Next Performance upgrade

satilaboy

Full Member
Jan 13, 2006
375
0
from audi dealer. I have not fitted it yet so can't say.

I suspect it won't do much without other suspension mods, arb's. So i've been told by some car buffs. I'll give my new tyres some time to run in and then give the strut brace a try and see if i even notice it.
 

cuprablue

Active Member
Nov 12, 2006
201
0
Not in My opinion, obviously it's difficult to prove but here goes, Run on the same RR on the same day and a few hours apart

LCR #1
Revo, Milteck Sports cat & Full system, Samco intercooler hoses, K&N Panel Filter
zboyd%20power.jpg



LCR #2
Revo, Bailey DV, Green Panel Air filter
ruddmeister%20power.jpg


LCR #1 produced 10lbs/ft of torque more and spools slightly earlier

Dyno lottery who knows?


It also hangs on to the power a lot longer than the second car. That's obviously the better breathing due to the exhaust. I saw exactly the same thing on my bike when I had a full race exhaust fitted and had it rejetted etc.

Can't say I like the look of that horrible flat spot at just under 5k rpm though. Either the fuelling isn't right or the exhaust isn't properly tuned in for a smooth power curve. The curve on the second car looks much better IMHO.

cuprablue
 

traumapat

Leon Cupra IHI
Jul 24, 2005
5,925
4
sunny sussex
i think youve got to try and look past your £1000 and see where you want to finish. i bought the wrong FMIC for my leon, suited the car well when running at 240bhp but i bought it to handle 300+. did the same with the sports cat.
so i had to replace these items. costly errors.

if youre looking for a difference for your cash... wheels / suspension changes the look of your car but also the handling. big change for the money and helps you control the power better. dont need to slam to the ground to improve things . stops the back boogieing around on poor roads.

if your eventually wanting to upgrade the turbo
the zorst will need sorting but it wont big a massive change right now.
brakes would need upgrading and an FMIC.

if it were me id go for the suspension and then wheels 18s x 7.5s. makes a huge difference and your cars more drivable;)
 

Chris Sheldon

Guest
Well I don;t intend on spending too much more on this car as it's not the newest so don;t really see the point. I reckon that after reading all of this good stuff Suspension is the best way forward... probably using coli overs or Koni dampners with my std springs. Then I'll look into the cost of a CAI and a short shifter conversion... might keep some cash in reserve for the 60k service due in a few months. Cheers guys
 

Ruddmeister

Everything in Moderation
Jun 23, 2003
8,218
1
Weston-super-Mare
en.wikipedia.org
Well I don;t intend on spending too much more on this car as it's not the newest so don;t really see the point. I reckon that after reading all of this good stuff Suspension is the best way forward... probably using coli overs or Koni dampners with my std springs. Then I'll look into the cost of a CAI and a short shifter conversion... might keep some cash in reserve for the 60k service due in a few months. Cheers guys

Anti roll bars make a big difference if you can budget them in

traumapat said:
i think youve got to try and look past your £1000 and see where you want to finish...........if your eventually wanting to upgrade the turbo
the zorst will need sorting but it wont big a massive change right now.
brakes would need upgrading and an FMIC.

if it were me id go for the suspension and then wheels 18s x 7.5s. makes a huge difference and your cars more drivable

Agree with that statement ref exhaust upgrades for part of a future BT setup, although I guess that is beyond 90% of peoples budgets
 

Chris Sheldon

Guest
Yeah I think I would probably put them over the CAI to be honest
 

Ruddmeister

Everything in Moderation
Jun 23, 2003
8,218
1
Weston-super-Mare
en.wikipedia.org
It also hangs on to the power a lot longer than the second car. That's obviously the better breathing due to the exhaust. I saw exactly the same thing on my bike when I had a full race exhaust fitted and had it rejetted etc.

Can't say I like the look of that horrible flat spot at just under 5k rpm though. Either the fuelling isn't right or the exhaust isn't properly tuned in for a smooth power curve. The curve on the second car looks much better IMHO.

cuprablue

Whilst I agree with what you have said I don't believe on the road there is much difference and if I had £1,000 to spend (which I did) I would / did choose suspension upgrades first.

IMO the suspension mod's changed the car radically for the same money and made the power I did have far more useable. In real world driving I would argue the the car with the suspension changes is far faster and safer to drive.

Most people who talk up changing the exhaust and induction tend to be from a NA background where this works well, libertaing a fair few extra BHP and helping the engine 'breathe' better. However from what I have seen one of the major issues on the 1.8T lump is that after a remap most of these turbo's (K03s and K04) are running at near 100%, putting an exhaust on to flow better doesn't therefore work as well as people expect.
 

cuprablue

Active Member
Nov 12, 2006
201
0
Whilst I agree with what you have said I don't believe on the road there is much difference and if I had £1,000 to spend (which I did) I would / did choose suspension upgrades first.

IMO the suspension mod's changed the car radically for the same money and made the power I did have far more useable. In real world driving I would argue the the car with the suspension changes is far faster and safer to drive.

Most people who talk up changing the exhaust and induction tend to be from a NA background where this works well, libertaing a fair few extra BHP and helping the engine 'breathe' better. However from what I have seen one of the major issues on the 1.8T lump is that after a remap most of these turbo's (K03s and K04) are running at near 100%, putting an exhaust on to flow better doesn't therefore work as well as people expect.


I'm not at all experienced with tuning cars to be honest so I accept what you say about the turbo being the restriction in the flow on the 1.8T engines.

I do know however that on my bike when I had it kitted out with a pipe and jet kit the bike was much quicker than the 4-5 extra BHP at peak the pipe gave would indicate. Why? because with a full race exhaust and induction work the engine will rev considerably quicker than when stock. That's irrespective of any remapping I would suggest. In most modern road bikes and cars the exhausts are usually heavily restrictive in order to pass noise regulations.

Having said that I'm pretty certain that if I had got to the stage where I was only going to gain a few BHP from a mod, (not withstanding the advantages in rev speed with the pipe), and I could get the suspension to work much better by spending the same amount of money, I know where I would put my plastic.

Personally I wouldn't like to feel the car was too powerful for the chasis at any time, It would really hold back my enjoyment and confidence.

cuprablue
 

col1981

Guest
I run a 270bhp lcr and i struggle to put the power down. All ever one wants is more power and if you cant put it down on the road whats the point. I find the tcs kicks in 1st and 2nd gears under hard acceleration and 3 and 4 round the corners. I dont want to lower the cupra as the front spoiler takes a beating as it is. Thinking about a lsd but concerned about torque steer. I had a intergra type r (possibly best handling front wheel drive cars ever) and that suffered from it abit. Any ideas on how to make full use of my engine.
 

Ruddmeister

Everything in Moderation
Jun 23, 2003
8,218
1
Weston-super-Mare
en.wikipedia.org
I run a 270bhp lcr and i struggle to put the power down. All ever one wants is more power and if you cant put it down on the road whats the point. I find the tcs kicks in 1st and 2nd gears under hard acceleration and 3 and 4 round the corners. I dont want to lower the cupra as the front spoiler takes a beating as it is. Thinking about a lsd but concerned about torque steer. I had a intergra type r (possibly best handling front wheel drive cars ever) and that suffered from it abit. Any ideas on how to make full use of my engine.

With uprated suspension even though I was +/-15mm lower the car bottomed out less, strange but true, I think it was less tendancy to nose dive under braking and better control / damping on bumpy roads.

To help reduce wheel hop and get the power down better start with uprating the dog bone engine mount, cheap to do and effective as a starting point
 
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