Stapan's build thread

[stapan]

Fall 2017 - I decide after 8 years with my highly-modified Volvo S60R (below) it's time for a new vehicle.







The old car is for sale BTW. 2005 S60R, about 75k miles, perfectly maintained and solid including recent new OEM shocks, new DWS06s etc. Many, many upgrades focusing on reliability and performance including iPD stage 2. Only asking $9000.

[stapan]

October 2017 - after tons of research and test drives, and wanting a high performance SUV, I'm leaning toward a 2012ish X5M or 2012ish Cayenne Turbo with high miles.

I find a beautiful 2012 Cayenne Turbo with 110k miles with all the rare options I want. It drives amazing and is within budget due to the mileage. (Original MSRP over 140k, but now in the low 30s).

In love with the vehicle but doing my due diligence, I call some top Porsche specialists in my area to ask about reliability and weak points.

Long story short, the experts talk me out of buying it because the repairs, maintenance, and insurance costs are all pretty outrageous. Things like potential AC issues, air suspension etc. can be in the many thousands of dollars to deal with. Too risky at this mileage.

Same issue with X5M. So now what??

I do more research online looking at SQ5s, TRD supercharged Tundras, Callaway SUVs etc. Suddenly I discover the amazing potential of the Audi Q5 with the 3.0T drivetrain - minor bolt ons to be as fast as the Cayenne Turbo, reliable, cheap to insure, good gas mileage, great interior and luxury features, drives nice, plenty of space, and I can get a recent low mile under warranty for the same price range... wow! Didn't think an ultra high performance SUV package could be this complete yet within budget. Now to find the right one...

[stapan]

December 2017 - I've looked at 500+ Q5s and SQ5s online, and test driven a few. I discover some tricks to know what options each has based on pics only (ventilated seat icon showing in center dash means Comfort package for example...). I specifically look for a fully loaded model only, because the price doesn't seem to go up with options on these.

Also looking at build dates using VIN lookup (model year is misleading) and in service date on carfax (affects warranty length).

Suddenly it's listed. 2016 Q5 3.0T way under value. Something must be wrong with it. Dealer? Porsche of Delaware - fully legit. Options? Everything- comfort package, sport interior package, adaptive damping suspension, B&O, etc. Extremely rare to find all those in one. Color? Cuvee silver on brown perforated. Unsure because I can't find any local to see. Price? Insanely great deal but far away. Build date? One of the last 2016s made with a late in service date meaning it's barely a year old and has factory warranty into mid 2020.
Condition? I get two top shops near them to do PPI and the car is confirmed absolutely immaculate and perfect. Not even a tiny scratch or rock chip anywhere. Full maintenance record from nearby Audi dealer. Basically it was traded in for a Porsche and the Porsche dealer just wanted to get rid of it asap. I decide to take a leap of faith on the color and buy it.

Now the wait for delivery begins..

[stapan]

January 2018 - Its here! Finally. And color is beautiful in person! Love it. Car is exactly what I wanted as a foundation to build on.

[stapan]

January 2018 - Now the whole point of buying this car is to get the high performance SUV I wanted. Gotta start making that happen right away.

Find the best local specialist - Ingolstadt West. They do a lot of APR stuff, and know these cars and mods well.

I decide on EPL stage 2 with EPL SC pulley to start. Time to get it installed and also have Ingolstadt West go through the car comprehensively just to triple check everything.



They confirm car is immaculate and all looks good.

Now stage 2 within two weeks of getting the car!

[stapan]

February 2018 - As an avid mountain biker, time to get it set up for that.

Decide on Whispbar set up (supposedly much better than OEM racks) along with the new Yakima HighRoad bike carrier.

[stapan]

April 2018 - Loving the car but time to kick things up another notch. Going with a unique approach based on some research and calcs.

KW HAS to keep my adaptive damping suspension which is key for me (I got spoiled by it in the S60R).

30mm H&R DRA wheel spacers in the back only, with OEM wheels, and debadged rear.

Result:

[stapan]

More pics of the new stance after more adjustments and alignment.

[stapan]

July 2018 - time to complete my original goal of high performance.

After much deliberation I decide to add a Fluidampr 183mm crank pulley, EPL dual pulley tune, and Merc Racing M3 quad pass heat exchanger. Here's it all going in at Ingolstadt West.





This process also brings my first negative experience with the car. Ingolstadt West finds my water pump and coolant crossover pipe seals leaking. Decide to replace both with new OEM parts while we have it all apart anyway. Must have been running a bit hot with stage 2 and stock cooling. See my thread on that for more info and what to look out for and a trick I found to help alleviate it. Thankfully it was a relatively low cost fix since we had the front clip off anyway. I do not to try to do a dealer warranty approach given my shiny Fluidampr pulley and other mods.

[stapan]

July 2018 - I also add 034 Motorsports intake tube, modify my stock airbox per the threads on here, and get OBDeleven to modify settings to my liking.

[stapan]

By the way my old car is still for sale if anyone here is interested. Haven't had much time to deal with it. Details in first post.

[if6ws9]

The Volvo is sweet! I drove Volvo's before switching to Audi's and have a special fondness for them. Good luck with the sale, I hope it goes to someone who'll appreciate it.

[kellin]

Great thread! We’ve got nearly identical options/packages and basically the same mods but I’ve got 034 Stage 2 instead of EPL. SUCH a great sleeper in the 3.0 Q5’s.

Separate question: how’s the MPG on the Volvo? I’ve got a friend looking for a commuter that he can still enjoy on the back roads etc.

[stapan]

The Volvo is sweet! I drove Volvo's before switching to Audi's and have a special fondness for them. Good luck with the sale, I hope it goes to someone who'll appreciate it.

Thanks! There seem to be many commonalities between the two brands... great interiors, AWD, performance. The Volvo served me well and I will miss it.

[stapan]

Great thread! We’ve got nearly identical options/packages and basically the same mods but I’ve got 034 Stage 2 instead of EPL. SUCH a great sleeper in the 3.0 Q5’s.

Nice - love the black and titanium theme, looks great! I can't believe what a well kept secret these are. So few people understand how epic our cars are as a high performance, reliable luxury package.

Separate question: how’s the MPG on the Volvo? I’ve got a friend looking for a commuter that he can still enjoy on the back roads etc.

It's actually surprisingly good cruising on the highway - got about 28mpg stock, and now up to 31-32 after all the mods. But drops to 16ish when entering boost or in stop and go / city usage. One of the most versatile and comfortable long range commuters out there, I would highly recommend one.

[ThunderDent]

Nice car man!

Loving the build so far.
This is THE best community for information.

Can’t wait to see what you have coming next.

[ThunderDent]

Great thread! We’ve got nearly identical options/packages and basically the same mods but I’ve got 034 Stage 2 instead of EPL. SUCH a great sleeper in the 3.0 Q5’s.

Sweet ride kellin. Love the black/titanium look.

[stapan]

Nice car man!

Loving the build so far.
This is THE best community for information.

Can’t wait to see what you have coming next.

Thanks ThunderDent! Trying to finalize exhaust plan shortly. I have something unique in mind but I'm not sure if it will fit yet. Hoping I'll have time to drop by an exhaust shop this week to check.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Nice work so far! And congrats... I hope you're loving it.

[19birel]

Nice Volvo! I seriously considered an S60 of that generation (not an R just a 2.5T) after I sold my first A4.

The Q5 is looking sharp too, love the color. Keep the mods coming! Any plans for a set of wheels?

[stapan]

Thanks guys!

Will probably do wheels at some point when these tires need replacement. Right now focusing on exhaust next. See my "crazy center exhaust idea" thread I just made for some pics of a unique approach I am considering.

[jester7677]

OP, who builds a house like that in that neighborhood? :)

I commend you for your diligence and patience, I can only dream of ever having that amount.

[stapan]

July 2018 - time to do exhaust because I feel it would greatly add to my experience and enjoyment of the vehicle (and maybe free up a little more power now that I'm dual pulley).

Lots of research leads me to use Magnaflow resonated x pipes because they seem to work well on this powertrain.

Need to experiment a bit to see what gives the result I want though. No one seems to have quite found perfection.

After much deliberation, the basic design I decide to go with:
Magnaflow 12468 in place of baby resonators
Magnaflow 11385 in place of center resonator
Doug's Headers dual 2.5" exhaust cutouts between the two Magnaflows
Borla 4" 20156 exhaust tips

[Mops@Nemesis]

Very nice!!! For many years, I used MF resonators and tips to build custom systems. Always with great results.

[stapan]

First we tried it with the stock rear mufflers. Basically silent car even at WOT.

Then we cut the rear mufflers off. Awesome sounding but too loud.

Then we installed the baby resonators where the rear mufflers used to be. Now it's low to medium volume, great sounding and with neat shift sounds. Like a supercar almost at much lower volume. Silent when cruising.. but with a little bit of drone here and there.

If I didn't have the cutouts I would leave as is.

But makes more sense to make it silent so rear mufflers going back on soon.

[stapan]

Some more shots with the new setup.

[schmove]

That muffler shop does super clean work! Your Q is looking fantastic!!

[stapan]

That muffler shop does super clean work! Your Q is looking fantastic!!

Thanks! Yeah, I've been pretty impressed with them. Although today they tried to give me back the car with one tip clearly sticking out more than the other ..ugh.

[stapan]

Today we put back the stock rear mufflers instead of the baby resonators that replaced them.

Amazing how much the sound depends in the rears even with two large dual mufflers in front of them.

Now it's completely, eerily silent with cutouts closed, like an electric car with more sound deadening. Maybe I'm getting old, but I love it. When I feel like I want more, I can just open the cutouts.

Also not sure if its just perception but it feels like the car gained some power across all RPM after the exhaust. It's running very strong and extremely smooth, with no vibrations or significant sound at any point. The car seems to really like the Fluidampr and double x pipe going from 2.5" in the front down to 2.25" in the center.

It is an odd sensation taking off faster than an M3 and not hearing much of anything though lol.

[DarthBajan]

Subscribed for more awesomeness.

[stapan]

A little teaser of what showed up today. Going with a new 2018 style I haven't seen anyone try yet.

[Img]https://i.imgur.com/6M8lTWO.jpg[img]

[tcm glx]

Looks like the TSW Chrono! Sizes? Can’t wait to see it

[PlatanoRafil]

Loving this so far, definitely gonna keep up with the progress

[stapan]

Looks like the TSW Chrono! Sizes? Can’t wait to see it

Wow great guess! How'd you know?

They are in fact TSW Chrono in 21x10.5 et32, silver.
Hoping that 285/35/21 Pilot Super Sports fit without spacers.

[stapan]

Loving this so far, definitely gonna keep up with the progress

Thanks! It's really coming along and I'm loving the car so far.

[tcm glx]

Wow great guess! How'd you know?

They are in fact TSW Chrono in 21x10.5 et32, silver.
Hoping that 285/35/21 Pilot Super Sports fit without spacers.

Looked at the pic on the box, and kinda guessed!! Can’t wait to see it. I’d be prepared, prolly need a 3-5MM spacer up front.

[stapan]

Propped one up against the front wheel to get a quick visual preview / comparison to stock:

[MK2SQ]

Wow great looking Audi, looking foreword to see how it looks with the new shoes

[stapan]

New shoes are on! Dirty car but here are some pics:











Final specs:
TSW Chrono (Rotary Forged) 21x10.5 et32 (~27 lbs)
Continental DWS06 295/35/21 all around
H&R spacers 3mm front/12mm rear
RAD dacromet lug bolts 32mm front / 41mm rear

Thinking to drop it 1/2" all around (with more negative camber) to get it just right.

[alpineaudi]

That...looks...amazing!
Whats your fender to ground measurement?