admS15

Handles pretty damn good for what it is but there's no getting away from the fact it's an almost 2 ton SUV. I'll report back once I've driven it more, will be getting registered at the end of next week. Was great driving past probably 50 speed cameras without number plates. Thank you unregistered vehicle permit. What's been a stand out so far with this car is how it just effortlessly piles on bulk speed.

This happened today and is now sitting in my driveway. Drove it home to Melbourne from Canberra. 7 hours to get acquainted. What a wonderful piece of machinery. Smooth AF, just does things without fuss or drama. Averaged 6.9lt/100 for the trip. Not bad for a 2 ton lump.

I did a thing. Don't know yet if this is the best or stupidest decision I've ever made but it has 2 turbos makes 230kw and 650nm. Let's see what the future holds.

Fixed

Or LS

Hi Neil, if you don't mind responding publicly to the above post from Bruce, I and probably many other captains would also be interested in your insights. Cheers Bill

$2.19 seems to be the going rate here in Melbourne ATM too. However the United in Braeside s.e Melbourne suburbs, which has been recently rebranded to Astron fuel has always been cheaper than other United's. Last week when I filled up there was $1.97, I just did a fuel spy check and currently showing as $2.06 Braeside Astron VIC $2.06

Wagon practicality and RB goodness with a factory manual to boot. Very nice indeed, I look forward to sensible or even better, not so sensible modifications.

Unit was buried in below the dash but I was able to locate it with a torch. The relay was built in/soldered on to the main board. I simply reached up with a long screwdriver and tapped it a few times and it unstuck.

What brand is the alarm? I had a similar issue in an m35 a few years back, no dash lights, no crank but alarm would beep/unlock. It turns out one of the relays on the alarm unit for the immobilizer was sticky and wouldn't activate. Found the unit and tapped the relay with a screw driver a few times and it started to function again. Im pretty sure it was a mongoose alarm system and said relays where built in to the unit.

The welds look better than ones I've paid for. Evo looks neat.

Sounds like a plan.

I agree with the new 2nd hand boot option. You could as you said in the first post sand/fill the guard. It's going to be tricky to get a satisfactory finish diy painting it. Maybe just get a quote from a shop to just repair that part and see if it's economical enough. If not, just sand/fill/smooth. Get a can of paint mixed up and watch plenty of YouTube vids on how to to a blend in.

@r32-25tAll true except for Phillip Island which is pretty damn good and has to be as it's really a motorcycle track. Car feels great there. In all honesty I think my car needs and probably deserves a better quality damper that isn't over 10 years old.

Fixed

When the teins expire, I know what I need to do.

Yes I do have Whiteline bars and they are set to the stiffer side of their adjustment. You've got MCA coils now don't you? What are they like on rough roads compared to whatever you had before?

Downsides you say, don't we all own Skylines... Well I have a skyline for backup when the Audi fails 😄

@Shoota_77Thanks for the reply, I'd figured as much. I have been keen on one of these for a while but then decided against for the exact reasons @Duncanhas described above. Considering this one has already had $ thrown at it I am seriously looking into it.

Sounds about right, my spring rates aren't that stiff but I believe it's the valving that is the issue here. Set up stiff for those super smooth Jap roads. I should just get rid of them but I'm too much of a tight arse. Will wait till one of them starts leaking or knocking and I've got no choice.

Car felt very very unsettled over the bumpy surface and like there wouldn't be any grip because of it. If it was dry it wouldn't have been an issue. 6 year old 265 AD08R's with very little heat in them wouldn't have helped either but ultimately I feel the dampers weren't doing their job properly.

Ok then. I've been looking at a 2014 SQ5 3.0TTDI. It's got 150k km on it, current owner has been taken to the cleaners for 10k in repairs over the last 12 months. Has had all the intake and everything in the valley removed to replace all the gaskets as there was coolant weeping, had intake cleaned as well. New EGR valve, water pump, thermostat, rad hoses, alternator and drive belt. Has had 3 new injectors, so will potentially need 3 more sooner or later. What do you reckon, yay or nay? I've had an 06 Q7 3.o TDI for around 5 years now, has been a good thing overall and other than swirl flap related issues has been pretty damn good. I'm ok with a vcds and can mostly diagnose and repair most things. So what are your thoughts on the SQ5?

Took this out for a spin to the Dandenong mountains, was a crappy day for it, pretty wet but the Mrs had her sister over today and I couldn't think of a better way to get out of the house. The main road up the mountain is in such poor condition and the tein coils were not very happy, neither was I tbh. Was genuinely scared, the teins are woeful on any sort of bumpy surface. I got stuck behind a VW combi at one point and was actually quite happy to just sit behind. Anyways, finished my time up there with a couple of runs up and down Forrest Rd which is a nice bit of rd, probably around 7km worth. Wasn't much traction as it was wettish but I kept at it to get an understanding of the safe wet limits of my car. I left the Dandy's satisfied. Had an uneventful drive back home and then decided it was the perfect time to do a hot comp test. Results where a little better than the cold test a few weeks ago, mainly more consistent. Readings where between 151 to 162psi. Pics below from 1 to 6 for my records. #1 160 psi #2 160 psi #3 160 psi #4 152 psi #5 156 psi #6 162 psi Interestingly, #6 has the highest reading with 162psi and #4 has the lowest at 151psi. I thought RB's where known to wear #6 the most. Maybe that's a 26 thing. Anyway 4 and 5 are the lowest, maybe due to being the 2 cylinders closest to the heat of the turbo? Someone I was chatting to recently mentioned that it's possibly due to hotspots in the water jackets of the head. Food for thought I suppose. All the plugs looked to be burning clean. They are only 4-600km old. For some reason I took pics. 1 2 3 4 5 6 So after marveling at them for a bit, everything was put back together and fired up. Bloody shitbox sounded like a wrx and was misfiring. It's quickly isolated to cylinder 3 using the unplug a coil at a time method. Number 3 spark plug is replaced with an old plug I had lying around and presto, all good again. I proceed to refit the misfiring one again to confirm it's the plug for sure and sure enough misfire is back, 2nd handy goes back in. #3 plug looks pristine but somehow has failed. Wasn't dropped or anything silly either, just on of those things I suppose. My attention is now focused on giving the wastegate actuator a bit more tension. From when I recently had the turbo rebuilt, it's been making a little less boost. Was making 1.3ish bar on my gauge and now has been more like 1.2 bar. 1.5 turns is removed from the length of the actuator and followed by a test drive on the now dry Melbourne roads, unfortunately 1.5 turns was a little too much and the gauge is hitting 1.4 bar, 3rd gear roll on power slides never get old though, I'll have to revisit it tomorrow and go back 1/2 a turn and retest😄

If my memory serves me correctly, don't you work or used to work for Audi? If so you'd be used to going down deep rabbit holes wouldn't you?

I remember having a conversation about this phenomenon with a mate of mine who is a spray painter. He had a name for it, "chasing your tail" I believe it was. He reckons after lots of experience you kind of learn where to put it in advance to reduce chasing it.