New Project Car

[andy01745]

heylo everyone, just bought myself an audi a4 avant 1.8t as a project car, just wondering which way shall i go tuning wise and in which mods and order do you suggest? im mainly wanting to tune for performance :)

[andy01745]

btw i have about a £1000 budget to get me rollin, brakes and suspension are already taken care of too :)

[Muddy19]

theres this guy on this forum whos got a 1.8t turbo. he's done it up really nice.

am not saying copy him, but ask him for advice. i like his car. plus he quotes over 210bhp i beleive. let me find him for you.

[andy01745]

cheers ok, well just generally what are the main big power mods with the 1.8t engine? i used to own a starlet turbo and power was achieved in a very different way with those, there was a lot of messing with fuel pressures and that :)

[andy01745]

and where is the best place to buy tuning parts for it as the bestplace ive found so far only sells like 4 parts :P and then there's ebay parts which are never good :P and help would be most apreciated

[Muddy19]

i wudnt be too sure.

but if your car was mine, i would start off with the ECU. (some reputable company) i wud recomend revo.

you can start playing with fuel lines and ignition. and i wudnt wana miss out on a new exhaust system

all depends how much money you want to spend. kaz upgrading turbos and intercoolers and cams and is expensive.

then you can go and start messing about wit variable timing and adjusting your boost settings.

im not too up to date with all the tuning stuff but thats wat i wud do.

but to sum it up, get a remap and and an exhaust wit a cold air intake.

[andy01745]

are revo any good? ive been reading up on them and all sounds well, would a fmic be worth a try too?

[andy01745]

been doing some reading up on ecu remaps and found that 'stage 2' remaps require extra mods to really benefit, what kind of things are they on about? :)

[t5psr]

Hi, I ain't an expert in these things but I had my vrs done at Jabbasport a couple of years ago and they tended to specialise in the 1.8t engine check out there website or give them a ring, they had a 300bhp octavia estate when I went there. They were very helpfull over the phone and do the uprade & hybrid turbo's etc all depends what power you want and what you expect a front wheel drive car to be able to put down on the road. A lad a work has got a k04 turbo on his passat plus upgraded intercooler remap etc he reckons its about 260 ish and I know personally he has owned this car for 8 yrs and it's been very reliable (it was a british forces car from germany and is a quattro). tar phil:aargh4:

[Muddy19]

i cant say am an expert but i can only share wat i knw (which may be wrong for all i know)

basically stage 2 mods are stage 1 mods but more.

so these include the mods which will increase hp (exhaust, intake, remap) - stage 1, but to increase to stage 2 work can also include things like changing cams and headers, uprating turbos and intercoolers, fuel lines and ignition, crankshafts and pistons, having engine balanced, adding displacement.

in a way that makes it easy for me to understand it better, its basically getting your car on a "street-racing" path. wat i do understand though these mods can take time and money.

(got a cuz whose doing next things to a golf vr6 and hes spent 11grand.)

and referring to your chip/remap. yes revo is a repuatabe company. and so is fmic. maybe you cud try apr. its really up to you and wat you want.

some of them you can switch on and off whenever you want. some are better for stage 2 (like you said before) and some are better for low end torque or vice versa.

(PS - i am really tryna help you, but ma knoweldge is only limited. but am on the learning course so by the time i get ma S4. (evil laughter muhahahhahaa!)

[docurley]

What sort of power are you looking to get as some mods would not be worth doing as you will only be upgrading them later depending on what you are looking for..

[andy01745]

generally for the moment after maybe 250 - 270 ish, with plans for more in the future, so id rather upgrade things so they are running without too much difficulty than pushing smaller or stock parts to their limits, cheers for all the help btw guys :)

[Muddy19]

hey andy.

this was the guy that i was on about. the fella wit da silver A4.

^^^^

[andy01745]

i thought it might have been :P if i fitted a k04 turbo and decat would i need a totally different remap like some kind of custom jobby? would that be quite expensive too? (the remap i mean)

[andy01745]

theres one more thing i dont quite get, everywhere i look they are trying to sell new turbo inlet pipes, why? are the stock ones really that restrictive???

[mrjolly]

with a grand to play with i would go for fmic approx £250 for kit EBAY. remap and what you have left either exhaust or carbon dynamics cold air kit. do the bolt on bits first and map to suit. hopefully you wont have to replace these again on your journey for power.

[Muddy19]

wat i can say andy is, if you wana upgrade turbos. then its better to upgrade inlet pipes too

turbos are an expensive piece of equipment. you gotta make usre that they are working for you but you gotta make sure that you are doing the correct things making sure that you look after them.

in terms of Re-maps. Quality pays off. pay that lil bit xtra for a reputable company. advise them of yuor Mod's and maybe you'l want a custom re-map.

[docurley]

Well a grand wont give you the power your after but taking the money side away and giving you power options you have.

K04-15 turbo upgrade which is a drop in turbo and will run on a stock chip for the intrum but will show very little gains but with the right hardware and remapping you with have a quick spooling 240bhp


One of the goals I mentioned was doing this on the cheap, so I wanted to list places I found parts, and what they cost me so people get an idea of what's fair.

To start, current engine/exhaust mods I have that I will be using to help this go smoothly and get as much power as possible from the tiny snail:
2.5" exhaust, DP back - I think it was about $850 new (techtonics). $400 and up in the classifieds.
The turbo needs to breathe. Any bigger than 2.5" will be overkill on a k04 though. Some will say go with the 2.75, but that can lead to overboost, and I already have a 2.5" so I'm not upgrading right now. This is about doing a k04 for less money, remember?
3" test pipe - range from $75 to $125 for used, up to $160 for new.
The cat sucks power. If you can, get rid of it. The 3 inch unit bolts right up and you can really feel the difference. This part is readily available in the classifieds, so if you don't have one avoid paying full price. It's just a 3 inch tube! I got mine for $125 new, and it's an ATP unit. Custom is an option here, but you may have trouble due to emissions laws...
Diverter Valve - $50 to $70 used, up to $160 new.
Your diverter valve is old and tired. Pick your favorite brand and get it in place. Buy it used if you can find one in good shape, should run $50 to $70 for that. Otherwise they are on every tuner's site for $150-ish
ATP 3" TIP - $260 new.
So this baby is a 3 inch metal pipe. Essentailly you're allowing the turbo to suck in as much air as possible with this baby. You're building an intake with a 3 inch MAF sensor housing anyway, so why stop there? Let it flow 3 inches all the way to the turbo. It won't starve for air without it, but you want it to be able to take in as much air as possible. For my money I'd always rather have a big metal pipe than a stock rubber piece or the samco, APR, or neuspeed upgraded units. They're not as bid, and in the end they're still rubber and can get soft, flex, crack, melt, and whatnot. Also, DON'T get this used. I bought one secondhand, and it was a disaster because it was missing pieces. Took three shipments from ATP, and cost me more than it would have to just get it from ATP new to begin with because they sent me the wrong stuff so I had to finish it with a home depot trip. It was worth it though, that baby has no problems suckin in air.
Parts Needed specifically for the Hammer or Unitronic file:
k04-15 turbo - $300 - 500 used, $800 new.
I highly suggest holding out for a low mileage used turbo. They run between $300 and $500 depending on the mileage. If you can't, or don't want to risk not having a warranty, click here (http://forums.fourtitude.com/zerothread?id=2029936) to get one the next best way... from Rippinralf @ Kinetic http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emthup.gif Do NOT buy one of eBay for $200. They're not real, and will not fit properly.
OE 225 TT 380cc injectors - $150 used, $450 new.
Why mess with things? Both files call for OE, and they're available. If you search, the going rate on 4T, Audizine, and Audiworld is about $150 give or take so hold out for that. They're not as scarce as people like to think. Unitronic specifically said to use them, so I'm sticking with their guidelines. If you can't find them your options are not as great as they used to be. All the pages say Genesis has discontinued their 380cc injectrs, but they're about $250 new if you can find them. Other than that GIAC mentions that Siemens Deka 1 380cc's work as well. If you're not going to get used parts out of the classifieds, talk to USRT (http://www.usrallyteam.com/injectors.html) as they have good prices and a great reputation around these parts.
A note on sourcing these (pay attention - this is a nice tidbit!): to find them you need to do two things. 1) watch the mk1 TT classifieds, and 2) post a WTB in the forced indcution classifieds. Don't post in the mk1 TT classifieds looking for the part. They have enough buyers coming to them, they're not going to find you and post for you. Plus if you wait you're going to get beat out for the injectors if you are not pro-active. The WTB in the FI forum will catch everything else... Geneis, Siemens, and even some TT OE injectors. I posted and injectors started falling in my lap. I missed good deals thought because people saw my thread and started short-stopping, and the people posting in my thread were posting elsewhere. If you get a good deal there snap it up right away. Work smarter, not harder, to find your parts!
Intercooler - $250 - $350 for eBay, $400 - 800 used, $500 - $1000 new.
I've decided on the Boost Factory SMIC (http://boostfactory.net/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=77) for this project, because it will be efficient enough for the k04 (and still support a GT series turbo if I change my mind), while mounting in a stock location which will eliminate a need to hack my bumper, remove my fogs, and avoid any issues with the intercooler blocking airflow to my radiator or bouncing off the ends of a pothole in Boston and getting damaged. SMICs have show for be on equal ground with FMICs, and this is a great opportunity to demonstrate that.
If you want to go FMIC, and want to save money, the eBay DIY FMIC (http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117451) as discussed on another board seems to be a great route.
An upgraded intercooler is required for most more agressive files, so don't skip this.
OE 225 TT MAF - $70 to $160 remanufactured, $150 - ?? new.
Audi Part number: 06A906461EX / Bosch part number 0 986 280 211 X - This part, for the AMU engine, has a 3" OD, and you should use the sensor AND housing. GIAC calls specifically for the OE 225TT piece, Unitronic says that most 3" OD hosings and sensors from Audi/VW should work. I think you'll be safe with a vr6 unit, which is supposedly cheaper, but I'm sticking with the TT unit on basic principle since either software company says it will work. MJM Autohaus sent me a part ending in MX, which is for, the BEA Engine, and they claim it is interchangable. We shall see.
Prices for this are ALL over the place. I'm heasitant to put any links in here because prices have changed TWICE since I began this thread. The two best prices I can find currently are at MJM Autohaus (http://www.mjmautohaus.com/) and German Auto Parts (http://www.germanautoparts.com/). Even if other places are cheaper GAP has some of the best customer service I have ever seen, and they are on top of their info (on par with DieselGeek, all around, if you've dealt with them you know!). MJM has been great as well, although in all honesty they seem a little more confused when you ask them questions. Can't go wrong ordering from either, as they are head and shoulders above most other places you're going to be able to source parts.
Software - $650
Even though I have Revo currently I've decided Unitronic is the way to go for this project. On paper they have a much more solid k04 program than GIAC's hammer file. They are able to remove the SAI, and make sure my test pipe does not throw codes, which GIAC does not seem to be able to offer me. Unitronic is confident that they can easily beat the 200whp provided by GIAC's hammer file, and I've heard a lot of good things about their software from tuners and users. It looks like nobody in here has tried this route, and the common conception is that GIAC Hammer file is the only way to go for the 01. Hopefully we will see in this thread that Unitronic is a fantastic alternative. If all goes well and the software lives up to expectations it will be the new standard. Only dyno time will show for sure though.
For more info, click here (http://www.giacusa.com/programs.php?mpid=170) for GIAC's parts list for the Hammer file.
Some other bits and pieces:
SAI Removal - $45
twenty squared has a block off plate and resistor for this, I will be picking those up as well to get the dustbuster out from under my hood. One of the benefits on Unitronic is that they can code this puppy right out, so between the plate, the resistor, and the software codes from this are a thing of the past
Some parts I am not using:
ATP or Kinetic manifold - All the stuff I've read seems to say that these give you more top end but take a bit of your low end. Part of the reason I want the mild k04 upgrade is because the car lives and drives in the city. I'm not going to bomb down Comm Ave at 120. I do need to cross some intersections that would make you think twice about the existence of god, so I'll take the low end. IF of course someone wants to donate a manifold to prove the critics wrong, I will dyno before and after and allow you to use the charts.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8755/p9110003cp4.jpg

Have a look for Autobahn88 FMIC as they are cheap and look very good plus I know someone who fitted one and he was well impressed.

[docurley]

If going for more power then look-up the Eliminator kits which could see around 280-300bhp or custom built GT28RS good for around 300-320bhp or the GT2871R which should see around 330-350bhp but then I would do internals.