Audi S3 8P3 CustomCode Stage 2 PSS

[guile]

i had a recent track afternoon at lakeside...



the car is definitely a pretty capable set up and it surprised a few people. i got my pb but decided i could use some tuition, driver modification is next on the list...



also tried a skid pan covered in diesel...



thats when i found out the S3 has ASR that cannot be turned off without pulling the ABS fuse, awesome...

[guile]

I did a bit of work over the weekend to prep the car for the btuned sprint series at lakeside on the 8th of feb. first up was the front drop links as they were making an awful racket...

YouTube

I didn't go with the pillow ball joints this time; they were replaced with some whiteline items that I measured up against my old units. I also stiffened up the rear sway to try and achieve more oversteer...



next was to replace the no. 7 spark plugs with no. 8 and closed the gap to 0.022" as per the APR TTE420 tune specification...



the clutch has always felt unusual to me and on doing some reading I thought it may be to do with the hydraulic clutch valve so I decided to remove it. I put a cloth down to catch any dripping fluid...



this is what it looked like removed from the car...



and then this was it with the valve removed...



then I decided to reduce the pedal travel by replacing the clutch stop; this is the old stop in place...



this is both clutch stops compared...



then the new one installed...



I finished off by bleeding the clutch and the brake lines; I want to give the M2's a run for their money on the 8th...

[guile]

I had great fun at lakeside on friday, car definitely felt better and minor improvements from me also. I scored buy best lap time so far but still plenty more time to come off...



I decided to video my laps this time to see if I could see where I'm going wrong; which is on most of the corners as you can see. that's good though as I know I can bring that time down a great deal further...

YouTube

the car felt down on power on a couple of occasions and it really wasn't happy on the way home even though I always cruise home to give the car and my licence a break. I checked it out and found the boost pipe issue in the photo below. considering my last too laps were my fastest and I'm fairly certain the pipe went on the track, I can hope for improvements alone with significantly more boost next time...



this is the hose company, I need to wait a month to get one from the UK. not happy...



at least my day ended better than this poor chaps. I felt pretty sorry for him, he must have been gutted...

[guile]

cars feeling really strong at the moment, I'm not really that competitive but I have to admit its a good feeling to get the number 1 slot...

[Scratchyratface]

Well done mate!

[555bug]

Hey Richard, it was good to chat with you at the happy laps last month. I am interested in modifying my car after the day and I wondered if you have a recommended sequence to start. I have only done a Tarmac Engineering intake, GFB DV, Forge catch can, R8 Plugs. I have a RS4 fuel valve and HPFP to fit but was considering doing dump pipe and inter cooler all before tune. Any advice appreciated.
Stephen

[brad]

Hey Richard, it was good to chat with you at the happy laps last month. I am interested in modifying my car after the day and I wondered if you have a recommended sequence to start. I have only done a Tarmac Engineering intake, GFB DV, Forge catch can, R8 Plugs. I have a RS4 fuel valve and HPFP to fit but was considering doing dump pipe and inter cooler all before tune. Any advice appreciated.
Stephen

The best mod you can do for track work is an advanced driving course or some tutored laps.

After that some sticky tyres and better brakes.

[555bug]

Cheers Brad, sound advice. I have done a lot of track work on my bike but the car is new to me. The S3 chassis just feel like it could take a lot more power given it is a bit fat, if I really wanted to go fast I would look for a lighter car I like modifying stuff so a big part of it is just messing with the car to see what's possible.

[guile]

Well done mate!

thanks mate, definitely more time to shave off with driver improvements. hope yours is still going well, I was impressed with its stock power on that Northside run. would be good to see you at the track sometime soon...

[guile]

Hey Richard, it was good to chat with you at the happy laps last month. I am interested in modifying my car after the day and I wondered if you have a recommended sequence to start. I have only done a Tarmac Engineering intake, GFB DV, Forge catch can, R8 Plugs. I have a RS4 fuel valve and HPFP to fit but was considering doing dump pipe and inter cooler all before tune. Any advice appreciated.
Stephen

are you just looking at power mods mate?

I would do the dump pipe before the tune if I was you. I don't think the intercooler really gets you more power but it will help keep the power rather than loose it to heat soak as far as I know...

PS this all comes with a disclaimer; I'm no expert to modding so I'm sure someone who knows more will correct me if i'm wrong...

if you're manual you might be looking for a clutch upgrade next. let me know if you need a hand with any tools or DIY as I've accumulate quite a few tools for modding the 8p over the years...

[guile]

the car wasn't running great prior to my track day so I decided I'd try to improve the ignition side and clean the spark plugs. they had only been on for 500k but I think they fouled due to the boost hose leak and the tune trying to correct the mixture. I thought this might happen in the future and didn't want to keep buying new plugs every 500k so I decided to try an ultrasonic cleaner...



I really didn't know what solution to use so I experimented with truck wash and water. turned out to be far too much truck wash; I've also heard white vinegar works well...



I cleaned 8 in one hit, 4 x 7's and 4 x 8's. the 8's foul in no time unless you're on the track...



the tips before they went in...



this is what they looked like as soon as they hit the cleaner...



and this is what the solution looked like after around 12 runs at 40 seconds. stupidly I forgot to take a photo of the end result but I will do that soon to show the comparison...

[guile]

I also did some other track prep by replacing the rubber...



replacing the hpfp fuel bucket...



and more work on the ignition side by using the bling r8 coils, super extra horsepower...



I decided to add a label for when the coils were changed and will do the same for the spark plugs too (I need to change the label, it should be 39K)...



and also replaced the oil...

[guile]

a few photos I downloaded from the khanacross event, thanks to the photographer and I hope there is no issue with sharing...



that's a very determined grimace face, I was actually enjoying it but it looks like I'm in pain. the magic tree was copping a flogging too...



negative camber really helps, the loaded wheels are nearly square to the tarmac...



lifting a leg on this one...

[guile]

haven't been running the aircon on the track for that extra 1 bhp, noticed a funky smell when i did so i decide to change the pollen filter. i'd put a reasonable wage on the fact it hasn't been changed since new...



also purchased the ttrs brake cooling inserts...



they clamp to the control arms and direct air towards the rotors...

[555bug]

That last skid control picture is great