since when has an A8 been the more economical option....

[Flynn89forever]

was greeted this morning to a wonderful day... the sun was out and the day warm, so what better way to spend it as SWMBO hasn't arrived home yet than outside doing car stuff...
A bit of Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan wafting through the air waves and was in the zone...!!!
Dragged the wheels out of storage and whilst i had cleaned them thoroughly prior to the new tyres going on they have zero protection.
So a quick wash and scrub and dry off, there were still some spots of tar so they were polished off.
Then i waxed and coated... my products of choice...

inner barrels were treated the same as the fronts

and all 4 little ducks lined up....

these wheels are typical of why i hate diamond cut faces, the slightest of nicks in the lacquer and the bare aluminium starts to oxidise and look meh...!!!
I really would like to swap them out for a genuine set of the RS6 style 5 spoke the car came with from the factory. One day...!!!

 

[Flynn89forever]

well i can nicely bring a close to this small project.... brakes all done, bled fantastically.
I nearly got caught on the makeshift paint shop as when SWMBO returned there was 1 small piece of floor i'd forgotten to dust.... she commented on how it was sooooo dusty, she accepted that i said she must have missed a bit hahaha

nicely back down on the ground.... rather than as the last week looking like a Back to the Future reject...!!!

quick road test around the block to make sure all's well and already the pad wear area is bedding in lovely.... this is why i don't mask up the wear surface as it cleans up very quickly.

tomorrow she needs a clean...!!! tenner says it rains hahaha

 

[Flynn89forever]

with the weather presenting itself all sunny like i didn't mind sitting out in the car with all the doors open and wanting to start the ecu interrogation before remapping the poor thing....

With everything connected up and the main battery connected to a charger to ensure power was maintained i wanted to make sure all ecu communications and cross talk was ok. If the box wouldn't recognise or talk to the ecu then there was no way to even consider going further.
All reading said that the edc16 ecu fitted to the A8 4.2tdi (both master and slave) should be able to be flashed via the OBD port, so hopefully there will be no need to remove the ecu's.... unless i brick them of course lol...

A quick scan with VCDS prior to starting was a worthwhile check.... all good and clear...

it recognises the ecu.... and it has never had any idiot prior to me trying to remap it, so at least i'm not undoing anyone elses work....

it read first the master and then the slave, each ecu read too 15 minutes and i have saved the original files, just incase i brick them and end up with a dead car lol...

next stage.... upgrade time... watch this space...

 

[Flynn89forever]

new job, new location means less car time but plenty of time to plot and hatch plans.....
the car is performing faultlessly and as originally bought for it's economy over the S5, but with a chunk of performance she is suiting her role to a tee... loving it. With Christmas last year a dim and distant memory and with lockdown preventing seeing my family it was until last weekend i was actually able to see my Dad, so we had another Christmas exchange of gifts...!!!
Bless his cotton socks he bought me something for the A8....
I'd mentioned last year i fancied a set of the lowering links, as the adaption with VCDS wasn't quite getting the stance i desired.... the daft old ****** bought me a set... was more chuffed, than a chuffed thing.

no affiliation but whilst they are eye wateringly expensive for what they are, it saves me the ball ache of engineering my own, and they didn't cost me anything, so thanks Dad, you're awesome...!!!

comparing old and new

fitting was a breeze, didn't even need to remove the wheels... extreme caution was needed to not break the very fragile plastic arms on the sensors as that would have been a bad day. I spent a little time taking the crud off of the ball joints and greasing them up... as everything is better with lubed balls surely...!!!

adjustment wise i sent them 5mm shorter than the original arms, which according to the instructions would have dropped it a further 25mm.... it didn't. I drove it the last week (as i am now away from home during the week and no access to my tools) to see if it settle and readapted itself. it was a little lower...

so today i have reduced the adjustment a further 3 turns shorter and will drive it another week for some settling...!!!

How she currently sits...

in other news i think i might have found a source in China to make me a "Black Edition" front grill as i am planning on dechroming the outside and would rather not paint the grill... just waiting on confirmation and lead times.

 

[daytonamart]

Excellent work as always.