Audi TT RS Stage 3 Build - MRC x Iroz Motorsport

[CityBoyAsh]

So I've been meaning to do this for ages; start a build. I had actually started one before, which I spent a few hours typing. However, somehow it disappeared before I had the chance to upload it.

I'll try to not make it long winded. But at the same time I'll try to explain and justify my decisions to make things easier and more interesting.

So here it goes...

So after owning an S-Tronic TTS for about 11 months, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to an S TRONIC TTRS. I made this decision because I felt like I needed more power and secondly I became a sucker for the sound for the 5 pot!

So about 6 hours after picking up the car I went to show the car to a friend/fellow car enthusiast. Straight away he went to my boot pulled out the screw driver and removed my front plate LOL! It does look really good without a number plate.

The car was fun to drive although stock. Seemed very torquey and aggressive. The S TRONIC box is a lot better in the TTRS compared to the TTS.

However after about 2 months of owning the car I wanted more power!!!! So I took a trip up to Manchester and visited Awsome GTI for an APR Stage 1 Remap.

It made some decent power and fair bit of torque. It totally transformed the car. The car become much more aggressive and responsive, it pulled like a train!

Unfortunately on the day their dyno was unable to give a reading from crank only and was reading at the wheels only. So later on I took it to AmD Essex for a RR session. It made 385 BHP & 507 FT-LB. The car certainly seemed like it was making a lot than 385 BHP. But either way I was still happy with how it performed on the road.

About a month or so later my joys came to a complete end. Perhaps it's more fair to say my joys came to a halt.

One day after going through a cruise in central London my car started misfiring. Audi roadside assistance couldn't fix the issue so it was recovered to Audi service centre. The roadside technician suspected that an injector was leaking fuel.

So after a few days the injector was replaced but the engine was still misfiring. So further investigation was required. This consisted of stripping down the engine to see what had happened.

The results were not good at all! The engine had given up and somehow detonated.

So the block was scored. Most likely caused from the broken piston ring debris scratching/rubbing against the cylinder bores. The cylinder head had excessive damage from where the damaged piston was hitting against it. Cut long story short the engine was ******! Lol.

Audi didn't cover this under warranty as they saw some damage to my ECU. They was under the impression it had been tampered with lol.

They presented me with a £28'500.00 ~ bill to have the engine and turbo replaced. I "kindly" declined their offer. I tried to fight this with Audi but threw in the towel and decided to get it fixed elsewhere.

 

[CityBoyAsh]

So I gave Tim at RaceDevelopments a call and we dropped the engine off at the workshop. I finally felt a bit better as it seemed like there was progress, and things were finally going in a positive direction.

So the engine was stripped further to see what was salvageable and what wasn't. Luckily for me the head and the block could be saved! The Pistons and etc was straight up no good!

Broken down piston rings in the sump.

Broken down piston rings in the oil pump also

There was damage to the valves also

The bores really did have a big scratch lol

So enough eye saw and time for some bling bling! So after we realised what we could save and what we couldn't, we got to work.

In order to re-use my existing block...

(which I really wanted to do as the price of the block is £3k~ if my memory serves me right)

...it needed to be re-bored. Tim gave me the option to take away either 0.5mm or 1.0mm from each cylinder bore.

I decided to go with the 0.5mm option. Why? Well if the engine ever did blow up again I'd have another shot at re-boring the block a further 0.5mm.

If I had went with the 1.0mm and the engine blew again I'd have to replace the block as there wouldn't be enough meat (metal) left on the walls for another re-bore.

So the head was repaired and was looking good; the head was welded and skimmed...

Before...

Welded...

...After (Skimmed)

The block was also repaired and looking good.

Tim then ordered a set of RaceDevelopments Spec CP Carrillo Pistons & Rods. This came with custom spec bearing shells and wrist pins also.

The crankshaft was also superfinished. This helps reduce friction. Friction causes heat, so reduced friction = reduce heat. In turn resulting in lower oil temps.

Assembly of the CP Pistons and Rods begun...

So the head was ported, polished and flowed. We also replaced the entire valve train system....

I decided to replace it with the OEM one. I made this decision because at the time I was going to run a hybrid turbo. The OEM valves seemed sufficient enough for a measly hybrid. However, at a later stage I wish to revisit the valve train system and upgrade it. You'll find out why soon...


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[CityBoyAsh]

Next step was to assemble the block and the head together...

A few days later the engine was assembled and ready for collection!!!

So between the engine assembly and collection period, I had to think about which garage to use to install the engine back into the car. After conducting my research I decided to use MRC.

So I messaged Doug @ MRC and arranged for my car to be dropped off. Not long after I collected the engine from Race Developments and dropped it off to MRC.

So my old turbo was also damaged. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. However, the Pistons rings and debris went through the turbo and scored the housing. So it couldn't be used, only option was to purchase a new OEM turbo for the cost of around £2700 or convert the existing turbo to a hybrid.

I planned on converting the turbo to a hybrid. However I thought all the hard work put into the engine would be a waste of effort, time and money.

So what did I do about it? I bit bullet and went the whole hog and contacted Hank Iroz over at Iroz Motorsport and purchased one of their IMS turbo kits for the TTRS/RS3.

So the weeks went by and I waited, and waited for what seemed to be one of the longest waits ever in my life. It seemed long, probably because I was just really excited lol.

So whilst Hank waited for Xona to manufacture and ship my turbo out to him. My fully forged engine sat proudly in the MRC workshop.

The build came to a halt until the complete turbo kit was ready for shipping. So to create the illusion progress was happening, I decided to order some goodies / bits and pieces...

So I needed an intercooler. I had the choice of an APR Intercooler at £1600, HPerformance Clubsport Intercooler at €1600/£1250, Wagner EVO 3 (EVO 1 & 2 we're not adequate for my application) for £1200 or the Forge Race Intercooler at a little over £1000.

I did a lot of digging/research on them all. All that kept coming up was APR, Wagner and Forge Intercooler reviews (primarily APR & Forge). After conducting my research. The APR Intercooler seemed to be the one to go for!

However despite this, I was sitting on the fence about purchasing the APR Intercooler. Why? I think the price is extortionate for what it is. Simply to be quite frank, I couldn't justify parting with that type of money for a Intercooler. I think it's overpriced.

Secondly it wasn't in stock. With no lead times except a stupidly ridiculous rumoured 3 month wait, I definitely wasn't going for it.

So at this point I suppose some (APR Fan Boys mainly) are thinking...

"APR is the best for VAG" - my reply to that would be I don't give a rats a$$.

"APR spend so much time in research and testing..." - yeah blah,blah, blah still don't give a rats a$$.

"You can't afford APR" - Hmmm..

...Sheep follow sheep. I like to be different.

Next contender up was the Wagner EVO3. Whilst this was reasonably priced, I couldn't really find many positive reviews about it. Some good, but most reviews included tests with comparison showing how much better the APR or the Forger IC is. A lot of people seemed to be switching away from the Wagner to the forge IC. With the amount of second hand TTRS Wagner coolers for sale ads I've seen this year I decided that it could get ruled out also.

The forge Intercooler has exceptional reviews with loads of charts featuring the comparison test results against stock IC as well Wagner. Forge seemed to excel in this text so it was +1 for this on my list. Couldn't find any comparison test charts for the APR, which would have been great to see.

Unfortunately the forge IC visually seemed to small for my application. So in the end I decided to go with the HPerformance Intercooler. This was getting good results on HPerformance 700BHP+ GTX35 TTRS and I thought it was at a reasonable price.

So I contacted HPeformance in Germany and after a few days Tobais from HPerformance replied. After a few more days of sending emails to and throw, I ordered the HPerformance Clubsport Intercooler.

Boy is this thing massive! The build quality is amazing. You can see they've take time to design and produce a good quality product. The pictures doesn't do it any justice.

Next up was a cold air intake system. I decided to go with the Carbon Fibre 034 Motorsport Air Intake. The carbon grew on me so I got some OEM carbon mirrors and engine cover set to match!

034 Motorsport was getting some good results/gains from the intake . But it wasn't something that I let aid in me making my decision. I waited for independent reviews first.

The build quality appears to be really good. The carbon weave all joins up nicely. A nice bonus is the pattern matches very closely to the OEM carbon parts.

Since I purchased my TTRS I always really wanted bucket seats. It was hard enough trying to find a set of OEM TTRS Bucket seats for sale. Let alone a set in good condition. I gave up looking and almost ordered a brand new set of OEM TTRS bucket seats.

I'm so glad I didn't order them as it would have been such a silly decision and a waste of money. So I humbled myself lol and ordered a set of brand new RECARO Sportster CS Bucket Seats in leather from Btrim. Which are actually lighter than the OEM Sports seats and OEM bucket seats. My Btrim delivered it directly to MRC for me within 2 days after purchase.

My old sports seats weigh approx 35kg's each. The RECARO's weigh just over 14kg each I believe. So 70 kg - 28 kg's = a saving of 42kg's so far. Maybe more weight saving to come?

Here they are! Aren't they gorgeous? (Sorry for low quality picture. I'll get some better shots once installed)

Next I bought a cool flow oil cooling housing kit for the engine oil and DSG oil from USP motorsports. Not sure if it actually aids in cooling or not. But I bought because it was of better quality than the plastic OEM one. Heat over time makes the plastic brittle resulting in breaking prematurely I guess. Oh and got a 4BAR MAP sensor.

So next up I bought some brand new H&R lowering springs. I got these for now as I want a lower stance from my car. Eventually I want to put a set of coilovers on the car but still haven't decided what ones yet. The quality of these H&R springs is exceptional!

So next up I ordered an additional part for my cold air intake from HF Series. The unit is designed to help keep the hot air out, and draw in only cool air into the intake system. It's also in carbon fibre !!!!

More shiny parts coming. Hold tight!!!!

 

[CityBoyAsh]

...So finally Xona pulled through and Hank took delivery of my turbo. As nice, helpful and knowledgable Hank is. I saw a cruel streak of Hank!!!!

He teased me with these pictures of the kit undergoing fitment testing on a test block before being shipped out to me.

I wanted the turbo kit right away once I knew it arrived with Hank. Especially after the pictures. So much so, that we ordered next day shipping from the US to the UK and the essential piece to my puzzle arrived in a little over 24 hours!!!!

The IMS 730 Kit I ordered Consisting Of a 3.5 inch Downpipe, Xona Rotor 71 • 64 Turbo W/ TurboSmart Wastegate Actuator, IMS Manifold, V Band Clamps & All The Necessary Water Lines, Oil Lines & Fixings!

Overall the qualify of everything is just amazing! It beat my expectations by far! It was defiantly worth the 3/4 week wait.

So I carried on ordering more parts and bits and pieces.

Far from a performance part. Hardly a big deal, but I like personal touches in my surroundings. With that said, I contacted John at Btrim again and had him make me a set of custom TT mats with the TTRS logo embossed and trimmed leather edges with white stitching to match my interior.

Protected them with chemical guys fabrics guard.

Next I thought holy crap, how am I going to stop this 600BHP+ beast with the crappy OEM brakes. So I purchased a RS6/7 Brake Kit...

The kit comprised of RS6/7 6 Pot Brembo Calipers, RS6 C7 390MM Wavey Discs, Custom Centring Rings, Custom Anodised Mounting Brackets With Bolts, HEL Braided Lines, Brembo Dust Caps, Original Brembo Pins, Plates and Screws.

I decided to protect the calipers with a hybrid coating to preserve its finish and add high gloss!

I then ordered some Pagid RS 29 brake pads!!!

Eventually I want go with the full R8 Ceramic Brake Kit. But I guess this will do for now.

I also purchased a brake adapter kit which allows me to run the RS6 rear Wavey discs on the TTRS.

Both kits together should give me exceptional stopping power before I upgrade to the ultimate ceramic kit!!

 

[CityBoyAsh]

So once the turbo kit was dropped off, MRC got to work. I wanted to re paint my block in black as it had some corrosion on it.

Instead of repainting it, the corrosion was easily steam cleaned away! For clarity, in the image below the top 3 pictures are before followed by the end results in the bigger picture.

Prior to the turbo kit being installed. MRC skimmed the manifold flange to ensure it was totally flat. I'd imagine this was done to ensure perfect fitment against the cylinder and to prevent the possibility of exhaust gases leaking.

Before...

After...

The turbo kit and ancillaries started to be assembled to the engine.

This took longer than expected. Reason is because after I declined Audi's £28k offer, they essentially loaded my entire boot with all the engine parts....(Except the block and head of course lol.)

So yeah as you can the interior of the was left in a right mess. Thanks Audi!

Once my car arrived at MRC. They kindly removed all the parts out of the car....

...they then put everything in boxes. All nice and neat!

Missing parts created delay by preventing other ancillaries form being connected. Never the less, Stuart at MRC ploughed through and we ordered the parts which were missing!

So all the ancillaries and turbo kit finally was finally installed. Just the auxiliary belt to add as well the gearbox...

 

[CityBoyAsh]

So I got Stuart @ MRC to port the lower intake manifold and remove the flaps, as well as port throttle body.

Throttle body...

Lower Intake Manifold...

- Before & After (big improvement)

 

[CityBoyAsh]

Engine ancillaries and gearbox all connected! Just a new pulley or belt to go on! So now it's ready for installation!

My 034 Motorsport Rear SwayBar also turned up!

More updates to come next week!...

Check out my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/ashley_ttrs

 

[Ibby_Wulf]

Mate so sorry you had to go through that! Silver lining you will have a Super car Slayer .. keep us posted

 

[Bluepower]

@ash, if you're still looking for a set ceramics, I'm selling my 380x38mm ceramic 6-piston kit! Brand new discs!!

 

[Ibby_Wulf]

How much @Bluepower ?

 

[Bluepower]

How much @Bluepower ?

£5000, but they are probably sold, awaiting payment...

 

[RS_Dan]

great read, look forward to the updates.

As above, your car will be insane when its done.

 

[Carlos85]

WOW.

 

[Daniel1512]

i would cry

 

[Terminator x]

I am freaking out at the engine not covered bit, you must have been

TX.

 

[HulkTdi]

Any news ?