IanH's 955hp V10 Audi RS6 - Another Car Diary!

[IanH755]

Well I suppose it's time for my yearly "What the hell are you doing to it now" update

Well good news! I'm now back in the UK after 20+ months "stuck" in Saudi due to the various COVID outbreaks and lockdowns and, once my travelling isolation period is up next week, I'll be popping up to collect my Car from Grizz at Unit20.

Whilst I've been away a few things have changed within the RS6 world and, as such, I've ordered a new set of Wagner intercoolers with radiators to replace my KWE ones, a new set of MPS4S tyres an in March I'll be getting a "new" version of the C6 RS6 map from MRC with multi-map swapping available, exhaust crackle on/off etc.

Wagner - For £2500 you get much bigger side mount IC's than even the KWE's with much better flow rates and cooling. They're so big that the OEM mini-radiators which live behind the OEM side mount IC's have to be binned and Wagner have had to redesign a set of larger Rad's to go behind the front bumper.

Tyres - My current MPSS are 5+ years old and haven't moved in over 2 years now so an up/side-grade to the MPS4S is in order, got areally good deal through ATS Euromaster too at £785 for 4.

Map - Just to account for the better IC's and just update the map tech to the latest spec levels like "oh crap I can't get 99 RON fuel out here" map switching etc.

So the plan is to spend 6 weeks or so enjoying the car, pop back to Saudi til March then come back to the UK permanently and get the car re-mapped at that point (the mappers are away on hols themselves right now).

I'll update this thread again once I actually pick the car up next week and give everyone an update on what additional work was carried out since I left it with Grizz way back April '19 for the gearbox remove/fix/refit as I honestly can't remember half of what I asked to be done

Edited by IanH755 on Thursday 8th July 20:05

[IanH755]

Just about to go back to Saudi and I can honestly I've enjoyed the living hell out of my car - I had a slight delay picking it up due to catching COVID (I lived!) but I'm really happy to have it back!



So, what's happened over the past 2 and a half years then

Engine remove/refit and a million seals replaced.
Gearbox removed, upgraded (again) with newer parts, refitted.
All DRC suspension struts replaced
All DRC hydraulic lines to suspension from valves replaced
Bump stops replaced
New rear brake discs (AP Racing) and Pads (Ferodo DS2500)
All fluids replaced (literally every fluid)
Air Con regassed
New "face lift" rear lights fitted
Four Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres fitted
New Navigation disc (even though I use Google maps now)
New wipers allround
Aquamist Water/Meth serviced
New Devils Own 50/50 water/meth fluid used (fixed an odd issue with my "low level" sensor in my washer bottle always being on caused by my own 50/50 mix being juuuuuuust a little off)
Four new wheel valve covers as mine were rusty

Whats left -

New Wagner Intercoolers & Rad's bought (not fitted yet)
New map to account for new intercoolers, plus the maps now are lots better than the maps 6 years ago when I did mine as the ECU can now hold different maps for fuel, snap and crackle etc
Paint Correction
All alloys for a refurb, maybe TPMS replaced at the same time due to battery life
Headlights looked at - 1 has condensation, 1 has a ballast for my modded "secondary" headlight on it's way out.
Rehang the exhaust, the original KWE pipes/back boxes have never fit properly and always need fettling after being removed/touched. I'd like to replace it with a much better quality one but I love the sound my Frankenstein's monster of an exhaust makes (downpipe, decat/re-cat, cat-back pipe to boxes and the boxes to tips - all four sections are different makes).

Then once I'm back in the UK permanently, either in October or, worst case, Spring I'll see how much the potential value vs a house deposit works out. I mean I'll sell it but I need to decide how long to keep it for first.

[IanH755]

IanH755 said:

Then once I'm back in the UK permanently, either in October or, worst case, Spring I'll see how much the potential value vs a house deposit works out.

Well it looks like I'll be back in October as I'm starting a new job so IC fit and Remap before Xmas hopefully.

[IanH755]

Had the uprated Wagner Intercoolers fitted this week by Unit20, next up is a remap to make full benefit of them which will increase the "mapped deliberately low" torque figure to where it should be and generally update both the ECU and GB maps with things like multi-fuel maps & switchable pops and bangs etc maps which have now become available in the 6 years since mine got done.

OEM vs Wagner - the frontal size of the Wagner (on the left) is identical to the OEM ones (right) but it's double the thickness and has better geometry casting around the inlets for less restrictions.



The KWE I/C's which were fitted to mine as part of the 900hp+ package were the same thickness as the OEM ones but they had a bigger frontal area (good) with very poor geometry around the inlets (bad) leading to a few power/flow restrictions at the top end so, as I've seen these Wagners flow well on cars with almost 1100hp, it'll be good to see what extra power/TQ we can get out of the TTE850+ turbos on mine with these fitted. I'm guessing around 930hp-ish, maybe more depending on the turbos.

[IanH755]

Carlson W6 said:

Nice one Ian! Can’t wait to hear what Doug managed to get out of it when it’s on the rollers.

The TTE850's are the limiting issue now, most make <950hp max'd out (on V-Power etc) so I'm not expecting a huge difference but every little bit helps

Edited by IanH755 on Thursday 30th September 23:23

[IanH755]

Don1 said:

Are you not tempted by four figures...?

I'd need the TTE1000's (these'll make around 1100hp) which is another engine drop & refit (£2500), then new TTE turbos (£3500), then labour for the turbos (£500) and finally mapping (£1000+) so thats going to be a minimum of £7500 not including fixing anything found during the engine drop etc plus the added risk to the gearbox which might need a £10k CNC-based overhaul to cope with the 1300nm+ torque.

If I wanted to I could but it's a lot of money for not much other than some fairly epic bragging rights as I already struggle to use my 900hp in congestion filled UK.

[IanH755]

Don1 said:

I hear what you're saying... But a four figure bhp car.... Personally it's always been a dream. Maybe one day...

About £16-18k chucked into a C6 RS6 nowadays will easily get you over 1000hp, in fact you get closer to 1100hp!!!

In the past 6 years since mine was done the price/tech has changed enough to make it an easy way of hitting a "reliable" 1000+ than in other cars known for hitting 1000+ like the GTR, turbo Lambos etc.

Whilst most of the costs remain fairly similar compared to 2015 when I did mine, the newer TTE1000+ turbos and the new Wagner IC's are at the heart of the 1000+ package.

[IanH755]

Penguinracer said:

but the 'box, diff, half-shafts, CV's etc won't like the constant standing starts & donuts which today's "influencers" seem to think sells Youtube views.

True, I've always said that this GB and AWD system just isn't "made" for standing starts/drag racing etc, it's just not worth it in 99.999999% of "real world" driving as the car really feels best from 40mph in 2nd gear onwards.

I mentioned this somewhere else too but, as a middle-aged grumpy old man, most of the the "influencer in a fast car" stuff I see on YT just doesn't interest me in any way, so I'd rather let someone like JayEmm "review" my car rather than a channel like LLF etc for example as they are more similar to my maturity level over the more youth orientated channels.

[IanH755]

Had it detailed at Signature Group in Stoke with a paint correction, ceramic coating applied and a small leather repair to the drivers seat bolster. It'd only ever been waxed by myself since ownership and, in the past 4 years I've been abroad without driving it much, it's only had an occasional basic Hand Wash so I knew that now I'm back it needed some serious TLC.

The paint itself on the horizontal areas (roof & bonnet) wasn't too bad for swirls, damage etc but there were still obvious issues however the vertical areas like the doors were really, really bad, especially on the bottom half. Plus on the left side there were a few long but light scratches (front arch to back door!) caused by the hedgerows of Kent when idiots in Range Rovers or similar sized SUV's (usually female driven) would barrel down a single track country road at 60mph+ believing the road was only for them meaning I had to dive out of the way to avoid a head-on.

The weather is dog-poo at the moment so once I get a little bit of sun I'll post up a few more "post" pics but here's what I'd been sent during the process, alongside a few vid's (not shared) of the various processes being carried out. I'm extremely happy with Signature Group in Stoke who carried out the work and would recommend them without issue.

A decent Snow Foam and hand wash to start with.



Iron residue absolutely everywhere, in the Vid they sent there is a massive dark purple puddle under the car. Plus lots of smaller tar spots all over. Basically it was a bit of a mess.



Wheels off and arches given a good thorough cleaning too. See how the water is clinging to the bottom half of the door and the paint almost looks like it's has a cloudy/milky surface finish (more obvious IRL). The Alloys could probably do with a refurb to be 100% but the current condition is fine TBH with only a very slight amount of curbing (maybe 1cm max per alloy).



The amount of baked in dirt, contamination, build-up etc removed before it even got clayed was pretty shocking too, even though I knew it would be bad.



Getting masked up for the first set of paint correction.



Ceramic coating being applied under way.



Whilst the bonnet wasn't all that swirled in the first place, it's now perfect alongside the rest of the panels. The "sparkle" in the metallic/pearl paint when in sunlight/bright-light really stands out now whereas it was previously it was quite dulled down, especially on the doors/arches where it looked like the clear-coat had gone almost gone cloudy/milky.

[IanH755]

This was the leather repair on the bolster, really well done, I can't even feel any difference!





I think I might have to replace the drivers Seatbelt as it's covered in dozens of odd looking round "stains" (not visible in pics) which look like (but aren't) something like oil droplets or maybe grease spots, yet they won't come out even with a steam machine on them. Really odd?

[IanH755]

Back from MRC after a little remapping for the new Wagner IC's inc a few switchable maps - I was originally at 907hp & 1130nm with a 6500rpm redline due to the restrictive KWE IC's, then I had the map dropped to 870hp & 1100nm with a 6500rpm redline as the intake temps were getting a bit too spicy at redline and now, after fitting the better cooling and better flowing Wagner IC's I'm at 930hp and 1125nm with an increased 7500rpm redline.



Things from the dyno session - my 112k mile LP fuel pump is very close to max'ing out as it's not quite hitting the same pressure a new pump would so I'm fitting an uprated one (believe it's from a Veyron?) and the plugs & coils will also be getting a look at too, mainly due to age/heat over time (coils) and new plugs which I haven't changed in 4 years so it's always a good idea. I'll be back to MRC again in a few weeks for those bits and may get a slight bump in power too once the fuel delivery is more reliable.

Switchable Maps - Got this map which is 99RON fuel + 50/50 Water/Meth, a backup map of just 99RON fuel for about 900hp (oh no ) and another map all switchable whilst driving. Plus they've also added switchable (very important to me) "pops and crackles" which is the biggest understatement I've heard in a while. These aren't your tame little OEM pops and farts; with my free-flowing exhaust these are full fledged Anti-Lag/2-Step gunfire like explosions. Happily they only happen once you let off the revs above 3000rpm and they are switchable in-car so I only have them when I want them. They've a little OTT for me but I can drive the car without them "On" just fine.

[IanH755]

Carlson W6 said:

How does the car feel on the road? Can you detect the extra HP in normal driving?

Yeah but realistically it's more likely to be "placebo effect" rather than actually being able to tell the 60hp difference.

firemunki said:

This description really needs a video!

Soon!

thebraketester said:

Although purely academic, what would be needed to break 1000bhp?

Different turbos, the newer TTE1000's (rather than my TTE850's) will run almost 1100hp but it's another £8k for engine drop/refit, turbos, mapping etc. I "could" hit over 1020hp using 108-ish octane race fuel which was how they did the first 1000+ car way back in 2015 (940hp on 99RON and water/meth). but I'll just stick with what I've got unless something else breaks and the engine needs to come out for that.

[IanH755]

Did a quick 1/4 mile test using a 10hz GPS device on a disused concrete strip (old airfield/taxiway type thing) near me, it's juuuuuuust about long enough if you brake very hard at the end which, at the 150+ mph I was doing, was a little squeaky bum time as the concrete surface which is already not great is really becoming broken up in the braking area. I'll have to find somewhere else TBH as the newly found damage makes it just too sketchy I think and I should have done a "recon" of the area first as I probably wouldn't have done it had I seen the braking area first.

Did 11.27sec at 134mph with a slight engine stumble as it changed from 1st to 2nd which was worth probably 0.25 sec so with a perfect launch on a proper surface (and not cracked concrete) I think I could get into the 10's. It also did a 3.6sec 0-60mph and a 6.16sec 100kph to 200kph which would put me in with the McLaren F1



PS The elephant in the room, I know, please excuse the N95!!! As I've said before the software (Racechrono) thats on it is still better than virtually everything else available due to the completely custom nature of it's recording speed/distance etc (i.e. want to record 3mph to 127.7mph - no problem, want to record 1.7654 miles - no problem etc) however the phone screen is failing so I've just bought a Dragy to replace it which, whilst cheaper than Vbox and Racebox etc is still way more expensive than the £30 10hz GPS receiver that the free Racechrono software uses (Android Racechrono only does lap timing now, no performance tests, such a stupid mistake).

[IanH755]

Something I noticed having done another run but now using a Dragy is that 1st just bogs down low then spins up high i.e. the torque converter stall speed can't get the rev's high enough for a proper AWD launch so the car bogs down right at the start and then, once on boost, the car then wheelspins hard into the gear change so than 1st-2nd change is slow. You actually see this happen in the acceleration graph - there's a little spike at launch followed by a dip as the car bogs, then a massive dip at 1st-2nd gear change (it just stops accelerating shown as the line dropping back to 0g) and then it takes 0.25 to 0.5sec to get back to full acceleration. I'm quite impressed by the Dragy's plotting software TBH as it makes describing what I "feel" during the event much easier to understand with a visual line to point at.

Most of the speeds and time are almost (or exactly) the same as previous so thats pretty consistent between runs using different devices, which is nice.



[/QUOTE]

[IanH755]

Ah my life is just effing great

During a quick pop around to my folks I suddenly noticed a raw/wet fuel smell when stationary (not exhaust). Nothing with the car seemed "off" (no hesitation, missing etc) but I pulled over anyway to check and found a fuel line quick disconnect in the engine bay has had a 20p bit of plastic locking tab decide to fail, causing the quick disconnect to partially fail and introduced a small fuel leak of about 1 drop per second at idle. The black plastic "cap" in the middle on the bottom picture should be flush with the metal pipe on the right but is clearly popped out and now won't reseat so the quick disconnect is now partially open, allowing a small amount of fuel to drip out.

I spoke to MRC and sent them the pics below, they've seen this failure before and have already ordered the replacement part but it'll take a few weeks to get here so my trip down to MRC on Friday has been delayed slightly!

It's in the pipe in the top centre/left -



The black plastic protective coating was removed by me at the side of the road so I could check for any cracks/leaks from the metal pipe underneath (none found) -

[IanH755]

I think I'm being a dumbass! My understanding was that the black cap was a locking collar that had come loose i.e. it needed to push into the "female" metal pipe so as to lock the "male" fuel pipe in. However looking at how these disconnect a bit more the cap (black in my drawing below) is actually the "tool" which releases the quick disconnect, by pushing it into the female pipe (red) it pushes on some back angled barbs (blue) which are preventing the male pipe end (grey) from coming out.

So I probably need to disconnect it, clean the ends then reconnect the fitting and see if it still leaks.



and I found this which helps explain it to myself too!

[IanH755]

WCZ said:

nice! out of curiosity what did you do in Saudi to keep entertained whilst stuck there with covid?

Video games, Kindle books etc - literally everything was locked down but after 6-ish months things did start to open up so you could head out into the desert etc if that floated your boat.

[IanH755]

I think the modern obsession with "launch control" to drop the all important 0-60 times, mated with better gearboxes and software really helps these newer cars embarrass something like mine off the line.

Using a US website which does a "estimated 1/4 mile time" based on power, trap speed, weight, tyre size, gearing etc etc my car would theoretically work out to do a 10.5 sec 1/4 mile if everything was perfect which makes sense based on my 11.1 sec with a big 1st-2nd gear change delay.

[IanH755]

D4MJT said:

Hope that comes across as it's meant, I'm most definitely not trying to put the car down at all, I love it, you've created a monster!

LOL, no probs!

I'd put a lot of it down to a combo of weight (say 2.2 tons with me) and a older-tech TC based gearbox which is a 20+ year old design by now but based on tech thats 30 years old (the ZF 5HP is the starting point) so I've got at least 2 "slow compared to a modern DSG/DCT etc" gear changes I need to go through which is about 0.3 seconds per change vs a DSG-type which is about 0.05 sec per gear change (6 times faster) which all adds up.

Plus your car is bloody rapid - a 100-200 time of 6.2 seconds in a 1 series is as fast as a stock Pagani Zonda F, McLaren P1 or Lamborghini Aventador LP-700 does it (well according to here or here anyway), so your 1 series is extremely rapid anyway!

Edited by IanH755 on Thursday 28th October 20:32

[IanH755]

Soooooo, fuel leak issues all sorted (new fuel-line and quick connect) plus some TLC with 10 new spark plugs, 10 new coil packs & a new fuel filter then a little extra safety/fun with an uprated in-tank fuel pump fitted (Walbro) as the old OEM one was starting to drop the rail pressure from 5 BAR down to 3 BAR at 6k+ RPM which could have risking a Lean situation if it dropped any lower so it's now running a stable 4.9BAR all day long.

Having the fuelling sorted certainly helped with the MPG (LOL-PG anyway - 3.6MPG at full throttle, 12MPG around town, 24MPG on a 60mph run) and, in combination with a nice strong new spark, it helped drop my 100-200kph Dragy time down from 6.25 sec to just 5.4 sec so I'm guessing the fuelling issue was maybe more hindering that initially thought.