Audi S3 1.8t tuning by Angel tuning
Discussion
Just had a remap and uprated panel filter (combo deal) done on my S3 by Angel tuning. Cost me £300 exactly and since I can find no other reports of Angel tuning remapping S3's on tintaweb I just thought I'd write a quick report to say how impressed I am!
Coming from a TVR cerbera (looking for a replacement I could use every day with heated seats and to save a bit of money)I had been thinking that the S3 was a bit tame and had been looking at various big turbo options to improve things. After much research and a quick look at my bank balance I desided to try a remap first and then see how I felt.
I have used Angel tuning before but only for diesels so I only really half heartedly phoned them to ask if they knew the S3 and could do anything.. turns out they are rather more able than I first thought and have done engine out testing on a full engine dyno to create their own unique map for the car.
First impressions are.. wow! What a difference! In the low gears it's gone from having a firm swell of power to an original subaru sti rivaling wallop that really snaps your head back. In the high gears (particularly 6th) it has improved the car so drematically that you never ever need to down change in normal driving. All over the rev range and in all gears it is now much smoother and more confident on even a light throttle and full throttle is enough to give effortless overtaking even in 6th from 45-50mph. The car is just infinately more relaxing to drive and seems to float up hills eating miles like a big diesel saloon rather than a little 1.8t hatch. I am now totally in love.
Better still I have found that it is genuinely now much easier to achieve higher mpg figures than the standard car. On a good long run (driving sensibly but no silly slowing down up hills, watching the mpg display etc) my car standard would average about 38mpg. Now with the exact same driving style I find the mpg seems to sit happily at just over 40mpg. Honestly I am so happy with it that I cannot se why anyone would go to the hassle, expense and risk of doing any more to the car?!
Ovarall top marks. It has made a very good car into one of the very best I've ever driven.
Just for the record my car has a full history but 103,000miles, original clutch, original turbo and is totally standard apart from the works above.
Hope anyone considering the S3 or who owns an s3 will read the above and make the right choice.. You will not be dissapointed!
Coming from a TVR cerbera (looking for a replacement I could use every day with heated seats and to save a bit of money)I had been thinking that the S3 was a bit tame and had been looking at various big turbo options to improve things. After much research and a quick look at my bank balance I desided to try a remap first and then see how I felt.
I have used Angel tuning before but only for diesels so I only really half heartedly phoned them to ask if they knew the S3 and could do anything.. turns out they are rather more able than I first thought and have done engine out testing on a full engine dyno to create their own unique map for the car.
First impressions are.. wow! What a difference! In the low gears it's gone from having a firm swell of power to an original subaru sti rivaling wallop that really snaps your head back. In the high gears (particularly 6th) it has improved the car so drematically that you never ever need to down change in normal driving. All over the rev range and in all gears it is now much smoother and more confident on even a light throttle and full throttle is enough to give effortless overtaking even in 6th from 45-50mph. The car is just infinately more relaxing to drive and seems to float up hills eating miles like a big diesel saloon rather than a little 1.8t hatch. I am now totally in love.
Better still I have found that it is genuinely now much easier to achieve higher mpg figures than the standard car. On a good long run (driving sensibly but no silly slowing down up hills, watching the mpg display etc) my car standard would average about 38mpg. Now with the exact same driving style I find the mpg seems to sit happily at just over 40mpg. Honestly I am so happy with it that I cannot se why anyone would go to the hassle, expense and risk of doing any more to the car?!
Ovarall top marks. It has made a very good car into one of the very best I've ever driven.
Just for the record my car has a full history but 103,000miles, original clutch, original turbo and is totally standard apart from the works above.
Hope anyone considering the S3 or who owns an s3 will read the above and make the right choice.. You will not be dissapointed!
Dave,
I totally agree that the standard car is by no means slow! But the map just breaks the barrier between a swift car and something properly quick. The standard car never feels urgent, just smooth and powerful. Best way I can describe it is that on the 225 wide p zero rosso’s on my car it definitely felt like it had more than enough grip for the power (you could use full power in 2nd in a bend for example). Now it feels like it has more power than grip and even in a straight line in 2nd it will chatter the wheels on anything but a perfectly dry surface. When turning the car will slip wide even in third if too much throttle is used. Hope this helps.
Not had the car on the dyno so can't comment on what the power really is but Angel Tuning believe a 50bhp increase is a safe figure for a remap on the 225 model. That would give approx 275bhp as a baseline if the original car was running its factory figure. Given the obvious increase in boost (given away by the now very obvious Group B style squelch, flutter, flutter sound effects – which I love – if you back off the power too quickly) and given my fairly well adjusted backside dyno I would say 280bhp feels in the right ballpark.
The closest feeling car I’ve been in to the mapped S3 is an import Subaru Sti with a bb turbo and ss exhaust which was running 280-300bhp at the time. Feels perhaps slightly faster than a standard skyline R33gtr and not as quick as a chipped one. That said it doesn’t feel noticeably faster than the new S3 which is only 260bhp and heavier, very similar but perhaps a bit more torquey in the higher gears. Very hard to tell.
The Haldex controller is the next mod on the list especially after owning a mk5 R32 which felt much better at transferring power to the rear wheels.
Marc: 40mpg is not typical for day to day driving (more like 30mpg) but on a long run driven mainly at 60-80 with a few overtakes now and then 40mpg is now definitely achievable where before you could never quite get there! I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that this is mainly due to being able to stick in 6th and keep the revs down as the turbo is assisting from lower in the rev range where before on a hill you’d need to be in 5th at 50-60 to stop the car labouring.
I totally agree that the standard car is by no means slow! But the map just breaks the barrier between a swift car and something properly quick. The standard car never feels urgent, just smooth and powerful. Best way I can describe it is that on the 225 wide p zero rosso’s on my car it definitely felt like it had more than enough grip for the power (you could use full power in 2nd in a bend for example). Now it feels like it has more power than grip and even in a straight line in 2nd it will chatter the wheels on anything but a perfectly dry surface. When turning the car will slip wide even in third if too much throttle is used. Hope this helps.
Not had the car on the dyno so can't comment on what the power really is but Angel Tuning believe a 50bhp increase is a safe figure for a remap on the 225 model. That would give approx 275bhp as a baseline if the original car was running its factory figure. Given the obvious increase in boost (given away by the now very obvious Group B style squelch, flutter, flutter sound effects – which I love – if you back off the power too quickly) and given my fairly well adjusted backside dyno I would say 280bhp feels in the right ballpark.
The closest feeling car I’ve been in to the mapped S3 is an import Subaru Sti with a bb turbo and ss exhaust which was running 280-300bhp at the time. Feels perhaps slightly faster than a standard skyline R33gtr and not as quick as a chipped one. That said it doesn’t feel noticeably faster than the new S3 which is only 260bhp and heavier, very similar but perhaps a bit more torquey in the higher gears. Very hard to tell.
The Haldex controller is the next mod on the list especially after owning a mk5 R32 which felt much better at transferring power to the rear wheels.
Marc: 40mpg is not typical for day to day driving (more like 30mpg) but on a long run driven mainly at 60-80 with a few overtakes now and then 40mpg is now definitely achievable where before you could never quite get there! I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that this is mainly due to being able to stick in 6th and keep the revs down as the turbo is assisting from lower in the rev range where before on a hill you’d need to be in 5th at 50-60 to stop the car labouring.
Edited by Niffty951 on Thursday 30th July 13:52
Not sure about insurance but you will probably need one of these:
My 100k mile old standard item just gave up on life, couldn't take the extra pressure. It started by feeling like an extra long lag period if you changed gear too fast on boost.. now rapidly deteriorated over the last 50miles and when you floor it the car accelerates in a semi boosted state from about 3500rpm right through to over 5000rpm then at about 5500rpm it suddenly catches up with itself and boosts properly. That's the worst case scenario anyway. You can get it to work properly on occasion but I'm taking it a bit easy till my new DV valve with yellow spring arrives on tue
To the chap with all the mods I cant believe you have managed to resist this long with that list!! I'm doing the same thing in reverse (Do have the same springs though
My 100k mile old standard item just gave up on life, couldn't take the extra pressure. It started by feeling like an extra long lag period if you changed gear too fast on boost.. now rapidly deteriorated over the last 50miles and when you floor it the car accelerates in a semi boosted state from about 3500rpm right through to over 5000rpm then at about 5500rpm it suddenly catches up with itself and boosts properly. That's the worst case scenario anyway. You can get it to work properly on occasion but I'm taking it a bit easy till my new DV valve with yellow spring arrives on tue
To the chap with all the mods I cant believe you have managed to resist this long with that list!! I'm doing the same thing in reverse (Do have the same springs though
Edited by Niffty951 on Friday 31st July 12:52
ARRGG talk about un-expected bills!!! Car went into audi for an oil change today they tell me the sump plug is stripped so I need a new sump (cant 'prove' they did it so thats £200) and the front and rear anti roll bars are worn/cracked (believable) so I'm changing to super chunky 26mm front and 24mm rear \eibech ARB's £750 inc fitting :0 !!! \suddenly my oil change is over £1,000! Ouch.. hello overdraft my olf friend.
These ARB's had better be good. Maybe I need more power to justify them now?? Hmmm;)
On a different note of tuning, does anyone know if there are any swaps that can be done to upgrade the standard clutch or brakes using standard parts from another vag group car? For example the gti 150 golf owners use VR6 clutches to upgrade for minimal cost and standard like reliability/drivability.
Does the 240hp 1.8t TT have a tougher clutch for example? Or can you use the new S3/golf r32 brakes on a 99 S3?
Any knowledge would be greatfully recieved.
These ARB's had better be good. Maybe I need more power to justify them now?? Hmmm;)
On a different note of tuning, does anyone know if there are any swaps that can be done to upgrade the standard clutch or brakes using standard parts from another vag group car? For example the gti 150 golf owners use VR6 clutches to upgrade for minimal cost and standard like reliability/drivability.
Does the 240hp 1.8t TT have a tougher clutch for example? Or can you use the new S3/golf r32 brakes on a 99 S3?
Any knowledge would be greatfully recieved.
Thanks.. as this is fast becoming an open S3 tuning topic (mainly because of me sorry) what's the opinion of anyone knowledgeable (Colonial?;) ) about my latest scheme for a bit more mumbo.
I used to spend a lot of time fiddling with 944 turbo's and in that scene I learnt the best possible (cost/benefit) upgrade was to chip the car to remove the standard boost cut, add a 3bar fuel pressure regulator (in place of the 2.5bar item), then bypass the cars factory boost control system completely and map your own route of vacuum lines so that the wastegate signal runs directly off the intake through an aftermarket electronic boost controller. This seemed to yield 310+bhp and 350+ft/lb torque at the flywheel from a standard 250bhp model car far more reliably than chips alone on a dyno.
...so I started thinking. The most common upgrade for the turbo on the 1.8T is the standard K04 used on our car with a wastegate mod and better downpipe correct? This is capable of over 300hp (figures vary) and the internals crank etc are safe for 350bhp so basically if I get it to hold enough boost and still fuel correctly I should be able in principle to tweak it from 280ish flywheel hp to 300-310bhp for the cost of a fuel pressure regulator, vacuum lines and an EBC? All without changing any major mechanical components which would give me a nice place to stop tuning if it works.
I can see no reason why the standard ECU won't cope with the necessary adjustments in AF ratio because the car runs a lambda sensor in closed loop as standard, am I correct? So with the remap already giving me better spool characteristics and hopefully removing any factory safety like a boost cut (if the car goes over some set psi) I should be able to run one line off the intake to the DV valve direct, one to the fuel pressure regulator (with a non return valve maybe?), and one to the waste gate through a boost controller. Obviously I would T into the standard system first and set the boost controller to learn the current boost level before I mess around but I can't think of any good reason why this shouldn't allow me to override any weaknesses with the system/ standard wastegate and run an electronically controlled ‘higher’ boost level to higher revs.
Anything I've missed? (insert long sarcastic tuner response here)
I used to spend a lot of time fiddling with 944 turbo's and in that scene I learnt the best possible (cost/benefit) upgrade was to chip the car to remove the standard boost cut, add a 3bar fuel pressure regulator (in place of the 2.5bar item), then bypass the cars factory boost control system completely and map your own route of vacuum lines so that the wastegate signal runs directly off the intake through an aftermarket electronic boost controller. This seemed to yield 310+bhp and 350+ft/lb torque at the flywheel from a standard 250bhp model car far more reliably than chips alone on a dyno.
...so I started thinking. The most common upgrade for the turbo on the 1.8T is the standard K04 used on our car with a wastegate mod and better downpipe correct? This is capable of over 300hp (figures vary) and the internals crank etc are safe for 350bhp so basically if I get it to hold enough boost and still fuel correctly I should be able in principle to tweak it from 280ish flywheel hp to 300-310bhp for the cost of a fuel pressure regulator, vacuum lines and an EBC? All without changing any major mechanical components which would give me a nice place to stop tuning if it works.
I can see no reason why the standard ECU won't cope with the necessary adjustments in AF ratio because the car runs a lambda sensor in closed loop as standard, am I correct? So with the remap already giving me better spool characteristics and hopefully removing any factory safety like a boost cut (if the car goes over some set psi) I should be able to run one line off the intake to the DV valve direct, one to the fuel pressure regulator (with a non return valve maybe?), and one to the waste gate through a boost controller. Obviously I would T into the standard system first and set the boost controller to learn the current boost level before I mess around but I can't think of any good reason why this shouldn't allow me to override any weaknesses with the system/ standard wastegate and run an electronically controlled ‘higher’ boost level to higher revs.
Anything I've missed? (insert long sarcastic tuner response here)
A little more research and a lot of confusion between people as to whether our cars have 3bar or 4bar fuel pressure regulators as standard but the general picture seems to be that the S3 has bigger injectors than the golf etc so doesn't need a fpr to get over 300bhp result!! No adjustments needed to the map at all! This is just getting easier and easier.
result!! No adjustments needed to the map at all! This is just getting easier and easier.marctwo said:
Niffty951 said:
Marc: 40mpg is not typical for day to day driving (more like 30mpg) but on a long run driven mainly at 60-80 with a few overtakes now and then 40mpg is now definitely achievable where before you could never quite get there! I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that this is mainly due to being able to stick in 6th and keep the revs down as the turbo is assisting from lower in the rev range where before on a hill you’d need to be in 5th at 50-60 to stop the car labouring.
MrsTwo used to drive the car like a saint and only managed 35mpg tops on a long motorway cruise at 70mph. If you are getting 40mpg, you are the only person I have ever heard of who could. Don't trust the numbers on the DIS.Edited by Niffty951 on Thursday 30th July 13:52
I'm also not sure about the fluttering sound you describe. I never had that on my car, although there was a much more noticable turbo 'sucking' sound when on boost.
I think 275bhp is too optimistic for just a remap. Mine recorded 270bhp on a rolling road but even that is probably a bit too high. I think realistic numbers are around 260bhp. Some tuners have a tendancy to give out pub bragging numbers rather than something more accurate.
I agree with your description about how a new map really takes the car from being brisk to being fast. I still think it often felt faster than the S4 I have now, and I can only dream of getting 35mpg!
I'm guessing you have the 2.7tt S4? I had the A4 2.8 Quattro and by god could it upset me with its figures I've heard even though its a lot less powerful, figures are similar to the S4 for normal driving! Went for the S3 over the S4 which I prefer in terms of interior purely on the fact that I need to do lots of miles and don't have a never ending wallet!
Totally agree on tuner figures and will not say with any confidence what my car is running until it's been on a dyno. Does feel very possitive though. I think 280bhp from a map could be achievable from some cars. Just depends on the condition and original build of the engine I suppose. I remember a totally standard 250bhp 944 which was well over 100,000miles old and produced 285hp on a dyno day where some modified 944's wouldn't even reach their factory 250 figure!
Colonial said:
I'm going down a reverse path - have the APR R1 DV, N75j, Forge hoses, BMC CDA, 3" downpipe and other things fitted but no chip.
Really interested in a co. out of Cali called Unitronic that does both chips and custom tunes. Considering my car has some unusal mods (cams with disconnected VVT for one) they might be coming up with a very interesting custom tune through their Sydney office. Slightly different to the standard Revo/APR/Giac option.
And I got the same answer back from another mate with an S3
The 3" downpipe I will probably fit before I start. Just sounds like a safe option to avoid a build up of heat from all that extra pressure.Really interested in a co. out of Cali called Unitronic that does both chips and custom tunes. Considering my car has some unusal mods (cams with disconnected VVT for one) they might be coming up with a very interesting custom tune through their Sydney office. Slightly different to the standard Revo/APR/Giac option.
And I got the same answer back from another mate with an S3
Very interested in your choice to change cams. I know that with the standard s3 they opted for a different cam to the 2wd cars to help torque low down for the 4wd which made it less rev happy. I have wondered whether changing to a golf cam would be a benefit now the car has extra boost and so plenty of torque low down but not sure if I'd be going backwards?
The Walrus said:
Be carefull the ECU and MAF on VAG cars are very sensitive to airflow and tinkering with this will cause you problems.
As for 300 + BHP there has been many discussions regarding achieving this on the standard turbo, the harsh truth of the matter is that on standard fuels etc the turbo can not push enough air to make these figure's, a lot and I mean a lot of tuners have stated they make 300 bhp but VAG car's being as they are it can be very easy to over read on the DYNO due to the conversion factors used.
If you want more power concentrate on the exhaust in combination with a larger TIP you will get better spool up and power, beyond that you are into BT territory, have a check on seatcupra.net and audisport for a bit more info on what can be done on the standard turbo and block.
HTH
Thank you. are their discussions mainly relating to the K03 from the 150-180bhp engines or the k04 option fitted to the 210-240bhp engines though? Given my experience with tuners (almost all bad!) I would very much like to limit the parts I change and therefore how reliant I am on them.As for 300 + BHP there has been many discussions regarding achieving this on the standard turbo, the harsh truth of the matter is that on standard fuels etc the turbo can not push enough air to make these figure's, a lot and I mean a lot of tuners have stated they make 300 bhp but VAG car's being as they are it can be very easy to over read on the DYNO due to the conversion factors used.
If you want more power concentrate on the exhaust in combination with a larger TIP you will get better spool up and power, beyond that you are into BT territory, have a check on seatcupra.net and audisport for a bit more info on what can be done on the standard turbo and block.
HTH
Big turbo kits whilst hugely tempting on paper sound like trouble to me. If the K04 really can't produce those peak figures then I suppose I'll just have to try and get BIG torque figures and be happy.
Traveller said:
The cupra R has the same engine as the S3, and it is very unlikely you are getting 300+ without a turbo change. Been a few hybrid turbos that have rung up the 300 mark and some big turbo conversion getting 450 and above, but no map and tuning bits is going to get you into the 300 club.
Best tuning options I have seen for BAM motor is an upgraded TIP, custom map, exhaust and FPR. Which should get you into the 275 BHP region. Anything more, and you are into new turbo and expensive bits territory or NOS. Lots of tuning advice for this motor on the seatcupra.net website. If you are looking for brakes, then the Cupra R Brembos are a good option, but you will need 18" rims to clear the callipers.
I will try my best to prove popular theory wrong on getting to 300hp with the standard unit because I don't believe they do that much to make their 'hybrid' k04's but in the end I'd be very pleased/pleasantly surprised if my experiment succeeded.Best tuning options I have seen for BAM motor is an upgraded TIP, custom map, exhaust and FPR. Which should get you into the 275 BHP region. Anything more, and you are into new turbo and expensive bits territory or NOS. Lots of tuning advice for this motor on the seatcupra.net website. If you are looking for brakes, then the Cupra R Brembos are a good option, but you will need 18" rims to clear the callipers.
Thankyou VERY much on the brakes. You have just solved one of my biggest concerns
..why didn't I think of that?! That will be what I go for next month unless I somehow find an aftermarket kit I prefer in the near future.Edited by Niffty951 on Tuesday 4th August 13:52
Colonial said:
I'm not sold on the cam yet to be honest. It was fitted whilst the head was off (needed the timing chain tensioner replaced) and they were sitting on the shelf. It's got a lot more power from about 4000+ but the trade off is it is a lot more laggy down low. Basically my mechanic is a race engine builder first and he just likes playing with my car. I'm half thinking of reverting back to stock for driveability on a daily basis. I used cams that came from the US that were designed for a TT, so the same basic engine.
Cam to be avoided. Money saved. This thread is turning out to be very helpful thanks to all.The Walrus said:
But you could also just try upgrading the pad compound and brake fluid as that can also make a big difference to fade performance and is a lot cheaper if you only do the odd trackday.
A most informative post. Thanks again. Judging on the size of the cloud of smoke pouring out of my arches last time the car was driven competatively, I think I'm going to have to look at something with a bit more surface area though. I have some roomy looking 18inch BBS wheels which came with the car so should be ok to use most kits. Where would you recommend looking for the necessary caliper adapters? Also can anyone comment on how much this affects brake ballance and what upgrades are available for the rear of the car. I had smoke bellowing out from all four arches so I think its safe to say the rears are in need of an upgrade too.The Walrus said:
ECS tuning have a fair bit of stuff on their website tailored to wards all options of brake upgrade whether it be complete or partial upgrades have a look as it might answer some of your questions.
Oh dear you evil person! That ECS website is probably more dangerous / as dangerous as a 1 day, drive in drive out 400hp conversion for £4k!Car back today with new anti roll bars fitted by audi and 4 wheel alignment done. Parts were suplied by DPM:
http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/eibach-26mm-front-...
Who did very well to get them delivered in under 20hours for me So thumbs up to Damion who I spoke to.
First impressions are that it now feels remarkably similar to drive to my old Mk5 R32.. which is high praise. VERY firm, no roll. The difference is immediately noticable (although this is possible partly due to the fact that the old ones were knackered). I will report back further once I've had a chance to drive the car a little more enthusiastically
http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/eibach-26mm-front-...
Who did very well to get them delivered in under 20hours for me
So thumbs up to Damion who I spoke to.First impressions are that it now feels remarkably similar to drive to my old Mk5 R32.. which is high praise. VERY firm, no roll. The difference is immediately noticable (although this is possible partly due to the fact that the old ones were knackered). I will report back further once I've had a chance to drive the car a little more enthusiastically
I'm having a few problems at the moment which are bugging me (see other tuning thread on here) but besides finding any leak, worn valve, weak part and making it worse to the point you have to change it running an S3 chipped should have very little affect on the reliability of the engine. The only thing I really think your going to strain by chipping one is the clutch because of the 4wd. Also maybe the brakes dependant on your driving style will wear faster because your always trying to scrub off more speed.
I find (if I could stop buying bloody parts for the car and getting tempted to tune it) that running the S3 is amazingly economical and I trust 100% that it will be reliable too once I've found whatever it is thats annoying the car at the moment. The cars runs smoothly, quietly and doesn't get hot at any time in traffic or driving hard. I'd say an S3 was a safe bet.
I find (if I could stop buying bloody parts for the car and getting tempted to tune it) that running the S3 is amazingly economical and I trust 100% that it will be reliable too once I've found whatever it is thats annoying the car at the moment. The cars runs smoothly, quietly and doesn't get hot at any time in traffic or driving hard. I'd say an S3 was a safe bet.
If your going to do it then I would take the valve out of the system completely and plug the hole in the turbo inlet pipe. Then leave the valve somewhere secured in the engine bay still wired in so that the ECU thinks its doing its job.
I'm telling you this because you've bought it and hell anything's worth a try but I've done a lot of research since I started this thread and honestly I don't think its going to have the desired affect.
The ECU is not like the previous generation of units used in Audi / Porsche cars. Rather than adjusting fuelling to suit a boost level where the ECU is basically only doing the job of matching the air going into the engine with the correct amount of fuel to achieve the right air fuel mixture this new type ECU does a lot more.
The S3’s ECU ‘seems’ (to the best of my knowledge) to be mainly controlled by a pre-set chart of cylinder filling percentages (basically it knows how much air and fuel in needs in each cylinder to achieve a certain hp) and it adjusts the fuelling and the boost to suit given the current temperature etc. The boost level is more a result of it trying to achieve its cylinder filling than the other way round so I think if you stop it controlling the boost and fit a manual controller it will just sense there’s a problem (there’s more boost than it needs and it cant control it) and it will go into safe mode or try to reduce power some other way to be safe.
On the plus side I can advise you that the engine is capable in standard form and with the standard turbo of running WAY more than just 1.0bar (safe level on older cars) without coming into problems. I’ve read somewhere that the limit of the turbo is 1.7bar but I can tell you that both the Angel tuning and the Jabbasport re-maps are designed to hold at 1.55bar in optimum conditions (the car will adjust automatically according to the quality of the fuel and air temperature).
Compared to the approximately 0.7bar that the car runs in standard trim this explains why it feels so much more aggressive with a re-map. Such a big difference.
I'm telling you this because you've bought it and hell anything's worth a try but I've done a lot of research since I started this thread and honestly I don't think its going to have the desired affect.
The ECU is not like the previous generation of units used in Audi / Porsche cars. Rather than adjusting fuelling to suit a boost level where the ECU is basically only doing the job of matching the air going into the engine with the correct amount of fuel to achieve the right air fuel mixture this new type ECU does a lot more.
The S3’s ECU ‘seems’ (to the best of my knowledge) to be mainly controlled by a pre-set chart of cylinder filling percentages (basically it knows how much air and fuel in needs in each cylinder to achieve a certain hp) and it adjusts the fuelling and the boost to suit given the current temperature etc. The boost level is more a result of it trying to achieve its cylinder filling than the other way round so I think if you stop it controlling the boost and fit a manual controller it will just sense there’s a problem (there’s more boost than it needs and it cant control it) and it will go into safe mode or try to reduce power some other way to be safe.
On the plus side I can advise you that the engine is capable in standard form and with the standard turbo of running WAY more than just 1.0bar (safe level on older cars) without coming into problems. I’ve read somewhere that the limit of the turbo is 1.7bar but I can tell you that both the Angel tuning and the Jabbasport re-maps are designed to hold at 1.55bar in optimum conditions (the car will adjust automatically according to the quality of the fuel and air temperature).
Compared to the approximately 0.7bar that the car runs in standard trim this explains why it feels so much more aggressive with a re-map. Such a big difference.
p.s. the single best modification I've done so far though is the N249 valve bypass which is the easiest job in the world to do and totally free. There are examples of how to do it on a golf elsewhere but I can easily post one here with your exact car and some pics later if you need?
It totally removed the lag between the gears in my car now so as your accelerating through the box you can keep the car on a seemless cloud of boost, rather than the lumpy 1gear at a time dollops the car did when I bought it.
It totally removed the lag between the gears in my car now so as your accelerating through the box you can keep the car on a seemless cloud of boost, rather than the lumpy 1gear at a time dollops the car did when I bought it.
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