A3 TDI "Big" Turbo

[M0ve0ver]

A few years ago my MK4 TDI was showing its age so I picked up a 2014 TDI Sportwagen. I wound up going turbo-back exhaust, DSG Tune, and Malone Stage 2 Engine tune on it and loved it. When it came time for me to rotate the S4 out of daily driving duties, I started looking for a TDI A3 (with the same motor and trans as the sportwagen).

This past december I found a 2013 A3 in S-Line and titanium trim online from a dealer in Utah with 54k miles. That's a pretty rare trim level for a TDI so I immediately bought it.



The day it was dropped off from the shipper I went and changed the DSG fluid and changed the oil. I also installed a Evo aluminum skid plate.

I drove it stock for a few months and then decided I might as well go full on Euro spec GTD.

I bought a CR170 turbo from borg warner:





A bunch of other stuff to include an EGR valve and cooler delete kit:



And a Rawtek downpipe and midpipe:



I first installed a tune for the DSG:



Then I loaded up the stuff and headed over to the DIY shop:





I worked about 9 hours the first day (friday). Most of that was taking stuff off: The DPF, EGR cooler, Exhaust, and removing the stock turbo. Getting the turbo out from the exhaust tunnel was by far the hardest part. It must have taken me at least an hour. In the future I'd probably drop the sub frame a bit to give me the extra inch. I finally got it out when I tilted the motor forward (after unbolting the dogbone).

By the end of the day I had the turbo manifold torqued to the block, and the oil feed and return lines mounted. I had primed the turbo on the bench with priming oil.



Saturday morning (today) I double checked my work from yesterday and then mounted up the exhaust and EGR valve delete/race pipe.

Here's a look at the back of the motor through the exhaust tunnel. you can see the downpipe, the turbo, and the coolant lines joined with a 90degree fitting (they normally route into the EGR cooler).



I also in stalled a BFI stage 1 dogbone insert. I'm glad I only went stage 1 because there's a decent amount of vibration when reversing now. There's no noticeable vibration while driving and only a little when parked.



After hooking everything back up, changing the oil, and counting the number of empty plugs in the engine bay and then the number of plugs on stuff I removed to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I installed the Malone Stage 3 tune. I then unplugged the injectors and cranked the engine over a few times to further prime the turbo. Once I started the car, I raised the lift to make sure I didn't have any major leaks. Everything checked out.

Here's all the old stuff loaded up:



Car feels pretty good now. There's a significantly more amount of power (tune states 183whp and 310lb-ft).

My next steps are to delete the muffler (eventually) and then install a CP3 fuel pump (thursday):




I desperately need to detail the outside of the car now and plan on ceramic coating it. I'd like to maybe drop it and get some Enkei RPF1 wheels, but we'll see.

[Audibot]

Nice work!!

Was the DSG tune also Malone?

[M0ve0ver]

Yea. I have their DSG tune on my sportwagen as well and it's great.

[red4life5]

Wow! This is an awesome build! Keep up with the progress


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[chi_marketing]

One of my favorite cars was my A3TDI. Love how handy you are and that DIY shop is very cool.

[badtzmar2]

great job on the build! that's a lot of money saved on labor that you were able to do, so kudos to you! I wish I had the time/skills to do all that. I'm only able to do some minor things on the car and haven't taken that big step of working on motor related mods.

[M0ve0ver]

thanks. Most of the work is just taking stuff off. There's a lot less to put back on.

I did have a shop do the fuel pump upgrade thought seeing as I don't have the tools to lock the timing.

I need to get some new tires soon, I'm pretty sure the ones on it are fairly original...
I'll probably get some vredstein quattracks, same as on my sportwagen. I'll go wheel spacers and studs as well when I do. I'd like to get some coils, but it's not really worth it to do right now given how good the ride quality is with the S-line suspension.

[M0ve0ver]

here's a picture after a clay bar and ceramic coating... it really needs a drop.

[M0ve0ver]

So a quick update, just installed some ST XTA Coilovers and some 17" enkei rpf1 wheels.

I need to raise the rear a bit, but we'll see how it is once it settles.

[Tony Soprano]

Thanks so much for this thread. Your car is probably a blast with all of the mods/wheels/suspension all put together. I am currently waiting on an 11 A3 S-line trim DSG TDI to come out of the body shop getting an RS3 Front bumper. It currently has Megan racing springs and as soon as I see how much the body shop bill is (had him paint 75% of the exterior because every little scratch bugs me), I am going to order up pretty much the identical performance parts that you installed on your A3. I was a VW Service Advisor for many years, and my team leader Technician is going to do the install - but giving him this thread makes it that much easier knowing that dropping the sub-frame a few inches will save a bunch of time since it will be done in a shop. Sure beats me spending a weekend doing it myself. I can get all of the parts through tunemyeuro.com - going with a BuzzKen full turbo-back DPF delete straight pipe, purchasing the flashzilla tuner, BW CR170 turbo, Malone stage 3 and DSG tunes, renting the DSG tool, and then going to go with the new fuel pump later like you did. I have one question though - does this car roll some serious coal or what? That really is the only anticipation I have - I know it is going to be fun AF - just wondering if i am going to leave a cloud of black smoke. It seems like everyone and their mother have custom tuning on their Cummins, Powerstroke, and Duramax trucks here in Arizona - I think it would be a total head turner to have a German compact joining the group. Thanks again and will post pictures of the RS3 Bumper / paint work when I get the car back.

[M0ve0ver]

It gives barely a puff of black smoke on heavy acceleration. The turbo is very efficient.

I also took some data logs after installing the CP3 fuel pump and sent them to Malone for an update to the tune. This was mostly just to make sure fuel trims were in spec.

I don't like rolling coal as I find it just draws negative attention. Look at what's happening to the diesel truck tuning scene.

I'd also recommend the rawtek downpipe over the buzzken one. The rawtek one comes in two parts, so it's a bit easier to maneuver/install.

I didn't drop the subframe, I only disconnected the dogbone and tilted the engine. That being said, I managed to force the turbo through the tunnel... If I had moved the axle a bit more I could have dropped it right out between the subframe and block.

[Tony Soprano]

thanks again for the feedback. I'll take your advice on the downpipe - priced everything out and it's a little more than i planned for everything - somewhere around $3600 for all of the parts before the fuel pump and paying someone to install everything. might need to save for a few months - still haven't seen this body shop bill so I guess that will be a big decider also. Again - thanks for the install advice. I may just bite the bullet and do it all myself. You're right about the diesel truck tuning scene. It's messing up even deleting stuff on Semi-Trucks.

What benefits do you see from the fuel pump when adding it after all of these mods? Did Malone confirm your trims were dialed in?

[M0ve0ver]

So I went with the fuel pump for simplicity and reliability. The CP4 fuel pump in these motors can fail and destroy your fuel system... this is likely due to poor lubricity in the fuel used.

Also, get your tune directly from malone rather than going through tunemyeuro. It should save you a bit of money.

Malone made a few tweaks to my tune and I sent them another data log to confirm. I'm not exactly sure what they changed, but it wasn't much.
$3000-3600 sounds about right before adding the fuel pump. You can save a bit of money on the fuel pump by doing it at the same time you do your timing belt.

Don't forget to get the Malone DSG tune as well. It's necessary for going stage 3.

Finally, remove the EGR cooler while you're working behind the engine. Not only do you not need it anymore, but it makes removing the turbo way easier.

[Tony Soprano]

damn I wish I knew that - first thing I did was like you change the DSG fluid and then replace the timing belt - car had 105k on it and had no major service done so I did i nice gates waterpump timing belt kit. Oh well - few hundred bucks lost. I'll post a pic with the RS3 bumper as soon as I get the car back.