Lettuce Build Thread, Fast Cars and Fast Women: Stage 2 and Beyond

[lettuce]

Curious question... What was the engine code of the new engine you swapped in? CPMA? Looking at doing this on my 09 this coming spring.

It was either a CPMA or CPMB. I think CPMA, but there shouldn't be a difference between them for our purposes.

Honestly this swap was without a doubt the best thing I ever did to this car. You won't regret it.

[Alex1188]

It was either a CPMA or CPMB. I think CPMA, but there shouldn't be a difference between them for our purposes.

Honestly this swap was without a doubt the best thing I ever did to this car. You won't regret it.

Oh I'm sure it was. Hell my 09 burns a quart every 400miles now. I bought the car with 20k on it and now have 120k. Haven't had stage one done and still the original timing chain tensioner. So pretty much I have a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I decided to keep the car finally and so now it's time for a new motor and bigger turbo of some sort(haven't quite decided on which one yet).

[ChrisDevins]

So, after a very short wait during which I was very patient and calm I have finally received and installed my new intercooler. In case any of you missed it, my 3.0 TDI intercooler was great when I was stage 2, but since I upgraded to an F23L I've been getting heat soak pretty bad. I had originally ordered a Spearco 5-378, but after a few delays in its shipment I decided to cancel my order and go with a Treadstone TR8 instead. Of course now that I have received the replacement the Spearco is no longer backordered and would have shipped today. Oh well, I'm very pleased with the one I got and I'm sure it'll suit my needs just fine. Onto the pics.





The Treadstone was actually $100 cheaper than the Spearco ($250 vs $350) so I ended up saving a bit of money as well. These intercoolers are universal unlike most of the ones I see around here like the Eurocode, Wagner, CTS, Unitronic, RAI, AWE, etc. You can get the same quality as those other big $$$ units (if not better) for a fraction of the price if you're willing to fab your own brackets and get your own tubing (an additional $50). You also have a much bigger selection when it comes to size, volume, inlet/outlet size, etc. Of course the best part is not paying the Audi tax.

Here's all I really had to do to mount this thing. Basically just used a couple of right angle brackets and drilled a hole straight through my crash bar and put a long bolt through it, tightened down with a nut on the top. it's snug as a bug in a rug and fits great under the crash bar.





I could have cut the outside holes off the bracket to clean up the install a bit but I didn't really give a shit so I didn't. I mounted the front of the intercooler flush with the front of the crash bar. This was the most convenient place to mount it and hopefully it'll make it somewhat visible with the bumper on. I also epoxied a couple little rubber squares under the crash bar where the tank welds were contacting it to prevent any potential vibration or rattling.




Overall the install was pretty straight forward. Probably actually took less time than the 3.0 TDI FMIC install, mostly due to the fact that I had now done it before and was able to breeze through 90% of the install. The only thing that really took any time at all was figuring out how best to mount it, but once I did that I was able to drill the holes and mount it up fairly quickly and painlessly.




So once I was all done and everything all buttoned up I took it for a quick test drive. About 2 minutes in I blew the inlet pipe right off the coupler so I limped it home, retightened the hell out of all my clamps, cleared my codes and now I'm inside watching football. Hopefully they hold up on my ride to work tomorrow. I'll try to get some better pics during the day too to see what it really looks like in normal outdoor lighting.



Edit: Be sure to check out the logs I pulled with this setup here.

If you're looking to get something similar, here's what I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00 - Need two of these silicone elbows.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00 - Need two pairs of these 2.25" T-bolt clamps.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00 - Just need 1 pair of these 2.5" T-Bolt clamps.

https://www.frozenboost.com/turbo-pi...8dc484643c58f7 - Need two of these 2.25" SS joiners.

blbroo got me headed in the right direction with these. He sent me a PM with links to similar hardware but I generally prefer to order off Amazon instead of Ebay. If you'd rather go the Ebay route here's a post of his which lists out the hardware he used for the same IC install: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post10701763

Would this intercooler be compatible with a B8 A5 setup or only for A4?

[Project Quattro]

Would this intercooler be compatible with a B8 A5 setup or only for A4?

Should be fine. It's universal. @lambda13 and @blbroo were early adopters of Treadstone ICs.

[blbroo]

Should be fine. It's universal. @lambda13 and @blbroo were early adopters of Treadstone ICs.

I agree.

[lettuce]

Would this intercooler be compatible with a B8 A5 setup or only for A4?

These Treadstone intercoolers are universal, you can toss them on anything with a turbo.

[ChrisDevins]

Thanks for the help guys,

@lettuce @blbroo, after some time with the intercoolers would you say you're happy with the upgrades? Thinking about doing this myself

[lettuce]

Thanks for the help guys,

@lettuce @blbroo, after some time with the intercoolers would you say you're happy with the upgrades? Thinking about doing this myself

Yeah for sure. Intercoolers are things you kinda need when you start modding a turbo car, and for our applications the TR8 can't be beat. You could offer me any one of the big $$$ intercoolers made for our car at this price point and I'd still take this one.

[blbroo]

Thanks for the help guys,

@lettuce @blbroo, after some time with the intercoolers would you say you're happy with the upgrades? Thinking about doing this myself

Same as lettuce. Once you start tuning these cars, an IC upgrade is important to avoid power loss and spark issues.


Tiny hands are the devil's workshop.

[Spawne32]

Well also for what it's worth, compared to my B8 motor I would also consider that 'almost 0 buildup'. Lest we forget:

Ugh, im not looking forward to doing my carbon cleaning over spring break. lol

[Alex1188]

Question for ya...

What spark plugs are you running currently? APR's recommended plugs for K04? Noticed any ignition pull with frankenturbo?

[lettuce]

Question for ya...

What spark plugs are you running currently? APR's recommended plugs for K04? Noticed any ignition pull with frankenturbo?

Since I blew up an NGK 7-range plug last spring I went one step colder and I've been running NGK BKR8EIX plugs without issue. No pull whatsoever. Here's a sample log from a pull last summer:



That's with the 8-range plugs on meth on a hot day in late June.

[Alex1188]

Since I blew up an NGK 7-range plug last spring I went one step colder and I've been running NGK BKR8EIX plugs without issue. No pull whatsoever. Here's a sample log from a pull last summer:



That's with the 8-range plugs on meth on a hot day in late June.

Awesome! Thanks the reply! Should have my motor swap and Frankenturbo done soon. Just waiting on them to arrive, so I'm getting some other littles things here and there while I wait.

[Spawne32]

Lettuce I was looking at this F23L as well, and since I have eurodyne already on the car, you liking it so far? I see alot of controversial shit on this forum regarding the frankenturbo.

[lettuce]

Lettuce I was looking at this F23L as well, and since I have eurodyne already on the car, you liking it so far? I see alot of controversial shit on this forum regarding the frankenturbo.

lol, what kind of a question is that? No, I hate it. Going fast sucks.

[b6Hate4]

lol, what kind of a question is that? No, I hate it. Going fast sucks.

You need to get yourself into an older Audi.

Because going fast sucks.

[Spawne32]

lol, what kind of a question is that? No, I hate it. Going fast sucks.

Well I see a lot of talk about this turbo being shit compared to a K04, and I cant really find any definitive explanations on what the differences between the two are besides being made in china and significantly cheaper.

[lettuce]

Getting ready to do some CAR SHIT this weekend. Got 3 boxes of parts waiting for me. This is one of them:



The other two are mystery boxes.

Here's a funny picture I found on my computer that I made a long time ago:

[AllroadCorbin]

Getting ready to do some CAR SHIT this weekend. Got 3 boxes of parts waiting for me. This is one of them:



The other two are mystery boxes.

Here's a funny picture I found on my computer that I made a long time ago:

Nothing like a day full of CAR SHIT. Fucking tons of CAR SHIT. If you don't yell it when you read it then it's not legit


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johnnySV]

sorry for my naivety, but what kind of car shit is that orange flexi tube?


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[lettuce]

sorry for my naivety, but what kind of car shit is that orange flexi tube?


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Molding those NACA ducts into my hood and running the silicone hose to my airbox to feed my turbo fresh, cool, ram air.

[Fastbke170]

Molding those NACA ducts into my hood and running the silicone hose to my airbox to feed my turbo fresh, cool, ram air.

have you been back to the track to compare new (engine)bits to old?

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[lettuce]

have you been back to the track to compare new (engine)bits to old?

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

Haven't really added anything new to my engine since the meth this time last year, except for the entire new engine, but I was able to set a new PR last time the track was open (last October) by a few hundredths of a second.

[Alex1188]

So with Eurodyne what's the difference between the files ending in AG vs AL?? Which did you use??

[lettuce]

So with Eurodyne what's the difference between the files ending in AG vs AL?? Which did you use??

Oh jeez, I don't remember. I flashed those files almost 2 years ago. I vaguely recall seeing two versions of the files and just randomly picking one.

[Alex1188]

Oh jeez, I don't remember. I flashed those files almost 2 years ago. I vaguely recall seeing two versions of the files and just randomly picking one.

Hahaha no problem, I emailed Eurodyne about it just waiting for them to get back to me... I'll post once they let me know

[faboloso21]

U

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Audizine mobile app

[Spawne32]

I think its the revision of the computer isnt it? I remember APR posting something about that a while back.

[lettuce]

Did a pretty cool brake upgrade this weekend. Installed EBC Red Stuff pads and a ram-air brake ducting system.

Started off by trying to install my new PTP turbo diaper. Er, blanket.





That didn't go so well as there's barely a half inch of space under my turbo where I needed to sandwich the blanket between it and the framerail. I put this mod on hold as I email Doug and ask him if he thinks it's even a good idea given this info, and if he says yes, I'm going to have to unbolt the motor mount on this side and jack the motor up an inch or two to snake it under there.

Next up is the new set of pads. I originally installed my Q5 Brembo calipers with the stock Audi/Brembo pads, and they were great, but I torched them one night driving like an asshole until they were smoking and they flung melted brake pad residue all over the inside of my front wheels. They were never really the same since, and I had wanted decent street/track pads anyway so this was as good an excuse as any.





Forgive the dirt and grime, my car had yet to undergo its Spring Cleaning. This was the easiest pad change I'd ever done. Each wheel took me 10 minutes from the first lug bolt cracked to the last one torqued back on. See those little clips on the top of the caliper? Just pop out those two pins, slide the pads out, and slide the new ones back in. Didn't even need to remove the calipers or compress the pistons.

Then on Sunday I did a little wheel-off cleaning session.





Those EBC Red Stuff pads look pretty sweet under there. And after some aggressive stopping and a quasi-bedding process they were stopping like they should.



Now onto the fun stuff, the brake ducting. The driver's side was a bit of a pain as there's not much room behind the fog light. This ducting was very flexible and didn't kink at all though so it was still pretty trivial to snake it back to my wheel well.

I had purchased NACA ducts and was going to mount them to my belly pan, but said fuck it and just deleted my fog lights and did it this way.









The passenger side was a breeze since there was nothing behind it.



Driver's side 'finished':


Passenger side 'finished':


I put finished in quotes there because it's finished for now, but I plan on getting them routed right into my wheel hubs eventually to feed my rotors directly. There was definitely not enough room in there to get this 3" tubing in there in a way that it wouldn't interfere with my wheel when turning. Right now I'm thinking I'll need a 3" to 1" reducer and snake the smaller hose along the tie rod. This'll give you an idea of what I mean:



So, that's done for now. Here's it all buttoned up:







Then I took it on a little cruise and snapped some shots in some industrial area.







Lastly, some miscellaneous shots of the finished product.









Pretty cool project. Didn't take long, and was cool doing something custom for a change that didn't involve simple bolt-on parts. Not sure how much of a performance increase I'll see until I route the tubing directly to my rotors, but it can't hurt getting some extra airflow in there. Track season is coming up so I'll be able to test it then.

I bought the hose and NACA ducts from www.racerpartswholesale.com/, didn't cost me more than $150, including all the zip ties I used to hold it in .

[linet90]

I just finished reading through this entire thread and I have to say WOW!

Lettuce - you did a awesome job documenting everything, with pictures, which is huge!

I am in process of tearing my motor apart due to some very large metal shavings I found during a catch-can install. So this thread will become very handy.

[Alex1188]

Since I blew up an NGK 7-range plug last spring I went one step colder and I've been running NGK BKR8EIX plugs without issue. No pull whatsoever. Here's a sample log from a pull last summer:



That's with the 8-range plugs on meth on a hot day in late June.

So I know I asked about timing pull...

I'm getting misfires with an NGK8 switch back to my NGK PFR7S8EG and no misfires. Granted it's only 40degrees here right now. Have you experienced any misfire issues? Also you just downloaded the base map from the Eurodyne server with maestro correct? Or did Eurodyne send you a file??

[lettuce]

So I know I asked about timing pull...

I'm getting misfires with an NGK8 switch back to my NGK PFR7S8EG and no misfires. Granted it's only 40degrees here right now. Have you experienced any misfire issues? Also you just downloaded the base map from the Eurodyne server with maestro correct? Or did Eurodyne send you a file??

Are your plugs gapped the same between the 7s and the 8s? And is your car fully warmed up? Colder plugs shouldn't cause misfiring. Too hot of a plug will generally lead to detonation and too cold of a plug will generally lead to fouling.

And yes, I'm on the base file still. Nothing custom.

[Alex1188]

Are your plugs gapped the same between the 7s and the 8s? And is your car fully warmed up? Colder plugs shouldn't cause misfiring. Too hot of a plug will generally lead to detonation and too cold of a plug will generally lead to fouling.

And yes, I'm on the base file still. Nothing custom.

Ya gap has been checked and changed with different points. Tried all the way from .032 down to .024 on the BRK8EIX. my old plugs(PFR7S8EG) @.028 no problems at all. The colder plug nothing but problems with misfires. I even went and bought the old plugs APR use to recommend which are PFR7B and those were a little better, but still had intermittent misfires.

Brand New fuel injectors, new coil packs, new O2 sensors. It's literally I changed the plugs and nothing but misfires. Totally strange....

EDIT:
only other thing i could think of is maybe i missed a ground strap somewhere?? but im pretty sure there is only one by the crank sensor...

[lettuce]

Ya gap has been checked and changed with different points. Tried all the way from .032 down to .024 on the BRK8EIX. my old plugs(PFR7S8EG) @.028 no problems at all. The colder plug nothing but problems with misfires. I even went and bought the old plugs APR use to recommend which are PFR7B and those were a little better, but still had intermittent misfires.

Brand New fuel injectors, new coil packs, new O2 sensors. It's literally I changed the plugs and nothing but misfires. Totally strange....

EDIT:
only other thing i could think of is maybe i missed a ground strap somewhere?? but im pretty sure there is only one by the crank sensor...

I don't know. I mean, if it's running fine with the 7s then I'd just use those. I did for over a year with the F23L. Didn't switch to the 8s until I added the meth and had problems with that combo.

[Alex1188]

I don't know. I mean, if it's running fine with the 7s then I'd just use those. I did for over a year with the F23L. Didn't switch to the 8s until I added the meth and had problems with that combo.

Ya i dont know either, very strange. And your running the 8s in the winter with no problems?? It only happens when i go WOT and about 5800 rpms or so. It just weird that APR suggests 8s with K04 as well.

[lettuce]

And your running the 8s in the winter with no problems??

Correct.

Did you get the F23T or the F23L?

[Alex1188]

Correct.

Did you get the F23T or the F23L?

The F23L, just realized i spend way to much time on the GTI forums lmao!

When you do a pull to redline, does the boost tapper off at all? or is it always at the 2550mbar or 22ish psi? im wondering if maybe my wastegate is incorrectly set and im fouling out the plugs. i dont seem to hit requested that great... and tapper quiet a bit unless im in a higher gear. only problem with this idea, is my LTFT are all in check and i think those would be off... the plugs look good and not wet or anything. All i know is it drives me nuts after spending all this money and time on it.

I email Eurodyne about it this evening, so hopefully they will get back to me with a decent email (hopefully better than the one liners i get from them like usual)

[AUDacIouS4]

Ya i dont know either, very strange. And your running the 8s in the winter with no problems?? It only happens when i go WOT and about 5800 rpms or so. It just weird that APR suggests 8s with K04 as well.

GIAC told me APR disables some features of the factory knock correction and to compensate for that colder plugs are needed. That's why APR has blown up a few s3's and Golf R's the last few months.

High RPM knock is no bueno, bye bye rods.
Are your cars pulling timing at higher RPMs? Or is just holding boost the problem? Vacuum leak? Wastegate issue? At higher boost levels the internal wastegates can get stuck, or sometimes the opening isn't large enough to bypass enough boost pressure.

[Alex1188]

GIAC told me APR disables some features of the factory knock correction and to compensate for that colder plugs are needed. That's why APR has blown up a few s3's and Golf R's the last few months.

High RPM knock is no bueno, bye bye rods.
Are your cars pulling timing at higher RPMs? Or is just holding boost the problem? Vacuum leak? Wastegate issue? At higher boost levels the internal wastegates can get stuck, or sometimes the opening isn't large enough to bypass enough boost pressure.

@lettuce and i both are not running APR or GIAC software, and are instead using eurodyne. My issue has since been resolved for the most part. still ironing out my tune. but it was due to the base map running way to rich in the high rpms. I know lettuce has stated he hasnt had any problems with the base map tho.

[Alex1188]

Also @lettuce, i would suggest checking your wastegate actuator pressure, mine was not set correctly from Doug, and was set at 5.8 psi instead of the 8psi it should be for the map. This has also since allowed me to run more boost pressure in the high rpms. If you have any time, you should do a 3rd and 4th gear log of boost req, boost act, airmass, timing, rpm, lambda act(its "lambt s w" in VCDS), and actual load. I would like to compare yours to mine and then make a few corrections possibly and then send you my file and see what you think.