We wanted something that would improve the ride quality drastically. Lower ride height and improved handling and stability were wanted too, but the focus was actually on comfort. KW V3’s ticked all these boxes, allowing us to find a sweet spot between all 3.

Looking and driving much better, aesthetics improved, handling enhanced, but a vast improvement in ride quality making ti a much more pleasant car to drive. Next up, a couple of induction mods. Racingline Turbo Inlet and a Sprint Filters Panel Filter for a little extra airflow and some mild turbo wooshes.

Wheels. The standard wheels are a bit marmite, some people hate the diamond cut OEM look, others think they suit the car perfectly. We’re with the latter, but we do love a motorsport themed multispoke wheel too. Considering this cars commute can get a bit sketchy in the winter we figured we could scratch the itch for a different wheel by getting some winter wheels and tyres. In steps the MSW 85. A very affordable 16″ wheel in a matt gunmetal grey finish. They look the part and are surprisingly light, win win.

They look soo good that we are considering making the change permanent. Not pictured are some fresh brakes in the form of Vagbremtechnic hoocked discs and EBC red stuff pads. Redstuff was chosen for the low dust aspect and previous adequacy on another car. While the low dust feature is great and really does work, we would recommend something like Ferodo DS Performance if you intend to do some spirited driving.

Current Spec:
KW V3 Coilovers
Racingline Turbo Inlet
Sprint Filter
MSW 85 Winter Wheels
Vagbremtechnic Front Discs (not pictured)
EBC Redstuff Front Pads (not pictured)
ST Rear Spacers (not pictured)

Spec:
Eibach Pro Kit
ST 12.5m Spacer Kit

APR software is proving very popular on the the EA888 Gen 3 engines and its not hard to see why. This S3 came to us totally stock and the owner looking for a remap only.

The car gained 61bhp and 107lb-ft of torque over the stock figures, no hardware required. With this serious increase in power the car will feel much faster on the road and not just when driving hard. The increase in midrange torque will make day to day driving effortless. The same APR upgrade is available for the Golf MK7 R and the Leon Cupra. Stage one is the best “bang for buck” modification you can make. If you are interested in an APR ECU or TCU upgrade for your car or need more information, please contact our sales team

sales@clpautomotive.co.uk
01142 701025

Before any tuning or aftermarket parts could be fitted the car needed a full service (using genuine parts) and a check on the fuel pump cam follower. A common issue with the 2.0TFSI engines is excess wear on the cam follower ultimately leading to fuel pump failure and/or damage to the cam. For peace of mind a brand new Genuine VAG cam follower was fitted. Another common issue is the standard Diverter Valve failing and loosing boost. This car was no exception, having several holes in the OEM DV diaphragm. This was replaced alongside the GFB DV+, eliminating the chance of the problem reoccurring and allowing the DV to hold boost for longer. The lower engine mount was also a little tired and worn. Using the SuperPro lower engine mount we managed to stop excess movement occurring under hard acceleration and gear changes, giving a better response and feel during fast gear changes.

As can happen with a lot of cars of a certain age, the exhaust on the golf had become corroded and brittle over time. As a result the original backbox detached itself from the rest of the system. Time for an upgrade! The standard cat back system was removed completely in favour of a 3″ Scorpion Cat Back system.

In preparation to take the car to APR stage 2 we installed an Integrated Engineering intake. All that is left to install the stage 2 software is a performance downpipe and High Pressure Fuel Pump upgrade (HPFP).