Ah, that's interesting then. Does the exhaust on yours include a replacement downpipe and 'sports' cat or is it just a 'cat-back' system.
Reason I ask is the car I've put a deposit on actually has a replacement stainless exhaust but I didn't work out if it had the downpipe done as well. Remapping companies I've spoke to so far said this causes restrictions in any power gains.
Thanks for your help.
I have never seen evidence of the downpiped causing a restriction on an S3.
I fitted 100 cell cats and a full cat-back system and got no gains - so the standard stuff isn't restrictive.
I've seen a fancy turbo back system fitted to an S3 that was assured to make 28BHP as it got rid of the 'restrictive' downpipes...and it actually lost power.
If you've ever seen the exhaust/turbo manifold on a AMK/BAM it should be fairly obvious where the restriction is...and it doesn't appear to be the downpipes!
In my view, the whole 'need a free flow exhaust + cats and to some degree the downpipes' is utter marketing hype...I have never seen concrete proof that any of that lot gives any gains, despite many companies claiming it does.
Lets be honest...
You get charged for a re-map...
You then fit an exhaust as the 'tuner' says it's holding you back, and you get charged again for an upgraded map. Good business sense? I'd say so...
As far as I'm concerned...they both (AMK and BAM) map up to the same.
You won't get any more than about 275-280 BHP genuine with everything else sorted too...and you are unlikely to get a reliable 270 BHP from a simple re-map either...
So consider 210/225s the same blank canvas.
But don't go chasing daft figures...you may well get a sheet of paper showing the figures you want, but the engine sure as hell won't be making it in reality.
Unless anyong has concrete proof of anything different?