Playing with an Audi SQ5 TDI

[Daniel_M]

Hey Lucas - sorry to hear about your brother.

Looks like some cool new mods. I'd be interested to hear differences between old entertainment system and new... Also impact of the Wagner setup?

I don't recall seeing you making changes to suspension other than links etc - did you have thoughts on potential options on this front?

[Lucas_R]

Some nice things going on there but sorry to hear about your brother.

Great updates on the build diary. Also condolences on your brother.

Hey Lucas - sorry to hear about your brother.

Looks like some cool new mods. I'd be interested to hear differences between old entertainment system and new... Also impact of the Wagner setup?

I don't recall seeing you making changes to suspension other than links etc - did you have thoughts on potential options on this front?

Thanks - I appreciate it.

@Daniel_M the new Carplay unit is honeslty not much different at all to the old one. I sold the old unit for $600 and the new one cost $1000, so it was a $400 changeover. The interface is much more OEM on the new RSNav unit than it was on the old one, but other than that it is much the same. I was hoping for a bit more honestly. Not really worth the $400 to change over from one to the other, but if buying a new unit from scratch then the RSNav unit would be the better buy seeing they are the same price and the RSNav unit has a much more genuine OEM looking interface.

I haven't had a chance to fit the new intercooler yet, but am planning to do it over the next few weeks when time allows. I was going to try and do some temperature logging on the stock intercooler and again on the new one.

As for suspension, all ive done is changed the front swaybar end links from plastic to alloy ones, and added a 034 Motorsports rear swaybar. I have also added 034 diff carrier inserts, diff mount inserts, and transmission mount inserts because there was a lot of slop in the transmission and drivetrain which these inserts have helped with. But otherwise its standard.

[Daniel_M]

Shame that Bremtec dont make a matching rear disk but oh well.

Another option is DBA - front and rear available in slotted or drilled.

I have their slotted (T3 model) on the front and am quite happy. Didn't get the matching rear, but will next time.

[Lucas_R]

Another option is DBA - front and rear available in slotted or drilled.

I have their slotted (T3 model) on the front and am quite happy. Didn't get the matching rear, but will next time.

Yes I am aware of the DBA disks for the SQ5, but for some (like me) the price is just not worth it. They are very nice looking, but are $1,550 for a pair for the DBA T3's vs about $500 a pair for the Bremtec's. Im on an Aussie SQ5 owners group and many of the owners use the Bremtec as they are good value for money.

I wish I had enough money to spend $1,500 on front brakes for a car my wife drives 90% of the time, but with the cost of living at the moment its just not on the cards.

[I CU2]

Hey @Lucas_R, I've got an A7 with the CGQB and ZF8. I'm looking to stage 1 it and was just wondering why you went with Underground Performance?

I went Superchips on my A5 with the single turbo 3.0 TDI but looking at the Superchips dyno sheet - the torque curve is pretty weird. The stock dyno sheet that superchips provides only hits max torque at 610nm @ 2.7k rpm instead of the factory quoted 650nm @ 1.5k so was looking at getting it tuned elsewhere.

[Lucas_R]

Hey mate. I went with Underground because I know Alex who owns it. I also know Ben who owns Tarmac Engineering so I was tossing up between the two.

As far as Im aware, Superchips/Bluefin does not exist in Australia anymore. I had a Superchips tune about 10 years ago in a VW Golf R and let me tell you there are much better tunes available (my Golf made an extra 15kw just by switching to a different tuning company. My Golf R was running like a pig on the Superchips stage 2 tune, heavily overfuelling, they made several revisions to the tune which made no difference - so i changed tuning companies and problem solved + 15kw extra kw).

Seeing you are in Brisbane, you have several options:

- Tarmac Engineering in Cleveland. He can tune the 3.0L biturbo engine.
- Underground Performance have a dealer in Brisbane. German Auto Dynamics in Arundel.
- APR have a tune for the 3.0L biturbo engine. I believe this is the cheapest option at around $900 and its supposed to be a good tune. APR will have several dealers in Brisbane such as Prestige & Performance in Cooparoo. APR have a 10% off sale at the moment too.
- And I believe Racingline have a tune for the 3.0L biturbo engine. The Racingline head dealership is in Cooparoo (Harding Performance) but they have a few other dealers scattered around Brisbane.

[I CU2]

Thanks Lucas!

Just wondering with your intercooler upgrade - would you have to get a new tune done?

When you installed the akebono brakes - did you replace the rotors at the same time? The brake pads on my car are looking a tad thin and I also run akebono on my A5 but not sure if I can get away with replacing just the pads!

[Lucas_R]

The engines ECU can compensate for the cooler intake air temps that the aftermarket intercooler will provide - no need to tune or retune for things like an intercooler or high flow air filter etc.

As for the brakes, if the disks are still in good condition then you can just change the pads. But if the disks are badly worn, with grooves in the surface and a big lip on the outer edge then you might want to get new disks to install at the same time as your new pads.

I fitted my Akebono pads initially to the original disks (which were in reasonable condition) but then about a year ago I replaced the disks with Bremtec’s - still using the same pads which were still in very good condition and had heaps of pad life.

[Lucas_R]

Big day on the SQ5 on Sunday. Decided to finally do the intercooler and RS front grill installation.

Front bumper comes off easily (compared to several Golfs ive removed bumpers on) and fitting the new intercooler was straight forward enough. As you can see, the new intercooler is about 2x times larger (its not as thick or quite as wide, but much taller). A very nice quality intercooler as you would expect for the price paid.

RS grill was a pain in the butt. Everyone says these are fiddly and requires trimming to get it to fit. I actually ran out of time and had to abandon the RS grill install because it was just taking too long - very fiddly and time consuming.

[steagles]

G'day Lucas,
Thanks for posting up all the work you are doing.
I am enjoying seeing the upgrades you are doing.
Cheers
Shaun

[I CU2]

Hi Lucas, I see that the intercooler upgrade is pretty popular amongst BiTDI owners but I was just wondering what the benefits of the larger intercooler is? Do you notice any difference in driving?

[Daniel_M]

Intercooler looks great. Looking forward to hearing about differences also!

[Lucas_R]

Playing with an Audi SQ5 TDI

Another 6 monthly oil change on the SQ5 this past weekend @ 98,000km. Used my oil extractor to suck out the old oil which is super handy and speeds things up as the underbelly pan on this car has about 40 bolts holding it on - you just need to make sure the oil is hot before you try to use the oil extractor. This engine holds approx 6.4L and my oil extractor is 6.5L and it was absolutely chock-a-block full. I did however notice that one of my injector seals is starting to leak so ill order a full injector seal kit and replace all 6 over the next month or two. Later this year the car is going to get a transmission service for the ZF8 speed as well as the diff oils changed etc.

I also recently replaced my catch can as my trusty Flashlube Catch Can Pro has been leaking for the past 12 months or so and I was sick of cleaning it every few weeks. After some research and the fact that I do not have much room in the engine bay, I decided to replace it with the Process West SEPR8R catch can which is made from aluminium and should be more durable than the plastic catch cans. Apparently the filter media in the Flashlube/Mann catch cans are better quality, but the mesh filter in the Process West unit it very fine and looks to be of good quality, and its also washable and reusable so that will save on having to buy a $80-100 filter every few years.

Also fitted my new AFE air filter.

[guile]

nice work mate, looks like you've done a good job as always...

[genebaby]

Yes, nice work. I got that catch can kit for our Triton since day one. Chose it over the rest.