Neil A3 Quattro Turbo

Hi All,

Hope someone can help. I have just recently got my new Audi A3 Turbo 1.8T from the showroom and Im a bit confused about the best way to accelarate in the car.

The Audi liturature says that the turbo stops spinning at 5,500 RPM therefore if you rev over this the turbo must stop working?

The accelaration on the car is very good - but sometimes it seems to perform very badly.

I took the car to my Audi dealer and they ran an engine diagnostics check etc and said it was fine.

The mechinic took me out for a drive and showed me how you can rev the car as high as you want because a rotor kicks in and stops the engine from being pushed too far.

My question is what are the optimum revs to change gear from all of your experience to accelarate the car from being stationary as quickly as possible.

Any feedback would be appreciated because at the moment I am really missing my old 1.9GTI Peageot which felt alot faster to me.

Please email me with any feedback : neilkalsi@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks.

Neil.

AL B

Hi,

Others (John Robins for example) might be able to give you more tips but in my 1.8T Sport...

RE: <I>The Audi liturature says that the turbo stops spinning at 5,500 RPM therefore if you rev over this the turbo must stop working? </I>

I'm not sure, but I doubt the turbo will stop spinning. It could loose its effectiveness maybe, but it won't stop.

RE: <I>The accelaration on the car is very good - but sometimes it seems to perform very badly.</I>

I had the same opinion when I first got my car. What I've learned to do is generally use the gears more (thanks to John Robins and David R).

For instance in town driving, were a quick blast of acceleration might be needed, try to keep the revs touching 2000rpm, or just above. E.g. 40mph, 3rd gear = just above 2000rpm. At those revs the turbo is just about spooled up, the car picks up a little slowly to 2500rpm, but then pulls progressively. Also, don't be afraid to give the throttle a good blip, and knock it down to second for extra launching power. Another thing to remember is the car will only be running at full boost when your foot is firmly planted to that nice carpet. So no pissing about with half throttle when over-taking.

When on the motorway too, don't be afraid to knock it down to fourth for extra acceleration. Keeping it in 5th and relying on that "torque" was a mistake I made for ages. Up until meeting John Robins and David R in fact. I was being too gentle with the car and the gears. Not anymore.

RE: <I>stationary starts</I>
I slip the clutch at about 1500 - 2000 rpm. Anymore and I get the transmission judder effect, with wheels bouncing all over the place. Very poor. Never tried a 5000rpm racing style start in my own car. Generally, I change gear at about 6000rpm.

Also, if the 0-60 dash is important, don't forget to do power changes. Keep your right foot planted as you change gear, but make the change very fast.

Hope the above is helpful. Just a few things I picked up. If you knew most of it, sorry for boring you. If you are doing all of that and the car still feels slow...then it could have problems.

Cheers,

AL

David R

You forgot to mention an ECU re-chip Al!

AL B

<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/forum/m/performance/msgs/20013.phtml">https://www.audiworld.com/forum/m/performance/msgs/20013.phtml</a</li></ul>

AL B

Yes David, that would help even more!

DHA

I used to do this all the time and rely on the torque too. Yes you can outrun a small car doing this but you don't know what the other car is doing. In 5th sometimes BMW 318s would outrun me, possibly they changed down.

After Al and John and Davids advice of changing down to 4th I can get away much faster.

DHA

My quattro runs best if you keep it in the power band. Aim to have the car at 3000rpm before you need to get some speed up otherwise it can be a little slow (relatively speaking!) to pick up speed. How many miles have you done in yours? I have 8000 in six months and the engine has began to open up.

AL B

...in rush hour traffic, 7:30pm, could have cost me some points.

I was on the M66, which filters off the M60 on the outskirts of Manchester. I was in the outside lane, gradually passing cars at about 85mph. When all of a sudden some idiot came rushing up behind me and was driving right up my rear bumper. Using the acceleration techniques mentioned earlier, I dropped it down into 4th and floored it. Looking in my mirrors, I was slowly pulling away from the car behind. 85...90...95.....flashing blue light behind me!! OH ****!!! I indicated, pulled into the middle lane, blue light went off (that's strange I thought) and whooosh, an unmarked Police car (black Volvo S40 T4), accelerates past
me.

Not really being a religous man, heart pounding, I said a little prayer for my lucky escape.

They were obviously on their way to another call.

AL

DHA

How brown were your trousers?

AL B

...the headroom in my A3 reduced dramatically as my pants filled!