MY00 A3 1.8T - Let the mods begin!

Turbonut

New member
Points
31
Location
Australia
Car
2000 A3 1.8T
Okay,

I picked the little audi today, it's seriously lacking in the mumbo department.

I'm going to start with full exhaust system & aftermarket panel filter. It would be great if any of you could post links to online stores that sell the parts i need!

I'm going to keep the standard air box for now, it seems to have a cold air duct leading into the guard/fender. I think a high flow panel filter will be plenty (i hope i get more woosh noises:amuse:)

For exhaust i have my eye on this ebay dump pipe:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270494763038&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Can someone please confirm that this will fit this \/ car ??

http://photos.carsguide.news.com.au/drive_images/dealer/gulson/U2204/1_600.jpg

I cant quite tell, it seeme like a very tight squeeze down there!

Will that ebay pipe meet up with standard system ?

Also, will these basic mods affect tune much ? i don't want it running too lean. If i have to tune it, i will do the turbo, intercooler & turbo to air box pipe first.

Does anyone have some pics of custom intercooler set ups for the A3 ?

Couple more Q's

-The climate controll is playing up, turns on but no air comes out!, demister seems to work though, anyone had this issue- how did you fix it ?
- There seems to be a CEL in the center of cluster, apparantly it is the "brake sensor" ?, common thing, how can i fix ?

The car has service history, has travelled 155K kilometers. when i floor it, it seems to jerk a bit- a little hesitant.

Could it be be dirty injectors ? everything externally seems A1
 
Miltek Sports exhausts are pretty good, get one with a sports cat and also swap over the headers (manifold).

Try Awesome GTi in Manchester for tuning parts (mention TorqueCars), they have a wide range on offer and have turned out some stunning high power 1.8T engines. I'm sure they can arrange to ship them out to Australia.

Climate control might need a regas, are there any error codes coming up via VAGCOM?

Run a tank of Superunleaded with a dose of redex, this will help clear out all the crud that builds up. My guess is this car has had an easy life so far and needs a bit of "breaking in".
 
Okay,

I picked the little audi today, it's seriously lacking in the mumbo department.

I'm going to start with full exhaust system & aftermarket panel filter. It would be great if any of you could post links to online stores that sell the parts i need!

I'm going to keep the standard air box for now, it seems to have a cold air duct leading into the guard/fender. I think a high flow panel filter will be plenty (i hope i get more woosh noises:amuse:)

You wont get much whoosh whoosh noise with the standard diverter valve. lok towards the forge 007p DONT go for an atmosheric one as this can cause fueing issues. although the 007p isnt much louder you can hear it at lower speeds, i can now here mine in all 6 gears having fitted the BMC CDA kit. before this i had a pipercross filter in standard smooth airbox with larger R32 air intake to the box. no differnce in power but a difference in noise
For exhaust i have my eye on this ebay dump pipe:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270494763038&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

stay away from decat (youve said in your other post about cant find anyone with ECU mapping) as this will cause emmsion issues on the car, also the 12-14 bhp :blink: more around half of that with suitible mapping

Can someone please confirm that this will fit this \/ car ??

http://photos.carsguide.news.com.au/drive_images/dealer/gulson/U2204/1_600.jpg

I cant quite tell, it seeme like a very tight squeeze down there!

tis

Will that ebay pipe meet up with standard system ?
wouldnt like to say but i think i would be getting it custom made r going to a reputable maker for it


Also, will these basic mods affect tune much ? i don't want it running too lean. If i have to tune it, i will do the turbo, intercooler & turbo to air box pipe first.


Does anyone have some pics of custom intercooler set ups for the A3 ?

Couple more Q's

-The climate controll is playing up, turns on but no air comes out!, demister seems to work though, anyone had this issue- how did you fix it ?
sticking flaps, use vagcom or look on the internet for the codes to gain access to the "secret" codes that the climate control can show. not sure on how you fix it

- There seems to be a CEL in the center of cluster, apparantly it is the "brake sensor" ?, common thing, how can i fix ?
you need to get a diagnostic machine on it (google vcds or vagcom for the best for VAG cars (even some dealer now use this over their own machine).
brake light switch change itself see below

The car has service history, has travelled 155K kilometers. when i floor it, it seems to jerk a bit- a little hesitant.

Could it be be dirty injectors ? everything externally seems A1
could be needing a good blast,could be maf, rip in the OEM diverter valve, or more likely one of the vac pipes split




PICK stolen from ELSAWIN
brakeight.png


Stolen for another forum as couldnt be bothered loading it up on my other PC
 
Miltek Sports exhausts are pretty good, get one with a sports cat and also swap over the headers (manifold).

Try Awesome GTi in Manchester for tuning parts (mention TorqueCars), they have a wide range on offer and have turned out some stunning high power 1.8T engines. I'm sure they can arrange to ship them out to Australia.

Climate control might need a regas, are there any error codes coming up via VAGCOM?

Run a tank of Superunleaded with a dose of redex, this will help clear out all the crud that builds up. My guess is this car has had an easy life so far and needs a bit of "breaking in".
Cheers, i'll give them a try, it has always been run on premium fuel (apparantley) & i have been using good 98RON fuel too.
I really hope i can squeeze some more power out of her, it sounds like folks in the UK know how to get them going!

This model A3 is quite rare in aus, & many tend to stay away from them because parts are too expensive!

You wont get much whoosh whoosh noise with the standard diverter valve. lok towards the forge 007p DONT go for an atmosheric one as this can cause fueing issues. although the 007p isnt much louder you can hear it at lower speeds, i can now here mine in all 6 gears having fitted the BMC CDA kit. before this i had a pipercross filter in standard smooth airbox with larger R32 air intake to the box. no differnce in power but a difference in noise

I'm not too concerned about sound & don't plan on touching BOV as yet, an aftermarket high flow panel filter will do for now.

stay away from decat (youve said in your other post about cant find anyone with ECU mapping) as this will cause emmsion issues on the car, also the 12-14 bhp :blink: more around half of that with suitible mapping

Thats why i was just going to run it to the standard cat back, i will replace the rest when i can get a tune. It shouldn't hurt it in the meantime, yeah ?

I have run cat less dumps in subarus & they make a very noticable difference. I'm starting to wonder if the OEM cats are currently robbing me of power!.
Many turbocharged cars are running 1 mid mount cat over here.

wouldnt like to say but i think i would be getting it custom made r going to a reputable maker for it


But it's cheap & exactly what i want :p it even has a bulge so it "looks" like it has a cat!
I guess that question is still open

sticking flaps, use vagcom or look on the internet for the codes to gain access to the "secret" codes that the climate control can show. not sure on how you fix it

- I have no idea what vagcom is, i assume it's some form of diagnostic for this particular car, please link me to where i can purchase
you need to get a diagnostic machine on it (google vcds or vagcom for the best for VAG cars (even some dealer now use this over their own machine).
brake light switch change itself see below


Cheers for the pics, looks like a simple job. apparently this issue started when the pads were changed. Also, in one of the recent service notes it states "brake sensor missing" :confused:

Could be needing a good blast,could be maf, rip in the OEM diverter valve, or more likely one of the vac pipes split

I don't want to give it too much of a hard time till i get a chance to properly go over the car (very busy with work atm). The plumbing looks new. Could be a boost leak. What boost do these motors run ?, might hook up a guage & check
 
Last edited:
sorry its not allowing me to quote your message properly for some reason

looking back the diverter valve would be one of the 1st things i would change as te OEM ones are very poor. if its never been changed i would ssay go get one ( Replacement OEM is around £41 compared to the forge one at £90 )

the 2.5" decat wont fit onto the standard exhaust as its 2.25" so an adaptor will need to work.
buy cheap buy twice. the decat will also throw up engine lights, unless you can get it coded out. sports cats the way to go for ease
waynne said about the manifold - this isnt really required unless your going big turbo. but if you decide to go for one stay away from ebay. people have ran them for less than 2000 miles and they are cracking up.
cant warn again about the turbo for the same reason


vagcom is now called VCDS google rosstech and youll find it. the cable is around $300 and software itself is free. or you can buy an ebay special cable, play about with it and download the old shareware version of vagcom to see what its like then get a code for it license is around $99. the share ware will allow you to read codes individually but not allow any softcoding.

brake lights - do they work ? if so then its not the switch. going by its only started since the pads were changed id say someone went cheap and fitted aftermarket pads without the wear sensor (display will show check pads ) 2 ways to get around this. ne im not saying as it could result in damage to the ECU the other is to have it soft coded out of the options (registered VCDS needed)

PCV setup on these engies is crap. look around the intake manifold and youll see loads of vac pipes normally these go quite easily. RHS of the engine under the cover you should see a Y shaped pipe this is very common.

standard boost off the top of my head is around 6 psi for the 150 models and around 10.5 for the 180 /190 models
 
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