Time for UPGRAYDES!
By now you guys know my number one priorities for this car are reliability and preservation… then fun!
In the name of reliability, I took a Venair intercooler hose kit off of Apikol’s hands. I chose not to have them install it because the stock hoses were still intact, and this is the kind of installation that I enjoy. Not too difficult. Something you can do while drinking a cold one in an hour or so, and it’s more like an upgrade than maintenance if you look at it from a reliability upgrade standpoint. Also, working on this is like working on an old friend again. I just love these engines and their relative simplicity and robustness.
This got me itching for more reliability upgrades though, so I will probably order a matching silicone TB hose next along with a silicone intake hose.
Next on the list of things to do was install my new exhaust DUMP
When Troy at Apikol inspected the car for me, he mentioned that the exhaust was a bit rough and didn’t have any way to remove it unless the car was on a lift. He suggested adding a flange (I requested v-band of course!), and also modifying the downpipe to increase ground clearance as well as adding a flex section. After looking at the exhaust that was on it, I’m sure glad at least the front section is new now!
Here's the rear section that Apikol had nothing to do with (bleh). It’s still this way from the cat back, but oh well.
I also figured why not have a little fun. If I’m going to be on stock turbo for a while, I might as well at least make it sound badass when I want. So I had Troy integrate a QTP electric cutout into the system. The end result is really sweet! 3” from the turbo back. I’m not sure who made the original downpipe, but it’s made nicely (maybe Stromung?). You can see the new stainless from halfway down the downpipe and back to the cat. All of that is top notch now!
Maybe I'll have to get a TIG one of these days and do the rest myself
Original dp with new SS bends and QTP Y-pipe from Apikol.
Troy spliced into that in a much nicer way than the exhaust was originally and now the whole exhaust has much more ground clearance. The QTP valve is nicely tucked up and doesn’t affect clearance at all. Sweet!
I’m really happy with the work Troy did. I couldn’t have done it better myself. Not even close!
Then I decided to poke around in the engine bay a bit more just to get better acquainted. Looks pretty decent for so many miles. There are just a few things I’ll want to clean up like that heat shield by the wastegate.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get into running all new vac lines, but then I remembered that I had some silicone vac line somewhere, so I figured why not spend the 10 minutes it takes to run all new vac lines to the two most important things, the ECU and the FPR.
Boy, am I glad I did! Back in Denver Drew pointed out that the hose going to the ECU looked pretty bad where it connects to the T. I looked, but it seemed like it was still intact enough not to cause a problem. Well, when I looked at it this day, it pretty much just fell off of the T.
At first Drew and I chalked the sluggishness up to just being at altitude, but when I got close to sea level it still wasn’t as it should have been. I knew something was wrong. It didn’t feel quite right at full boost. Didn’t sound quite right either. I’m surprised it didn’t hurt anything when I was trying to get a feel for it and making it boost as much as it could. I could tell something was wrong though, so I didn’t do it toooo much. Only enough to try to get a feel for what was going on.
Well, after fixing this T and everything that connects to it with silicone, I went for a drive. I suspected this would cure all of the problems, and I was right. It boost all the way to 1.8, 1.9, and probably even close to 2 bar on the stock gauge now and feels like ~280 hp should. It’s not quite as quick as I remember my sedan being on VEMS and stock turbo, but it’s close.
The only problem is that now it hits overboost fuel cut when boosting too much at times. The problem is accentuated when running open downpipe because the turbo likes to spool better without the cat being in the way! VEMS… soon.
No real progress has been made on other fronts, but I think audio will be next. Then VEMS and hopefully some suspension work. I need to take a closer look at the health of the struts and then decide what to do from there. Go back to stock height, but with stiffer springs, sways, and dampers? I think that might just be the ticket.
nice, I actually didn't take notice until you pointed that out!
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It sounds like you have some awesome plans for it and should be a super fun DD when all said and done. I've been itching to get back into a 20vt car more and more lately and seeing this definitely does NOT help keep that at bay...ha. I hope all is well and if you guys ever make it out to Oregon hit me up!
I'd still want an old Audi to drive at times though!
