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IAN'S CUPRA 4X4 STAGE 2+ TECHNICAL UPGRADE THREAD

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Hey, guys so I'm starting this thread to follow along with my progress and all the technical problems and solutions I may come across in building up my 4wd 20vt. I will also have a reader's ride thread but this is the technical side of everything all the in-depth build, down and dirty, the reader's ride will be tidy and neat.

APOLOGIZING NOW FOR THE LONG ASS THREAD... TOOK FOREVER TO COMPILE ALL AND TYPE ALL
ESPECIALLY WITH A 2 MONTH OLD BABY NEEDING ATTENTION!

So to start things off I have my parts list. let's get to it! I look forward to comments and critiques this is to have a conversation and learn from each other throughout this build.

The car: 2002 Seat Leon "Cupra" 4wd 20v 1.8t 180hp (short 20vt4) , 81,000 miles, Audi Imola Yellow

So the car is currently sitting in the side yard, having problems with 3rd gear engaging, so the 02m tranny is coming out soon! here is a pic of how she currently sits...

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Here come the lengthy parts list ill try to do it all in stages of purchasing and acquiring.

First off I will rip out the 02m Quattro transmission and look at what's going on with 3rd gear. I suspect it's the usual shitty OEM brass shift selectors falling apart. VW released newer versions of the shift selectors which are welded steel also found in the 02q transmission. I will be replacing the brass selectors with the new ones. On top of that, I will be taking out the dreaded dual mass flywheel and replacing it with OEM weighted single mass kit by Bilstein/blueprint here in Germany. It is a much more foolproof system I don't have to worry about the dual mass grenading when I'm on the track. Along with that, I will be installing an adjustable short shifter rocker arm and of course new shifter bushings to go with it to tighten things up with the gear selector. Lastly, I will be filling the gearbox with Motul 75w90 gear oil spec'd for high performance and track cars.

I'm sure there are other parts I will want like an LSD for the front wheels and other 02m reinforcement parts, although I'm not entirely sure which ones actually help the durability of our relatively weak transmission. (if you know of them post it below). Also not entirely sure the LSD is necessary with the Haldex 4wd system, although it couldn't hurt anything besides my wallet and relationship with my girlfriend hahahahaha.

pics below
02m Quattro DQB or DRP (My Leon has EFY)
steel selector shafts
SMF kit and clutch (HOPEFULLY DOESN'T CAUSE TOO MUCH CHATTER)
ecs adjustable short shifter
motul 300 75w90 gear oil

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Next up are health related subjects

First off, drain the **** oil that's been sitting in the car for god knows how long. Then throw in some cheaper full synthetic oil with cleaning additives, along with a race engine flush by liqui moly. Install a magnetic drain plug. After the refill and flush take place then drain oil again. refill oil with Motul 8100 X-cess 5w40 high-performance oil and a new KN or Bosch oil filter.

drain old oil
Liqui Moly oil flush
Motul 8100 xcess 5w-40
KN oil filter
Magnetic drain plug

Pics

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Now comes the hard part... passing German Tüv inspection and emissions test. Before going I will weld up the hole in the stock rear muffler and pray the original Cat is still good.

After the Tüv is made then comes the fun part where all the modifications won't have to pass for another 2 years down the road :cop:




Next step is for power baby!

DIY manual boost controller & bypassing N75 Boost controller

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SAI & N249 Removal (Keeping EVAP) (Don't want wifey and baby inhaling gas fumes)

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Generic Oil Catch Can

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Tightening up turbo wastegate arm (crisper boost)

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Bosch 110 Upgraded Diverter Valve (Stronger, faster, durable) originally found on Volvos
or / eventually
HKS SQV 4 with a recirculation setup

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Custom "Cold Air Intake" utilizing KN Rx-3990-1 filter, custom insulation box, and custom hard pipe cold air feed

ANYONE KNOW THE SIZE OF THE S2000 FILTER? LENGTH AND WIDTH

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SFS 70mm oversized TIP or Creations 80mm oversized TIP if I go with 80mm MAF

Cknd5Lsm.jpg
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
FMIC Seat Sport (Ibiza Cupra) or Thicker core version w/forge motorsports or custom hard piping

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Custom Turbo back exhaust RM 3” DP—> 76mm 200 race cat—> Fox 70mm mid pipe—> Valvetronic muffler

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Phenolic Spacer for intake manifold

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4bar FPR

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Replace all hoses and pipes with silicon version so nothing blows with higher power

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BKR7E iridium NGK Spark Plugs .028 Gapping

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Lightweight ECS Pulleys (Crank, Alternator, PS) (When the SMF kit doesn't cause too much clutch chatter)

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Custom Oil Cooler (setup location of old OEM side mount intercooler or mount on new FMIC)

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These are all of the power mods I want to for sure do, and some things are also preparing for the track. I have a few questions to see a few parts if they are necessary or not. remember my goal is to max out the k03s

Upgraded Intake Manifold? There is a local race shop here in Germany that sells 20vt tuning parts and they have some touring cars etc. They have some different intake manifolds and 1 that looks good but isn't overkill. its 400 euros. I'm just trying to see what others think? Is the manifold something I have to upgrade or is it not necessary until I'm using a turbo larger than the small K03s?

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80mm MAF? (obviously with custom tune) Same question, is it necessary to max out the k03s? I mean with an 80mm MAF and the 80mm oversized TIP and a filter utilizing 76-80mm then you're flowing pretty damn good to the turbo. Just give me your thoughts on this...

QG7vGMmm.jpg



The last question for upgrades would be a Baffled Oil Sump... is this really necessary for a car that maybe has a few track days a year? My dad raced formula cars in the USA and we always just put an extra liter/quart/pint of oil in when going to the track and this helped make sure you didn't starve the oil pickup. albeit these were big bore VW bug engines and non-turbo. but you're talking about a boxer engine and racing every week. A similar thing people did in the E30 M3's were known for losing oil pressure, people started pouring in an extra bit of oil and that helped tons! again just thoughts on this!

KhL9zknm.jpg
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Some other upgrades ill be doing not related to power or engine in particular are...



Rear dogbone mount to keep a bit of stiffness under load.

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Some coilovers and sway bars (haven't decided on the brand)

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Porsche Big Brake Kit - Carrera 996, Boxster S, or Cayenne brake calipers
shooting for 323mm calipers off the Cupra R I guess I haven't decided on the brakes 100% but I would really like to go with the cayenne 6pots on the front and then convert the rear to 300mm disks prob from b5 s4 and run a 4 pot rear caliper

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Porsche my02 18x8 wheels from 996 Carrera (ONLY 20LBS EACH)

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That's all of the upgrades I can see in the future as of right now. I'm sure more will come as I explore but I think this is a pretty good list and a great start to modifying my 4x4 Cupra.


When it is all said and done I would really like to run E85 which I'm familiar with converting regular petrol cars to e85 capable in the USA so it shouldn't be so hard...

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Oh, and when/if the motor goes BOOM then ill be custom building the engine...

and

Custom Big Turbo kit Holset Hx30 6cm,hx32 6cm.hy35 7cm
try to make around 450hp and keep the spool down low in the 3-4000 range for full boost.

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Hope you guys enjoyed my first technical post and stay tuned. Please comment or ask questions, let's start a conversation, I want everyone to learn and to teach each other through this build so I welcome everyone to comment and ask away on this thread.


MY GOD IF YOU READ THIS FAR THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU'RE AWESOME!!!

:blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah::blahblah:
 

Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
2,541
779
Middlesex
Baffled sump is a no brainier.
For the minimal outlay you save your engine from going bang.
Only need to starve oil for a second and Pop!
Hard braking or long corners with G force loading will push all the oil strait up the front or side of the block with out a baffle.
There is a guy on here who sells made up kits to weld in or ready welded versions in old sumps.
Names Oliver Beaumont.
Or find him on Facebook too.
I paid around £130-150
Good bit of kit.
eb8842f78cdf266ad1333e8f82849255.jpg



Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Baffled sump is a no brainier.
For the minimal outlay you save your engine from going bang.
Only need to starve oil for a second and Pop!
Hard braking or long corners with G force loading will push all the oil strait up the front or side of the block with out a baffle.
There is a guy on here who sells made up kits to weld in or ready welded versions in old sumps.
Names Oliver Beaumont.
Or find him on Facebook too.
I paid around £130-150
Good bit of kit.
eb8842f78cdf266ad1333e8f82849255.jpg



Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
Wow that kit looks fantastic! Was this one you welded in on your own? Or does he do core exchanges?
 

Bucksssss

Active Member
Mar 13, 2019
138
65
Loving the thread, completely off on a tangent but I see the German flag next to your photo. Is English really not your first language? If so I’m amazed.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Loving the thread, completely off on a tangent but I see the German flag next to your photo. Is English really not your first language? If so I’m amazed.
Thanks mate glad you like the thread so far, lots to come!

My conscience won't let me lie to you hahahah. I'm actually from San Diego California USA, but I live in west Germany.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Looking forward to seeing your build come together.
Extensive/Expensive shopping list!
Yes it is quite extensive and expensive, I want to talk with bill and badger 5 and get his opinion on what is or isn't necessary to maxing out the k03s maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I can convince him to tune my car over the English channel with logging etc.

The buying process won't be so fast and I'm selling a VW polo I got for free and fixed it to pay for half the list. Other than that it'll be 300 eur a month budget soooo it'll come along nicely.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Power goals or just to have loads of fun. You have upgraded rods yes?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I want to max out the K03s which won't require forged have rods because there isn't enough torque. I'm shooting for 260hp and 280tq and ofcourse if the engine ever goes boom then it'll be a fully forged engine build and big turbo Holset to see 450hp
 
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Legojon

I only wanted a remap
Staff member
Moderator
Jul 7, 2015
5,309
2,739
My guys... paycheck just came in today! What am I ordering first? anybody else excited for payday?

Nope. Payday was yesterday and I've already bought an APR pendulum mount, 1000gsm microfiber cloths x4, new 10L buckets with grit guards x2, some leather cleaning stuff, a single stage machine polish and paid a deposit / booked a strip down intake/valve/injector clean. Oh and then my shower broke and I'm thinking fek it, there goes me trying some new waxes this month!

The excitement has gone and I'm now thinking "what have I done?" and "I'm eating weetabix 3 times a day for another month".
 

Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
2,541
779
Middlesex
Wow that kit looks fantastic! Was this one you welded in on your own? Or does he do core exchanges?

No. It was a second hand sump he has a pal weld the baffles in as ally welding is not the easiest.
He sells the kits for you to weld in too. Only 70- 80 quid.


Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Nope. Payday was yesterday and I've already bought an APR pendulum mount, 1000gsm microfiber cloths x4, new 10L buckets with grit guards x2, some leather cleaning stuff, a single stage machine polish and paid a deposit / booked a strip down intake/valve/injector clean. Oh and then my shower broke and I'm thinking fek it, there goes me trying some new waxes this month!

The excitement has gone and I'm now thinking "what have I done?" and "I'm eating weetabix 3 times a day for another month".

Hahahaha omg I'm dead eating weetabix I'll be eating microwave ramen for the next year for this ******* build, gotta make sure mamma and baby eat well still.
 
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Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
No. It was a second hand sump he has a pal weld the baffles in as ally welding is not the easiest.
He sells the kits for you to weld in too. Only 70- 80 quid.


Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
Awesome! Cant wait to get one!
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
No. It was a second hand sump he has a pal weld the baffles in as ally welding is not the easiest.
He sells the kits for you to weld in too. Only 70- 80 quid.


Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
@bigT's lcr this is the sump kit I was talking about at Donnington.
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
Porsche my02 18x8 wheels from 996 Carrera (ONLY 20LBS EACH)

nJ2eWJbm.jpg


So I have a question for this wheel setup. The wheels are 18x8 et50 with a different PCD.

If I run 20mm pcd conversion spacers for example 5x130-5x100 then the offset would now be et30.

So would running 18x8 "et30" with 235/40/18 fit under the stock wheel wells alright? Or will i require fender rolling?
 

Leon20vt4

Active Member
Oct 21, 2018
939
683
A guy is selling this nearby for 300 euros but unfortunately I think LCR wheels are only 18x7.5 everywhere else except the UK. Lucky bastards
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