Audi Tuning | VW Tuning

After swapping out H&R springs for a set of Stasis Streetsport Coil-Overs , Colin stopped by as promised so we could update our gallery with his new stance!

Car is coming along nicely!!

… From picking up a new set of Hartmann Wheels!

I called Ryan, our first VW Mk5 2.0T TSI customer as it was time to update his APR-tuned ECU with a stock file that was recently released by APR. Since the ECU upgrade and H&R suspension install that was completed this last Fall, Ryan has been itching to do something new to the GTI and he sure wasn’t going to let harsh winter conditions stop him! He had been eying the Hartmann Evolution R5 Wheels for quite some time, and after a few seconds of holding the wheels up to his car yesterday, he made an appointment for install this morning.

Brand new TPM Sensors and all-season Falken 912s in a 225/40-18 were mounted and balanced, then thrown on the car within an hour.  The transformation was more than enough to put a smile on Ryan’s face and satisfy the “mod-bug” he caught.  We both knew the bronze finish on the Evolution R5s would set the car off just right.

In the coming months, we expect Ryan back as he has expressed interest in APR’s RSC turbo-back exhaust system. We also hear a StopTech BBK might also be planned later to fill the blank space now left behind the open-face design of the Evolution R5s. We’ll of course keep you posted with the results.

Nick was itching for a new look to his Zender-equipped Mk5 GTI. At the recommendation of Ryan@FineTuning , he stopped by to take a gander at our wheel display so he could get an up-close-and-personal look at his options. He also had his heart set on some Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires to wrap around a set of 19″ wheels. Once the Hartmann HRS4-252-SS was selected, we suggested that he order in a set of 225/35-19s from Tire Rack and we’d take care of the mounting and balancing since he was buying wheels from us – all he had to do was let us know when to expect tires and we were pretty much all set.

Well, tires arrived and an appointment was set up to get wheels installed – but that wasn’t enough! Nick knew that throwing on a set of 19s would in fact change the look to his car, but he wasn’t completely convinced that wheels-only would do the trick, especially after checking out a few cars in our gallery. At the last minute, Nick pulled the trigger and asked us to throw on some STaSIS Streetsport Coilovers while we were at it. Likely a good decision in the end, as Nick’s GTI is now sittin’ proper on our 19×8.5 wheels.

Congrats, Nick! (and thanks Ryan!!) Be sure to come back when we have some daylight to snap more pictures – especially after you complete the kit.

There are very few differences between the 2008 and 2009 VW Mk5 GTI but the most noticeable difference is found under the hood. VW’s TSI motor is the latest revision over the previous FSI version and differs slightly in that it is timing chain driven as opposed to having a timing belt.

This particular car is coming in tomorrow for H&R’s Street Performance Coil-Overs and 24mm Adjustable Rear Anti-sway Bar. APR is just days away from releasing TSI specific software and the car should be back for the power upgrade early next week. We’ll keep you posted!

Dave Meister stopped by to grab some raffle items we are giving away for the 2008 WaterWërks event so I snapped a couple of pictures since he recently installed our 328x28mm StopTech Big Brake Kit for the Mk4s.

StopTech’s Mk4 BBK includes 2 piece floating directional 328mm x 28mm slotted rotors with 7075 T6 billet aluminum hats, 4 piston ST-40 calipers, stainless steel front brake lines and AXXIS Ultimate front brake pads.

Stoptech Big Brake Kits give your vehicle that Supercar look and feel, and exceed stock performance in two areas. First, larger rotors increase heat capacity. Second, stiffer calipers and stainless steel lines reduce system compliance.

The key, however, is to increase heat capacity and reduce compliance without upsetting the stock front to rear brake torque ratio. If the brake upgrade you select adds too much front torque (as many do), you reduce your car’s ability to utilize the tractive capacity of all of the tires to the maximum practical extent (even on ABS equipped cars) and you therefore create performance sacrifices. In addition, too many pistons or pistons that are too large will make the brake pedal much more difficult to modulate, which limits a driver’s control of brake input on the race track. This StopTech kit is a perfect balanced brake upgrade for the Mk4.

We’ve got a few of these kits left on the shelf for those who want to get in on the sweet deal – $1495!!

We’ve been anticipating the delivery of the new exhaust system that APR released for the Mk5 GTI 2.0T FSI featuring it’s latest “RSC™ Performance Exhaust Technology” and it’s finally here!!

In stock, ready to ship!!

“Reflective Sound Cancellation allows for maximum exhaust gas flow while completely eliminating in cabin sound resonance (drone). RSC™ incorporates innovative technologies developed in conjunction with NASA. With limited use of packing materials and no baffles, RSC™ allows for a completely straight and free flowing exhaust path through the RSC™ mufflers. Reflective Cancellation bounces the undesirable sound waves into each other to attenuate the wave and completely eliminate the low frequency tones that create drone. Each RSC™ muffler is tuned to eliminate specific, undesirable sound frequencies allowing only the engine’s desirable exhaust notes to be heard and improving performance.”

We’ll be adding this new exhaust system to our online catalog shortly – in the meantime, please call us (425.895.0000) to place an order.

We were excited when we were able to announce the immediate availability of the APR S3 Conversion Kit for the VW Mk5 GTI and Audi A3. Local enthusiast and friend Chris aka “xOphear” was the first to pull the trigger in giving us an opportunity to install this in-house and get first-hand experience with what this basic bolt-on upgrade is all about.

Chris has quite a bit in store for his 4-door Mk5 GTI project car. The car was delivered to us almost immediately after it left a body shop where Chris had some OSIR parts added to the car so it wasn’t quite stock – but a nice clean palette for us to build from. We hadn’t seen the OSIR body kit up close so it was nice to see it in person. Plus this car gets OSIR’s latest “matte carbon fiber” parts – something a bit different from what we’re used to seeing. From what I understand, there are even more OSIR body parts that have yet to be installed and will likely be the reason the car goes back into the body shop once we are done with it.

We are also very impressed with the quality of the hatch blend…

In true “build” form, Chris wanted to make sure he had base-line numbers to refer to prior to performance upgrade installation. The first thing we did was head over to Carb Connection for a base-line dyno.

We were pleased to see consistent results and numbers right along with what we had expected.

Installation of the S3 conversion kit starts today. The S3 conversion requires use of a turbo-back exhaust so the factory down-pipe is being swapped out with APR’s 3″ higher-flowing version. To mate with OSIR’s dual rear valence cut-out for the exhaust tips, we’ll be taking the APR quad-tipped exhaust and modifying it to fit the OSIR cut-outs. We’ll also be installing Stasis Streetsport coil-overs, an H&R Rear Sway Bar, Carbonio Cold Air Intake, and Neuspeed’s Torque Arm Insert (dog-bone insert).

Pictures of stock turbo and down-pipe removed:

Stock cat-back still on…

K04 installed:

The great thing is, after all this, the engine bay still looks OEM/stock.

And now we’re taking the $1200+ cat-back exhaust system and hacking it up!!

Stasis Streetsport Coil-Overs and Neuspeed Torque Arm Insert installed:

End of day Friday: Would have had this update all written up for you guys last week but the power went out (office portion only) Friday around 5pm. Didn’t stop us from getting work done in the shop though…

Had a good portion of the exhaust pre-mounted to the car for test-fitting. Turned out much easier than anticipated so we are definitely ahead of schedule. Here are pics of the “mock-up” of how we were having this exhaust routed through the OSIR valence – we still have a bit more “shortening” to do so we can even out the tips better.

Over-all, we are very happy with how this project is turning out.

**Update**

Just got back from our maiden voyage…. WOW!!!

We had to put the S3 conversion project aside while we waited for fuel injector hardware to arrive. It’s actually our fault as we had two S3 conversion kits here, one that had the missing parts. We inadvertently (and thankfully) shipped the complete package to our Achtuning Korea store and had to wait till the end of this week to complete Chris’ car. This however did allow us to keep on schedule with our other suspension and exhaust appointments we had lined up this week. With Chris out of town while the project was being completed it helped us get a lot of things finalized and wrapped up.

Below are pics of the engine bay. Not much to see really considering the only visible difference is the addition of the Carbonio Cold Air Intake.

The combination of the DSG and K04 upgrade couldn’t be beat IMO. Between the very quick shifts and response of the DSG transmission coupled with the added power the S3 conversion makes, it really would be tough for most to keep up with this car…

Tonight we’ll be wrapping up the exhaust and tomorrow, the car will be picked up and taken back to the body shop. I’ll update this thread next when we have an opportunity to properly photo shoot the car with its new wheels, completed exhaust, and further body work.

Chris, congratulations!!

Update:

Turns out I had an opportunity to swing by the shop on Saturday just as the car was being picked up. Couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the completed exhaust work, despite the car itself not being completely done.

During mock-up of where mufflers are being relocated – and tacking the two mufflers into place:

Final assembly/welding of customized quad-tipped exhaust:

And finally, on the car…

It’s done!!  Scott will be by tomorrow to pick up his “new-again” Mk5 GTI now that the APR Stage 3 install is complete.

Prior to completion, we fitted the car with APR’s Stealth Turbo-Back Exhaust (remember his car was bone-stock when he dropped it off) and the subtle growl is absolutely a perfect combo with this turbo kit, and a necessary upgrade for the bigger turbo.

“Neck snapping power” according to APR is spot-on!! This GTI pulls boost out from nowhere and the smooth power curve leaves you wondering if it’ll ever run out of room. It’s tough to hand the keys back over to Scott, but the car will be back – upgraded brakes and clutch are certainly in order as the new-found power will easily wear on the stock clutch and fade the brakes quickly.  We’ll keep you posted with Scott’s plans when he returns.

We’ve fitted most of the parts from the APR Stage 3 kit over the weekend. Our technician was ambitious enough to come in after hours to continue the build and we were ahead of schedule.

We hit a snag on Monday however when we found that a replacement for a missing part from the kit went missing on its way to us from Alabama.

This has unfortunately halted the completion of this project but we have been over-nighted a second replacement part from APR which arrived early this morning.  We anticipate to continue and wrap-up this install tonight or early tomorrow once the ECU gets flashed.  Almost done, Scott!!

A bit more progress on our APR Stage 3 install…

Notice anything missing in the following?

And a comparison shot of the two turbos…

We’ll have more updates for you next week.