and perform as good as anything else.


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## StuartDB

I was considering some TFSI coils with a code from GSF they were only going to be about 25 each, i wanted the ones with a rubber coating but Tuffty said they are too tight fit.

The AwesomeGTI ones state R8 OEM but its great you have actually measured stuff with a scope. There were some discussion on seatCupra.net (or similar) about re-gapping to 0.8 to get a bigger spark on a mapped car.

Jesus 51 quid from maxspeedingrods for 4 R8 coil packs reduced from 100

https://www.maxpeedingrods.co.uk/4x-for ... 5115E.html


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## desertstorm

Don't get cheap coils it's just not worth it. I bought 4 genuine NGK u5014 coils from OPIE for £102 delivered. Cheap Chinese coils don't perform the same as genuine items and are no where near as reliable.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.knowyou ... -Coils.pdf 
8.20 on this video


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## StuartDB

yeah I agree most of the maxspeedingrods stuff is Chinese - or Hong Kong (not quite the same just yet )


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## desertstorm

Quick job I did the other day as I have noticed when on track the prop / exhaust tunnel does get pretty toasty in the car. Just normal driving when it's hot will get temps to around 45- 50 degrees. On a track day probably closer to 65 degrees. I have all the aluminium heat shielding on the tunnel and most of the downpipe , manifold etc is heat wrapped.
Used some insulation I had left over from doing another job.
Does make a difference in the car and only added probably 100g tops to the weight. Also helps to quieten the interior a little. Any soft surfaces help to stop noise bouncing around in the car.



















After 15 minutes driving and not particularly hard either.



















Temperature used to be hottest on top by the gearstick. Now near enough 20 degrees cooler.


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## desertstorm

Final piece in the puzzle before it gets out on track at Bedford on the 15th, pretty much the ultimate brake set up for the fronts bar a stupidly expensive carbon ceramic disc setup.
BTCC spec front brake set up. These are the same calipers used by the current BTCC cars, 6 pot CP9660 and the discs and pads I have are used BTCC items.
https://apracing.com/race-car/brake-cal ... -thick-pad

The top teams only run the discs and pads for one race or practice etc. They get through a huge amount of these so they are available at very knock down prices used. The discs are AP Racing 368 X36 mm that are specifically designed for the BTCC cars as the largest brake they can squeeze under the 18 inch rims they use.
The 3 sets of discs I have are all 35.8- 35.9mm thick against 36mm thick when new. Pads have 18mm of friction material when new, second hand pads typically 16-17mm. The discs on the car ATM were on Andrew Jordans car last year.
They were redesigned 2 years ago to improve them with heavy duty Bobbins for the floating disc and S shape vanes for cooling, the standard pad is a Raybestos ST45, They are an American company and make lots of stuff for American racing series like Indy Car. I have watched the touring cars racing and have always been impressed by how quick the stop, I now know why. You only have to wave your foot across the brake and the speed starts disappearing. Normal heavy brake pressure application just results in a lock up at what ever speed you care to be doing. 
Only one real issue fitting these and that was caused by the fact I have MK2 TT bottom ball joints. These allow a lot more camber than standard ball joints. However the knuckle on the bottom ball joint is very close to the disc. Requires some attention with an angle grinder.
The complete brake system disc, bell, bobbins, caliper and pads as well as caliper adapters weighs in at 14.9Kg. I weighed a standard 312mm system a few years ago at 13.6Kg.
The 6 pot calipers are well matched to the TT with the piston area only being about 10% bigger than the standard calipers. 
Loads of clearance on my rims.










used pads










weight of all the parts combined.










The bottom ball joint does foul the disc. Needs some attention with an angle grinder.



















Back side of the disc that picked up a small score from the ball joint. The float is in the discs and not the bell, so the bells don't wear out.


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## StuartDB

amazing!!!

Did you buy whole matching disc and pad sets... these must cost >= 1k new a race don't they? It sounds like a great solution.


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## desertstorm

The discs and pads aren't matched as such, the pads are sold as complete sets of 4 so should have the same wear on them. The discs sold as pairs as they came off the car. The discs are handed.
A set of pads and discs is around 1k if you were to buy them new from AP, A used set of pads and discs less than£150.


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## StuartDB

with all this extra stopping power are you going to have to modify suspension, subframe, cross members etc? as isn't it going to add extra load to the front?


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## desertstorm

The car has many upgrades regarding suspension, bushes etc so This is not an issue.Main problem is the amount of available grip to actually use the full amount of braking potential. The BTCC cars use a 265 wide slick tyre. Quite a soft compound so capable of generating a lot of grip. Typically people use these with 9.5 -10 inch wide rims. .


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## popster_23

Your build thread is awesome! You got so much motivation and follow though I'm jealous!

I have a 1999 nimbus gray metallic APX TT roadster I've already spent a small fortune on over the years. The baseball leather seats were torn up so I got the updated baseball leather seats out of a 2008 roadster and had them fitted in my roadster. I have a pair of Porsche seats I'm going to install to have more adjustments plus I don't trust the welds on the 2008 seats that the mechanic used to fit them with the original seat rails off the 8n. I also bought a hardtop that I like a lot more than the ragtop.

I have bought some of the items you used in your build. Wossner 9.5 forged pistons, IE forged rifled connecting rods. Also a forge intercooler, 16 row oil cooler, relentless V4 or V5 manifold unsure which and a hybrid K04. I bought the hybrid just before I started reading your thread :lol: other wise I would have gone straight to the big turbo too. Too late now. If I don't like the build with the hybrid I'll get a big turbo later/eventually. I bought a BAM motor from a breaker for 800 euro with engine harness and ECU... I'm going to rebuild it when it comes in instead of my APX. Is 350hp about the most you can expect to get from a K04 hybrid?

I drove around with the same haldex fitting you had for a couple years. I took it out when I installed my Bilstein B14 suspension set up and had my oil and filter change for my haldex. The car seemed more stable in a straight line and in sweeping curves with the fitting but I don't really notice much of a difference since I took it out.. I have never taken it on a track though. I have some 18" inch tires/wheels but I'm using my 17" that are 8" front and 9" rear. I plan to get some 255/40s for the rear and 225/45s for the front soon.

I bought a pair of 4 pot brembo front calipers off an Alfa Romeo 166 for 170 euro. I hope I can use my almost new 312mm discs but may go 330mm have to see when I get the adapters made. I'd like to start a build thread but probably won't in the end. I will at least try to upload some pictures when I get started/finished. I think I'll go back and read your build thread from the beginning.

Keep up the good work! It's very entertaining and addictive I must add!


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## desertstorm

350bhp is a stretch for a hybrid K04, all depends on the turbo spec and the other mods you have on the car. One of the weaknesses of any K04 build is the choice of a decent exhaust manifold. The only one that seems to work well and reliably is a well ported Chinafold.


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## desertstorm

Took the car to Bedford for it's first track day this year. Never been to the track before and it's a slightly unusual track as they don't actually race here. Probably the longest circuit of any track in the country the 3.8 mile GT circuit has a straight just over 1Km long. Some really quick cars turned up, three Mclarens along with many Porsches, M3's etc etc. 
Had some issues with the car that I never really worked out till I got home and looked at the photos that were taken on the day. I got the aero set up completely wrong with this new rear wing , and the splitter angle on the front was wrong as well.
You can see the rear squatting down and the front splitter stuck up in the air, instead of being parallel with the ground.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/javelintr ... 7546/page1
Upshot of this is the handling was very poor, the car would not hold a line in a corner and the understeer / non existent turn in was very noticeable.
Two much rear wing, probably positive lift being generated from the front splitter meant no front end.
I was hoping to hit 150 on the straight but the best I managed was 149.4mph . The BTCC brakes were absolutely epic, stops so quick and no sign of fade at all. Very little pad use 
This track has the tightest noise restrictions in the country with an 87.5 dB at 20m limit. I did get pinged in the afternoon so had to deploy the home made exhaust turn downs which did make a big difference. Noticeably quieter in the car I could go flat out past the microphones and set my quickest times with these on.



















Surprised the plastic centres in the wheels didn't melt they were that hot. But the brakes were epic.










Modified exhaust outlets looked daft but did the job. Microphones are on the infield on the passenger side of the car hence pointing exhausts to the driver side.










Not quite 150mph , never got passed by anything on the straights but never came across any of the Mclarens.










Didn't have much luck with videos the camera stopped working on my phone in the afternoon because it got too hot and the Go Pro I had was set up wrong so completely over exposed.
An early lap still learning the circuit and trying to wonder why the car was understeering so much.






An alternative view out the rear. 1min 32 watch the s2000 spin . Had a bit of a run with a Caterham, Definitely quicker than me in the corners, he was taking much better lines through some of the corners.If the car had been handling as it should would have just left him.






Short video running down the straight, Using the push to pass to up boost from 1.8 to 2 bar on the longer straights.


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## StuartDB

popster_23 said:


> Your build thread is awesome!..... I'd like to start a build thread but probably won't in the end. I will at least try to upload some pictures when I get started/finished........


You should definitely start a build / personal thread, then at least when you ask technical questions you'll know where the answers are, and it won't contaminate Karl's thread with a digression..

Talking of digression (Sorry karl  ), I have this hybrid, which is a B5 v3 TIP compatible version of Bill's AET (380 base line) hybrid which a few people have from here they are around the 370 / 380 Mark, when mapped professionally, the reason I didn't get the model up is I already had the V3 TIP. The 380 one has the B5 v2.2 TIP aluminium billet as part of the Turbo.

My AET hybrid









Bills AET collaboration project 380bhp rated


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## StuartDB

that 1km straight really will sort out the men from the boys heat and reliability wise.

Do you ever come across Prawn, i recall he has done a report from bedford previous.

What is stopping you from going over 150? Aero or power?

Have you put that output shaft extra support brace on? I think a few people put them on their S3s.

I'm loving your noise deflectors.


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## desertstorm

I speak to Nick "Prawn" quite a bit on various forums. I think the car would probably hit around 155 on that straight if it wasn't carrying so much wing and I had the bottle to brake later. At 150mph the car is covering 100m in 1.5s or a mile every 24s so you are eating up the track quite quickly.Also hopefully next time I goto the track I will have the aero sorted and some more grip from wider rubber so will be able to attack the corners a bit more.


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## desertstorm

Well it happened just over a week ago last Monday on the way to work. The Piston and rod in number 4 decided that they had suffered enough abuse and exited the engine taking a large piece of the block with them. Fortunately I have a fire extinguisher in the car as it went on the rear of the block and covered the very hot manifold in oil and coolant. Otherwise the resultant fire may have finished the car off.
After removing the engine and dismantling it looks like another Wossner piston failure. Several people have had issues with these pistons cracking and then failing causing the same results I saw. If the piston is measured they actually shrink ???.
So before you rebuild a 1.8T think twice before fitting Wossner pistons. This engine has only done just over 3K miles since it was built.
I have picked up an AUM block and head that will be the basis of the new engine. Exactly the same block and crank as a BAM but without the cost . 
Ignitron logging caught the moment the engine failed 6600 RPM, timing , fuelling and boost all spot on. The engine was still timed up perfectly when I checked.




























Cracks in all 3 remaining pistons, on 2 pistons there are multiple cracks.



















Gudgeon pin was in three pieces.










Have several pieces of piston this size.



















Engine is being rebuilt with JE pistons and tool steel pins. Hopefully it will last a bit longer this time.


----------



## StuartDB

Sad days indeed.... any other improvements whilst doing the rebuild? Are you doing it by yourself again? Chuck in some water meth injection... its inspiring...

A lucky escape debris hasn't wiped out your turbo

I cannot quite remember, but I was sure there was some comment about those posh forged pistons you got, getting loose and rattling?

If you drove the car 99% off the limit and 1% on it.... it probably would have been okay, but you've made a high performance race car. 
It's not a good advert for woosner though is it? Did they comment at all?

Have you got a large port head? What about a tfsi crank? For a stroker.... are your N/A cams okay?


----------



## desertstorm

Yes fortunately the turbo looks OK. I didn't know of any issues when I bought the pistons. When I had them and before I built the engine I found out that one or two people had issues. One being Bill at Badger 5 but this was in his very potent race car that had also seen failures with other pistons. For any high performance part like this you will find some issues. However these pistons have had many failures now and are clearly not upto the job.
It's a small port head and stopping small port. Was considering fitting the NA exhaust cam as currently running just the NA intake cam with the original turbo exhast cam.


----------



## StuartDB

You were also putting high-end performance through your's Karl 500lbft or whatever

I'm sort of running 2 bar peak, and read a post from Bill on seatcupra like 10 years ago saying that 1.8's a time bomb at 2 bar.

He also said he stretched the head bolts running 35 psi, on some coversation maybe with Si or madmax

Have you thought about the stroker crank? It's another 80 odd BHP isn't it.

Are any of you head components salvageable eg those new guides, super tech valves and springs?

(Life coaching..  )
If you add something extra to your rebuild, it will add some emotional value to this hiccup


----------



## popster_23

Sorry to hear about number 4. My Wossner 9.5 pistons are still in the box... I won't have near your power so I should be okay. I have heard Wossner pistons are weak on other forums. But after reading your thread I went with them.


----------



## desertstorm

I hope you don't have the issue I have seen. Problem with tuning is you end up wanting more. Good luck.


----------



## StuartDB

desertstorm said:


> I hope you don't have the issue I have seen. Problem with tuning is you end up wanting more. Good luck.


Amen...


----------



## popster_23

desertstorm said:


> I hope you don't have the issue I have seen. Problem with tuning is you end up wanting more. Good luck.


Thanks! You're right I am never really happy with what I have... but knowing the wossners weaknesses I'll try to be careful.


----------



## desertstorm

Finally after the best part of 2 months the car is back to life. Been a bit of a mission getting the engine rebuilt. Big thanks to Bill Brockbank for sourcing the pistons, rods,exhaust valves, and getting the block cleaned and bored for the JE pistons.
Got 60 miles on the car today just running 1 bar actuator pressure and 6000 RPM rev limit it's quite perky at that making around 280bhp according to Ignitron. Will be tweaking the boost and rev limit up over the next 300 miles or so. 
Happy to say no piston slap or knock from the JE pistons, The job done on the block was excellent.
Took the opportunity to relocate the Turbo coolant pump repurposing the original hoses. Seemed daft the way it was run from the factory I suspect it was put there to try and get some cooling air so have left it out in free air. Saved a bit of weight. Also rerouted my oil cooler hoses which now go down the side of the rad than over the top. So able to take about 2.5ft out of the length.
Also now able to drain the oil cooler without taking the front bumper off. Fitted the NA exhaust cam as well as the NA intake cam I was using before. In fact used the APG head I got the cams in so car has a N/A head and cams now. No longer a BAM with an AUM block and crank.
Hopefully make a little more power than before.


----------



## StuartDB

Very nice... is that a large port head?

What crank do you have? Did you consider a stroker?

Incidentally, how do you get the wrist pins into the pistons? Do they push in through the skirt?

And what is this on your piston?


----------



## mutley100

Awesome fantastic job


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## desertstorm

Head is a small port the same as the previous one. The crank and block are AUM they are the same part numbers as what is in a BAM. But a lot cheaper and more easily available. Didn't really consider a stroker, 500+ bhp is plenty enough, another reason I didn't bother with a large port head.
Wrist pins just slide in, the mark on the skirt is where the skirt is closest to the oil squirter. The pistons are hand finished I believe and a small amount of material has been removed at this point to slightly increase the squirter clearance.


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## StuartDB

Arhh... interesting i was wondering whether it was for weight balancing as numbered, but seemed a little one sided for that.


----------



## desertstorm

No, numbers on pistons are related to the ring end gaps. All the rings on that piston were gapped in cylinder 1 so that's where that piston went. Really shouldn't make much difference as the rebore was a quality job and all the bore sizes should be the same.


----------



## BrianB

Looks really nice, you must be glad it's all back together again.


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## desertstorm

BrianB said:


> Looks really nice, you must be glad it's all back together again.


Yes happy it's back together again, unfortunately appear to have a few oil leaks which I need to track down. I will just say PTFE seal no oil.


----------



## silkman

desertstorm said:


> BrianB said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks really nice, you must be glad it's all back together again.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes happy it's back together again, unfortunately appear to have a few oil leaks which I need to track down. I will just say PTFE seal no oil.
Click to expand...

Did you do front and rear main seals? Audi parts say don't oil when installing, other aftermarket eg Ajusa say oil it.

Mine is leaking from the front seal, hence the interest :lol: Mechanic did notice it (or it wasn't leaking) when I had my timing belt done, engine was out at the time.

3eur aftermarket part.


----------



## desertstorm

I did oil front and rear seals and both are leaking :x . Did the same when I built the engine last time and never had an issue. 
I didn't know anthing about PTFE seals not being oiled. Seals are cheap enough and the front isn't that difficult to do. Rear of course is a PITA because the gearbox has too come off.


----------



## BrianB

desertstorm said:


> BrianB said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks really nice, you must be glad it's all back together again.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes happy it's back together again, unfortunately appear to have a few oil leaks which I need to track down. I will just say PTFE seal no oil.
Click to expand...

That's a shame, I see from the picture you have Hurricane rods. Any particular reason?


----------



## desertstorm

I could have bought another IE H beam rod and used those again. The Hurricane rods are what Bill at Badger 5 sells. He has used them in quite a few big turbo builds with no issues and runs them in his track car the Badgerwagon. They are made in China like so many things these days but are as good quality as the IE rods and a lot stronger.


----------



## BrianB

desertstorm said:


> I could have bought another IE H beam rod and used those again. The Hurricane rods are what Bill at Badger 5 sells. He has used them in quite a few big turbo builds with no issues and runs them in his track car the Badgerwagon. They are made in China like so many things these days but are as good quality as the IE rods and a lot stronger.


I was just curious, I didn't know a lot about them, Bill used them when I had some work done by him last year and sometimes I think I should have gone with a more familiar make, good to know that they're used quite widely by Bill in different builds.


----------



## desertstorm

The Rods stacey sells at Pro Race are all Hurricane rods with his logo etched on them. Hurricane make a lot of the after market rods.
https://prorace-engineering.co.uk/produ ... ting-rods/


----------



## StuartDB

I dont understand the fuss about forged rods... what was wrong with IanG's rods after introducing NLS and ALS ?


----------



## darylw357

Special flexable rods for when your bores aren't straight?


----------



## desertstorm

As long as you are sensible the standard rods will do 300Lb/ft . My car on stage 2 parts managed 270 odd bhp and 300Lb/ft for a good time on several track days and didn't have an issue. Bring in Anti lag and Launch control and pops and bangs and you are on a slippy slope. All of these things cause pressure spikes in the cylinder and that's what will kill the rods.


----------



## desertstorm

Bit of an update on the car, Had an issue with the gearbox after putting about 250 miles on the new engine and starting to ramp up the boost and revs. I suspect it may have been damaged when the engine blew up. With such a catastrophic failure on number 4 this could well have created a shock load in the transmission input shaft. Only a theory but pretty much from the get go the gearbox was noisy when lifting off at high RPM after a gear change. Quite a noticeable and distracting noise, after searching this quite often appears to be due to end float on the input shaft and happens as adjacent gears touch.
After pulling away quite smartly off a roundabout and accelerating onto a dual carriageway selected 4th around 70 mph and met with a rather large bang and much grinding / general noise.
Quick dip of the clutch and determined the engine was OK.
Pulled over in a layby and no sign of holes, oil or other issues. Managed to drive another 5 miles or so but getting very noisy and almost impossible to select a gear.Not good sitting in stop start traffic at 16.30 on a Friday afternoon. On the AA recovery truck again, rapidly becoming their best customer.
Found a replacement gearbox on Ebay about 30 miles away, £100 DQB the same as what is on the car and picked it up Saturday afternoon. They are pretty heavy with the transfer box around 90Kg so decided to take the engine out. Sunday morning 09.30 started and by 16.00 I was putting the engine back in the car with the new box on. 
Fortunately it seems to work well so changed the oil and got on with running the engine in.
Very common issue with teeth shredding off 4th/6th gear on the input shaft, there are some mods that can be made to improve them but long term a DSG gearbox is probably going to be the answer.

Video of the noise, in neutral it's silent, lift the clutch it makes a lot of noise.






Secondhand gearbox.










Some of the damage.


----------



## StuartDB

At least there's a theory, quick work though..
We should all come to you did our clutch replacements.

When I changed a release bearing on my clutch in my old 1980s golf, I unknowingly trapped the throttle cable somewhere. And started it on axle stands and the car was still in gear for some reason. After about 10 seconds there was a crunch. And I slowly lost gears.. my dad suggested changing the gear oil to see what's going on, quite a lot of metal. Next day at the scrappy and got a gearbox off a Jetti balanced 3 cars up  asked if I wanted the clutch too for a fiver and I said I didn't need it.... 2 days later I jumped the fence, swiped the clutch and got chased by a fat security guard and a fat dog....


----------



## Gonzalo1495

desertstorm said:


> Very common issue with teeth shredding off 4th/6th gear on the input shaft, there are some mods that can be made to improve them but long term a DSG gearbox is probably going to be the answer.


I just ordered one of these to avoid the exact issue you just had. Would have been great for you to do while the trans was out. This alongside the upgraded shift forks are a must imo for these transmissions. 
https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... pport.html


----------



## StuartDB

There's a lot that seems to go wrong, once you get some torque going.

Is the shim kit worth doing without any symptoms?


----------



## desertstorm

I am aware of the various mods you can make to hopefully improve the reliability of the 02m .
Another mod you can do with the input shaft is press a steel insert into the hollow shaft. 
This probably does as much to stop deflection of the input shaft which causes the teeth to partially mesh and overload thus causing them to break. The shaft support needs regular adjustment to make sure the slipper block is in the correct position.

https://www.bar-tek-tuning.com/vollwell ... illetshaft

For now I have just ammended the boost by gear maps for 4th and 6th gear. Doesn't make very much difference to the performance of the car as 1.8 bar will still be around 460bhp plus.


----------



## desertstorm

Managed to get a track day in at Bedford Autodrome on Saturday, Unfortunately Boris has cancelled the one I had booked at Donnington on the 16th November.
Got to try out the new Nankang AR1 tyres I bought, Very impressed with these.Drove the 90 miles to Bedford in quite heavy rain most of the way and they behaved OK. Even though it wasn't ever fully dry or particularly hot at Bedford they gave really good grip. When it did rain a lot harder in the day I swapped back to my normal road wheels.
Definitely got the handling in the sweet spot with these tyres and changes to front ride height, front splitter and rear wing angles.
Had some issues with the car that meant I missed some running. Had a major power steering fluid leak after my first run, A few weeks ago I noticed a small leak that turned to be a pin hole on the low pressure cooling loop at the front of the car. It was on the welded bracket where it had gone rusty at the end of the loop. Basically cut the loop off and put a short length of hose on with some jubilee clips. Despite lasting several weeks and 3-400 miles the pipe ended up with a hole in it I think because the bend radius was too tight . Identified a coolant hose on the engine that I could shorten and use so just had to get some PAS fluid. That turned out to be a 2 hour round trip to get the correct Central hydraulic fluid.
Never got passed on track except on warm up and cool down laps and passed pretty much everything else. Car was flying and I was only running 1.6 bar boost for 95% of the time.Occasionally 1.8bar to accelerate past people.
In the afternoon car went into limp mode with 1035 degree EGT temps shown on the gauge. I have the limp mode set so if EGT exceeds 950 degrees for more than 1 second it will goto limp. Turned out to be a broken wire on the EGT sensor plug that was intermittent. Disabled limp mode on EGT and carried on.










It's an older Porsche GT3 but left it standing on the straight. Was driving slower past the first microphone as that is where you get pinged for noise.






More car overtaking.


----------



## StuartDB

That's excellent.... did you drive their on your own or trailer the car?

The car sounds great.. I doubt your egts are anywhere near 950 in any case are they?


----------



## desertstorm

Drive the car there and back, It's about 90 miles to Bedford for me. EGT's seem to be lower than on the previous build now I am running the NA exhaust cam and intake cam. Most of the time they peak around 760-790 degrees when accelerating to say 100-110 mph. At the end of that 1km straight pulling around 140-145mph they were hitting around 880 degrees. 
I wasn't using the water injection which I used in the summer and this typically took 30-40 degrees off the EGT's.


----------



## desertstorm

Not updated the thread for a while. Had another track day at Donnington but that was cancelled due to the Lockdown in December. 
Anyway had been looking for a while for a TTS, Golf R or S3 being broken with the correct DSG gearbox in it. You can buy the gearbox on it's own but I wanted all the parts from one car, easier that way and I asked if they could keep all the bolts removed when the gearbox was removed from the engine as some of them are different to the Mk1 TT.
There are plenty of gearbox codes that will mount to the 1.8T and work with Ignitron. The DQ250 box on the TTS,S3 etc or the DQ500 fitted to the RS3, RSQ3 TTRS etc. The DQ500 is a stronger box, better clutch capacity as standard but is pretty rare and more expensive than the DQ250, as soon as you say RS add 30-50% RS tax.
I decided on a DQ250, standard they will do 400Nm, With a DSG remap they will do 600-650Nm on a standard clutch and upto 750Nm with a modified clutch pack. I plan to run around 550Nm so a mapped DQ250 would do the job. There are many different gearbox codes with different ratios on different models. You can see the difference in gearing across the different models, you definitely don't want a TDI box for a performance car.
The yellow highlighted line is a standard 02m 6 speed box in a 225TT, The green line TTS,S3,Golf R 6 speed box. All the boxes are 6 speed with a transaxle so are 4WD boxes. Because the DQ500 is designed for a bigger more powerful engine the ratios are higher so not quite as good for performance.










The following is a list of the DSG gearbox codes for 200Kw engines used across Golf R, TTS and S3's.










Here is what I ended up buying from a 2012 accident damaged 34K mile TTS that was being broken.
NMA gearbox, DMF, starter motor, Drive shafts, 20 pin connector for DSG box, 10 pin connector for Gearchange mechanism, 
Gearbox mount bracket and gearbox mount thrown in even though I won't be using it. All the bolts and the bracket that secures the transaxle to the engine. The water cooling pipes to the oil cooler on the box .The spacer plate that locates between the DMF and engine, he threw in a shifter off a Passat I think that has no knob or display. 
Usually on Ebay you might get the gearbox on it's own some don't even come with the transfer box attached.










Still had to buy a few more bits so back to Ebay,I will add some prices and give you an idea of what stuff costs.
Steering wheel off an Ibiza Cupra, The paddles will wire direct to the Ignitron ECU which generates the CAN messages to the gearbox. It's off an Ibiza and only has the paddles so nobody wants them £50.










The clock spring off the TT models with extra buttons on the steering wheel or the 3.2 v6 DSG cars with paddles. Came with connectors. £35 you can get them cheaper but this came with the connectors.










Gearchange from a Passat CC 2010-2014, Will probably bin the gear boot and trim and just mount the display on the selector body.The complete gear change will be mounted on top of the tunnel in the car, so the gearknob will be very handy by the steering wheel. I anticipate most of the time the car will be in manual so either using the paddles or tiptronic to change. £50 don't think they sell many of these they are pretty reliable.










3.2v6 DSG transmission mount plus polyeurathane to fill the mount. The existing 2 bolt mount on the 02M will fit but the DSG gearbox is around 40Kg heavier than an 02M. So decided to fit the correct mount. £40 with the 500g polyeurathne.










The DSG gearboxes can get quite warm on track so there are a few preemptive cooling upgrades. I have changed the thermostat in the engine to an 80 degree one from 87. Actually should help it make a little more power, definitely seeing a little less knock on the top map.
Bought a 40% bigger than stock cooler from Autodoc for £44, It's a Nissen item so decent quality 02E409061C










The later MQB cars have 3 radiators, 1 main rad and 2 supplementary rads mounted down by the foglights. One of these is in parallel with the main rad, one takes the engine coolant before feeding it to the cooler on the box.They are the same part number.Plan to mount this above the intercooler next to the oil cooler. Managed to find a genuine VAG part for £60. 5Q0121253H










The oil filter on the box is contained in a plastic housing which apparently can break when you try to remove it, It was pretty tight on this box. I bought an alloy finned housing off Aliexpress for £16 delivered. Fits and looks fine, won't make that much difference to temps but It has an m10x1 tapped hole in the top which I can connect a temp sensor in to monitor gearbox oil temps.the gearbox cooler and filter are a lot more exposed in my car than they would be in a standard car as they are buried under the battery and various other bits.


----------



## desertstorm

Done some measuring on the driveshafts. Some people fitting these boxes have had to modify the RHS drivers driveshaft to shorten it. The TT8J has a wider track than the 8N
TT 8N
Front track 1528 mm
TT 8J
Front track 1572 mm
TT8J has 44mm wider rack than 8N so 22mm each side. 
Measuring the position of the gearbox driveshaft flange in relation to the mounting face on the engine. On the LHS driveshaft it's in the same place . This ties in with the driveshaft lengths 481mm 8N and 495mm 8J . So a 14mm longer driveshaft on the 8J TT. 
My car has Mk2 TT balljoints on the front to increase camber and I have CB auto 13mm spacers to extend the driveshafts, So either I can leave my original driveshaft and spacer or replace the driveshaft with the 8J item and no spacer. Which is what I am going to do.The 8J driveshaft is likely to be a better design being for a 300bhp car and is 60K miles newer.
On the RHS which is where people have an issue the driveshaft flange is 35mm further out than an 02M .
However the 8N and 8J driveshafts are the same length 615mm. Measuring the articulation on the inner balljoint there is 45mm of axial movement on the inner joint.
By my reckoning as I have the extra offset from the TT balljoints I may get away without shortening the driveshaft.

The wiring for the gearbox and selector is fairly simple, all the clever stuff happens on the CAN bus connections. The ECU, gearbox and gear selector all communicate via this along with the ABS unit to control the gear shifts.
You don't need all the connections some are related to interlocks that allow the car only to start in P/N and signals that only allow the key to be released from the ignition when the gear lever is set correctly.










The Ignitron ECU generates the CAN bus signals for up and down shifts off the paddles on the steering wheel and also decodes the CAN databus signals for the reverse light.


----------



## desertstorm

Took the car to Badger 5 last week to have a run on the dyno. Two reasons, I wanted to see what the engine was doing compared to where it was before the Wossners blew up . And wanted to get a handle on how accurate the calculated torque values are from Ignitron. The torque values are passed to the DSG gearbox so I would like an idea of how accurate they are. From logging and my butt dyno the engine is stronger in the midrange pick up and top end.










Unfortunately the car did not want to run 4WD on the dyno , It's running a HPA controller in Competition mode. Possibly could have changed it to a different mode but that only occurred to me after. Ran it FWD only but with 2.5 degrees of camber on the front tyres it was always going to struggle. On the old Badger dyno they had to glue the rollers. Have to say on the road have no traction issues at all even on a 2.2 bar map it puts the power down with little or no wheel spin even in the damp. Overall power came up at a similar level to the last run, But at a lower RPM. But since the last run engine has had an SEM manifold added . Never noticed at the time that the RPM shown on the dyno was not reaching the 7800 RPM redline.
Looking at the Ignitron logs afterward Bill suggested I checked the ABS wheel speeds. And clearly you can see 5-7% slip between the front and rear wheels. Thats why the dyno only shows RPM to around 7400 when the engine was running to 7800. Which puts calculated power down about 5%. Well happy with the EGT's considering this was the 3rd run with no WMI fitting the NA exhaust cam this time along with the intake has lowered these and seems to have picked up the boost earlier as well.










Indeed the engine has the complete APG cylinder head I bought to get the APG cams. So a standard small port N/A head with Rosten springs and Supertech Inconel valves.
Boost control needs some work, It's fine on the road 2nd,3rd,4th gear pulls .On the dyno in 5th gear turbo spools earlier and boost spikes 0.2-0.3 bar more than the target.
Calculated torque and power on Ignitron seem to be about 10-15% lower than the dyno results. Which is consistent with previous dyno runs. Probably varies across different engines and tunes.


----------



## StuartDB

Have you already got your DSG..?

This is such an incredible build.


----------



## silkman

Awesome! Looking forward for another track video.


----------



## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> Have you already got your DSG..?
> This is such an incredible build.


Thanks Stuart. DSG is not in yet. The dyno run was part of the preperation for fitting the DSG. The ECU and TCU in a DSG communicate all the time. The ECU provides real time torque demand values to the TCU and when gear changes occur the TCU will usually request a torque reduction from the ECU and an increase or decrease in rpm depending on whether it's changing up or down. The Ignitron ECU has all the functionality and maps required to work with the DSG. But it requires mapping to get it all to work seamlessly. The gearbox I have has a 380-400Nm factory limit of maximum torque. A lot of remaps on 2.0 TFSI engines just trick the TCU by never sending real time values more than the maximum allowed. As long as maximum torque isn't really much more than 450Nm then you can get away with this.
I will be setting the map to deliver around 400Nm max, probably 1.2 bar , when I fit the DSG and then will spend some time getting it to run 100%. Then the TCU will need remapping which will raise the factory RPM limiters and clamping pressure on the clutches. This essentially means you can go upto 600Nm reliably with faster than stock changes and 8100rpm if you want. 
I can map all the changes I want in Ignitron


----------



## StuartDB

Has this car far exceeded your original scope?

Is this DSG a TT mark1 v6 gearbox? What are you doing with your clutch and DMF? Are they re-sellable, I need to get a replacement, TT is sorn and back on axle stands after it started slipping - unsurprising really, still stock clutch changed 8 years ago according to receipts, it was a ticking time-bomb and I think I'll change the springs in the turbosmart actuator at the same time.

This is the 3rd Christmas in a row I have sorn the TT to work on it  but as I half dropped the sub-frame last year for pipewerx downpipe and driveshafts boots arms etc etc.. I am building my confidence, I just struggle with motivation.
I need to change the VNT actuator on my newly acquired 2.0 TDI golf. They are clever turbos... so that is most important before taking the car apart on the driveway. But wondering what mixture of clutch plate, dmf, slave


----------



## desertstorm

No the DSG box from the 3.2 v6 won't fit a 1.8T. It is essentially the same DQ250 gearbox as on the MK1 3.2 V6 but the 3.2v6 engine is canted 15 degrees forward where as the 1.8T is around 15 degrees backwards. So if you did manage to fit a 3.2 v6 box to a 1.8T the driveshafts and prop drive would be in the wrong place. 
The gearbox is from a 2012 TTS . Pretty much any DSG gearbox from a 2.0 TDI or petrol upto 2013 will fit a 1.8T .


----------



## desertstorm

This is from logs I did on track last time. A flat section accelerating from 3rd into 4th. I have a 1.8 bar limit on 4th and 6th gear to try and protect the box a bit but was using the top map with a 2.2 bar lift between 5.5 and 6.5K in 3rd.
The speed reading in my car is pretty accurate, within 1mph of my GPS speed on the sat nav.
Fairly lazy shift from 3rd to 4th with no antilag which would have almost eliminated the boost drop, did 60-110 mph in just under 5 seconds. Hopefully with the DSG gearbox on and being to run more in 4th looking at around 6-6.5 seconds for the headline 100-200 km/h time.


----------



## tadope

Hey did you ever put the passat aluminum spindles/lca on your car?
Lots of weight savings there.


----------



## desertstorm

Hi, I think that mod is for Mk2 TT's. Never come across anything like that for the MK1.


----------



## tadope

desertstorm said:


> Hi, I think that mod is for Mk2 TT's. Never come across anything like that for the MK1.


It might be just the spindles. A little geometry change


----------



## desertstorm

Been preparing a few things for the gearbox install when it gets warmer in a few months. The Steering wheel I bought I made an aluminium plate for the front to mount the race mode / push to pass switches and the horn. Covered it in some Black Sticky back plastic rather than paint it.
Looks OK and is functional, My Aliexpress stick on paddle extensions arrived from China, So fitted them.










Had to do some fiddling with the paddles to get them working with Ignitron as the paddles aren't just a switch they have resistors built into them . Not easy to get them apart and I didn't want to break them so made up a small PCB with a 5v regulator and some resistors /capacitors to do some level shifting. This works fine now and the ECU sees both Paddles will generate the CAN messages to the gearbox. The paddle switches have LED's in that I have powered up when ever the ignition is on.




























The gearbox doesn't put out oil temp on the CAN bus for the ECU to read and as I would like to keep an eye on this added a cheap 150 degree oil temp sensor to the alloy filter housing. This has an 1/8 NPT thread but M10X1 is very close and fits fine, so fitted the sensor.

Temp sensor is a VAG item for 150 degree oil temperature gauges. Found the calibration data and then using this site
calculated the values outside the normal 50-150 degree range.
1H0919563
https://daycounter.com/.../Steinhart-Hart-Thermistor...
Temp resistance (ohms)
0 - 3061
10 - 1832
20 - 1135
30 - 726
40- 478
50 - 323
60 -223
70- 158
80 -113
90- 83
100- 62
110- 48
120 - 37
130- 30
140 - 23
150- 18
Used the spare resistance input on pin 26 and connected the sensor there. With the wire earthed on the engine it was measuring 4 ohms. As the sensor resistance is pretty low at high temperatures this would make a big difference in the calculated value. So added 4 ohms to all the values to take this into account.
Easily created a new sensor input in Ignitron and added the sensor calibration.


----------



## desertstorm

Few more bits done whilst waiting for the weather to warm up.
Polyfilled the gearbox mount. This is the 3 bolt version of a DQ250 V6 TT . The stock 2 bolt 1.8T will bolt up to the gearbox mount, they have the same bolt spacing but I suspect with the increased weight of the transmission Audi decided to beef it up a bit.

Starting off with a mount and some 60 shore polyeurathane rubber mix.










Cleaned up the aluminium a bit with a rotary wire brush in the drill to make it easier for the tape to stick where it need to.
Cut some 8mm threaded bar and pushed it into the mount to compress it, One piece either side. With no weight on the mount it sits about 5-7mm higher than when it's in the car.










The mount is oil filled and I cut the rubber on the bottom and remove the oil and the rubber diaphragm so the cavity can be filled as well.










Tape the back side of the mount so the polyeurathane doesn't leak. Spend some time making sure it's sealed well and cut some tap strips for the bottom part where the oil used to be. This is filled first and then taped over quickly before putting it on it's side and filling the mount. You only have 4-5 minutes before it starts setting and getting thicker so won't pour or flow very well.










And after 2-3 hours remove the tape and all should be good.



















Also made some brackets to fit the gear shifter display to the side of the gear shifter. This is how it will be going in the car. The yellow plastic thing is the emergency release to get the car out of park. If the battery is flat or there is an issue with the electronics you may not be able to move the car. Pressing the yellow thing allows the gearstick to be moved out of park .


----------



## desertstorm

Did a bit more preparation to get the gearbox in decided to make up the wiring harnesses for the selector and gearbox and made them up so I could connect the gearbox and selector to the car to test everything out.
So gearbox is on a trolley at the back of the car in the garage, better not drive out the garage at the moment with this connected.



















Not that many wires required on each connector. Basically a twisted CAN pair, 12V permanent, 12V switched , GND and the gearbox has a K line. There are a few other wires that I am not using.










Logged into the gearbox and all looks good. Gearbox has covered just over 32.5K miles and has no errors showing. Had a few issues with faults regarding CAN bus issues because the gearbox is expecting to see a CANBUS gateway and the ABS module is not the same as the one in a 2012 TTS.
The CANBUS gateway error was resolved by ticking an option in the protocol emulation so it generates a packet with the relevant data in it.










The ABS CANBUS issue was resolved by running one of the BASIC settings on the gearbox group 69. The gearbox was expecting more information than my clonky old MK20 was giving it. This setting teaches the gearbox about the enviroment it's in and what is available to it.So the implausible can bus event no longer exists.










Also ticked Kickdown so ECU passes on the Kickdown signal when the accelerator is floored. I can see the steering wheel paddles in the measuring blocks on the gearbox.
Coded the cluster so it supports the auto gearbox CAN and all the gear selector info is shown correctly on the display.










So many screens with config and options for controlling the DSG gearbox. You can define your own maps in hear for changing points dependent on what is configured in the DSG gearbox map.










This is going to be an interesting one to set up and is probably the most tricky part of this. The engine has to respond to gearbox requests to reduce torque on upshifts. This can take more effort than actually mapping the car to get it to work well. This includes the ignition retard which is what causes that distinctive farting on DSG cars when they change up.


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## StuartDB

this is amazing stuff Karl.

Do these gearboxes still "self learn" based on driving style - or was that always in the ECU rather than the DSG?

what is a "3 stage shift light" ?


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## desertstorm

The gearbox does learn continuously and adapts the clutch settings and operational settings. I believe there is an element of the driving behaviour that affects gearbox operation. A lot of the operation is defined in maps such as the shift points.
The 3 stage shift light is configureable to put a green amber and red LED on at any predetermined RPM. On mine thinks it's set at 7400, 7600 and 7800 RPM.
https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 2#p8480762

It's an older version I have of this, I bought mine second hand off Flea bay for a lot less than the cost of a new one.
https://www.spa-uk.co.uk/Product/Sequen ... 20(3-ST-SL)


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## tadope

This is where i heard about the passat aluminum spindles and lca. Idk if it worked out but worth reading


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## desertstorm

Small change on the car today. Something I was toying with for a while. I already run a 90A alternator to try and reduce losses on the engine. Nearly all small alternators have a solid pulley as they are not so much in need of an overunning pulley (OAP) . With the fitting of a DSG box and hopefully much quicker changes I thought having an OAP on a small alternator might be good. Also potentially fitting a larger pulley as the OE alternator exceeds it's design speed of 18K rpm at anything over 7440 RPM.
So having a look in the Gates pulley catalogue I found the perfect item. Already used on some VAG commercial engines more than likely to make the alternator last longer. This pulley gives you a 20% reduction in alternator rpm. So that moves the 18K point to 9300 RPM more than enough for most people.
I wasn't sure if an OAP would fit on my existing 90A alternator so found a 90A alternator on Fleabay used for a Volkswagen LT and transporter with the larger pulley. VW part number 074903026
Bought this and when it arrived the OAP was seized. Got a partial refund from the seller and found a brand new Gates OAP for £20 also bought the tool to remove the pulley for £7.
Calculated that the belt would need to be longer due to the bigger pulley by 18mm so bought a 6PK1138 belt. The 6PK1120 being the standard belt with no AC.
Original 120A on the left, 90A alternator with larger OAP on the right.



















New belt I calculated 18-20mm longer than stock to allow for the larger pulley.










Fitted this afternoon and appears to work fine. The tensioner is in the same place as OE is. I am not sure if you could reuse the stock 1120 belt there isn't much room between the tensioner and the pulley and a shorter belt would make this gap less.
There is enough gap between the tensioner and pulley to run fine with the longer belt. I never tried fitting the original shorter belt as this would move the tensioner away from the alternator and alter the angle the belt leaves the pulley moving it closer to the tensioner.










At fast idle when warming up seeing 14.3v the same as my original. At hot idle 860 rpm with the headlights on seeing 14.2V . Start loading it up at idle with everything I could heated rear window, rad fan full speed , fog lights, hazzards, heater fan full speed etc dropped to around 12.5V. Rev it to 1500rpm and back upto 14v.
I am not sure what it did before in this scenario as it is a little extreme. But logging it on Ignitron on a run it's the same as before typically 13.9-14.1v.
Ideal mod for a track car with minimal electrical requirements. You could fit the larger OAP and belt to a stock 120A alternator. 
If you had the aircon fitted and used the larger pulley you would need a 6DPK1215 belt instead of the stock 6DPK1195.
Overunning pulley part number is Bosch 0124325088 VW 021903119H I used a Gates OAP7066.
If you want a non overrun solid pulley Bosch 0124325004 VW 028903119L


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## StuartDB

What difference does an overrun pulley have versus solid pulley on a big alternator.
Does a solid pulley behave like 'a brake' ? Or does it behave like 'a drive' ? When changing gears.


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## desertstorm

The overrun pulley allows the alternator to carry on spinning on it's own when the engine slows down so it effectively decouples the drive. When the alternator slows down it will reengage the drive or if the engine speed increases again it will pick the drive up.






Large alternators have quite a big rotor that ways a few Kg's . As the alternator is geared up to run at nearly 2.5 times the engine speed there is quite a bit of kinetic energy stored in it. At idle engine speed is not smooth as the power pulses cause it to accelerate and slow where as the larger alternator will try and maintain it's speed which is why the belts bounce when the pulley stops working. Most alternator setups will produce about 50% of the alternator output at idle. So a stock 120A will do around 50-60A at idle and will make the full 120A at around 3K RPM. In a track car running high RPM all the time and not using a lot of power accelerating and slowing the alternator continuously is just a waste really. With an overun pulley when the engine slows the alternator free wheels and allows the engine to slow quicker to match the speed required for the change. And as the engine speed accelerates again it catches upwith the alternator.


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## StuartDB

Cool thanks, its similar to a viscose fan then? But I suppose that is always drag? And if the engine is drawing a lot it may stiffen the alternator so much a viscose coupling will simply not get up to speed?

What does the 'Disable AC if Over _n_ RPM' do... I don't mean the literal.. but does it stop the compressor doing anything with the output?

I would also like to know how the newer alternators which only engage when needed actually do, eg does the pulley just become a freewheel or is it completely new and maybe 'gear driven' which has a clutch and engages / disengages as required


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## desertstorm

You might want to disable the AC by disconnecting the clutch at high RPM. An air con pump takes quite a bit of power to run and at high rpm it takes even more. On most cars I have driven you can feel the difference in acceleration with the air con on. On modern cars some alternators actually have a CAN connection and are intelligent . In most modern cars the alternator is contolled by the ECU or Body Control Module, the field current of the alternator is controlled to try and make the alternator charge when the car is slowing or driving at a steady speed as this has little effect on fuel consumption.


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## chelspeed

StuartDB said:


> I would also like to know how the newer alternators which only engage when needed actually do, eg does the pulley just become a freewheel or is it completely new and maybe 'gear driven' which has a clutch and engages / disengages as required


Neither. A dynamo (bear with me) has a permanent magnet spinning in a coil of wire and generates all the time. An alternator has an electromagnet rotor spinning in a coil of wire. You can disable an alternator by simply turning off the power to the electromagnet rotor. A turned off rotor spinning in a coil of wire doesn't generate electrical power so it doesn't consume engine power. Much simpler (cheaper) to control the power supply to the rotor than a mechanical freewheel or a clutch.


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## StuartDB

But isn't that how an alternator works already by only needing to generate electricity depending on the drain of lights, fans, media, wipers, coils etc

Or have they improved this so it won't draw any power at all when accelerating and only when slowing down or cruising?


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## silkman

StuartDB said:


> But isn't that how an alternator works already by only needing to generate electricity depending on the drain of lights, fans, media, wipers, coils etc


I think this is done by the alternator regulator providing amps as required; but the alternator in our cars is constantly spinning, drawing power from the engine and increasing fuel consumption. 


> Or have they improved this so it won't draw any power at all when accelerating and only when slowing down or cruising?


Yes, in newer cars the alternator gets disabled, much like the ac compressor by the ECU, as desertstorm said. And of course being more complicated it breaks more often. :roll:


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## tadope

desertstorm said:


> The overrun pulley allows the alternator to carry on spinning on it's own when the engine slows down so it effectively decouples the drive. When the alternator slows down it will reengage the drive or if the engine speed increases again it will pick the drive up.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Large alternators have quite a big rotor that ways a few Kg's . As the alternator is geared up to run at nearly 2.5 times the engine speed there is quite a bit of kinetic energy stored in it. At idle engine speed is not smooth as the power pulses cause it to accelerate and slow where as the larger alternator will try and maintain it's speed which is why the belts bounce when the pulley stops working. Most alternator setups will produce about 50% of the alternator output at idle. So a stock 120A will do around 50-60A at idle and will make the full 120A at around 3K RPM. In a track car running high RPM all the time and not using a lot of power accelerating and slowing the alternator continuously is just a waste really. With an overun pulley when the engine slows the alternator free wheels and allows the engine to slow quicker to match the speed required for the change. And as the engine speed accelerates again it catches upwith the alternator.


I just seapped my 120a alt for a 70a version. Saved about 3lb of weight.
Are the lower amp alts also easier for the engine to turn. Or is it the otherway around (have to work harder cuz they cant put enough amsp?)


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## desertstorm

It's easier for the engine to turn the 70A alternator. The main difference in weight is the difference in the rotor, that turns at nearly 2.4 times the engine speed and stored energy is proportional to speed squared. A 50A charging load on a 70A and 120A alternator would produce much the same mechanical load on the engine . The 120A alternator would possibly be a little less as it would be more efficient. But the overall mechanical drag will be higher with the larger alternator.


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## desertstorm

Tatting with the TT today, just tweaking the mapping a bit before I put the DSG in and playing with the HPA Haldex controller, trying out Race mode.
Hopefully with the DSG gearbox be in the low 3's.


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## tadope

desertstorm said:


> It's easier for the engine to turn the 70A alternator. The main difference in weight is the difference in the rotor, that turns at nearly 2.4 times the engine speed and stored energy is proportional to speed squared. A 50A charging load on a 70A and 120A alternator would produce much the same mechanical load on the engine . The 120A alternator would possibly be a little less as it would be more efficient. But the overall mechanical drag will be higher with the larger alternator.


got it. sounds like it's worth the 3lbs weight loss.
also it looks like it would be super easy to mount the alternator lower in the AC spot. 
lower weight distribution i think.


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## desertstorm

If you mounted the alternator at the bottom then the tensioner wouldn't work correctly and the belt contact on the pulley would be very small . The very best solution would be swapping to an electric PAS rack ditching all the hydraulic PAS pump and connections and then you could possibly mount the alternator down the bottom. Several people have converted to electric assistance I believe the Corsa steering column set up works. 
Be interesting to see how much time a DSG gearbox knocks off these times.




Forgot to add the Dragy timeslips.



















Don't know how much difference the rear wing makes but you don't see many cars at Santa Pod sporting rear wings like the BYC.


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## StuartDB

Jesus... is that your car in the YouTube clips? I wouldn't have thought drag strips would be open? Or is that your old build?

Why are all the dials flashing?


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## R7s

Had a blast reading through all the stuff you had done to it. I don't track mine but would like to see quicker times for sure! I'd have to start with building the engine which you have certainly done quite well.


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## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> Jesus... is that your car in the YouTube clips? I wouldn't have thought drag strips would be open? Or is that your old build?
> Why are all the dials flashing?


That is my car, the dials appear to flash as the Go-pro shutter speed is strobeing the display. The LED display actually flashes but it does it so fast you can't see it . Because the camera is taking 120 frames per second it sometimes synchronises with the display when it's off so the display appears to flash.


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## StuartDB

Blimey... I reckon that's faster than my 1990 GSX 1100 F Katana - and that was widely recognised as the fastest road bike when released - 10.7 / 127mph 1/4 mile - only great in a straight line, and comfortable with the electric windscreen up...  - 136bhp @ 260kg


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## tadope

How do you like the haldex insert? Ive heard mixed things. Some say it makes the car more predictable. Others say it made them crash.


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## desertstorm

The standard haldex can be inconsistent and it can cause issues if it decides to switch from FWD to 4WD or vice versa when you are trying to balance the car in a corner and that could lead to an accident. In different cars with different set ups you will get different results. This TT crash was blamed on the haldex doing something it didn't normally do.






It's Avon Rise into Quarry at Castle Combe which is probably one of the most crashed at corners on any UK track. You arrive there quite fast in my car around 130mph and the back end goes light as you go over Avon Rise I always treat it with some respect as there are a lot of accidents there. Anything that upsets the car especially something like the haldex engaging which will then effectively brake the rear wheels if you are slowing down can upset the car.


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## torqueit

How do you feel the HPA controller has helped with this Haldex behavior?


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## desertstorm

I think the HPA is the best solution for haldex control but unfortunately the most expensive. Most of the time I leave it in competition which is very similar to the orange controllers, sport is a similar programme to the blue controllers.
They provide more haldex engagement and do it quicker than the stock setting. Also Haldex stays engaged when braking. This I find makes the car more stable under heavy braking.
The dynamic option is great for running 1/4 miles and the like.


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## torqueit

Thanks. Appreciate your perspective given your track time. Yes, it is pricey, but when I think of all the other money I've managed to spend on cars over the years, I feel like it may be one of the highest returns for the buck. I've not had a chance to get on the track with my car yet, and I'm only willing to push it so hard on public roads, but my seat of the pants feels like the balance truly changed. With the exception of rolling down the highway on a long road trip, I leave it in competition mode too.

Have you played with fine tuning things like percent of engagement when breaking? I've gone with the defaults, but there are a lot of interesting things to tweak.


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## davebowk

They are great, transforms the handling. I leave mine in sport mode, more rear drive in general and backs it off cruising on motorway, actually get better MPG than stock mode on motorway.


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## StuartDB

desertstorm said:


> ..........
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's Avon Rise into Quarry at Castle Combe which is probably one of the most crashed at corners on any UK track.,..........


I'm going to laugh, as I love Raine Wilson and the youtube clip was designed that way. I'm in a glass cage of emotion...

What a nightmare though....


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## silkman

desertstorm said:


> I think the HPA is the best solution for haldex control but unfortunately the most expensive. Most of the time I leave it in competition which is very similar to the orange controllers, sport is a similar programme to the blue controllers.
> They provide more haldex engagement and do it quicker than the stock setting. Also Haldex stays engaged when braking. This I find makes the car more stable under heavy braking.
> The dynamic option is great for running 1/4 miles and the like.


Have you thought about adding Quaife LSD diffs? Apparently putting a front one makes more of a difference than the rear, obviously putting both is optimal but ££££ :roll:

I remember a thread about someone from USA having great success with it, and apparently they are plug and play.

Some sort of haldex upgrade is obviously a prerequisite but you have that already.


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## tadope

So you ditched the insert for a haldex controller?
I didn't know there were different levels of inserts.
which would you recommend for a streetable track car?


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## desertstorm

There are two different types of insert as the manufacturer of the Haldex changed from a circlip fitting to a hex. You need to find the correct one. There are plenty of people running these on the street and tracking there car. That's what I do.


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## desertstorm

Well the DSG gearbox has been in for a few weeks now. Been playing with the mapping on the ECU to improve the changes . The stock mapping on the Ignitron ECU was pretty good. Car was very driveable and I was surprised how good it was. 
Bit of a faff changing it out and had to think a bit about how to swap the box with the engine on a crane as the DSG gearbox weighs 100Kg as compared to the stock 02m around 70Kg.
I weighed all the parts of the old gearbox and new one to try and get an idea of how much extra weight this would add.
02M with oil and including gearbox side mount 69Kg no flywheel or clutch
02m clutch pedal and piping 1.5kg
02E DSG gearbox including mount 99.8Kg no flywheel or clutch
DSG flywheel 11.5 Kg
02M flywheel 11.6Kg 02m clutch and pressure plate 4.8Kg
02m gear change selector 3.8Kg
DSG gear selector 2.1 Kg
02M total = 69 + 11.6 + 4.8 + 3.8 + 1.5 = 90.7
DSG = 99.8 + 11.5 + 2.1 = 113.4 22.7 Kg Heavier














































The 02E gearbox is a heavy lump and i found the easiest way of getting the gearbox on the engine was to hang the engine on the crane straight and level and then slide the gearbox on a trolley onto the end of the engine.










Don't forget to install a spigot bearing. I used the 2.0 TFSI item , put in the freezer for a few hours. clean any surface rust or dirt from the bore on the crank and lubricate a little. Spigot tapped in easily with the flat end of a socket.










Some of the bolts used to secure the gearbox to the engine are the same as the O2M although a lot are much shorter especially the starter motor mounting bolts. Fortunately the gearbox had not been removed from the car when I bought it so I asked the breaker to keep all the bolts.
Mounting the gearchange I decided to fit the new one on top of the tunnel as it puts the gear change closer to the wheel but also means if it required changing out I wouldn't have to remove the exhaust and prop again. The cable used to activate the park mechanism also goes through the hole where the AC condensate drain was. I no longer have AC. This appears in the engine compartment at just the right place.



















The mounting bracket for the transfer box to engine block fitted perfectly with no modification. One of the bolt holes is a smaller thread dimension than on a 2.0 TFSI .
When swinging the engine in to the bay I noticed that there was very little clearance between the mechatronic and the point that the engine front cross brace mounts. Took an angle grinder to that and removed a piece as well as a piece of the cross brace. Now mounts with 2 bolts instead of 3.



















The existing driveshafts fit as they are but only because I have MK2 TTS ball joints on the car to increase camber and this increase the track of the car. The drivers side driveshaft has about 8-10mm articulation left with the driveshaft parallel to the ground, which is the minimum length. I will look into getting the TTS drivers side shaft shortened and fitted. However my shfts have nut fixings at the moment and the newer shafts are bolt fixings on the bub so I think this will require a new hub.










I also moved the entire engine / gearbox towards the passenger side to maximise the potential movement for the driveshaft.This also helps with what appears to be a slightly different positioning of the rear transfer box output shaft. 
Some parts numbers of items used.
Spigot bearing middle of flywheel Sachs 1863 869 047
Gearbox selector 3AC713025D off a 21010- 2014 Passat CC
clockspring 1J0959654M
Steering wheel 2011 Ibiza Cupra TSI DSG 6J0419091R
The gearbox transfer case to engine bracket I have 02M409905AH

The power steering pipes have all been changed out using the high pressure hose I had made up and the V6 low pressure return with the Jaguar PAS cooler cut down and fitted between the FMIC and radiator.



















The gearbox in it's new home.










Taking a bit to get used to the new setup. The gearbox is on stock mapping so torque is limited to 380Nm although it will handle more than that as seen by all the cars driving around with stage 1, 2 maps on and stock gearbox maps.
I am running it a 1.4 Bar max boost so around 420Nm and still have the 6800 rpm stock gear change points. When the gearbox is remapped I will be able to run full 2 - 2.2 bar boost with 7800 RPM change points.
Stock mapping in Drive the gearbox does it's best to get you into 6th as quick as possible. Usually by 30-35mph you are in 6th. In Sport it's a completely different story it wants to keep you around 4K rpm and a slight prod of the accelerator has it changing down. Manual steering wheel paddles work in any mode to change gears .

A quick video I did the other day and a copy of some of the log from Ignitron which just covers the period in the video. You can see the car gets from 30 to 95mph in around 6.3s , I can't fathom how much quicker it will be when the gearbox is mapped.


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## desertstorm

Don't think I put in any details of the V6 power steering mods. On the 225 it's ridiculously complicated compared to a V6 with the pipe routing and cooler pipes which are prone to rusting and are heavy. The OE high pressure pipe will not fit with the DSG as all the turns in front of the gearbox is where the Mechatronic is on the DSG. So got a high pressure pipe made up at a local hydraulic place. And bought the low pressure side stuff from Ebay. The PAS fluid bottle is the same and mounts the same.
Just the pipe routing is very much different. The V6 having a lot less piping and is a lot simpler.



















The replacement hose, It was around £25 so not silly expensive.



















All the parts, The cooler is off Ebay, I think they are slightly damaged new stock coolers of S type jaguars. Nice and light and a good size with alloy brackets that are easily cut. Pipe size is the same as the OE TT items .


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## darylw357

Wonder why the jags had such big coolers? Looking good though 8)


----------



## torqueit

Neat conversion. Looking forward to hearing your driving impressions after tuning and some track time.


----------



## desertstorm

Done some tweaking with the gearbox mapping and got the speedo sorted . In this video running 1.4 bar boost as this is on the limit of what the stock gearbox mapping will handle.Most of the time I run it at 1.2 bar boost and there it's still very nippy.






Looking to get a stage 3 TVS gearbox map, Not the cheapest but probably the best you can get. Should hopefully be able to run upto 600Nm and 7800 RPM when the box is mapped.

With the existing TT driveshaft only having about 5mm of movement it was working but I suspect that long term this would have been an issue and I was only getting that 5mm because I had mk2 TT bottom ball joints.
The inner joints on the 3.2V6 TT DSG box are tripodic so won't fit the CV type flanges on the TTS box. Found that on the MK5 Golf R32 DSG the later cars changed from Tripodic to CV type driveshafts. These are 15mm shorter than my TT driveshaft at 600mm rather than 615mm.
Result, bit more searching and found several part numbers all identical components used on different cars.
1K0407272CR 3C0407272BD 1K0407452TX 5Q0407272EQ 1K0407272JF 1K0407454MX 5Q0407272K
After a quick search on Ebay found a 5Q0407272K from a 2017 A3 2.0 TDI for the princely sum of £38 delivered. Just 3 years old so not a lot of use. I have nut type driveshafts on my TT so bought a second hand steering knuckle complete with the bolt fixing hub from a breaker for £25. Bearing turned out to be good which was a bonus, so painted up and was fitted the weekend. Now have 20mm play on the shaft which puts it right in middle of where it needs to be. There is roughly 40mm of movement on the inboard CV joint.










Also fitted a large centre silencer to reduce the exhaust noise a little. Trying to get it track friendly for all tracks across the country. It's also nicer to drive on a long trip.

Measured up a centre silencer and decided on a round 4.5 inch silencer 20 inches long. Pretty much as big as I could easily fit in the existing space in the middle. Didn't want to reduce the ground clearance by going to a 5 inch silencer.
Found just the perfect silencer on Fleabay, 304 stainless made in the UK. Looks good quality and only cost £60.
Weighs 3.8Kg, the length of exhaust I cut out was 1.8Kg so a net 2Kg gain. Did some before and after videos with a SPL meter.
measured levels at 1m 45 degrees to exhaust at idle, 3K and 5K.
Before After
Idle 79 77
3K RPM 85 80
5K RPM 91 87
Definitely quieter in the car with no loss of performance.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112551660874


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## StuartDB

is measuring the sound without any load the same as foot flat driving?

didn't you run boost up to 2bar previously? or is that no longer needed?


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## desertstorm

The exhaust would be a lot louder on boost but the noise resuction would be of a similar level. I cannot run the same amount of boost on this gearbox until it's remapped. The DSG box has clutches that are clamped by hydraulic pressure. On a stock box map this is around 12bar and means the clutches will handle around 430nm . When the box is remapped the maximum clamp pressure increase to around 18 bar so the box should then handle around 600Nm.


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## StuartDB

Oh that's interesting, so this is laterally 'torque limited' so for example Revo do a DSG map, can you not get the toolkit for that, or is it pointless learning that for a once only adjustment? Do you need to change any pipework too? What happens if you exceed the limit does it disengage?

Incidentally, has anyone else been this advanced? I know people have Turbo'd a 3.2 DSG but has anyone fitted a DSG to a big turbo 1.8t?


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## desertstorm

I could buy a cheap flash cable from Aliexpress to be able to read and write DSG maps. A few people have offered to alter the torque limits and RPM limits on my map but there is a lot more to mapping the gearbox to get the most out of it than altering a few maps. 
TVS have been repairing, modifying and mapping the DSG gearboxes for many years and have the best maps. To get the performance from the gearbox they not only adjust the maps but have rewritten parts of the code to remove limiters and allow higher clamping pressure/ features.Some of the fastest DSG cars in the world use TVS maps. 
https://tvsengineering.com/en/dsg-gearbox/dq250/
The ECU puts out an engine torque figure on the CAN bus. The TCU can request torque reductions from the engine during upshifts and if the ECU is putting out more torque than the gearbox likes the gearbox will request a torque reduction.
The gearbox I am using has a 380Nm max torque so there is a setting in the ECU that limits the CAN torque reading to 380Nm.
This is essentially what tuners do when they map DSG cars and don't map the box. The ECU basically tells the truth upto the torque limit of the box then undeclares the torque value. This is OK to do upto around 430-440Nm but above that you will be getting clutch slip.
This is why mapped DSG cars sometimes struggle on track with gearbox issues the DSG clutches are oil cooled and without enough clamping pressure on the clutches you get slip especially when changing gear and this heats up the gearbox oil a lot.
There are quite a few high power 1.8T DSG cars around at the moment. Some running better than others.


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## silkman

desertstorm said:


> Hi all, various searches concluded that this was the best TT forum to join for information advice etc.
> Used my daily runner a few times on track but decided better to get a dedicated track car and it had to be something VAG.
> The MK1 225 TT offers a lot of car for not so much money really. Problem is trying to find one thats not had a million owners and been to the moon and back.
> After looking for a few weeks came across this Y plate example with 88K on the clock and 5 previous owners. Full service history and a recent cam belt/ water pump change.Its totally standard in pretty much every way, I cannot find any mods or tweaks, still has the original diverter valve and stock air box etc. Even has the original untouched first aid kit.
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fixed some of the issues that the car had, micro switches in the door locks both sides, dismantled the G200 sensor and resoldered the chip, replaced the rear brake discs and pads and the one caliper as the piston was seized.
> 
> Plans are for a full strip, if it doesn't need to be there to make the car run/stop it will be going.
> Brembo LCR calipers with 330mm discs, ds300 pads. Half cage , bucket seats , probably Gaz Gold suspension with the various suspension tweaks / bushes etc needed. Haldex insert.
> Welly cooler and a tip with a divertor valve and a remap by Rick at Unicorn Motor developments.
> plus loads of other stuff I am sure.
> Want to get the car up and running and trackable with suspension , brake , interior mods and mild tweaks to the engine.
> Longer term looking to replace the turbo and fit rods etc in the engine as well as oil cooler / exhaust etc for something a bit more serious.
> 
> Hopefully I can get it as quick as my daily driver diesel estate .


Just reread your first post, you've certainly come a long way, always reading on your progress with interest.


----------



## desertstorm

Decided to have a play with the launch control on the gearbox. Seems that it needs the ESP to work for the launch control to be enabled. I had coded out the ESP on the ABS module as on track even with it turned off it still intervenes occasionally.
Coded the ESP back in and to get the car to launch you just turn the ESP off, make sure the gearbox is in sport or tiptronic mode and brake with the left foot,right foot flat on the accelerator and then take your foot off the brake.
The launch RPM is set in the ECU so I can configure whatever I want, this was a not too aggressive 4K rpm.
ECU is running only 1.2 bar of boost as gearbox still on the stock map, so only around 330bhp.
Quite surprised how quick it was, pretty much the same as the 500bhp manual launch I tried before I put the DSG box in. A whole lot less stress on the transmission. Be interesting to see what it does after Tuesday next week when the TVS stage 3 map goes on the gearbox.






This is some of the log from the run above.Gear changes at 6800 which is the max RPM, on the stock tune. Will be changing faster and at 75-7600 next week with much higher boost so I expect very low 3s times.


----------



## davebowk

Can i ask how you coded out the ESP? I have tried on mine but it won't take the new code.
What version module do you have? Mines an ESP ALLRAD MK60 0101 and what code did you use?


----------



## desertstorm

Mine is a MK20 and seems it's possible on that. I have read several threads where people have tried to code out the ESP on MK60 and haven't been able to do it. You just need to disconnect one of the ESP sensors and this will disable it. I am going to put a switch in the power line to one of the ESP sensors on my car so when on track I can just turn off the ESP, rather than coding it in and out.
This is the combined lateral and yaw sensor on a MK60. Pin1 is the power feed, fit a toggle switch in this line and you can turn the sensor on and off. Without the sensor the ESP functionality is disabled.


----------



## davebowk

Thanks, i know about disabling the sensors but i was trying to avoid the warning light. I think i can disable the warning light but not tried it yet.
can i have the code as i might try and fit a mk20 module if possible


----------



## desertstorm

Swapping from a MK60 to MK20 is not straightforward there are significant differences and certainly not worth it for the sake of having a warning light on whilst the ESP is disabled. Brake pressure sensors are in the master cylinder on a MK20 so you would need to replace the MC and add the sensors and wiring, the ESP sensors are also different I have 2 seperate ESP sensors on my car. 
On my car you take 2048 off the existing code so 18446-2048 = 16398 . On a MK60 it has 7 digit codes so is completely different.


----------



## davebowk

Ok thanks for that, hoped it would be a straight swap and recode.


----------



## StuartDB

Hi Karl, what does the engine side have when a DSG is fitted? Does the crank literally go into the gearbox and the clutches are part of the box with a flywheel? And you have removed your clutch pedal etc?


----------



## desertstorm

There is a DMF attached to the crank as it would be on a normal manual car. The clutch is contained within the gearbox so the input shaft to the gearbox is actually connected directly to the clutch basket inside the gearbox. The gearbox input shaft does have an extension that runs in the centre of the crank which is why it's necessary to fit the spigot bearing in the end of the crank.
The Audi SSP explains a lot of this.

http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_308.pdf

If you look at a DQ250 clutch you can see the input shaft with the extension that goes into the back of the crank and the splined shaft that engages in the centre of the DMF. Quite reasonable prices for the clutch considering all the work that goes into them compared to a normal clutch. 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402299858816?


----------



## desertstorm

Not updated this for a while has had a few issues but hopefully all is now good.
Had some issues with the car the day I took it to Awesome GTI to get a TVS stage 3 map on the box. Only got the car back around 4pm in the afternoon to test and make sure all was OK. On roads I didn't know managed to find one that had a very big drop in the road surface ,like there was underground subsidence. The car literally took off and flew landing very hard. The next time I accelerated hard there was a loud bang, lot's of noise and I quickly stopped the car.
From the parts I found on the road at the rear of the car I figured the haldex coupling had failed on the bevel box. This was a fairly new Meyle HD item, one of the mounting bolts on the prop had sheared. Recovered by the AA from Manchester.Needed a new coupling, second hand prop and unfortunately second hand transfer case as the output flange arm was bent and could not be straightened.





































Once that was sorted I could get on with tweaking the ECU mapping. Took the car on it's first Track day at Mallory Park and it ran really well. I have had to move the gearbox cooler rad and alter the gearbox breather as gearbox temps were hitting 130+. I had the cooler rad at the rear of the main rad to make it easier to fit, on the road no issues at all even when pushing it. On track after 15 minutes temps were up at 135+ . Didn't help that I left the front number plate on, there are a lot of cooling holes behind this.Was only running 1.5 bar boost.















New location of the gearbox cooler in front of the rad, had to move the oil cooler and reposition the FMIC a bit, all now appears to be good.










Just at the end of the second session the Passenger side driveshaft failed when the hub nut sheared off, lucky car didn't end up in the armco at the edge of the track as it pulled left quite quickly when braking around 90 mph. This happened right at the end of the track video, explains my slightly animated conversation with myself.
Brake pedal went long as well as the disc was running at an angle through the caliper so pushing the pads back. I suspect this is also related to the airborne flying episode. Both hubs have been replaced now with bolt types and I used the TTS passenger side driveshaft.
Ignitron ECU log when the Hub nut failed, You can see the steering correction made when the bolt failed around 90mph.










When I jacked the car up and went to check for play in the wheel it was all over the place, I removed the plastic centre cap and the nut fell out on the floor attached to part of the driveshaft, think I had found the problem.










Since then have revisited the gearbox mapping and ECU mapping, think I now have it running well at 2 bar if I want it.
Did some runs with my Dragy and managed 3.26s 0-60 , 7.21 @101 mph 1/8 mile and an 11.24 @123 mph quarter mile. Also recorded a 7.42s 100-200Km/h . Tried a slightly more aggressive launch but just lit all 4 tyres up and had the car going sideways. There is a bit more in the mapping as the turbo will goto 2.2 bar in the midrange and there may be a very high 10 second 1/4 with a better launch on a more grippy surface .


----------



## StuartDB

Jesus... People aren't joking when they say pushing a car up to the recommended limit reduces life of parts, you are 300% past it's limit now. And you are fixing more and more, Tuffty blew up his transfer box as well, and destroyed his propshaft centre coupling (from street driving not track ) and Stacey smashed up drive shafts 5 or 10 times a year.. do you think you need a bigger boat?

Any advice from Bill? You'll need a girdle next  (for your block of course)

To think, I'm worried that not all my fly-wheel bolts are exactly 44ft/lb + 90° - you have done some amazing stuff with your TT...


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## desertstorm

I am 95% sure the Haldex coupling broke as a result of the car taking off and landing very hard on a section of road where it looks as if the road had subsided a lot. With the stiff suspension, engine mounts etc the shock was taken on the haldex coupling which caused the bolt to shear. I suspect this also started the crack on the driveshaft which led to it's failure.
Won't be going back down that road again and both driveshafts are now the bolt type which don't seem to suffer with issues, probably why they changed from the nut to bolt type fixing on newer cars.
The car is so much better to drive now and the way it gathers speed is quite silly. Think my next road car will probably be a DSG, Didn't really like autos before having this gearbox change.
Found an interesting site on you tube where they use a Dragy box to measure 0-100 and 100-200 on many different cars including a lot of very quick performance cars. The 0-100km/h figure for my TT is 3.36s , 100-200 7.42s.

https://bit.ly/2PSakev

A Ferrari 458 100-200 7.52s 0-100 3.73s 



A 2016 911 Porsche GT3 RS 100-200 7.66s


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## StuartDB

It's lunacy isn't it.. I'm not surprised you'll out-strip most cars, you also have the brakes, suspension, fuel management and cooling to accommodate the power, which most people.. go... meh i'll look at it later...

I sort of imagine any kind of wheel spin (in the air) followed by sudden no wheel spin (back on the ground) whilst +440ft/lb ? will stress something. It might not have been on ASN, but I'm sure I remember someone talking about wheels turning inside the tyres as the torque was too crazy and tyres too grippy.

Incidentally, when your driveshaft went, were you still able to drive home? Or was it hanging down?


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## desertstorm

The hub nut effectively holds the two halves of the wheel bearing together and secures the location of the hub. When it snapped the wheel could move around, the only thing really holding the hub on was the brake disc in the caliper. The brake disc ended up rubbing the caliper housing at the top and bottom as I had to drive the best part of a lap to get back to the pits. I couldn't drive the car home and had to get it trailered back home as the AA refused to recover the car, something about not covering cars used for Motorsport use.


----------



## torqueit

Sorry to see the hit you took on that crummy road. Completely understand what a frustrating experience that is. I bent an OE wheel, strut, control arm and exploded the top strut bearing on a crater I couldn't see. I try to use these events to make improvements with the replacement bits. In my case, I finally bought the set of OZs I'd been lusting for.


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## Delta4

Outstanding level of performance DS, do you have any options regarding driveshaft and prop upgrade.


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## silkman

On a similar TT flying incident I destroyed the strut bearings so it would make sense taking a look there as well.


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## darylw357

That made my Mallory laps look positively pedestrian ! That Renault 5 Turbo in your video looked good fun too 8)


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## desertstorm

Delta4 said:


> Outstanding level of performance DS, do you have any options regarding driveshaft and prop upgrade.


The driveshafts are both now the newer style with bolts on the hub and not nuts, These are more reliable, the driveshafts are also a lot newer than the original 2002 items so hopefully they will be more reliable. I replaced the haldex doughnut on the back of the transfer box with a Febi item with OE bolts rather than the Meyle HD item that failed. Possibly the HD item is more rigid and thus put more load into the mounting bolts that made it fail. 
Will see how it goes, the big issue I believe was the state of the road that caused the issues when the car went flying.


----------



## desertstorm

darylw357 said:


> That made my Mallory laps look positively pedestrian ! That Renault 5 Turbo in your video looked good fun too 8)


Yes it was quite quick around the corners with full slicks on and very stripped out, not quite so quick on the straights. I was out in the intermediate/ expert group and a lot of the cars were fully stripped race cars with full slicks. 
Had a good run around behind a modern replica Escort in the first session. It was an RSR escort with a 2.5l Duratec full race engine. That was pretty quick and it was the first time I had ever been round Mallory so had to follow him for a few laps before I overtook him. 
In that video there is a type R Golf and the lads in that came over looking at my car after the first session. They said it was running 500bhp and were asking me about my car. I overtook them a few times so not sure they were running that much power. But the TT has both power, brakes and pretty decent handling .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/javelintr ... 5065/page2


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## StuartDB

I expect the driver makes a big bit of a difference...

Do you reckon you could jump into any 'safe' car and drive it better than a novice owner, after a couple of laps?


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## desertstorm

I don't think I am anything special when it comes to driving a car fast. On a race team I would probably make a better mechanic than a driver. 
The difference between a top line driver and somebody who has done some karting and a lot of track days, just over 3 seconds. 
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/ ... ch-faster/


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## StuartDB

I liked Jackie Stewart teaching Guy Martin (I think) in a simple 1.6 saloon car, I think it was when he was going to race Jenson Button in one of those banned 1980s ground effect f1 cars, maybe also a six wheeler. And Button gave him a 30 second head start...

The point was Guy couldn't get close to Stewart's single lap..


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## desertstorm

What a fantastic piece of kit the Ignitron is. 
Many thanks to Balázs Farkas and the team behind Ignitron ECU . Spent some time playing with the boost by gear and Launch control maps to tweak the launch on the TT. Made so much easier by the fact that the whole process is really devoid of human input after the brake pedal is lifted. With the fantastic logging facilities you can look at ABS wheel speeds on launch and see whats going on. I have found by optimising the RPM and throttle position along with limiting the boost in 1st and seconds gears you can very much get the best launch possible with the available traction. The best launch seems to occur when the wheel slip is small and wheel speeds across all 4 wheels are within a few mph of each other.
Also upped the boost to 2.2 bar in the midrange it has improved the 0-100mph figure and a 10 second quarter should easily be done now. Unfortunately I lifted off early on my private test road and only managed an 11.05 quarter at 102mph. That would easily have been a 10.9 something around 124-25 mph.
Wonder how much quicker it would be without the big wing on the back.


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## torqueit

Very cool! Love seeing what you've done. [smiley=cheers.gif]


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## drmotorsport

Sub 3 seconds to 60MPH is pretty brutal! I would fear for my clutch and drive shafts with launches like that! Aware your on a DSG box now, but have you upgraded the Haldex mechanically? Just wondering what torque that can cope with...


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## desertstorm

drmotorsport said:


> Sub 3 seconds to 60MPH is pretty brutal! I would fear for my clutch and drive shafts with launches like that! Aware your on a DSG box now, but have you upgraded the Haldex mechanically? Just wondering what torque that can cope with...


I don't think it's as brutal as it might seem. The beauty of having the Ignitron ECU is the fantastic logging facilities it has. If you log an event it will log every sensor , status bit etc on the ECU and also probably another 40 parameters from other modules such as the ABS wheel speed sensors, steering angle, brake pedal pressure, fuel level etc etc.
You can look at things like the ABS wheel speeds to see whats happening with wheel slip and spin and correct boost and throttle settings to give the required result. Because the DSG launch process is fairly consistent the differences you would get with human involvement is removed.
The launch I have now doing a 3 second 0-60 is no more harsh on the transmission and car as the one I did to do a 3.67s 0-60 with a manual gearbox.
This was 3.67s 0-60 with the manual box. 





You can see from the logs that the launch control set up at 4500rpm only makes about 0.4bar of boost. Any more than this and it just spins the wheels. Boost gradually increases upto 1.8 bar in first gear. The Boost by gear mapping helps to progressively increase the power and torque to stop uncontrolled wheel spin. This is how modern high performance cars manage to achieve such great performance.With such control over the transmission and engine you can optimise the package.










These are the wheel speed sensor readings from the 0-60 part of that 2.99s run. You can see it actually takes about 70ms before the rears start rotating after the fronts have moved.


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## Delta4

As the saying goes, power means nothing without control, are you not tempted to remove the wing just to see how much time can be shaved off when you next go up the strip.


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## desertstorm

I will hopefully have a go at Santa Pod sometime this year and I will definitely take the wing off. Look a bit daft really but would probably still be quicker than most of the stuff that goes down the track.


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## StuartDB

It's pretty incredible...
Is your 2 step launch set to 10 mph? Could that not be a touch less there's like a 0.2 second dwell, or is that changing in to 2nd?


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## desertstorm

The front wheels are spinning up a little on launch, the wheel speed may be 10 mph but the car isn't going that fast. It's only when everything settles down a bit that you get moving. There may still be a bit in it by launching at a slightly lower RPM the problem then is that the car seems to bog a bit. There isn't much in between getting a great launch and lighting all the tyres up and just leaving two black stripes on the road.


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## StuartDB

Just a quick question regarding BAM to DSG, did it have a special DMF which the input shaft goes into? I havnt seen a decent picture online when visualising how they fit together.


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## desertstorm

The DMF is the one used on the donor car that I got the gearbox off a 2012 TTS. These have exactly the same 6 bolt crankshaft mounting as the 1.8T. Later 2.0 engines switched to an 8 bolt mount for the DMF. You just need to fit a spigot bearing in the centre of the crank to support the input shaft of the DSG box. This is the same part as used in the 2.0 TFSI engine used in the TTS, and just presses in.










You can see the DMF in the bottom right of the picture.


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## Miron1978

desertstorm said:


> I am aware of the various mods you can make to hopefully improve the reliability of the 02m .
> Another mod you can do with the input shaft is press a steel insert into the hollow shaft.
> This probably does as much to stop deflection of the input shaft which causes the teeth to partially mesh and overload thus causing them to break. The shaft support needs regular adjustment to make sure the slipper block is in the correct position.
> 
> https://www.bar-tek-tuning.com/vollwell ... illetshaft
> 
> For now I have just ammended the boost by gear maps for 4th and 6th gear. Doesn't make very much difference to the performance of the car as 1.8 bar will still be around 460bhp plus.
> 
> View attachment 449891


Hello .. new to the forum .. have been searching for any possible upgrades to the 6 spd transmission as I have just blown my 4th gear .. DSG is not really an option for me but interested in any upgrades that can make the 02M transmission hold more power.. any more info would be appreciated..


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## StuartDB

Havn't you already got a thread discussing your gearbox? What sort of torque do you have? There's a shim that can be fitted on the output shaft (but that's to help gear selection) and there's also a support plate that can be fitted externally.. but I assume you're not 400+ft/lb..

I think the transfer box might go before a looked after gearbox. And I know "StaceyS3" on ASN was snapping driveshafts when drag racing his modified S3.

I think BWSTT changed one of Badger5s customer's gearboxes after that was broken (excessive launching?) But would have been high torque...


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## desertstorm

Hi, There are a few ways of improving the strength of the 02m box. The main way people do this is using the 4th gear support. This supports the input shaft and helps to stop it from flexing and moving away from the 4th gear which then stops the teeth from fully meshing and causes them to break off. You can also get an insert pressed into the shaft which will reduce flex.








02M / 02Q Gearbox 4th Gear Input Shaft Support


One of the biggest weaknesses of the 02M & 02Q Gearboxes is the 4th Gear. This can become a major problem on vehicles with high torque figures. The issue is that the vibration that goes through the input shaft and the shaft on the opposite side and pushes the gear wheels apart. The result is...




www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk












02M Gearbox Reinforcement Plate


One of the biggest weaknesses of the 02M & 02Q Gearboxes is the cast transmission casing. This can become a major problem especially on vehicles with high torque figures. The problem is caused by high amounts of vibration being transferred through the gears because of the torque. These...




www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk




You can get uprated steel selector forks that don't have issues with rivets failing, you can of course replace the rivets with bolts.








02M & 02Q Steel Selector / Shifter Fork Kit 1st - 2nd / 3rd - 4th / 5th - 6th


Darkside Developments is a UK based diesel tuning company, specialising in VAG (VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda), BMW, MINI & Porsche Diesel Vehicles




www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk




A monster gears gearset is a very good upgrade but costs as much as a DSG box would.


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## Miron1978

StuartDB said:


> Havn't you already got a thread discussing your gearbox? What sort of torque do you have? There's a shim that can be fitted on the output shaft (but that's to help gear selection) and there's also a support plate that can be fitted externally.. but I assume you're not 400+ft/lb..
> 
> I think the transfer box might go before a looked after gearbox. And I know "StaceyS3" on ASN was snapping driveshafts when drag racing his modified S3.
> 
> I think BWSTT changed one of Badger5s customer's gearboxes after that was broken (excessive launching?) But would have been high torque...


Sorry new to the forum… and not sure if this was directed to me .. I started a thread but no responses… not trying to highjack this thread but figured might be easier to get more info … I am running over 500hp not sure of torque .. but probably close to the 400 lbs.. I bought a tuned car that was built to show off tuners abilities … and now trying to make the car drivable with this power.. hoping to make the 6 spd transmission last a bit .. i appreciate any help ..


----------



## desertstorm

A little bit late as these videos were from a trackday at the end of July. Surprised to see Lee Whitehead there and nice to finally meet him. Nice to get some feedback from somebody with a "serious" track TT. The day was a bit of a test for the DSG gearbox. On the previous track day at Mallory I didn't do that much running before the car had an issue with the wheel bearing and the DSG cooling wasn't good.
So here I was running with modified cooling for the DSG and only running 1.5bar boost 95% of the time, going to 1.8bar on the long straights with the push to pass.
Car is plenty fast enough at this. With the top map running 2 bar probably would have been close to 150mph on the 1km straight.
Car ran really well, DSG oil temps seemed to be pretty good with a maximum reading seen all day around 124 degrees, but typically around 100-110 degrees which I am happy with.
Extra exhaust silencer seemed to work, never got pinged at all for a noisy exhaust.
Bought a cheap Nextbase reconditioned camera off Fleabay. Has built in GPS speed and is time stamped so you can easily work out lap times to the nearest second. Also you don't have to remember to turn it on and off . Seems to work well, the pictures on this are a bit dark as the camera is looking through the tint at the top of the screen.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113867505225?
Uploaded some videos .
Following Lee around the track for a bit .
https://youtu.be/b7-Ij15DiaE
Overtook this Factory Leon Cupra race car a few times, think he was trying a little too hard to stop it happening again. It was a Pukka car on full slicks so surprised it spun that easily.
https://youtu.be/ihP5NgikAwg
Overtaking queues of cars is quite easy even when the one at the front is an M3.
https://youtu.be/wbGEXI9GR98
And caught this M4 with an older full track spec M3 in front. Thought the M4 was going to let me through when he ran out wide. Good job I hung back a bit. Easy overtake on the straight .
https://youtu.be/1DIcb-qs68A








Lee Whiteheads track TT.


----------



## StuartDB

Have you been back on the dyno yet?

Are you driving fully automatic?

It's a great stable setup after all this work isn't it? What's next?


----------



## desertstorm

Not been back on the dyno since I fitted the gearbox. There is a possibility of a dyno day being organised at Badger 5 through the forum. I run the car in Tiptronic/ manual mode and use Ignitron to control the change up points, If I want to change earlier I just use the paddles or use the gearchange to change. Sometimes when you have a good amount of lock on it's difficult to get to the correct flappy paddle so just push or pull the gearchange for a shift.


----------



## desertstorm

Time for another mammoth post,It's intercooler upgrade time.
The IC I have on my car was fitted when it was running around 275bhp on a stage 2 map. At that power it worked fine and has done many track days on the big turbo running 500bhp but I knew it was probably causing a larger pressure drop than was good. So rather than just replace it with something bigger and hope it improved decided to try and measure the pressure drop across the piping and the whole intake system from the turbo to the manifold.
Ordered a second hand DPF pressure sensor off Fleabay 076906051B with a connector attached for £12 and configured a map on input 3 and wired it to the MAF input as my car is running speed density. Sensor is measuring pressure drop between the exit of the turbo and the intake manifold, so the whole intake system.










There was around 5 PSI max drop across the intake system on the top map, As I thought not good. Logging the pressure drop just across the 62mm intake pipes on the turbo side of the intercooler which was 1.75 M long and had 3 sweeping 45/60 bends , 1 sweeping 90 bend and 2 tight 90 degree bends The maximum I saw was 0.1 PSI ,add the shorter length of piping on the manifold side of the IC and the throttle body I bet there was no more than 0.25 PSI in the intake piping.
Pressure drop is measured in Kpa, there is a 2.4 Kpa offset on the sensor so you need to deduct 2.4 Kpa from the values.









Original intercooler was a Boost products 600x300 x62.5mm tube and fin IC. After searching around for suitable replacements which would fit I decided on a Treadstone TR1035. This is a slightly smaller version of the IC that Germain has fitted, a little shorter only 11 inches high rather than 12.5 on the bigger TR1235. With 15 rows across the IC as opposed to 17 on the TR1235 about 13% less area to flow through but I am not shooting for 650-700 bhp.
Also the larger TR1235 won't fit on my car with the oil cooler and DSG rad located where they are. The new IC is 90mm thick so substanially thicker than the existing item.
New intercooler is a bar and plate with a turning vane in the end tank to force 50% of the air through the top half of the intercooler.
The old IC is a tube and fin item


















Old and new IC together. You can see the old one is a lot thinner.










Intercooler decided upon and ordered it took over 3 weeks to arrive from Turbozentrum in Germany. I had figured out before it arrived how I was going to mount it as I still have the alloy crash bumper which I use to hang the splitter off when that's fitted on track. I remove the number plate on track and there are many holes behind this which feed loads of air to the top of the IC.
Ordered a black 90 degree and 45 degree 63-75mm reducer hose to connect to the existing piping and blue items turned up ?. These had been sent 3 times with the first two being lost apparently, Not having much luck with ordering stuff at the moment.










Intercooler fits with not a not of room left. If I didn't have an oil cooler rad or DSG rad in between the radiator and the IC I could have mounted it further back.








All fitted, took the car for some test runs, immediately the car felt like it picked up quicker and felt a bit more urgent.
The pressure difference has halved and now peaks around 2.4-2.5 PSI. This means the turbo is running slower to deliver the same target boost, typically it's running 5-6K RPM less to make the same boost. I have had to tweak the Intergrator Max tables as the turbo was overboosting on spool but easily sorted.










Cooling performance isn't quite as good as the old IC on the two logs before and after, that was down to the fact that the new IC was shorter than the old one so isn't seeing any airflow at all with the number plate in. I have improvised a scoop to push some air down to the top of the IC and it's a lot better. I am 100% sure when on track with the number plate removed it will be a lot better than than the old IC. The new IC has a plate that diverts 50% of the incoming air to the top of the IC which helps to reduce pressure loss and stops the bottom part of the IC heat soaking.
Took the car for a spin doing some Dragy testing 100-200 Km/h and managed a 7.18s which is about 0.25s faster than my previous best so it's definitely faster. You can even see that in the logs between 110 and 170km/h it's around 0.2s faster.


----------



## desertstorm

A few days later took the BYC wing off the back of the car to see what effect this has on high speed acceleration. Also popped the front plate in the windscreen to see what the IC will do on track when I goto Bedford on the 21st.
I was impressed cooling was really solid and it managed a 6.82s 100-200 Km/h with 100-160Km/h in 3.26s that's basically 60-100mph . 









ignitron log for the run above.


----------



## StuartDB

Was there any value in investigating a liquid cooled IC ? Like a freon one?

Our are all the articles people pondering and only Force india using them?


----------



## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> Was there any value in investigating a liquid cooled IC ? Like a freon one?
> Our are all the articles people pondering and only Force india using them?


I wanted to avoid the complexity of a liquid cooled IC ,A lot of people who use build cars for 1/4 mile runs use liquid IC's but they only run for very short periods. Filling the systemn with ice water or using chemicals to cool them can result in impressive results. But on a track car sustained cooling isn't really possible. I don't use WMI which can give a good improvement in cooling but at the cost of running the system.


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## Delta4

Is there any particular reason why you have not fitted wmi or to strip it back wi i mean you don't need to spray meth to see cooling benefits especially if not tuned for it.


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## desertstorm

Delta4 said:


> Is there any particular reason why you have not fitted wmi or to strip it back wi i mean you don't need to spray meth to see cooling benefits especially if not tuned for it.


It has water injection but I only use that in the summer when it's really hot. Just to help the engine a bit. I didn't want to fit WMI and tune the engine to use that all the time. a lot of the time people are pushed into WMI to get around issues such as high IAT's due to an undersized intercooler or a turbo that's operating outside of the area where it is efficient. Hopefully the next mod will increase the VE of the engine at higher RPM so mean I can run even less boost to get more power.









Karls Track day TT, Officially a 10 second car 10.8 @127 mph


Took the car to the Castle Combe Performance German day on Saturday. met up with some of the guys from Audi-sport.net and parked on the stand in the morning. Main reason I had gone to the day was to try the car out on track. Having been round the track in my A4 I wanted to see what the TT...




www.ttforum.co.uk


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## StuartDB

What pump and controller etc do you have for your WMI (without the M) 

The Meth changes the octane to about 108 in addition to cooling, it is to push the car past the limit.. just like NOS etc you can't just keep putting on bigger turbos and pipework (that's cheating )


----------



## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> What pump and controller etc do you have for your WMI (without the M)
> 
> The Meth changes the octane to about 108 in addition to cooling, it is to push the car past the limit.. just like NOS etc you can't just keep putting on bigger turbos and pipework (that's cheating )


Sorry didn't see the post from yourself. I use a normal WMI pump It's a Cooling Mist DDP5800.
All the rest of the info is in the build thread. The pump is controlled via a Solid State Relay from an output on the Ignitron. So it's duty cycle is altered based on boost and RPM.
You can pay good money for a WMI controller, the Ignitron can do it for no more than the cost of the solid state relay.









Karls Track day TT, Officially a 10 second car 10.8 @127 mph


Took the car to the Castle Combe Performance German day on Saturday. met up with some of the guys from Audi-sport.net and parked on the stand in the morning. Main reason I had gone to the day was to try the car out on track. Having been round the track in my A4 I wanted to see what the TT...




www.ttforum.co.uk


----------



## desertstorm

First track day of the year with Opentrack at Bedford Autodrome. Lots of things to be very happy with. The car was very quick in the wetter greasy conditions with my normal road tyres on. I was regularly hitting over 150mph on the 1km straight. Didn't come across anything that the car couldn't pass, Porsche GT3's ,M3's , EVO's etc etc. Coolant, oil and DSG temps all well under control. Think I have the DSG mapping near enough sorted on Ignitron now, DSG oil temps didn't go over around 92 degrees at any point.
Brakes were faultless. Managed to do the fastest lap of the day on my normal road tyres when the track was virtually dry, just the odd wet patch. The tyres were going away at the end of the lap and I crossed the line sideways in a cloud of smoke.
Fitted the AR1's but never managed to find a clear track at any point after that, It always seemed pretty busy when I was out.
Around 14.30 had an issue where the alternator / PAS steering belt threw itself off. Quite scary piling into a corner and turning the wheel only to find the steering is extremely heavy.
Luckily I run the factory undertray and the belt was lying under the engine. Took some finding though. Unluckily the reason it had come off was the 4 bolts securing the pulley had undone. Only one remained, one had sheared off and the other two were missing.
Managed to find two bolts in the engine compartment that I could use. They were attaching the drivers side engine mount support bracket. Installed the bolts so I had 3 bolts securing the pulley and managed to drive home the 90 miles at a sedate 55-60mph.
Surprised I never felt or heard anything before the belt came off.
Why did the bolts come loose?? . They were torqued correctly but didn't have any Loctite on them. I suspect another issue was with the longer belt I fitted with the larger alternator pulley, it may be a little too short still as the alternator tensioner is almost at the end of it's travel on maximum tension.
Going forward I could just replace the existing parts, I have another stock damper pulley but think I may take the opportunity to upgrade to a TFSI fluidampr pulley with a 6 bolt TFSI pulley and get a longer PAS belt.
I need to also sort the PAS pump out to stop the cavitation that is occuring and may be related to the loading on the pulley and why it failed. The pipe I have from the PAS pump to the steering rack has no restrictors fitted .
Some videos.
Earlier on when it was a bit overcast / showery.
https://youtu.be/Xnfs1zXh3Ws
Fastest lap of the day finished off with a spin. Around a 2.48 as I crossed the line sideways/backwards.
https://youtu.be/2iAu6j9X2FM
Playing with a 2014 GT3.
https://youtu.be/-dJVyPM2LfI

Just one pulley bolt left on, quite amazing it got that bad and I never heard anything.



  






Going sideways at 70mph does not result in good tread wear. I know how the F1 drivers feel when they flat spot tyres. This was the worst one other has a very good flat spot on it. TBH all they tyres on the car are due to be replaced. Several track days and many road miles the shoulders are very worn.









Best lap 80mph average speed and 152.7mph at the end of the 1km straight.









My off caught by the track photographer. Right outside the pits . Tyres were too hot and going off plus I did go into the last corner probably 5mph faster than I had before. On the AR1 semi slicks I would have been good.


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## StuartDB

It's incredible you do all this and then just drive home in the same car, just with a change of pants 

You must find it so hard to stay under the speed limit, on the way home


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## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> It's incredible you do all this and then just drive home in the same car, just with a change of pants
> 
> You must find it so hard to stay under the speed limit, on the way home


No Pants change. Easy to stay under the limit going home as I only had 3 bolts on a damaged pulley so never went above 2500 RPM on the way home about 55 mph.


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## Delta4

The bolts clearly can't put up with the extra torque, looking at the state of the pulley the bolts have been un winding for a while, i suppose the lack of thread lock contributed to the failure.


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## Tonimacaroni

That’s some nice driving on your part. Love to see how you leave them all behind,with that 20yr old car. Respect


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## desertstorm

Another long post and another small upgrade for my 1.8T engine after I had an issue with it on the last trackday. The bolts on the stock crankshaft damper came loose and threw the alternator/ PAS belt off. Only one bolt remained finger tight with one sheared off and two missing. I hadn't threadlocked them which may have resulted in their loosening. Decided to go with a Fluidampr as an upgrade and also as the stock 4 bolt cam belt drive sprocket was damaged so swapped to the EA113 2.0 TFSI 6 bolt sprocket. There are several independent dyno tests of the Fluidampr pulleys replacing stock or lightened pulleys and they actually make more power than stock or lightened pulleys, so another small improvement in power as well as a more reliable, smoother running engine. Figured that Audi had recognised that maybe 4 bolts were not good enough on the 1.8T. The sprockets are a direct swap and apart from getting 6 bolt fixing for the Fluidampr you also get around a 30% reduction in maximum cambelt loading. The stock 1.8T engine had a 60K mile change interval, The EA113 2.0 engine was 100K with no belt damper as well. The reason they managed to do this is the cam sprocket is oval ???. A video of the genuine sprocket I purchased.






This innovation won Litens and Continental an award for engineering innovation and a lot of cars these days use oval or tri oval sprockets on belts to reduce belt loading and make them run quieter. I could only find the 6 bolt sprocket available as a genuine item OE made by Litens, I suspect the item is patented so this may make it difficult for others to copy it. Fortunately not too expensive from AKS Tuning where I ordered all the parts from. They are a registered seller for Fluidampr in the UK.

Fluidampr Engine Damper - 2.0 TFSI - 551211









The timing marks on the damper are in the same place so not an issue there. I used the stock diamond washer and stock M16 bolt to fit the belt sprocket, This is what I have always used and not had any issues but then I only rev the engine to 7800rpm tops. I bought some M8 X 20 12.9 cap head screws to secure the pulley and used Nordlock washers along with threadlock. The stock bolts are 16mm long and with the thicker flange on the Fluidampr and Noordlock washers longer bolts at 20mm are needed. I always like to try and measure improvements with this change the engine idles smoother and definitely seems to run smoother, it just feels less coarse. I wondered If I could see anything on the logs and looking at the RPM traces on logs I can definitely see that the trace for crank RPM is smoother.

I was actually logging the engine when the belt came off so bolts were loose. Screenshot of the crank RPM signal with loose bolts, looks like a plowed field.









One from several months ago typical of what I have always seen with the stock damper.










And one from several logging runs I have made with the Fluidampr. There is a noticeable reduction in "noise" on the crank signal.









Also a few screenshots from some of the research papers I found on oval crank sprockets and how they reduce belt loads, increase belt life and reduce noise.

















How an oval pulley reduces belt loads.


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## desertstorm

Small upgrade to the car to try and resolve issues with the power steering on track. Getting lots of noise from the power steering I think due to cavitation in the pump and the fluid getting aerated / hot. I have a decent size cooler but with the power steering pump pulley being 20% smaller than the crank pulley the power steering is being spun at 9K RPM when the engine is at 7500 RPM.
Decided to try and install an electric power steering pump, I wanted to keep the existing rack and didn't fancy an electric column assist like the Corsa rack mod.
I found that Porsche cup cars used an electric power steering pump made by TRW that was almost identical to some model Astras. Ford and Volvo also used similar pumps , and of course there are pumps used in the Polo, Fabia , Ibiza and Audi A1.
The Astra, Ford, Volvo and a few other types are all usually used in a fairly dumb manner where the pump just responds to load and cannot actually see any sensors on the car.
The VAG pump is intelligent, it sees the engine RPM, Vechicle speed and steering wheel position over the CAN bus from the ECU, ABS module and steering wheel sensor for the ESP.
It only has 5 wires to connect, ground, 12V battery through 50A fuse, Ignition switched 12V and a CANH , CANL .
The pump doesn't actually start running till the engine is running that's why it needs the RPM signal. The assist is speed dependent as it knows how fast the car is going, and from the signal it gets from the steering wheel ESP sensor it knows when and how fast the steering wheel is being turned.
I bought a cheap used pump off a Skoda Fabia for £40 just to see if I could fit it and make it work. It does fit and I think works pretty well. Had to modify the bracket slightly and fitted the pump in a very similar place to the OE location under the LHS headlight, behind the bumper. It only just fits but I managed to reinstall the wheel arch liner so you can't see it and there is plenty of room so the tyre does not foul the liner.
There are several maps for varying assistance from disabilty mode which is very light through too a light vechicle which is not so much assistance. I have found option 2 or 5 seem to be the best in terms of feel and assistance.
Had to recode the module to 012 for the first three digits to get rid of the air bag fault code and make the pump use the ESP sensor. Last two digits of the code determine the map. There are also other maps not shown on VCDS 7, 8 and 9 all work as well.
Adding the electric pump has added around 0.5Kg weight to the car but moved 5Kg from the RHS of the engine to the gearbox side so slightly improved weight balance. The pump can take upto 65A current if you run it at the rack stops , It is rated to 100Bar (1470 PSI) but typically take around 3A when driving in a straight line and 10-20A if you are moving the steering wheel quickly at speed.

AN6 fittings from Torques on Fleabay, Pump outlet is an M16 I used the original green washer that came with the pump. Used just over 1m of braided teflon pipe. Braided pipe 2500PSI normal working pressure, burst pressure of 10,000 PSI so easily handles the 100Bar from the power steering pump.









Weight of the alternator mount bracket after I cut the surplus off and removed the pump, reservoir and pipe between the pump and reservoir.









Pump fitted under the LHS headlight. You have to remove the bumper and headlight to top up the level. On the stock Fabia, Polo etc you need to remove the battery to top up the fluid. You can see the level on the side of the bottle .










size comparison of pump










Weight of complete mounting bracket, pump and reservoir.









weight of the new pump on it's own










TT has a spare 50A fuse way already.


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## desertstorm

Anybody interested in doing this These are the parts I ordered to make up the high pressure line to the rack. I would buy a pump with a cage and wiring attached.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380711703154 I ordered 2M and the line I made up was 1.1M long
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360709155769 16mm x 1.5 power steering fitting to AN6
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171780202270 AN6 14mm banjo fitting
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160764021291 AN6 90 degree fitting
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171314533959 AN6 straight fitting

The pump was a offA 2004 Skoda Fabia 6Q0423156AB
I believe that pretty much any pump will work in the TT although I couldn't guarantee it. The reason I went with this pump is because it is shown as compatible with the 1.8T polo GTI . 









Map options on this pump. I have tried them all and ended up where I thought I would at map 2. This has good assistance when moving slowly but drops when on the move.










I logged the current taken by the pump on VCDS when driving the car. On the measuring blocks there are several blocks including current take by the pump. I have been running this on the car over a month now with no issues. If you think that it is fitted on small engine cars with small 90A alternators and works fine on those cars then it's not an issue on the TT.


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## desertstorm

First Evening track day at Donnington on the 17th went quite well. First time out on track with the new Electric power steering pump and it worked faultlessly, No horrible whining after a few laps. Really good weighting. Quite a few red flag periods due to cars breaking down or burying themselves in the gravel. This seems to be an issue with Donnington as people seem to run out of talent down Craners or try and carry too much speed through Redgate. Probably won't do an evening session again because of this. Had a passenger in for all the laps I did, My mate Phil Derbyshire is a biker and used to race as a passenger in a sidecar , He's done plenty of track days himself on bikes. Once I had dialled in the tyre pressures and tweaked a few things that were causing the car to go into limp mode I could try and set some fast laps. Managed a 120.66 and 120.96 with Phil in the car and only running on map 3 at 1.8 bar. A lot faster than I have run before so was pleased with that, Didn't use the push to pass top map. I was going to go back out solo and use the top map and think I could manage a low 1.19. I am losing quite a lot of time in the minimum corner speed's I carry through corners. Unfortunately whilst checking the tyre pressures and wheel nut tightness discovered the NSF outer CV joint boot had pulled off the joint and sprayed grease everywhere. I think the issue is the boots are thermoplastic items which are very good normally but with all the heat the BTCC brakes put out the hub gets very hot. Excellent photos taken by Opentrack as per usual, Got no useable video out of my Nextbase video camera as I had changed the settings to auto record and save when it detected high G forces as the camera has been on my wifes car. So it basically kept thinking I was crashing every time I braked hard. The Go-Pro I setup wrong so was well over exposed. Spent some time with a video editor and did my best to get some footage from it . Just need to sort this CV boot issue as it is a fairly reoccuring one, seems only on the passenger side as that's the shortest shaft with the most articulation .

You tube video of the two fastest laps.


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## David C

The clamps on the thermoplastic boots do need to be extremely tight.
There is a specific tool for them and they are tightened to a torque setting.

Another thing, do you have Mk2 bottom balljoints?
If so they could be stretching the joints too unless you have spaced out the inner joint.


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## desertstorm

Few more pictures from Donnington.Couldn't believe this Nissan Micra with a big car trailer on the back. Had a look and this Micra can tow 500Kg unbraked or 800Kg Braked. The trailer alone is probably 5-600Kg .
And I was sent a link with a picture of the car it was towing. A Lotus.



















Some lap time info from the fast laps. Couldn't go fast earlier on in the session as there were too many slow cars, M3's Porsche 911's etc getting in the way.
Average speed is 87mph and was hitting around 130mph on the run down past the old museum. Only running 1.8 bar on map 3 so around 460bhp .


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## desertstorm

David C said:


> The clamps on the thermoplastic boots do need to be extremely tight.
> There is a specific tool for them and they are tightened to a torque setting.
> 
> Another thing, do you have Mk2 bottom balljoints?
> If so they could be stretching the joints too unless you have spaced out the inner joint.


Hi David, The clamp tension wasn't the problem, If you look at the picture it is still in place with part of the CV boot underneath it. The boot seems to have ripped all around the first point where the CV boot flexes. Other people running high power track cars have suffered similar issues and have found that the GKN boots work well. So have fitted a GKN boot along with Redline CV2 grease which is a lot better than normal Moly grease and is what a lot of race teams use. I do have MK2 bottom Joints and used to run spacers, since fitting the DSG box I fitted driveshafts from the newer cars which have a wider track so the driveshafts are slightly longer, so no longer need spacers. 
The failure I am sure is related to the vast heat heat that the brakes generate and on those last fast laps I did, I had the pedal go soft for the first time since fitting the BTCC brakes.
I think this was because the pads are about 50% worn and this increases the heat transfer into the caliper and hub, also having 85Kg of passenger doesn't help .
I have changed the pads for a newer set, Quite impressed with the wear seeing these have done 5 track days and about 1000 miles of road use, and they are only 50% worn.


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## StuartDB

Is that lap data gathered by you or do you get given a transponder to use for the day?


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## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> Is that lap data gathered by you or do you get given a transponder to use for the day?


Hi Stuart it's an app on my phone. Harrys Lap Timer, I use a 10Hz Bluettoth GPS dongle to get really accurate times and speeds. You can see my phone down by the gearstick in the video with the lap time showing.


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## desertstorm

Had a trip to the GTI Festival at Santa Pod on Sunday. Wanted to see if I could get it in the 10's. After quite a few low 11 second runs finally managed to tweak the launch control RPM and settings along with the tyre pressures to get a decent launch and a 10.80 second pass was completed. The car wasn't built for drag racing so 2.5 degrees of camber on the front and 1.5 on the back doesn't help the launch. Used my normal MPSS road tyres as I don't think my Nankang AR1's would have got me any faster.
Did make some adjustments to the car by removing the BYC rear wing, would have looked well out of place with that on.
The APG small port head the car has on it doesn't help power at the top end and I might finally get around to putting the AGU large port head I have on it and see if that makes much difference.
Probably be able to run less boost to make the same power which will help IAT's and allow more timing. I was running the water cooling .
Uploaded some videos to You Tube.
An outside view
https://youtu.be/OIVaLghvCZM
The inside view, No frantic arm twirling or gear stick mashing. DSG gearbox for the easy life







.
https://youtu.be/hfMvK0Wdspg
Found a video that somebody else had posted on You tube that shows a view of one of the runs from the stands. Interesting the limited amount of front end lift compared to a lot of cars, probably due to the much stiffer suspension. Also not as loud as it sounds in the car, compared to a lot of other cars anyway.





Used my Dragy and found the times on this to be very accurate compared to the timeslips, usually within 0.05 seconds and 0.5 mph or less.



















This was part of the log from the fastest run. What happens in the first 60ft makes so much difference to the time you run. Manufacturers of modern high performance cars spend a lot of time calibrating the launch control strategy to get a really quick launch. I can do much of the same with Ignitron and eventually managed to dial in the right launch RPM, with the right amount of throttle and boost. And then using boost by gear limit the power and torque until the speed builds.










Official timeslip.










Took off the BYC big wing, would have looked daft turning up with that on.


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## IPG3.6

Amazing!!! Congratrs on the time - looks like the aerodynamics wins over downforce on the drag strip?


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## desertstorm

IPG3.6 said:


> Amazing!!! Congratrs on the time - looks like the aerodynamics wins over downforce on the drag strip?


Absolutely no point in having the wing on at a drag strip just adds weight and drag. On track different story, the drag penalty is more than worth it for the extra grip generated by the wing. Only 6 bolts holding it on takes about 5 minutes to remove. During the lunch break I decided to remove the wheel spacers I have. There are 15mm spacers all around to give a wider track. I took some stock length bolts with me so could do this. Around 30-35% of all aero drag comes from the wheels. By moving them in it reduces the amount of drag they create. When you are travelling over 100mph aero tweaks do help. TBH looking at the Dragy times I logged for 100-200 Km/h the fastest time was done on the last run but only by 0.02s from one I had done in the morning. So the benefits of that are small, I have done back to back measurements with the wing in various positions and that makes measureable differences.


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## StuartDB

Was the 'Right Lane' quicker for everyone?

I'm loving the video of you looking over to make sure you're in front 

Your car is so fast... were you worried about smashing up your drive shafts?


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## desertstorm

StuartDB said:


> Was the 'Right Lane' quicker for everyone?
> I'm loving the video of you looking over to make sure you're in front
> Your car is so fast... were you worried about smashing up your drive shafts?


Interesting thing about the Lanes, Never really noticed that. There were a few big blow ups on the track throughout the day, one of them left oil the full length of the track I think. Don't know which lane they were on though. They do a good job of trying to clean the oil up but possibly the left hand lane might not have been as good.
There are some very quick cars that don't look that quick so it's hard to tell what the other car is doing.
Believe it or not I try and be mechanically sympathetic to the car by trying to limit the launch RPM and the amount of driveline shock. I launch around 4000-4400 rpm. Having road tyres and wheels with quite a bit of camber means the tyre tends to slip . If the car had sticky drag radials and loads of grip that would stress the driveline a lot more.


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## tt_in_ie

Dominic Toretto should have used your TT instead as a 10 second car.

Congrats!


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## IPG3.6

desertstorm said:


> You can see the way it runs allows for the bottom of the headlight washer to fit in.


Hey @desertstorm I can't see where the headlight washer piping is run - can you please point it out? Are you still using this exact FMIC setup in currently?


----------



## StuartDB

desertstorm said:


> Interesting thing about the Lanes, Never really noticed that. There were a few big blow ups on the track throughout the day, one of them left oil the full length of the track I think. Don't know which lane they were on though. They do a good job of trying to clean the oil up but possibly the left hand lane might not have been as good.
> There are some very quick cars that don't look that quick so it's hard to tell what the other car is doing.
> Believe it or not I try and be mechanically sympathetic to the car by trying to limit the launch RPM and the amount of driveline shock. I launch around 4000-4400 rpm. Having road tyres and wheels with quite a bit of camber means the tyre tends to slip . If the car had sticky drag radials and loads of grip that would stress the driveline a lot more.


I went to Tempsford runway (was a secret air base during WW2, my mates grandad worked there) for motorbike drag racing.. I didn't want to run, but arrived on my little bandit... but what there was were a load of young looking people in what looked like ancient drag bikes, which were started on a rubber belt - like a running machine, and the youngers had a manual timing handle to control the timing on the handle bars... its loonacy...


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## desertstorm

IPG3.6 said:


> Hey @desertstorm I can't see where the headlight washer piping is run - can you please point it out? Are you still using this exact FMIC setup in currently?


I changed the intercooler earlier this year to a larger one.
Karls Track day TT, Officially a 10 second car 10.8 @127 mph 
I didn't run the headlight cleaners with the first intercooler I put on. In the UK you don't need them for an MOT and TBH they don;'t really work very well at washing the headlights. Was one of the first things I removed as it's pretty much dead weight right at the front of the car. It is difficult to fit a large FMIC and keep the "Aliens".


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## IPG3.6

ah ok thanks so you had to upgrade to make the most of the new setup!


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## desertstorm

IPG3.6 said:


> ah ok thanks so you had to upgrade to make the most of the new setup!


The original intercooler was great for a stage 2 275bhp car and is probably good upto 400bhp. There was just a bit too much pressure drop across it with the G25-660. Next upgrade likely to be a large port AGU head I have had for a while.


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## IPG3.6

Keep unlocking that power my friend! 

I am on the hunt for a suitable FMIC for the Frankenturbo so something like yours would easily suit.


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## Barr_end

I remember reading through some of this thread some years ago when it was a little smaller
I have just re-read the entire thing from the beginning and got to say certainly more than impressive!
Nice to see another 'driveway warrior' giving it more than a good crack in every single area with mint results

Hope to bump into this on a track one day and I'll try not to be in the way 😅


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## desertstorm

A better video of the last trackday I did at Donnington . Fastest lap I have done at Donnington.With a Passenger in the car and not running the top map on the engine .


----------



## jbevan

desertstorm said:


> Few more aero upgrades added over the two weeks.
> Modified the front wings so they vent at the rear. This allows the high pressure air in the rear of the wheelarch to be released . This excessive air pressure causes lift and also increases drag. Best thing about this mod is it's free.
> Remove the wing and trim the rear of the wing to remove the large return edge and the lower bracket. The wing is held in at the bottom to the sill by a bolt.
> 
> View attachment 428669
> 
> 
> Modify the top mounting points by slotting the mounting holes , You can leave the front mounting bolts alone. You need to remove the thin plastic liner behind the main arch liner if you want any air flow through there.
> I modified the arch liner by cutting the top part out so air could flow through there. I tried removing the liner completely but all the rubbish off the roads just ends up filling up the door shut and making a mess. So put the liner back. Also cut a small piece out the top of the wing at the back and removed the black plastic moulding at the rear of the bonnet . This allows air to flow from under the bonnet out the slot to help vent the pressure under the bonnet.
> 
> View attachment 428671
> 
> 
> Hammerite smooth silver is a very close color to the car so use this for painting over cut edges.
> 
> View attachment 428673
> 
> 
> View attachment 428675
> 
> 
> View attachment 428677
> 
> 
> Onto the bonnet and fitted a FORD part to the car. A genuine bonnet vent off a 2010-2014 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 .
> 
> Ordered off Fleabay from America. The actual part was only about £90, with postage and import duty came to around £130.
> Which for what it is I think is still quite good.
> 
> View attachment 428679
> 
> 
> View attachment 428681
> 
> 
> It could have been made for the TT as the curve across it is the same as the bonnet . Just a matter of making a template and deciding where to fit it. Then making a small incision in the bonnet.
> Found this video on making a template to fit this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mark out template onto bonnet and apply masking tape around it, I used 2 inch normal white painters masking tape then overlaid some gaffer tape which is a lot thicker and stronger. Don't try sticking gaffer tape direct to the bonnet it's difficult to get off.
> 
> View attachment 428683
> 
> 
> 15 minutes with a 4.5 inch angle grinder with a nice thin metal cutting disc. fortunately the bonnet is aluminium so easy to cut and no sparks so put a towel over the engine bay under the bonnet.
> 
> View attachment 428685
> 
> 
> View attachment 428687
> 
> 
> View attachment 428689
> 
> 
> I cut the two plastic tabs off at the rear of the vent and made provision for a small hole for the single mounting stud on the rear. On the Mustang there are 3 location grooves on the front edge mounting with corresponding mouldings on the vent. I removed these small bits of moulding from the front mounting groove with a dremel.
> 
> Removed the thin rubber sealing strip from all around the edge as this would make the grille stand up off the bonnet a little more. The bonnet vent has fixing tape at the rear which I used along with some tiger seal around the sides and across the two clips I had removed and under the area where the bolt is. Trying to make the area watertight so rain running down the bonnet will run around the vent.
> 
> View attachment 428691
> 
> 
> View attachment 428693


Hi Karl
Amazing thread.
Please where did you source the gt500 vent?
went to my friendly ford dealership and the numbers come up unknown.
probably because the gt 500 was never officially imported.

many thanks for you help
jb


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## desertstorm

jbevan said:


> Hi Karl
> Amazing thread.
> Please where did you source the gt500 vent?
> went to my friendly ford dealership and the numbers come up unknown.
> probably because the gt 500 was never officially imported.
> 
> many thanks for you help
> jb


I got it off Ebay from America. Had a quick search 








FORD OEM 10-14 Mustang Hood-Vent Duct AR3Z16C630AA | eBay


Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for FORD OEM 10-14 Mustang Hood-Vent Duct AR3Z16C630AA at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.



www.ebay.co.uk


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## jbevan

Many thanks, did search eBay, but ended up with silly shipping prices.


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## jbevan

Now purchased


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## jbevan

jbevan said:


> Now purchased


The gt500 bonnet vent arrived today, solid bit of kit.
plan to fit it so that it doesn’t drip water on the engine but as far back as possible to minimise the curvature of air flow.  Hopefully

many thanks for the link, will also be following your lead with the rear caliper upgrade.
jb


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## desertstorm

jbevan said:


> The gt500 bonnet vent arrived today, solid bit of kit.
> plan to fit it so that it doesn’t drip water on the engine but as far back as possible to minimise the curvature of air flow.  Hopefully
> 
> many thanks for the link, will also be following your lead with the rear caliper upgrade.
> jb


The best place for the vent is at the front of the bonnet where I have mine. The further back that it is mounted the less effective it is. At the front of the bonnet there is a low pressure zone and this along with the high pressure under the bonnet results in a large amount of air flow through the On my car from the centre of the front edge of the bonnet to the front edge of the vent is 140mm.


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