Tuning potential of the pre-facelift 8V RS3 is huge. With a few choice hardware and software upgrades a monumental increase of 160hp and 180lbfts is available at 4200RPM. But how do we get there? Well, there are 6 essential ingredients which we’ll walk you through below…
First up we replace the stock intercooler with a much larger and more efficient intercooler. From the factory the stock intercooler struggles to keep charge temperature consistently cool, so once boost is increased the stock intercooler becomes a huge performance bottleneck. The Wagner EVO 3 intercooler increases cooling surface area by 84% and charge air volume by 101% which results in charge temperatures being kept consistently cool, even at elevated boost levels.
Secondly, we need to replace the extremely restrictive stock downpipe with a high-flow item. The stock downpipe has three restrictive cats with one placed directly at the turbo exit, whilst great for getting the catalyst up to operating temperature faster type approval it also creates a lot of exhaust back pressure which seriously restricts exhaust flow and increases EGTs. Not good for performance use. The stock downpipe is replaced with a Milltek Sport downpipe which has a wider bore, smoother bends and places a high-flow sports cat in the secondary positon. Dramatically reducing back pressure and EGTs, allowing more performance-oriented boost and ignition levels. As the customer already has the factory sport exhaust, we elected to retain this item as it flows very well and, in our opinion does the 5cyl turbo real justice in the sound department!
Third is the Autotech high volume fuel pump kit. The high-pressure fuel pump is driven by the camshaft, as the camshaft rotates it pushes the pump to create fuel flow, as revs increase this flow increases resulting in an increase of fuel flow. Unfortunately, the stock fuel pump can’t generate sufficient pressure for Stage 2+ power levels. Fortunately, Autotech create a higher volume displacement HPFP allowing the HPFP to generate higher pressures requested by the ECU at Stage 2+.
Finally, the ECU and DSG software is upgraded maximising the performance potential of all of the hardware changes. Whilst not essential for APR Stage 2+ our DSG Tune increases the torque limitations to eliminate torque intervention which improves power delivery (smoothness) and increases the potential peak horsepower and torque. For the ECU software the APR Stage 2+ file was installed which optimises a whole range of parameters inside the ECU which result in class leading horsepower, torque and driveability. Also, not pictured, a high-flow panel filter was installed.
The results speak for their selves as this combination of hardware and software generates a monumental additional 160hp and 180lbfts at 4200RPM as well as 55hp and 166lbfts at peak. Dramatically improving the driving experience, relentlessly pulling up to the 6800RPM rev limit and continuing to accelerate hard in every gear.
All of these upgrades are available at Regal Autosport in Southampton. Contact us using the contact above or on our contact page to upgrade your Audi 8V RS3.