The Audi A3 Cabrio is Lame, and Slow.

[AlaskanAudi]

(So I am doing something about it)




Hey all, long time no see! You might remember some years back I documented the salvage rebuild of my former 2015 Audi S3 that I fixed and immediately drove across the country:

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ebuild-Project

I have since sold that car and have kind of been hanging out in the D4 S8 forums (admittedly not much going on there). Working on cars has kind of developed into a serious hobby, so much so that I created a YouTube channel to document what I have been up to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCok...gnmJr-oJPNJzHA

Anyway, please welcome my latest project(s). Admittedly the biggest one I have ever undertaken!

I’m starting with a 2016 Audi A3 Cabrio Premium (aka basically a base model). Front wheel drive, 1.8t, basically a Golf underneath. I bought this car in 2021 for my girlfriend from a copart lot. The car had minor front end damage and I fixed it up that same year. Since then, we have been driving it around and it’s been great - fuel efficient, comfortable, but admittedly not very fun.





I knew that I eventually wanted to make this car a bit more fun. Then an opportunity came up to buy a crashed 2018 Audi S3.




The car is pretty banged up, so I decided to use it as a parts car for the cabrio to make (to my knowledge) the first Audi S3 Cabrio in the USA.

Knowing how much fun the S3 is, and imagining how much more fun it would be with no roof, i knew I had to go for it.

One major complaint I had about my 2015 S3 was the short gearing. I would get 25-27 mpg on the highway at 70 mph, and the tach would be near or above 3k rpm in 6th gear. This 2018 has a 7 speed DSG that should remedy that issue and make for a much more pleasant highway experience. That, and of course the updated MMI, headlights, and tail lights.

So, I will be “retrofitting” this S3 into my A3 cabrio as close to factory as possible. I’ll be using this thread to document my progress, and hopefully inspire some of you.

As soon as I got the S3 into my garage, I got to work disassembling and marking all wiring that will be transplanted into the cabrio.





Stay tuned!


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[MikTip]

Awesome!

Keep up the good work!

[evo v]

Nice! I remember the silver S3 you rebuilt few years ago. Are the floors the same? I thought front wheel drive has different floor under the spare tire. You will need to transfer all of it with the rear subframe, haldex and the fuel tank. I rebuilt crashed 2016 Audi TT roadster couple years ago. Just finished rebuilding 2022 Taos for my little daughter and 2 days ago got another TT - 2019 20th anniversary edition for my other daughter. This TT will replace the 2015 A3 quattro as it is already with 155K miles.

[AlaskanAudi]

Nice! I remember the silver S3 you rebuilt few years ago. Are the floors the same? I thought front wheel drive has different floor under the spare tire. You will need to transfer all of it with the rear subframe, haldex and the fuel tank. I rebuilt crashed 2016 Audi TT roadster couple years ago. Just finished rebuilding 2022 Taos for my little daughter and 2 days ago got another TT - 2019 20th anniversary edition for my other daughter. This TT will replace the 2015 A3 quattro as it is already with 155K miles.

Nice! I remember the silver S3 you rebuilt few years ago. Are the floors the same? I thought front wheel drive has different floor under the spare tire. You will need to transfer all of it with the rear subframe, haldex and the fuel tank. I rebuilt crashed 2016 Audi TT roadster couple years ago. Just finished rebuilding 2022 Taos for my little daughter and 2 days ago got another TT - 2019 20th anniversary edition for my other daughter. This TT will replace the 2015 A3 quattro as it is already with 155K miles.

Awesome, I think the TT is such a sweet car, I hope you enjoy it. Are you documenting the rebuild anywhere? Would love to see.

You’re right, I will need all of those things. Sadly, the fuel tank from the sedan s3 and the convertible is different. The fuel door is in a different location. So I sourced an AWD cabrio fuel tank, should fit in there nicely.

I have also rebuilt a few cars since my silver S3. Not including this cabrio, a 2014 Jetta Sportwagen TDI which I later converted to AWD (almost done), and also a 2018 Tiguan SE, that I retrofitted the crap out of to be almost a full SEL premium rline. Check out the thread: https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/abs...build.9518259/


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[evo v]

Yes, I have the Taos rebuild in VWVortex too. Not in huge details but the basics. I will create one for the TT too here in the model forum.

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[AlaskanAudi]

Yes, I have the Taos rebuild in VWVortex too. Not in huge details but the basics. I will create one for the TT too here in the model forum.

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Drop the link!

[AlaskanAudi]

Made some progress today. Began the disassembly on the cabrio. The more I think about it, the more I think I will add wiring for the DCC, fuel pump, bang and olufsen, blind spot monitors, etc. Rather than transplanting the entire harness. Up to now, I have not began taking apart the engine compartment, so that strategy may change.

Getting a lot of déjà vu taking apart two 8Vs in 24 hours.









Once I’m done with the interior, I’ll move on to pulling the bumpers off the A3, which should be quick, and then onto the engines.


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[evo v]

Here is the link for the Taos.

https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/tao...hread.9526237/

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[AlaskanAudi]

Just stumbled on something I completely forgot about. The trunk floor!

Check out the difference between the S3 and A3 trunk floors. The S3’s floor is lifted to account for the rear diff, the a3’s is deeper. Doing a quick search for part numbers, I found that the floor panel itself is the same between the Sedan AWD and cabrio AWD.

I’ve never done this before, but I will be cutting out the floors and replacing them. Not gonna lie, im nervous.




Sorry for the mess, but I hope the difference is clear.


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[evo v]

Just stumbled on something I completely forgot about. The trunk floor!

Check out the difference between the S3 and A3 trunk floors. The S3’s floor is lifted to account for the rear diff, the a3’s is deeper. Doing a quick search for part numbers, I found that the floor panel itself is the same between the Sedan AWD and cabrio AWD.

I’ve never done this before, but I will be cutting out the floors and replacing them. Not gonna lie, im nervous.




Sorry for the mess, but I hope the difference is clear.


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I just went through this on the Taos. Be sure you don't drill the wholes on the convertible all the way thru. You don't need to worry about the donor car. Advise - start somewhere else on the donor car until you get the feel for it. Once you get going it's not that bad. I used a sharp paint can opener to separate the 2 pieces. And hope you have good drill bits. By the time I finished my whole set was destroyed.

[AlaskanAudi]

I just went through this on the Taos. Be sure you don't drill the wholes on the convertible all the way thru. You don't need to worry about the donor car. Advise - start somewhere else on the donor car until you get the feel for it. Once you get going it's not that bad. I used a sharp paint can opener to separate the 2 pieces. And hope you have good drill bits. By the time I finished my whole set was destroyed.

I’ve never drilled out spot welds before, so this advice is great - thank you.

Are you saying to drill the spot welds all the way through? And then to fill the hole back up with the welder going back together with it?


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[evo v]

No, no. You can drill them all the way on the donor car. On the convertible drill only the floor and try to keep everything else ( the other side of the weld) intact.

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[evo v]

I found the easiest way is if your drill bit is about a 1mm larger than the spot weld. You drill half way and then chisel out the 2 pieces.

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[AlaskanAudi]

Ahh okay that’s what I was thinking as well. Thanks for the advice!


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[CavEsk1337]

Cool thread man. Keeping an eye on this!

[Spinnetti]

Floor isn't hard - Buy a spot weld cutter. They are cheap and that way you don't drill through both panels on the good car.

[AlaskanAudi]

Floor isn't hard - Buy a spot weld cutter. They are cheap and that way you don't drill through both panels on the good car.

Thanks for that advice. Do you have one that you have used and recommend?

[AlaskanAudi]

Making some progress this evening. Already noticing differences between the standard sedan rear subframe, and the cabrio one. This subframe has reinforcement bars as well as two extra bolts to the body (compare to the 4 standard bolts). Comparing it to the S3 rear subframe, I know I’ll have to do some welding to retain those mounting points.

In all, I’m getting the car ready to start swapping the trunk floor.



Also, check out the first video in the series!
https://youtu.be/RMGtESP_1N8


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[AlaskanAudi]

Pulled the engine out. If anyone wants it shoot me a message.

Discovered that there are only 3 wires that are different between the A3 1.8T and S3 2.0T ECUs. Those three wires related to the active exhaust. Pretty neat!




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[AlaskanAudi]

There are quite a few differences in the engine bay between the FWD and the AWD cars. The windshield washer reservoir on the A3 lives on the outside of the driver frame rail. That spot is taken up by an auxiliary radiator on the S3. Lucking those mounting points (threaded studs) are in the same spot so I could easily swap the radiators. The S3s windshield washer reservoir lives on the inside of the passenger rail, next to the serpentine belt. Unfortunately, the A3 did not have studs for mounting it.

I didn’t know how to weld on studs without drilling through the frame rail (and I didn’t want to do that). So I went to harbor freight and picked up a stud welder for dent pulling. I then drilled out the tip to accept the threaded studs which I cut off the parts car. Plopped them in and boom, welded new studs for the windshield washer reservoir!

I did this with the engine out because it would have been impossible with it in.

Making some progress!




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[AlaskanAudi]

Happy Memorial Day, my US friends! I took this day to swap the engines. The A3 now has an S3 heart and I’m trying to sell the 1.8T because it’s taking up way too much space.

Now to begin plugging everything up and running some extra wires. Super happy that the first big milestone is over with!

The next big milestone will be the trunk floor. I’ll have a post on that, but I’ll tell you right now that it’s not gonna be simple, because the roof mechanism bulkhead. It’s gonna be very tricky.




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[MikTip]

Nice!

[AlaskanAudi]

A “while you’re in there moment.” Decided to pop off the intake to check on the valves. Would you believe that these are the dirtiest valves I’ve ever seen. A good 2+ mm of crud on the baffle plates. Guess we’re gonna be doing the carbon clean. Results to come!









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[evo v]

How many miles do you have on the S3? I've done carbon cleanup 5-6 times and the first on any car was the worst. My first ever was on a 93K miles 2009 A3 8P. It was very similar condition to yours.

[AlaskanAudi]

How many miles do you have on the S3? I've done carbon cleanup 5-6 times and the first on any car was the worst. My first ever was on a 93K miles 2009 A3 8P. It was very similar condition to yours.

This is my second time doing a carbon clean. The first time was on my former b8 S4.

The S3 has just under 60k miles and judging by the connectors, the intake manifold has never been removed which means that this is the car’s first cleaning.

Since you’ve done this 5-6 times, what is your method? On my S4 I did it my hand and it was super tedious and tiring. Doing the same thing on this S3 and gave up and ordered a walnut blaster. Let me know which method you find success with.


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[evo v]

I've done it by hand, using carb cleaner from AutoZone to soften the buildup. I'm done to 2-3 hours end to end.

On another note my TT arrived today. I was able to start it briefly but the battery is dead. 20230531_184644.jpg

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[AlaskanAudi]

I've done it by hand, using carb cleaner from AutoZone to soften the buildup. I'm done to 2-3 hours end to end.

On another note my TT arrived today. I was able to start it briefly but the battery is dead. 20230531_184644.jpg

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Fantastic! Are you done with the TT now?


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[AlaskanAudi]

I began cleaning the valves by hand a quickly gave up. Decided to pull the plug on a carbon cleaning kit from ECS Tuning. Don’t know if any of you live in Houston but it’s been brutally humid and hot. The cleaning did not go that well due to the moisture in the compressor, but it cut the work by 70% or so. I finished off the rest by hand.

Not too shabby!







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[AlaskanAudi]

With the engine in, I went ahead and installed the s3 subframe and steering rack. Took the opportunity to also install Whiteline front roll bar as a “while you’re in there.” Should handle nicely.

Also went ahead and installed the brakes and suspension.




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[evo v]

You make a good progress. I've done carbon cleaning by hand few times and I'm used to it by now.

The TT is running and keeping up to temperature. I've sent the seatbelts and control module to be rebuilt. They should be back this week. Next is body shop to fix the bend legs and once the hood, bumper and fender arrive - paint.

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[MikTip]

Walnut shell media blast works best.

30 minutes done. All 4

Every things on Amazon







Just need a shop vac and an air compressor

95psi.

[AlaskanAudi]

Walnut shell media blast works best.

30 minutes done. All 4

Every things on Amazon







Just need a shop vac and an air compressor

95psi.

Yea I ran about 120 psi. Not sure how to get rid of the moisture in the tank though, that’s what killed my progress.


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[revulike]

Apart from being red and having an 'S' cover, are the brake calipers any different to the A3's?
They look the same.

[MikTip]

https://www.amazon.com/Regulator-Con.../dp/B01FOQK37E

[AlaskanAudi]

Apart from being red and having an 'S' cover, are the brake calipers any different to the A3's?
They look the same.

They are actually different. Bigger rotors and bigger pistons. Even though they are still single piston front brakes. In my previous two S3s, I loved the braking performance


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[AlaskanAudi]

https://www.amazon.com/Regulator-Con.../dp/B01FOQK37E

Thank you for this! Will absolutely use this next time


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[AlaskanAudi]

Well, the second major milestone has officially begun. The first was swapping the motor, the rear end is the second.

Not gonna lie, I am still quite intimidated about drilling out spot welds and cutting the body, but this is the start. As you can see, I cut the trunk floor with a disc to give me room to drill out the spot welds and clean out what needs to be cleaned out. I’m am sticking to my original plan of swapping the floor from the sedan. Now, I’m just gonna try my best not to damage the sedan floor.

Because the floor skin (punny) is so integral to the trunk - aka the sheet metal is pinned against the inner wheel well metal, I have decided to cut the S3 floor to allow me to lay in on top of the existing grooves in the cabrio body, and then spot weld them there.

I’ll explain more in my video (which I haven’t even filmed yet, lol) but I think that will be the cleanest route.

Updates to follow!




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[jc_B8_A4]

Subbed to you man. Literally all I watch is YouTube channels doing copart rebuilds and the like so looking forward to seeing the vids


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[SuperN0VA]

And all this time I thought I was handy because I do a lot of my mods. You are insane and I mean that in the very best way.

[AlaskanAudi]

Subbed to you man. Literally all I watch is YouTube channels doing copart rebuilds and the like so looking forward to seeing the vids


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Really appreciate this, makes it worth recording what I do! Thanks for the sub


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