Awesome build thread Metalman!

After much back and forth I have decided to go with the F21 on my 01 A4 1.8TQM. I have learned much from your dealings with this upgrade between the original version and the F21, so hopefully the install won't be too difficult. I am currently on Motoza Stage 1, so it will be a breeze to switch to the Hybrid K04 Tune.

I'm also curious to see dyno results of your setup now that your clutch isn't slipping. Are you happy with the power that the F21 is putting down? And did you notice a difference between the F4H-L and the F21, or does the difference between the PC-16 tune (on the 98 narrow band) and the Motoza tune (on the 01 wide band) make the two not considerable for comparison?

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the kind words!

Just a quick rundown on my various setups over the years:

1998 A4, AEB engine:
GIAC tune, stock K03
FrankenTurbo F4H-L:
GIAC K03 tune
GIAC PC-16
GIAC PC-16 with VR6 MAF and 440cc injectors, reduced fuel pressure
United Motorsports Stage 3, 630cc injectors, 3-3.5bar fuel pressure

2001 A4, AWM engine:
FrankenTurbo F4H-L:
Stock K03 tune
Motoza 550cc tune, stock MAF
FrankenTurbo F21-L:
Motoza 550cc tune (same)

Honestly I didn't really notice a change from F4H to F21, but the car was also down for a couple weeks during that swap. I only replaced the F4H because of suspected problems (which probably didn't actually exist).

You should be good-to-go with Motoza and FrankenTurbo. My tune still has some kinks I am hoping to work out with Dave (mostly during low-load / normal driving, in 1st gear), but otherwise it seems like a great tune.

 

You're very welcome and thanks for the reply.

I'm glad you have enjoyed the tune from Dave as I will definitely be sticking with Motoza when I upgrade. I am currently waiting to get my ECU back from him as it was chipped by MTM (which I was unaware of). The previous owner had no clue it was chipped and it felt stock to me lol.

So is there any reason you stayed with the stock MAF on your 2001? I see you had the VR6 one on the 98...

I was planning on getting the 3" one that is offered in the FT kit...

 

Yeah it's a simple reason: the AEB MAF can only read up to ~190 g/s (grams per second) of mass airflow rate. The F21 is good for about 220 g/s maximum, so for the AEB you need the 3" MAF to extend the ECU's ability of measuring airflow.
The AWM MAF is good for up to about 227 g/s I believe, so it can measure more airflow than you would see from a F21. Besides, if you use a 3" MAF, the MAF housing itself is not only larger diameter but is also longer than stock, making it that much more difficult to fit (especially if sticking with the stock airbox).
In my experience using a cone filter off the end of a 3" MAF results in a LOT of noise coming from the FT turbo, like huffing/puffing even during regular driving. It's awful if you ever have passengers.

 

When you had the 98, which VR6 MAF did you use? The 12V or 24V variant? I'm looking into the new GTTx kit which Gonzo said will require a maf upgrade. VR6 housing seems a little cheaper than the TT225 one too.

 

You gotta be a little careful here... '98 (AEB) uses a MK3 VR6 MAF housing (with stock A4 MAF sensor), but '01 (AWM) uses MK4 VR6 or TT225 MAF housing (with stock A4 MAF sensor). You cannot use the same MAF housing from an AEB on an AWM and vice versa.

Just yesterday for my AWM I received and installed a 3" MAF (aka MK4 VR6 or TT225) housing from Doug @ FrankenTurbo. He sold me it separately, and charged $50. Might be worth looking into.

 

Sounds good thanks for the information. I ended up ordering the F21 kit last night and just emailed him to add the MAF housing to the order. Probably safer to go with the larger housing.

 

Good call. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I started out with the stock MAF housing with Motoza, simply because I was planning to keep the stock airbox unmodified. My first base file was mistakenly set for a 3" MAF housing, which of course made things "interesting". It was corrected pretty quickly for stock 2.75" MAF housing, but since I've been having sort of jerky throttle control (mostly in first gear) even after a few revisions, I wanted to try my original first base file + 3" MAF housing.

 

Nice nice. Yeah I figure for an extra fifty bucks, and a little modification to the airbox, why not? Maxing the 2.75" housing is probably not the best idea moving forward either and maybe it does have something to do with your first gear issues. Do you still have your old modified airbox from your 98?

I did a little diy project yesterday on the stock airbox intake tube. I didn't like how you could see gaps between the plastic on the first portion (that attaches to the rad support), and how the two pieces join together so loosely, so I sprayed about 6 coats of bedliner spray to the tube to help insulate from heat, as well as plug all the gaps I could see.

I covered it so the two pieces become one (it's pretty easy to remove in one piece). That plastic was so hot the temps of the pre-compressed air are probably pushing iat's way up. Of course my HFC is not yet wrapped. I plan on doing that in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of IAT's, I'll be running the Apikol side mount intercooler and bought a nice vent from a marine supply website to vent the fender liner. Probably not the best cooling for Arizona, but I picked up the SMIC in the classifieds for $200.00, so you can't really beat that. I don't like hacking the bumper to fit a FMIC either. I did that on my 337 and it was a pain. So there are definitely pros and cons to fmic's and smic's.

 

If/when you modify the stock airbox lid, I would recommend adding some sort of bellmouth (AKA velocity stack or venturi) inlet adapter to the MAF housing, like the stock MAF housing uses. If I do this to my stock airbox lid I'll use an aluminum 3" tube and cut a bunch of slots into one end and "banana" them to form the right shape. Then tape over these with aluminum foil duct tape to smooth it. Like what I did to my old car:



To be honest I don't see a hot airbox snorkel contributing much to IATs. It pulls in fresh air, and being plastic it will only have a minor impact on the temperature of the air flowing through it.
The turbo will have the greatest effect on IATs of course, hence the need for an intercooler.

I'm curious if you can log before/after IAT temps using the normal/wrapped HFC, to see if that would make much of a difference.

Totally jealous of your $200 Apikol SMIC! I would have much preferred SMIC over FMIC for my car, but I've not seen an upgraded SMIC for less than ~$350 shipped.
To add FMIC to my car cost $240 for CX Racing piping kit (already owned the intercooler), and of course required LOTS of cutting. Things still don't sit 100% right and probably never will with the FMIC.