Hello! I hate to make my first post to any forum a cry for help, but this time I have no choice...

I'm 99% sure I'm buying a denim blue 2002 TT (180). I drove the car, and it's a GREAT car -- I am really impressed with just about everything, and I come from Mercedes and Porsche cars. That being said, I noticed that the car isn't just 'zippy', it's VERY quick. The turbo noise is pronounced, and I can hear the wastegate actuating rather audibly whenever I mash the clutch while putting it through the gears.

Now there is a CEL that was cleared and came back while I was driving the car, "Internal Control Module Memory".

The service tech suggested that perhaps the battery was very low and then replaced, and the car had not properly been cleared. I was skeptical of this, as I was from the moment I stepped on the gas about 80% of the way and chirped the tires in 1st gear rolling at about 10 mph (without dumping the clutch or anything like that). I think it's been chipped, and I want to make sure if I'm right or not.

Now, the OBD-II scanner returned this information on the control module (which appears to me to be audi stock at first glance): "1.8L R4/VT TYPE G 0004 / PART NO. N0906018AL / CODING 07500 / WSC 13878"

Judging by the first bit of the code returned, I'm assuming it's the stock ECU that's just been re-mapped.

I'm going to have the guy plug a laptop into it and check the mapping to see if it lines up with stock.


Should this car be THAT fast stock? I mean, I was really impressed with the performance. Also, should I be able to hear the wastegate THAT audibly, or did someone put a BOV on it? Either way the car is in impeccible shape, I'm just being nitpicky....


Thanks a bunch!! Look forward to contributing here

 

Ah, I forgot to mention: after the tech suggested it was a battery issue, I had him clear it and then drove the car for about 20 more minutes. By the time I returned, the light was back on. So it's definitely recurring... Another question is this: if the boost has been turned up, what is a safe number for it to be at right now?

 

I have the same thing almost, and yes, the car has been chipped! Stock it will not break loose anytime through first, also there should be no wastegate sound. Sounds like somebody has remapped the ecu (flashed) which is the best way to do it, and then installed a high performance diverter valve (which is what you hear blowing off between shifts) I dunno what the code is, but this car being chipped isnt a bad thing. I think a safe boost to be running, which mine is now i belelive is 15lbs.

The person who chipped it probably spent about $750 on the mods.
$500 - The ECU download
$150 - Diverter Valve

and taxes and install.


Hope this helps!

 

That's really good to hear! Yes, this thing is quick, and it breaks loose like it's going out of style! So it's likely just an upgraded diverter valve, not a BOV?

When I get the car, I'm going to do some really classy looking custom upgrades to it, so I'll keep you posted

 

No, no BOV. We cannot run BOV's because we have a pressure monitor that looks for the recycled pressure after the diverter valve has released the pressure. The diverter valve puts the air back into the turbo system, where the blow off vavle releases into the atmosphere. If we did run a BOV our CEL would be on all the time and our engine would run like a geo metro 3 cyl.!

Not as loud sounding, but still.. an upgraded DV sounds pretty good in my opinion!

Let me know what you do to it. My next mod is rims, Front Mount Intercooler, Exhaust.

 

Ah, ok... It didn't run like a BOV, so I was curious, as usually cars with a BOV tend to run poorly.

It's tinted all the way around with very classy looking 17" 5-spoke upgraded rims. I'm going to black out the emblems, paint the wheels in a brilliant silver with color-keyed spokes, tint the front and rear lights, and probably look at removing the resonator. I might try to remove the catalytic converter (if you're Johnny Law, by "I'm going to remove the catalytic converter", I actually mean "I would never modify my catalytic converters, sir"), as long as there is no 02 sensor AFTER the last cat... if there is, maybe I'll search for an 02 sensor dummy that always reads A-OK.

As soon as I figure out how to attach a picture, I will show you a very slightly photoshopped image of what I'm planning... Tell me what you think!

 

Here's what I have in mind...

[IMG]local://upfiles/24808/FC15AC000F4A4129998D9779BC2833B7.jpg[/IMG]

 

Damn dude. I like the looks of that. These cars def. stand out when you add some nice rims to them.

And yes, I love the 1st gear break loose. Go around a corner and floor it in second with the Traction control turned off.... It will break loose there too! Fun!

 

no point in screwin with the cats, you won't see much difference from it. If you pull the resonator though, post up a sound clip, I'm thinking about it, but I want to know what it sounds like before I put the time into it.

 

Alrighty, thanks for the heads up... have other people on here removed their cats? Turbocharged motors usually see a high level of gain from freeing up the flow of exhaust... MUCH moreso than N/A motors, as I'm sure everyone knows. Unless the cats are not that restrictive to begin with, how can there be so little difference in removing the obstruction (especially with the 180, which seems like an even more restrictive exhaust)? It would seem that, if there is little gain, that the ECU tuning would have something to do with it.

I will, however, remove the resonator (I'll fab a straight pipe that can be bolted in/out) and post sound clips.

I may focus on making my own VTDA first, however. I like to be able to take credit for my performance mods, ya know? Plus, I enjoy building my own stuff!